Forever Living: Clean 9

Is it just me or has Forever Living just sprung up everywhere over the last few months? One minute I'd never heard of it, then the next thing my Twitter and Facebook feeds were filling up with post boasting the health benefits of all the products and friends becoming distributors.

Incase your social media accounts have managed to filter out Forever Living posts, the products are aloe vera based products that promote and support health and wellbeing. 

I have to say, at first I was a little sceptical. As someone who's spent much of her twenties overweight, I finally learnt that when it comes to losing weight and maintaining (thats the hard bit folks) a healthy lifestyle its very much about playing the long game, theres no quick fix. However after success with Weight Watchers a couple of years ago, one thing I do know about myself is that I'm more likely to get to where I want to be with a plan. 

I literally gasped out loud in my bathroom when I stepped on the scales recently and found that I'd put on nearly a stone, I know that in the last six months I had put on some weight but I was a little shocked to find out that it was that much, After this revelation I found myself clicking on the Clean 9 links to see what it was all about. I still wasn't 100% convinced so I read some blog posts on it, including one written by a medical professional. I still wasn't entirely convinced, but slightly against my better judgement I decided to give it a go.

My old school friend Jen from High Heels Baby Wheels has recently become a distributor so I got in touch and purchased my Clean 9 kit from her online shop.

Away we go...

Day 1: I thought this would be the hardest day but it turned out to be one of the easier ones. I think the feeling that I was back in control and a 'fresh start' vibe largely aided this but I was happy to ride on the quest of that wave. I didn't need any of my free foods and the day went without a hitch.

It's true what they say though, aloe vera gel...there's no way to sugar coat it (if only), it's not good. 

Day 2: Definitely one of the tougher days. One day without food was fine but my brain was starting to catch up with the rest of my body and started demanding to know where the food was. 

It was this day that I realised how much extra bits and bobs pass my lips on a daily basis. One of my clients gave me a rock cake that she'd made at college (it quickly went into a food bag into the freezer for a post Clean 9 treat) and there was a box of homemade biscuits made by another client on the side in the office. On a normal day I would have tucked into these without a second thought, I felt quite inwardly smug at shunning the goodies with relative ease. 

By the evening...man was I ready for some food. I stayed strong, had some cucumber and strawberries and held on to the thought of day 3's 600 calorie meal. 

Day 3: This was my first weigh in, I was thrilled to see that I'd lost 4 pounds. Seeing such a good result definitely set me up for the day.

Day 3 was also shake day. I tried Herbalife once and quickly realised that it wasn't for me, a shake in the morning just didn't cut. I was always starving by 10am which entirely defeated the object. However after two days of no food, a shake hit the spot nicely.

I made sure I drank plenty of water to stop me feeling hungry over lunch and the thought of my 4 pound loss plus my first proper meal in the evening kept me going.

We had Zizzi takeaway for dinner and I had a lovely king prawn and roasted tomato linguine dish for my 600 calorie meal.

Days 4 and 5: So I would be lying if I said there weren't times when I wanted to sneak a slice of toast or nibble on one of the oreo cupcakes I baked for my boyfriend's Mum's birthday, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I could see my body shape changing and my skin felt amazing. Even the aloe vera gel started to be 'ok'.

Day 6: Second weigh in day. I lost another pound and I was well into the swing of 2 shakes a day plus a 600 calorie meal. 3 days to go...

Day 7: Today was a tough day, it was my boyfriend's mum's birthday so we all piled round to his sister's house for birthday tea. I had my 600 calories ready and raring to go but I knew I wouldn't be able to indulge as much as I normally would (I confess that I did sample my oreo cakes, I couldn't not). Happily though I was full far quicker than I normally was so I was able to enjoy the evening without ruining my cleanse. Bonus points for saying no to a glass of wine when offered!

Day 8: 1 day to go. Today felt like I was so close but yet so far. I was starting to feel quite ready to finish but with two days to go I knew I just had to push through it.

Day 9: Final day. I felt good today as I knew that it was the last one. I thought I'd be desperate for a Dominos, however as much as I was looking forward to eating proper meals, I couldn't wait to do a healthy food shop and focus on a better lifestyle.

In total I lost a total of 5 pounds and 4 inches round my waist so I was pretty chuffed with that.

So here we are, Clean 9 done. Now for the crunch, would I recommend it. If you're someone that needs a kick start to get you going or gets better results with a structure (like me) then I would definitely recommend Clean 9. I had the added motivation of an important wedding come up at the end of this month so I wanted to feel better about myself and more confident in my dress.

Even if you're feeling a bit sludgy after over indulging on holiday (those breakfast buffets *heart eyed emoji*) then Clean 9 would be a great holiday detox.

Not sure if you've quite made up your mind yet? Here are the pros and cons...

The pros:

Just incase any of you were wondering, I picked the vanilla flavour pack, purely because it's all or nothing with chocolate for me, I can't stand chocolate 'flavoured' things

• Better skin, hair and nails, mine were glowing!
• Weight loss (though this isn't a guarantee)
• More energy, perfect if you do early morning shifts like me
• Motivation to continue with a better lifestyle
• Water intake, its easy to mistake hunger for lack of hydration. Clean 9 ensures that you taking on enough water which helps stop you reaching for the snacks

The cons:

• It is important to say that this is a cleanse and not a weight loss programme, though you would be forgiven for thinking it is. If your rep has added you to the Facebook group 'The FIT Group' then you'll see all the posts saying how much weight people lost. Clean 9 is about cleansing your body which isn't always about loosing weight (I would be very surprised if you didn't shift a few pounds though)
• The cost, it is a little pricey £108.95 so its important to make sure its right for you
• I didn't think it was as bad as everyone made out but Aloe Vera gel does not taste good. If you do decided to continue with the gel after Clean 9, Jen has told me that there are more flavours that are a little easier on the taste buds

Have you done or are thinking about giving Clean 9 a go? I'd love to know what you think or if this post has helped make your decision.

Thanks to Jen for all your support, if you're thinking about Clean 9 please check out her shop.

Have a happy and healthy week ahead...

Holly

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