The following article was written by Pete Bottomley, the Director of Sales & Marketing at Coast of Maine Organic Products, Inc. Pete is a masters runner for Dirigo, R.C. and competes in mostly middle distance races in Southern Maine. He ran his first marathon this past April in Boston, and this past December traveled out to Ohio to compete in the USATF Club Cross Country National Championships where he placed 5th in 35:59.7 in the 45+ division (19th overall) on the 10 kilometer course.
A Clean Engine Runs Better
My recent experience with body detoxification and complete nutrition
I decided late last Summer to look at training and my health in a new way. With my favorite running season (cross country) and my 46th birthday rolling rapidly towards me on the calendar, I knew that I didn’t want to leave anything on the trails this autumn…It was time to try some new approaches, abandon a few habits, sacrifice a little and train harder.
The first big change I made, and the one described herein, was to finally take the advice of a health and wellness mentor of mine (Mike Senechal, NMT) and order the Isagenix 9-day cleanse program through him. Mike had lobbied me for two years to do it and I wish I had acted right away…The results were astounding and served as the catalyst for what was one of the best competitive seasons of my career!
Here’s what I’m going to share with you:
- Why you should cleanse
- How it works
- My cleansing experience
- The importance of clean food
- The protein factor
- How to get started
This is a short overview to deliver some basic information and hopefully give you something to think about as you plan your next meal!
Why you should cleanse
Anyone living on Earth has been exposed to toxins and contaminants through our sullied environment. Depending on where you grew up, your body harbors a legacy load of metals and contaminants. In addition, the food you’ve been eating through the years has progressively gotten worse. The food grown for us has less nutrient value and more contaminants and pesticides than ever before. Food coloring, sugar substitutes, preservatives, antibiotics, hormones…The list of questionable additives that our bodies cannot recognize and use goes on and on.
For more information about legacy chemicals and the daily offensive against our bodies, read this National Geographic article that grabbed my attention a couple of years ago:
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0610/feature4/index.html
How it Works
The cleansing program works on many levels and I’m not going to pretend I understand enough about it to go into the science in detail with you. As a thoughtful eater and a non-meat consumer since 1987, I can tell you the ingredients list on each product passed my layman’s inspection.
Here’s a little pseudo-science you can choose to believe, research on your own or laugh off: many toxins and compounds the body cannot recognize are stored in fat, especially if there’s an onslaught of contaminants in a short time frame. In my opinion, this is why people who drink a lot of diet sodas can still get fat. The sugar substitutes are recognized as contaminants by the body. Again, that is just me saying that off the top of my head, but you won’t catch me drinking that stuff. Contaminants also put the body under stress, which, you guessed it, generates a fat storage response.
A cleansing program that sheds fat, while maintaining proper nutrition, will safely reduce the level of contaminants in your body and give you a cleaner platform for a fresh start. Another component of the Isagenix Cleanse is the effect the ingredients have on releasing, for lack of a better word, the ‘plaque’ that can build up in your digestive system. This can amount to a lot of weight in some people.
You can learn more by watching this video at: http://www.drspeaksout.com
My Cleansing Experience
I started my program on Labor Day 2007. The first 2 days were my pre-cleanse where I gave up a couple of my eating vices (coffee and beer). I started drinking the protein shakes. The cleansing on the 3rd and 4th days seemed pretty easy. In fact, I felt good enough to go to the track on the 4th day and surprised myself with a strong performance. By the 5th day, I had already lost 8 pounds! The next 5 days I went back on the shakes and snacks and one “sensible” meal. I had some incredible runs and some where I felt under fueled, but I wouldn’t classify any of the days a true hardship. After losing 11 pounds, I didn’t even finish out the last day and saved the remaining cleansing tonic for after a particularly nasty trip to Baltimore.
The 12th day I went to the track for 6 x 800m and felt very strong. Three weeks earlier, I worked my way down to 2:35 on the last interval. On this day, I started with 2:35s and worked down to a 2:23 with juice left to spare. My racing has gone to a new level, especially for my age. Less weight = Greater VO2 Max.
The Importance of Clean Food
It’s pretty scary when you look at the ingredients of much of the food we trust. Believe it or not, corporations aren’t really looking out for your best interest as a consumer. I’ve already told you what I think about diet soda, which is certainly one of the biggest nutritional swindles in history. I can’t go into details or this will get too long, so I’ll just suggest that you really think hard about what’s in that next nacho chip, dollop of ranch dressing, chicken wing or even that conventionally grown apple.
The Protein Factor
As I mentioned earlier, I haven’t eaten meat or chicken for 20 years. I made up for this lack of protein in my diet by being a glutton for everything else. Now that I’m gobbling down protein shakes, organic peanut butter, organic eggs, hemp seed, sunflower seeds, and almonds, my muscles recover fast and I’m getting leaner and stronger every day. My weight has stayed steady since the last day of the cleansing program. I continue to lose a little soft stuff here and there and gain muscle where I’m doing some extra work. I see now that I wasn’t eating properly (for a competitive runner) for two decades. Don’t let this happen to you!
How to get Started
I think everyone should do a nutritional cleanse at some point. I was so impressed with the effectiveness of the products and the results I achieved that I got involved with the company as a part-time associate. In this capacity I distribute the products and “coach” people through their program. I’ve now coached 11 people (7 runners) to lose a total of 97 pounds. It’s not just about losing the weight though. As I coach you through the program, I’ll contact you every day to talk about how you’re feeling and give you tips. It’s a great learning experience for both of us and it’s a lot of fun. This is an avocation for me.
Don’t be suspicious or worried (like I was) about the network marketing distribution model that Isagenix uses. There’s no pressure to keep buying product and no one will solicit you. I’ve been as impressed with the company’s ethics as I am with the products.
I hope this has been helpful in demystifying the Isagenix cleansing program for you. I’ll be glad to answer questions here at Run to Win or you can call or email me directly:
Pete Bottomley
207.807.1133
[email protected]
(Editor’s Note: Pete is a teammate of mine and has been very happy with his results, as have our other teammates I’ve spoken with that he has coached through this program. I have not gone through the process, however, so any questions about the program will be redirected to Pete.)
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