30 Days

"Anyone can do anything for 30 days, right?!" said the drop-dead gorgeous lady, who was perfectly put together and looked like she hadn't had to try at anything her entire life. I raised my eyebrows. I wish I could say I raised one eyebrow in skepticism but despite all my efforts I do not possess that capability, so both eyebrows went up. I was at an Arbonne event and I was listening to a spill on their 30 Day Cleanse. How did I end up here? I received an invitation from a friend whom I hadn't seen in a long while and so I went purely to talk to her. And to get out of the house.

All of my walls had gone up the minute I walked into the room. I hate being sold over-priced products with about the same quality as the no-name brand (and much cheaper). To top it all off they were talking about protein shakes. Protein shakes! Can we say "ew!" Seriously, the fad with protein shakes had made me thinking everybody had completely gone nuts - was I the only person left in my circle of friends who liked to eat? I mean, yes I wanted to lose weight, but I wasn't willing to starve myself drinking disgusting, powdery shakes every day. Remember Slim Fasts? I had tried those out in college (not to lose weight, but to help me with my nutrition intake) and all they had done was make me gag and then be sick afterwards.

I sat there and listened to the presentation. The longer I listened the more I felt myself nodding, paying attention and saying "yes! yes!" in my head. Not aloud, that would be embarrassing. The first thing I liked was that the shakes were vegan. Yep, you read that right, vegan. This was important to me for two reasons, one, I have found that I am lactose intolerant. Two, I had watched Forks Over Knives and it had changed the way I thought about food completely. If you haven't seen it you should watch it. Right now. I'll wait.

Oh and while you watch that go ahead and watch I.O.U.S.A. - that will change the way you think about the economy and money.

Alright, now that you've watched it you see why this was so important to me. In fact, it had been over a year since I had seen that documentary and I had been researching the heck out of everything. Why? Because I was 30 and I was falling apart. I had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia (you can read about that here) and despite all my efforts to eat better, exercise, go to bed early and drink water upside down while holding my breath - or is that for hiccups? - I wasn't getting any better. I couldn't be the Mom I wanted to be or the wife I wanted to be. I could barely exist on most days.

So there I was, in the middle of February, praying for a speedy end to winter (cold makes me hurt worse) and listening to Arbonne's nutrition plan and I suddenly thought, "why not?" I was desperate to try anything and I figured it couldn't hurt.

Those first few days of the "cleanse" was awful. The shakes weren't filling me up and I wanted to eat. Real food. I wanted to chew and swallow, not just swallow, but I had committed and I don't go back on my commitments, especially when I've invested money in it. I stuck it with it and in the second week I started to notice a difference. My afternoon sugar cravings had gone down drastically, I was starting to feel full faster, and I had a bit more energy. Carlin had even noticed a difference. I wasn't complaining as much and seemed overall happier.

Fast forward a month. Suddenly I've agreed to become an Independent Consultant. I've had such success with it and I want to share it with others (and get a sweet discount). Now it's been a couple of more months and as my kids say, I don't like it... I LOVE it. I love every moment of it and I've been able to meet such beautiful, uplifting women. And that drop-dead gorgeous lady from the beginning? She's been my biggest support and best example.

I could go on about what I love about Arbonne and all the great things it's done for me (did I mention my face has completely cleared up - yah, they have a whole skincare line as well), but for that you'll just have to ask me. Until then, I agree, anyone can do anything for 30 days. Oh and their products are all great quality and deliver on their promises.

4 of the Drop-dead gorgeous ladies I get to work with!