Are you willing to invest a year or two in something amazing?

What is a year worth to you?We are a society that is all about instant gratification. Fast food, microwaves, instant grits (southerners) , instant coffee, get rich quick schemes (that never work FYI), and the list goes on and on and on.
Many people want a get skinny fast magic pill also. Guess what? THERE IS NOT ONE! None of us went to bed skinny and woke up 20-30-40-70-100 pounds overweight. That would seem insane right? So why then do we go on diets and more diets that never work long-term and expect overnight results? Isn’t that insane too?
We all have seen the commercial with the well-known female half of a 70’s singing brother-sister duet that promises you will lose 5 lbs the first week. Um, okay? Then what? We can all lose 5 lbs in a week. Here is the bigger question. Can we lose all we need to lose in a year or two and keep it off for 10 years?
How about this question- Can we change our eating habits and learn to use food as fuel and stop giving in to the food marketing and hype we are surrounded by daily? We are so fast to jump on the latest bandwagon- low-fat, low carb, gluten-free, organic, paleo, Mediterranean, this group with weekly meetings (yes that one is a diet also- any plan that basically says as long as it fits in your points, you can eat cake daily- is a diet, and a bad one at that), this group with a diet people ate in the Bible, and the list goes on and on and on.
Oh- and my favorite I hear is, “I saw it on Dr. Oz so this has to be the answer!” Here is a newsflash and I have said this before, Dr. Oz will promote anything and anyone who pays him to be promoted. If he promotes it, stay FAR AWAY!!!
Bottom line- we have all heard the saying that nothing worth having comes easy or overnight and this is so true. This applies to both health and success in business. See, a little over two years ago, I joined Plexus and needed to lose a few pounds. I had NO IDEA the business opportunity that also was sitting in front of me. I also had no idea the health changes for my family that were to follow or the personal growth and development. I hated the thought of network marketing. But Now, I will shout to the rooftops that network marketing is the wave of the future and if you can find a really good network marketing company, like I did, the possibilities are endless for both personal health and growth, helping others, and income.
Here is my recap of the past two years. Read it and then tell me in the comments if you think a year is worth spending getting healthy, starting and growing a thriving business, and helping others at the same time.
In September 2013, I was 50 pounds heavier, dealing with recent spinal fusion after breaking my back in an accident, and involved in a social group with my husband that I truly had misgivings about and concerns over the integrity of as well. I was a workaholic who had let God slip from the center of all and it was showing. I knew it was time for a change.
We left the social group- which had a lot of amazing people we still get to see, and that was the start of a trend of deciding that life would from now on be Christ centered, healthy focused, and we would live our life the way we knew God intended and would not care if people made fun of us or “unfriended us” or stopped calling. And let me tell you, MANY we thought were friends stopped calling. I shed some tears. I mean who doesn’t get upset when you learn people you thought were your friends were really just friends of convenience, and situation and politics?
I felt so sad and was in a pity party over the weight I had gained after breaking my back and the fact that I could no longer run. I was a mess and trying to keep my happy face on for the people I knew and radio show followers etc. Never let them see you sweat right?
Here comes my next big decision- give Plexus a try. I mean, after all a nurse I knew professionally had been trying to get me to try it for a year and I had said no way. No network marketing products. I had tried them all- the health ones- and hated them. Plus I hated the idea of network marketing. I didn’t understand it really. I knew countless people with these home-based businesses making NOTHING and spending a ton and having parties and annoying the fire out of friends. NO THANKS!
Finally I listened to my heart and said okay let’s give this s shot. My thought were- I realize I will never make ANY money with this but if I can at least lose the weight I gained it will be good. That was why I initially signed as an Ambassador. Fast forward a month. This stuff is awesome and it is working and Ben and I are both losing weight and feeling great.
Next dilemma- WHAT WILL PEOPLE THINK IF WE GO PUBLIC??? I knew some of my followers would cringe. I worried some of the corporate sponsors of my tour and radio show would dump me, and I also worried more friends would think I was losing my mind. I was so scared, but said, I’m going public. WHAT IF one person who is battling with blood sugar issues and weight regain or weight issues or pain issues sees my post and gets helped? So I went public. Yep the usual few trolls of the weight loss community- well more specifically bariatric community, had a field day bashing me. Best thing I ever did was to DELETE and BLOCK the few trolls, however the response was mostly one of support. I now have many bariatric coordinators and a bariatric surgeon on my team.
So, we followed God and our hearts and devoted our business to Christ, another decision that did cost me a few sponsors, but who cares, and this is how things have changed since that September. Now yes we have had rough patches, bad months, people quit, personal issues, health issues, and basically LIFE getting in the way as we all have, BUT WE NEVER GAVE UP. We said in the beginning we are giving this at least a year to see what happens. Not a month or two, but a YEAR. I am so glad we did! I see so many join Plexus, or buy the products and if they are not super successful in a month or two they give up. What if we had done that? What if we had quit in those slow months or just said oh heck I’m going back to eating garbage? This current set of facts would not be true:
1. I am down over 50 pounds and Ben about 52 in the last two years. It was about 60 for us both until that trip to Maui Plexus sent us on wherecwecsrsrted being bad. We are back on track and I’ll be back to 60 lbs down by Feb 1. Keeping it real!
2. We have a team of over 1200Plexus Ambassadors and 700-750 active ones.
3. The last time I added up the pounds lost by our team in the past year it as well over 3500 pounds. THAT ALONE is worth the 2 years we invested!
4. The list of meds people have reported no longer needing from our team since using Plexus spans the list from diabetes meds to pain meds to migraine meds. PRICELESS
5. The income we earn with me as an Emerald Ambassador and my hubby a Senior Ruby Ambassador is such a huge blessing and it allows us both to work from home freeing up time for kids, grand-baby, and charity work and helping others. AGAIN PRICELESS
6. Seeing the health and income of our team members get better and better is more special to me than my own paycheck. I have NEVER seen a compensation plan that comes close to this one.
7. God had put SO MANY amazing people of faith into our paths. He has also sent us some “lesson friends”. There to teach you something but not real friends. Valuable for learning for a season nonetheless. So no regrets. God has a way of weeding out the people you just do not need in your life and replacing them with AMAZING Godly people who share your dreams and positive attitude and goals.
8. The personal growth and confidence in myself and my abilities as a leader that grow and change daily are incredible. I truly have to say that personal growth is the biggest blessing thus far on this journey. I am not a patient person by nature and God has truly taught me patience, how to deal with multiple personality types- when you have a team of over 1200 people they will all be different, and how to lead by example. I hope and pray that I NEVER EVER stop learning and growing and becoming a better version of who God intended for me to become. I am a work in progress with a long way to go but I realize this is not a race. It’s LIFE! 

Was it hard sometimes? ABSOLUTELY!

Did I want to give up sometimes? YES FOR SURE!!!

Am I now glad I didn’t and LOVING this ride and working hard to make it to Sapphire and help as many people as I can and bring as many with me as I can? YES YES YES!

Thank you Plexus for showing me that network marketing CAN be done right and become a REAL life changing source of income and health and personal growth.

There are so many people I need to be thanking, ESPECIALLY God my Amazing team! I love you guys like family and love watching you all grow and learn with me. I feel honored to have each one of you on my team. 

 My Plexus family ROCKS!!!! I am so glad I said YES to Plexus and YES to network marketing and am so excited for the future! Fighting obesity, being an advocate, helping others, growing personally, and earning a nice income. WIN WIN WIN!!! God is good and I will never take this all for granted!

XXOO

Erin

  

 
 

Super Bowl menu revisited!

Here is a look at our Super Bowl menu ideas for those who have been asking.

Erin Akey, FNC, wife, mother, Christian, nutritionist, author, Emerald Ambassador with Plexus Worldwide

When most people think of football food, they think of hot dogs and burgers and nachos and chips and cheese sauce.  If you have ever been to one of our conferences, heard my radio show, or heard me speak anywhere around the country, then you know about my past and my Dorito addiction!  Those things are off-limits!

I am here to tell you that you CAN serve a healthy menu for the big game.   Ben makes some delicious buffalo chicken bites that my kids literally fight over!  Healthy can be yummyWe use these recipes quite often now and our friends love them!  Keep in mind, that calories, protein, carbs, etc will vary based on your portion sizes, so be sure to do the math! You will find links to nutrition info for each item inside the recipes.

Chef Ben’s boneless buffalo chicken bites

5 boneless/skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized…

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Heroin and cocaine for sale? Stop the MADNESS!

It is no secret that fighting obesity is my mission in life.  I make no secret of the fact that I am a former 350 pound woman who nearly ate herself to death.  Thanks to God and the interventions of both gastric bypass and now Plexus products, I am healthier at almost 44 than I have ever been.  All of that aside, it really bugs me to see things like what I saw recently at a hospital in Birmingham, AL.  (we rank #8 in obesity rates here in Alabama FYI)

We were at a hospital visiting my son’s girlfriend who was having surgery.  Each day for four days I walked past a BAKE, CANDY, and PECAN SALE in the main lobby of the hospital.  They were doing a pretty good business I must say.  I could not help but wonder as I watched people buying up the sugar-filled goodies, if this was a ploy to fill beds! (just kidding)

I mean seriously!  Let’s think about this from a business standpoint here.  We all know sugar has been proven to be even more addictive in scientific studies than heroin and cocaine.  Sugar lights up the same pleasure sensors in our brains as the illicit drugs do.  Take a look for yourself.  This photo shows the brain on sugar and also on cocaine.  Look at the way they both light up the same way.  Scary huh?

 

WHY ON EARTH are we selling this stuff in a place dedicated to health?  Unbeknownst to this medical facility, they are contributing to the very diseases that likely fill many of their beds?  Think of all of the obesity-related and sugar fueled illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, high cholesterol, fatty liver disease, and more.  So many of our medical issues are related to this addiction to sugar that we are feeding daily.  Sugar feeds the natural candida fungus that grows in our bodies.  MANY things feed the fungus like medicines, processed foods, and chemical laden foods.  SUGAR is like throwing lighter fluid on a fire.

I knew how bad sugar and processed carbs were from my nutrition classes, but really GOT IT even more thanks to Dr. Robert Lustig and a Plexus colleague named Lori Harrison.  Sugar is poison PERIOD.  Now this is not the same sugar that occurs naturally in fruit and vegetables and dairy.  This is added refined processed sugar.  And yes this includes agave, turbinado, brown, white, green purple, it is all sugar!  When we eat sugar, it is converted to glucose and stored as fat in or bodies.  Guess what?  When we eat cereals, bread, rice, pasta, and other non-complex carbs, the same thing happens!

We are being fooled into thinking the low-fat cookies and 100 calorie snack packs are a GOOD CHOICE.  We think organic cookies and gluten-free cake is OKAY!  IT IS NOT!  It is all a marketing ploy to get us to buy this chemical filled junk.  Snack on fresh fruits and veggies and eat real food.  Lean proteins, Greek yogurt, fruits and veggies, and get lots of fiber.  Most Americans get nowhere NEAR the RDA of fiber because it is almost non-existent in processed foods.

I dread this time of year when sweet little Girl Scouts are peddling their sugar-filled garbage in front of every grocery store.  Speaking of which, what happened to the days where they went door to door?  Now, in a society that is so used to fast and easy and that is so sedentary- we grab the cookies as we dash in or out of the grocery from  kids and parents sitting in lawn chairs waiting to exchange cookies for cash like a drug deal on the street.  I know some will flame me for comparing the sale of Girl Scout Cookies to a drug deal, and I of course mean no offense to the kids, but they are unknowingly peddling a dangerous ADDICTIVE drug.  Sugar kills more people than all illicit drugs combined. Thank goodness for amazing tools to fight the sugar beast like my Plexus nutritional supplements.

For a time I would give them the money and not take the cookies.  But then, someone still ate them I am sure!  So now, I buy the cookies and trash them. Oh and before you say “but Erin, some starving person could have eaten those.”  I can promise you no homeless man or woman who was starving was going to get the cookies and I would not give the homeless that I have helped in the past drugs like that, I would give them real food.  But that is a completely different blog right there.

I would GLADLY buy something not so poisonous and addictive from the kids.  I can only imagine the costs associated with producing the cookies.  Why not candles, bath products, protein bars (low in sugar and carbs like a Quest bar)  Wrapping paper?  ANYTHING but these sugar-filled health destroying cookies.

Until we realize that diets do not work, lifestyle changes are the ONLY way to get healthy and stay that way, that sugar is one of the most abused and addictive LEGAL drugs out there, that most of us are addicts, and that we are POISONING ourselves with sugar almost from birth, the obesity and metabolic disease epidemic will never show improvement.

This is why we created the #sugarfreepledge2015 .  Take the pledge!  Watch the movie FED UP and read Michael Moss’s book Salt, Sugar, Fat.  Google LEAKY GUT, then, pledge to STOP THE MADNESS!  Stop feeding the fungus that is possibly causing your stomach issues, migraines, fibromyalgia, high blood sugar, high lipid levels, inability to lose weight, and SO MUCH MORE!!!!

Start by cutting sugar.  Then move from there one step at a time and see what your health picture looks like in January of 2016.  Get your labs done now, then start.  Let’s chat all year on my fitness and nutrition page, and see what a year can do!  Oh, and do yourself a favor, hook up with a Plexus Ambassador.  We are EVERYWHERE- wanting to truly help stop the madness!

Freedom is PRICELESS

Ben and I have been with Plexus for a little over a year.  We loved the theme of FREEDOM at the convention earlier in the year and talk often about the freedoms we have felt thanks to Plexus. We have both lost almost 60 pounds each.

Just that ALONE is a huge freedom.  Most people know I had regained about 40 pounds lost via weight loss surgery after an accident that broke my back.  Thanks to Plexus and using it as a tool to change my bad habits, I am now almost 20 pounds lower than my lowest after gastric bypass.  I have also seen major improvements in my blood sugar regulation.  I was having sugar crashes almost daily and now they are rare since starting Plexus.  There is overall better health for us both.  Yes I think that would be enough.  But wait there is so much more!   LOTS more!  Ben is now retired from the medical field and is home working with me full-time on our mission to help people suffering from weight-related issues.  That is a major part of the freedom we are feeling.  Then there is the kind of freedom we just can NEVER EVER put a price on at all!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        See this is my son Connor and his girlfriend Katie.  Katie had to have major surgery at a hospital that is 4 hours away from our home in Mobile, AL.  They are both collegiate athletes and just finished up cross-country running season.  Timing for this surgery was to coincide with Thanksgiving break.  Where have we been since Friday?  The day of her surgery?  Not at home tied to a corporate job, but in Birmingham, AL with Katie.  See we have awesome friends who have an apartment there that they let us use and another friend who kept our younger son for four days while we were gone.  But we had something else.  Something you just cannot put a price on and that is the FREEDOM to grab our laptops and leave and work from anywhere, even a hospital.  Three years ago, this would NOT have been an option.

I worked in corporate America where I was literally on call 24/7.  I literally had surgery back in 2010 and was in the recovery room doped up out of my mind and Ben was in there with me and my office was calling me to handle a problem.  When my father had a massive heart attack and quadruple bypass and I called to say I was taking two days off and this was an emergency, it was as if I had committed high treason.  And if you wanted a day off around the holidays, well you had to take a whole week.  When I had major surgery in 2009, Ben had to leave me at the hospital to attend a meeting an hour away and then come back later that day.  He felt awful, but had no choice.

This weekend we saw the way Katie lit up when Connor was in her room.  We were going to come home Sunday, but Katie needed Connor there and so we just stayed another day.  No boss to call, no deciding what holiday we would give up for an extra day.  We just stayed.  I did a Google Hangout as a guest for a Plexus friend from Birmingham and did a conference call all from the apartment we were staying in and it worked out just fine. We were where we needed to be and it felt great to not have to fret and worry.  I will not be on call for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I used to have to pick one or the other and rotate each year.  Now I can spend all of my holidays with people I love.

I have this amazing team of Ambassadors working hard to grow their businesses and amazing leaders who mentor me who helped out when I was busy with Katie and my family.  I have this REALLY amazing leader who said something really profound this past week.  Sara J Marble hit it right on the head when she said God first, then family, then Plexus.  AMEN!   The thing is, this company truly believes that and allows those of us who work this business to put priorities in just that order.  That is one #plexusfreedom that you just cannot put a price on and that I am most thankful for each day.

Side note- Katie is doing very well and should be home for Thanksgiving!  This Thanksgiving, I am truly truly grateful and thankful for the blessing of Plexus and all of the freedoms this business brings and the wonderful people in our lives because of Plexus!

Happy Thanksgiving all!!!

XXOO

Choices and Priorities…

Have you ever stopped to think about what an incredible freedom the gift of choice can be? I mean REALLY thought about it in detail?  Here is the thing- REGARDLESS of where we are in life or what circumstance we may be in, we always have the CHOICE to do something different. It doesn’t mean we can magically wave a wand and have our fairy godmother fix it all, that only worked for Cinderella, but we CAN do SOMETHING different.

Life is hard.  Obstacles and battles and time suckers are thrown at us daily.  Knowing this, here is a very distinct quality possessed by people who succeed.  They make the choice to change!  And this pertains to anything.  Business, health goals, personal relationships, sports, anything really.  This is in no way meant to be a harsh sounding blog- but a dose of reality.  I had to give myself this same dose 14 months ago as I sat here a personal trainer and runner and fitness nutrition coach who had broken her back, could no longer run or train people, and who was in a pity party and feeling sorry for myself.

Where am I going with this?  Okay- here is the deal….. I see/meet/hear/talk to people daily and often times, whether friends, stranger, or family I hear things like this:

“Oh I will never be able to lose weight, I guess I was just born to be fat.”

“I would love to try your Plexus program but I just cannot afford it so it is a NO WAY for me.”

“Oh I have that Plexus stuff and I take it a few times a week but it just doesn’t work.”

“I want to have a baby so badly and I know my weight is an issue but I just cannot lose weight.”

“I tried that business plan but I don’t know enough people and after a little bit my warm market dried up and my people quit so I am just over it and not even trying anymore.  I just can’t do this.”

“I hate my job but I could never be a success at running a business like you do, I’m just not a salesperson.”

“Wow, I would love to get out of debt but I guess I just have to wait until I hit the lottery.”

“I know my weight is an issue and my blood pressure is up, but I just do not think I can do anything about it.”

“Yes I have diabetes, but I just eat candy and cookies once in a while and we only do fast food once a week or so.”

“I’m eating healthy and I exercise five days a week but I just cannot lose weight. I do not get it??”

“I so need to lose weight but my whole family is overweight and they would be so upset if I tried to rock the boat and bring some of my healthy food.  I don’t want to upset anyone.”

“I cannot afford to eat healthy.  It is too expensive.”

“I do not have time to cook.”

“I hate exercise.”

“I want to eat better but I just love my Doritos and my ice cream.”

This is just a brief list.  I could literally go on and on and on.  Here is the bottom line when it comes to EVERYTHING IN LIFE.

  It is absolute truth.  We are such capable beings who have no idea the potential we have to accomplish things we never dreamed possible.  We have to start with BELIEF that we can and then DO THE WORK to make the dreams/goals happen.  This is another favorite of mine:   Things we want take work.  Rome was not built in a day.  Nothing upsets me more than to see people QUIT ON THEMSELVES!  We quit on our health, we quit on people, we quit on our dreams to be financially free and we often just quit on life.  This is heartbreaking!  My life has been no bed of roses.  Trust me the last year has brought some challenges nobody other than my closest circles are aware of plus the health issues and many other things.  It would have been easy to just throw my hands up and quit.

I mean come on, I was sitting there with a broken back, had to cancel my anti-obesity tour, (which is on hold AGAIN due to my upcoming surgery), had gained 40 lbs and things seemed a mess! What happened?

I woke up one day and said ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!  NO MORE negativity, no more pity party and I AM GOING TO CHOOSE TO CHANGE THINGS! And so it began…. I decided it was time to take back control of my health and business and I MADE A CHOICE to do just that.  My husband thought I was nuts when I signed up for Plexus, but I did and here I sit a year and 2 months later, 60 pounds lighter, my husband almost 60 pounds lighter, my blood sugar crashes under control, watching my team grow and people I work with teach me new things daily, watching people on my team as well as customers come off meds for all kinds of things like diabetes and migraines and anxiety, all because they MADE A CHOICE TO CHANGE.  I am watching people on my team replace incomes that are allowing them to be at home with their families more in place of that second job.

The best part?  I am still making the choice to learn and grow and improve daily.  I am learning more and more each day about the POWER OF MY CHOICES. I can choose each day to be a blessing to someone or to be a negative Nelly.  I can choose to thank God for my many blessings or choose to be upset and my problems. I can choose to spend my time trying to help others and grow my business and help my team or I can choose to spend my time wallowing in my health issues and whining that I cannot run and that my tour is grounded.  Get my point? The long term circumstances do not change daily and quickly BUT my DAILY CHOICE to DO SOMETHING HAS LONG TERM effect that WILL eventually change my circumstances.

I CHOOSE to do the needed exercises for my back in the bed before my feet hit the floor each day.  My back is still fused and I still cannot run and still need another surgery, BUT my daily CHOICE to stretch it out has had a positive impact on my ability to walk.

Life is not easy.  Life is hard.  Losing weight is hard.  Getting healthy is hard.  Creating a business is hard.  Being unhealthy is hard.  Being broke is hard.  You know what?  We can all pick our hard.  We have to change our negative mindset and start realizing we DO have a choice to control things we can control.  Knowing that fact, let’s look at the statements above once more with a different angle.

“Oh I will never be able to lose weight, I guess I was just born to be fat.” –  This is only a true statement if you believe that.  We can ALL CHOOSE to do something about or health.  The question is are we choosing to do or to stay in the same unhealthy rut?

“I would love to try your Plexus program but I just cannot afford it so it is a NO WAY for me.” – Really?  Let’s add up your monthly expenses for fast food, Starbucks, vending machines, cookies, candy, chips, and junk.  What are you spending on energy drinks?  Oh yeah I saw you on Facebook eating out the other day and also at that concert.  So really you just do not WANT this to be a priority for you.  That would be the better statement.  Most people on Plexus save more than the monthly cost on food alone.  We won’t even get into the people coming off expensive meds. It is perfectly fine to make the CHOICE not to invest in your health, but remember, it is a choice.

“Oh I have that Plexus stuff and I take it a few times a week but it just doesn’t work.”- Well there is your problem.  You have to be consistent and use it daily.  It works if you work it and the plain fact is some people try it before they are ready to work it and that is okay!  But please do not blame the products.  Remember- don’t be upset with the results you do not get from the work you did not do.

“I want to have a baby so badly and I know my weight is an issue but I just cannot lose weight.” Obesity is one of the leading causes of infertility. We have a term called “surprise Plexus babies”- I have one on my team- born last week.  CUTE as can be.

“I tried that business plan but I don’t know enough people and after a little bit my warm market dried up and my people quit so I am just over it and not even trying anymore.  I just can’t do this.” – Every person you know knows thousands more people.  I can promise you some of them need help with weight, blood sugar, etc.  Did you give the business a year?  Not just a year of posting once a week on Facebook- JOIN MY TEAM, or HEY I’VE GOT PLEXUS IF YOU NEED SOME, but a year of truly working this business?  Whether 30 minutes a day or 3 hours a day- you can do this if you use the awesome tools available to us all as Plexus Ambassadors.  Remember you are a CEO of a company now.  Google the story of one of my favorite businessmen and dreamers Walter Elias Disney.  What if he had just quit when he was fired and told he had ZERO creativity?  WOW!

“I hate my job but I could never be a success at running a business like you do, I’m just not a salesperson.”  Here is the thing- I HATE selling stuff!  WE do not need salespeople at Plexus.  We need people to use the products and when they work and you lose weight and feel better, SHARE.  NOBODY likes a pushy salesperson!  SO GREAT NEWS!!!  You are a perfect fit!!!

“Wow, I would love to get out of debt but I guess I just have to wait until I hit the lottery.” Funny how some of us call Plexus our lottery because of the incredibly different and fair compensation plan they offer.  Oh wait- and my friend Celeste Gwynn who is one of the speakers for the Fit Living Radio Seminar at Sea, and the top earner in Plexus- yes she candidly refers to her paycheck as “gangsta money”.  TRUTH.  Ask her… or listen to where she said it on my radio show here.  Or let’s talk about one of my mentors Sara J Marble-  yep she just used her Plexus income to open an orphanage this summer for 25 kids in India.  You can hear her story here.  And she retired as a nurse and her husband John has gone part time as a nurse anesthetist  thanks to their Plexus income.  They would likely tell you they hit the lottery also.  Take a listen here!  

“I know my weight is an issue and my blood pressure is up, but I just do not think I can do anything about it.” –  Ummmm- you can if you CHOOSE to- but the choice is yours to make.  Nobody can force you.  I had to be ready to get healthy.  I got hounded for years and all it did was make things worse.  Until I decided to be healthy, there was no forcing me.

“Yes I have diabetes, but I just eat candy and cookies once in a while and we only do fast food once a week or so.”  Here is the thing about your type 2 diabetes- it can be controlled by choices we make.  We can also use healthy tools to help us get there, but just throwing up our hands in the air- nope that is NOT going to get us anywhere.

“I’m eating healthy and I exercise five days a week but I just cannot lose weight. I do not get it??” We need to look at food logs because 9 of 10 times I hear this it turns out to be a food log filled with empty carbs and sugar and processed foods that may indeed on the package say “low-fat”, “organic”, “gluten-free”, or “light”- but the calories ad carbs are still there.  WE can fix this one EASY.

“I so need to lose weight but my whole family is overweight and they would be so upset if I tried to rock the boat and bring some of my healthy food.  I don’t want to upset anyone.” If you have a friend or family member who doesn’t support your decision to live healthy, then they are not good for you and you should not want to have them in your life.  NOW- we cannot just go writing off family of course, but what you CAN do is bring something healthy to the next family get-together.  We tell people this all the time.  You cannot control others’ actions but you CAN control how you respond to them.  If someone makes fun of you for choosing healthy over junk- let it go.  If you know there will be nothing but garbage at the party, be sure YOU bring 1-2 healthy dishes so that YOU HAVE OPTIONS.  Do what is right for you and as you get healthy, you will notice that your social circle changes.  It is just part of life.  You will find that the old friends who loved to come around when your table was filled with junk, are not so quick to come over when life becomes more than just being about food.  Trust me, it happened to us.  At first you will be upset, but in the long run, it is a huge blessing.

“I cannot afford to eat healthy.  It is too expensive.” FALSE- good healthy food can be obtained on a budget.  You will be eating smaller portions as well.  Here is the best example without this being a whole blog in and of itself!                    

“I do not have time to cook.”  If you have time to read this, you have time to cook.  We teach people all the time in our Cook, Eat, Live Smart seminars how to cook a healthy meal with time issues and budget issues.

“I hate exercise.” – The problem is that you have to find a physical activity you like and do it three times a week.  Walk, dance in the living room, ride a bike, take a walk, swim, play tennis, play golf and walk not take a cart, ANYTHING.  It doesn’t mean you have to join a gym, hire a trainer, do crazy hard core workouts, just MOVE YOUR BODY 3 times a week and work up to thirty minutes.

“I want to eat better but I just love my Doritos and my ice cream.” – What is more important?  The temporary pleasure of the taste of the Dorito or the long term good health?  There are products like Plexus to help you say no to the things that tempt you.  But you have to make the choice to use them.

So you see, these are all EXCUSES to prevent us from making changes i or lives that can often be scary.  STOP THE EXCUSES and DO IT!  YOU CAN!!!!

We are all capable of SO MUCH MORE than we realize.  We CAN get our health back and we CAN remove the toxic negative people from our lives, and we CAN grow a thriving business and we CAN find something to be positive and hopeful about every day.

MAKE AN INVESTMENT IN YOURSELF!  We spend so much time taking care of others that we often fail to take care of us and then we are no good to anyone.  Stop the negative talk, stop allowing others to control your thoughts, and start being a positive person and see how life changes.  Regardless of where you are, I promise I can show you someone worse off!

Tell yourself that you CAN and WILL change your life and give it a year and see what happens!  I did and have never been happier, regardless of health issues and other things going on in my world.  Life is far from perfect, but I am blessed beyond measure! If you CHOOSE to invest in your health and wealth for ONE YEAR, you have no idea the personal growth and influence on others who come with you that you can have, but you have to MAKE A CHOICE.

XXOO

Erin

What is a year worth to you?

We are a society that is all about instant gratification.  Fast food, microwaves, instant grits (southerners) , instant coffee, get rich quick schemes (that never work FYI), and the list goes on and on and on.

Many people want a get skinny fast magic pill also.  Guess what?  THERE IS NOT ONE!  None of us went to bed skinny and woke up 20-30-40-70-100 pounds overweight.  That would seem insane right?  So why then do we go on diets and more diets that never work long-term and expect overnight results? Isn’t that insane too?

We all have seen the commercial with the well-known female half of a 70’s singing brother-sister duet that promises you will lose 5 lbs the first week.  Um, okay?  Then what?  We can all lose 5 lbs in a week.  Here is the bigger question.  Can we lose all we need to lose in a year or two and keep it off for 10 years?

How about this question- Can we change our eating habits and learn to use food as fuel and stop giving in to the food marketing and hype we are surrounded by daily?  We are so fast to jump on the latest bandwagon- low-fat, low carb, gluten-free, organic, paleo, Mediterranean, this group with weekly meetings (yes that one is a diet also- any plan that basically says as long as it fits in your points, you can eat cake daily- is a diet, and a bad one at that), this group with a diet people ate in the Bible, and the list goes on and on and on.

Oh- and my favorite I hear is, “I saw it on Dr. Oz so this has to be the answer!”  Here is a newsflash and I have said this before, Dr. Oz will promote anything and anyone who pays him to be promoted. If he promotes it, stay FAR AWAY!!!

Bottom line- we have all heard the saying that nothing worth having comes easy or overnight and this is so true.  This applies to both health and success in business.  See, a little over two years ago, I joined Plexus and needed to lose a few pounds.  I had NO IDEA the business opportunity that also was sitting in front of me. I also had no idea the health changes for my family that were to follow or the personal growth and development.   I hated the thought of network marketing. But Now, I will shout to the rooftops that network marketing is the wave of the future and if you can find a really good network marketing company, like I did, the possibilities are endless for both personal health and growth, helping others, and income.

Here is my recap of the past two years.   Read it and then tell me in the comments if you think a year is worth spending getting healthy, starting and growing a thriving business, and helping others at the same time.

In September 2013,  I was 50 pounds heavier, dealing with recent spinal fusion after breaking my back in an accident, and involved in a social group with my husband that I truly had misgivings about and concerns over the integrity of as well.  I was a workaholic who had let God slip from the center of all and it was showing.  I knew it was time for a change.

We left the social group- which had a lot of amazing people we still get to see, and that was the start of a trend of deciding that life would from now on be Christ centered, healthy focused, and we would live our life the way we knew God intended and would not care if people made fun of us or “unfriended us” or stopped calling.  And let me tell you, MANY we thought were friends stopped calling.  I shed some tears.  I mean who doesn’t get upset when you learn people you thought were your friends were really just friends of convenience, and situation and politics?

I felt so sad and was in a pity party over the weight I had gained after breaking my back and the fact that I could no longer run.  I was a mess and trying to keep my happy face on for the people I knew and radio show followers etc.  Never let them see you sweat right?

Here comes my next big decision- give Plexus a try.  I mean, after all a nurse I knew professionally had been trying to get me to try it for a year and I had said no way.  No network marketing products.  I had tried them all- the health ones- and hated them.  Plus I hated the idea of network marketing.  I didn’t understand it really. I knew countless people with these home-based businesses making NOTHING and spending a ton and having parties and annoying the fire out of friends.  NO THANKS!

Finally I listened to my heart and said okay let’s give this s shot. My thought were- I realize I will never make ANY money with this but if I can at least lose the weight I gained it will be good.  That was why I initially signed as an Ambassador.  Fast forward a month.  This stuff is awesome and it is working and Ben and I are both losing weight and feeling great.

Next dilemma- WHAT WILL PEOPLE THINK IF WE GO PUBLIC???  I knew some of my followers would cringe.  I worried some of the corporate sponsors of my tour and radio show would dump me, and I also worried more friends would think I was losing my mind. I was so scared, but said, I’m going public.  WHAT IF one person who is battling with blood sugar issues and weight regain or weight issues or pain issues sees my post and gets helped?  So I went public.  Yep the usual few trolls of the weight loss community- well more specifically bariatric community, had a field day bashing me.  Best thing I ever did was to DELETE and BLOCK the few trolls, however the response was mostly one of support.  I now have many bariatric coordinators and a bariatric surgeon on my team.

So, we followed God and our hearts and devoted our business to Christ, another decision that did cost me a few sponsors, but who cares, and this is how things have changed since that September.  Now yes we have had rough patches, bad months, people quit, personal issues, health issues, and basically LIFE getting in the way as we all have, BUT WE NEVER GAVE UP.  We said in the beginning we are giving this at least a year to see what happens.  Not a month or two, but a YEAR.  I am so glad we did!  I see so many join Plexus, or buy the products and if they are not super successful in a month or two they give up.  What if we had done that?  What if we had quit in those slow months or just said oh heck I’m going back to eating garbage?  This current set of facts would not be true:

1. I am down over 50 pounds and Ben about 52 in the last two years. It was about 60 for us both until that trip to Maui Plexus sent us on wherecwecsrsrted being bad. We are back on track and I’ll be back to 60 lbs down by Feb 1. Keeping it real!

2. We have a team of over 1200Plexus Ambassadors and 700-750 active ones.

3. The last time I added up the pounds lost by our team in the past year it as well over 3500 pounds.  THAT ALONE is worth the 2 years we invested!

4. The list of meds people have reported no longer needing from our team since using Plexus spans the list from diabetes meds to pain meds to migraine meds.  PRICELESS

5. The income we earn with me as an Emerald Ambassador and my hubby a Senior Ruby Ambassador is such a huge blessing and it allows us both to work from home freeing up time for kids, grand-baby, and charity work and helping others.  AGAIN PRICELESS

6. Seeing the health and income of our team members get better and better is more special to me than my own paycheck. I have NEVER seen a compensation plan that comes close to this one.

7. God had put SO MANY amazing people of faith into our paths. He has also sent us some “lesson friends”. There to teach you something but not real friends. Valuable for learning for a season nonetheless. So no regrets. God has a way of weeding out the people you just do not need in your life and replacing them with AMAZING Godly people who share your dreams and positive attitude and goals.

8. The personal growth and confidence in myself and my abilities as a leader that grow and change daily are incredible.  I truly have to say that personal growth is the biggest blessing thus far on this journey.  I am not a patient person by nature and God has truly taught me patience, how to deal with multiple personality types- when you have a team of over 1200 people they will all be different, and how to lead by example.  I hope and pray that I NEVER EVER stop learning and growing and becoming a better version of who God intended for me to become. I am a work in progress with a long way to go but I realize this is not a race. It’s LIFE! 

 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here goes:

 

Was it hard sometimes?  ABSOLUTELY!

Did I want to give up sometimes?  YES FOR SURE!!!

Am I now glad I didn’t and LOVING this ride and working hard to make it to Sapphire and help as many people as I can and bring as many with me as I can?  YES YES YES!

Thank you Plexus for showing me that network marketing CAN be done right and become a REAL life changing source of income and health and personal growth.

There are so many people I need to be thanking, ESPECIALLY God my Amazing team!  I love you guys like family and love watching you all grow and learn with me. I feel honored to have each one of you on my team. 

 My Plexus family ROCKS!!!!  I am so glad I said YES to Plexus and YES to network marketing and am so excited for the future!  Fighting obesity, being an advocate, helping others, growing personally, and earning a nice income.  WIN WIN WIN!!!  God is good and I will never take this all for granted!

XXOO

Erin

 

 

Are we “once a year”-ing ourselves into metabolic destruction??

I hear so many times a week “Oh Erin you and Ben are just so fanatical about sugar and eating right and obesity and exercise and Plexus.”

Yes, we are.  We surely are.  Why?  Well it is no secret we both used to live extremely unhealthy lives.  I was always obese and then morbidly obese before my gastric bypass about six years ago.

Ben had high cholesterol DANGEROUSLY high- and ate the typical unhealthy southern diet of fried everything and biscuits and gravy and hit the drive thru pretty often with his line of work which included travel. He ate lots of processed boxed frozen garbage for most of his adult life as well- until he finally followed his love of cooking and turned it into a side business catering in the medical field. Even then, when he began cooking more often, it was typical unhealthy, but tasty fare.

I fed my kids frozen fish sticks and we frequented fast food joints and I cooked things like boxed mac and cheese and hamburger helper when I was a single mom.  I bought the snack cakes and Little Debbies and all of the typical junk we are feeding our kids.  They were chubby.  All three of them.  Cute and chubby. And sugared up most of the time. From added sugar in boxed foods, to juices and cookies and cakes and ice cream, they had it all.  And mom looked like this:   And was totally unhealthy.  I was a heart attack or stroke or diabetic waiting to happen.  It was bad.  REALLY bad.

This was me two weeks before my bypass making the rounds of every restaurant in Walt Disney World in a 12 day long stream of gluttony I likened to the Last Supper. This was of course long before any of my nutritional or fitness certifications and before I went back to school to become a dietitian.  I was as clueless as most of America.  But I really did know EVERY restaurant and menu in Disney.  Sad huh?

      Then my dad who was in pretty darned good shape, had a massive heart attack and quadruple bypass.  It was enough for me to say NO MORE and my new healthier life was born which also brought a love for fitness and nutrition.  Life changed FOREVER.  It was little by little and not overnight.  It came from educating myself and deciding NOT to be a statistic anymore but to truly change my life for good.

My road has been far from perfect and as a food addict I struggle daily and always will, but after therapy and education and now having the tool of Plexus to help me make the right choices, I am in a really great and happy place.  I went from the pictures above to this over a period of 5 years.  

I developed a passion for running, until an accident in 2012 took that one away from me.  (I can still walk so I suppose I should not whine about the running, but I miss it terribly!) I became a Personal Trainer and water fitness instructor and also Fitness Nutrition Coach so yes- I am pretty passionate about this stuff for sure!  I have been on both sides of health and wellness and see what both sides are doing to and for people daily.  After my accident and back surgery, I regained 40 pounds of the over 130 I had lost and then thankfully  lost that plus another 15 with the tool of Plexus.

This picture is pre-Plexus on left and just a few months ago on right.  The photo above in the medal at Disney is midway through Plexus loss while the one on left of that was pre- gastric bypass.  I like to be very clear in distinguishing the two.  I am really proud of my  results with both.

So a lot changed in my house over the years.  We do not buy cookies and snack cakes and soda and junk.  For us moderation really is moderation in that I can count on one hand the times sugar, specifically added sugar, not sugar from nature in fruits and veggies and dairy- enters my house in a year.

Do we give our kids alcohol or cigarettes?  Sugar kills more people through metabolic disease than both of those but we still have commercials for sugar filled food and drinks BLASTED at our kids.  Fast food restaurants give toys with meals and have playgrounds inside.  The food industry is smart although I truly do not know how they sleep at night.

To me, feeding our kids loads of sugar is child abuse.   PERIOD.  And yes I used to abuse my kids with sugar.  Morbidly obese kids who are eating garbage daily and have no other rare medical issue causing obesity are being abused.  Can kids drive themselves to the grocery store or the fast food joint?  Does a child have the ability to buy the ice cream and candy and cakes and trash we feed them?  NOPE. Why is it okay to poison or kids from birth with the most addictive and abused drug on the market?  We think it is okay and are brainwashed into thinking there is nothing wrong with “just a little bit”- or “it is just once a year.”

The bottom line is we are excusing ourselves into the destruction of our  health. You can literally walk into any grocery store at ANY time of year and find a bakery and candy aisle stocked with sugary junk for some event that we excuse away by saying it is “just once a year.”

BUT- is it REALLY?

January- the Valentine’s Day stuff is out and in certain areas you will start to see King Cakes and Mardi Gras candy and junk.

February- Valentine’s Day junk and usually Easter junk already out for the taking.

March- Easter junk everywhere.  Then comes all of the green junk for St. Patrick’s Day.

April- usually more Easter junk still there depending on when Easter falls.  Mother’s Day junk is starting to show up also.

May- Mother’s Day junk because special candy and cookies and cake are just what we need to tell mom we love her!!

June- Father’s Day junk and fun summer junk!!!  TONS of summer sweets and treats and many are frozen.

July- July Fourth Holiday and now comes the patriotic junk.  HOW could we possibly celebrate all we love about America without candy and cakes and pies and cookies???

August- BACK TO SCHOOL JUNK!!!  Our kids cannot return without mini bags of every type of junk known to man!  Goldfish, cheese-its, fruit roll ups, granola bars, fruit snacks, juice pouches, cookies and EVERYTHING MINI.  Just what we need for a successful year of school- SUGAR AND EMPTY CARBS!

September- Halloween junk is here!!!!  No explanation needed!!!

October- This is where it gets almost “frenzy-like” because we have Halloween junk, fall/Thanksgiving junk, and already Christmas junk all together!!!

November- Thanksgiving and Christmas junk

December- Christmas junk and usually Valentine’s Day junk and in the south Mardi Gras junk.

AND THE CYCLE REPEATS!!!

Now throw into the mix the trips for ice cream as a reward for something, the once in a while donut or candy store visit, the birthday cake, and if you have kids the endless birthday parties with said cake they attend, the post sporting event treats from the team mom, the school parties with treats, and more.

So is the sugar frenzy REALLY “just once a year?”

I think not…

When we took these things out of our home some people went ballistic!  I got comments like “Wow, you are going to punish your kids because you are fat?”  No I was actually SAVING my kids from the life of obesity I lived until my late 30’s.  It is no fun.

And now the food industry has fooled most parents and well-meaning people again with LOW fat cookies and 100 calorie packs of cookies and BAKED chips.  Most people do not know better.  Guess what?  Low fat means double sugar.  The calorie difference and sugar difference in baked/regular chips is almost NONE.

Look at my drug of choice- Doritos- yes I could have eaten a whole bag.  When the low fat ad fat free craze began of course the food industry had a plan.  They just replaced the fat with sugar.  Why do you think obesity has grown and grown just as hard and strong while we have more gyms and more fitness equipment etc than we had 30 years ago?

S-U-G-A-R

Look at the carbohydrate count here and calories:

Can someone explain to me how one of those is any better than the other?  The BAKED one actually has more carbs and sugar.  WAKE UP AMERICA!  This is not food.  THIS is food:

Here is another one and this one is taken from Fed Up itself.   Newsflash- most of the protein bars out there- they are just glorified candy bars.

The ONLY brand we promote at our events and seminars is Quest.  That is it.  No junk in them, no gluten, they taste good and are high in fiber and protein and SUPER LOW carb.   These are an awesome pre-or post- workout fuel or an on the go fast meal.  I do not think Ben and I would have survived the crazy rush of our flight home from Las Vegas last week without Quest bars! And check out the recipes for baking them on their website.  MY granddaughter loves the protein “cookies” we make for her from the bars.

When we speak to groups about the dangers of sugar and how incredibly harmful it is to us and to our health, we get a wonderful reply and reaction.  When you are in person and have an hour to explain it all, people GET IT. However online, reading posts here-sometimes I swear I can see the eye-rolls through Facebook.  I used to let it bother me, but now I just keep on preaching, with Ben, because for every person we touch, the one or two who roll their eyes or who un-friend us on Facebook really do NOT matter.

Here is a FACT- WE ARE KILLING OURSELVES with sugar in this country.  And now all over the world.  This means sugar- added sugar- in ALL FORMS.  I do not care if you call it high fructose corn syrup, sugar in the raw, brown sugar, whatever, SUGAR IS SUGAR.  It is added to over 80% of the processed grocery store items we buy.

Here is another fact- empty carbohydrates like bread and rice and pasta and cereals (with the exception of a FEW high fiber ones) ALL TURN TO SUGAR in our bodies.  Newsflash- this “whole grain” craze may as well be called the “another name for sugar” craze.  We eat far too much of this stuff.  I am not talking to the elite athletes who run 30 miles a week and need extra carbs.

This is about the average American.  This is for anyone overweight and or struggling to lose weight.  Empty carbs are the same thing as sugar metabolically.  I love a line from the movie Fed Up and is you have not seen it you really need to watch it ASAP.  One doctor says “You can eat a bowl of cornflakes with no sugar or a bowl of sugar with no cornflakes and it is the exact same thing from the neck down.”

PROCESSED EMPTY CARBS MAKE US HUNGRY AND WANT TO EAT MORE AND RAISE OUR BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS JUST LIKE PLAIN SUGAR.  Those Cheerios with no added sugar you thought were a good choice?  NOT.

I AM ESPECIALLY TALKING TO PEOPLE WITH KIDS.  We start our kids on sugar almost from day one.  Many baby formulas- especially those for kids with a lactose intolerance- have added sugar.  Seriously???

We have got to start looking at sugar as the poison it is and THINK about what we are doing to ourselves and our kids.  The number of people on medication for diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease is insane and through the roof.  NOT ONE PERSON who reads this will be able to say to me they do not know someone on a med for either high blood pressure or diabetes.

Have you seen a photo of the way sugar lights up the brain?  It is just like cocaine.  It is highly addictive and destructive and is the root of all of our obesity issues.

JUST SAY NO!

We do as much as we can to educate about healthy eating and living through our Cook, Eat, Live SMART Ministry which now has a Facebook page!  We love talking about the dangers of sugar and of unhealthy living.  WE also LOVE talking about the tool of Plexus that is helping thousands JUST SAY NO to sugar and carbs.  If you would like for us to come speak to your church or group, we are HAPPY to do so.  This is our passion!

Before you grab that treat next time, of give it to your kids and try to tell yourself it is just once in a while or just once a year, think long and hard.  Better choices are out there!

Be sure to check out my Podcast channel HERE for a recent episode of my radio show Fit Living all about the dangers of SUGAR!

XXOO

Erin

Happy Anniversary To Me! WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG???!!!

On this day a year ago, there were a lot of thoughts going through my head.

Flashback to about six weeks before –  I was not happy with my physical health.  I was a few months out from back surgery following an accident that left me with a cracked back and 24/7 pain.  Surgery helped, but I was still in pain when sitting, standing, laying down.  I was only sleeping 1-2 hours per night at a time without waking up. I was taking steroids for inflammation that were making me want to eat a horse, as steroids do.

Needles to say I was a bit sad.  Here I was a personal trainer and water fitness instructor and avid runner who could not run, could not train people in person, and was just barely getting back into the water. Before the accident, for the past three years, my life had revolved around health and fitness.  About the only thing I could keep doing was my radio show, Fit Living.

It was pretty depressing.  About three weeks prior, I had finally “given in” to my friend Casey Brown.  See, Casey was the bariatric nurse coordinator at a local hospital.  We met when I came to speak at her support group and formed a bond, which I now realize was a God thing, and became friends.  I came back to speak every now and then and my very first stop on our anti-obesity tour, before my accident, was at her program.  This is me, thinking “wow, I look really good” and not even realizing how much weight I had gained.  I was beyond in denial!  Casey knew.  She had been mentioning Plexus to me off and on.

She knew I was struggling since my accident with regain.  It was rough.  The lack of running, tons of meds, increased immobility and some pity party going on had taken their toll and before I knew it I had put about 40 pounds back on of the 135 I lost after my gastric bypass. I was also having ridiculous blood sugar crashes as is so common with post RNY patients.  Crashes down into the 40’s.  This can be quite dangerous and even when I was eating on point, the crashes kept coming.  Casey knew Plexus was made to help regulate blood sugar. She had been trying to get me to try this Plexus stuff for almost a year and each time I said NO NO NO! Here are just a few of the things I said:

“Are you crazy?”

“That is some fad diet pill”

“That is a pyramid scheme.  How can you do this as a nurse?”

These were some of my uninformed statements as I sat there getting bigger and unhappier and unhealthier.  In late July I had finally had enough and told her I would try this “Pink Drink”.  My husband Ben thought I was nuts.  Within 3 days I saw myself feeling less tired, feeling less melancholy.  I found myself not wanting to eat the chips and popcorn and carbs and also with less appetite.  This shocked us both considering what the meds had been doing to me for a year.

After the first week Ben said, okay, mix me up one of those drinks and let me try it too.  This was us last summer. Needless to say it was time to do something. I was mortified to realize how I had let myself, a HEALTH AND FITNESS PROFESSIONAL, regain.  I had to realize that I am HUMAN.  So we started taking the Plexus program serious and WOW!

 

We noticed changes right away and our energy improved and the pounds and inches started to drop.  By the time we headed to Phoenix, AZ for the OAC conference to speak and for me to teach water aerobics, we were both down about 15 pounds.

It was an amazing trip.  It felt so good to be back in my fitness groove.  My class was filled with awesome people and it just reaffirmed my passion for helping others get healthy.  I was in no way thinking of this from a business standpoint at that time.  I just wanted my health back.    Then it hit me….I owed it to myself and to all of the people who followed me via the radio show and our online programs to share this tool.  At the conference where we spoke and I taught Aquafit, I spoke to so many people struggling with weight.  There were those who had had some type of weight loss surgery and were regaining, there were some who had never had any type of surgery and were looking for a solution.  At this point, I realized that I had an obligation to share.  I spoke with Ben and immediately worried about a few things.  My thoughts were:

“Oh the bariatric community will flame me and think I am promoting a diet fad”

“People will scoff at the network marketing aspect”

“What if I lose sponsors?”

“What if my radio show audience thinks I am crazy?”

On September 26, 2013 I signed up with Plexus as an Ambassador.  I was trying to find a way to tell the world about these awesome products without causing a furor in my weight loss circles.  On October 8 I realized that I needed to “come out” about my decision and realized FAST that if anyone wanted to make a stink, un-friend me, call me crazy, etc etc, then GO FOR IT because what if someone out there was struggling and needed this tool and I could be the only way they heard about Plexus?  So I released this blog.

A Rare Find for this Girl!- Yes I AM in love with this product!

The feedback was INCREDIBLE!  Sure there were a few uninformed people who scoffed at me, but for every one who did, there were 20-30 who contacted me saying PLEASE SHARE!  Yes I had to unfriend and block a few whackadoos from Facebook, and it was SO WORTH IT IN EVERY WAY!

With all of that said, what is different today than a year ago?  Well first off, I have lost 55 pounds and am now 15 pounds lower than the LOWEST I ever got after my gastric bypass.  This is where I started with Plexus to now:

  It is a big change for sure.  In addition to being down the pounds and inches and dress sizes, I also can take the steroid when needed without wanting to eat everything in sight.  My blood sugar crashes that were coming at least 3-4 times per week are all but gone now.  My energy is incredible.  Even with the back surgery, I was able to walk a 5k and 10k in January with my husband and kids in Disney.

 

 

Here is Ben, my husband who is down 52 pounds himself.  I am so very proud of him!  He had his best time ever in a half marathon!

 

He is also off of his cholesterol and blood pressure meds. I love you Benjamin and am so blessed that Plexus is not only helping us get healthy together, but also allowing you to be home with me and help others get HEALTHY with this tool.

 

There are so many other great benefits.  On my team, I have a husband/wife who are both bariatric patients who had regained a significant amount of weight and are each down almost 80 pounds and FEELING AMAZING.  I have three people who have come off diabetes meds. The last time I totaled the pounds and inches gone so far on my team, the pounds were in the 1000’s and inches were as well.

 

Here is another great aspect of this decision a year ago.  Not only have we showed people a REAL TOOL to help make better choices and get healthier, but we have also helped many start a business.  Plexus is so unlike any home-based business out there.  We do not operate on the typical binary pay scale.  Have you ever tried those home-based businesses where you just spend money and make nothing?  Well the people who founded Plexus had been there and done that and wanted something better.  Oh and for anyone who thinks Plexus is a pyramid scheme, those are illegal.  And in Plexus, you can easily go past the person who showed you the business and got you in and it happens all the time.

This is my friend Shirley.  Shirley is off of her $200 a month inhaler and her husband Eric had his cholesterol drop 60 points in 6 weeks after starting Plexus.  Oh and as far as being a true opportunity to earn a nice income while helping others- After joining my team July 5, Shirley earned a free trip to Orlando with us in October for the Leader’s Retreat.

We will be spending a weekend learning and growing with company leaders as well as going to Disney and the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party all on Plexus.  This company knows how to treat its’ reps.  See, Plexus spends zero on advertising.  World of mouth is how they spread the word.  TRUE network marketing.  No paid athletes, no ads in big sports events.  Just word of mouth from people who use and love the products.  The past year has been the biggest time of personal growth and development for me and I am just scratching the surface.  My circle of friends has changed and God is bringing some amazing people into my life via Plexus and weeding out some unhealthy relationships.  It is AMAZING how people change when you start getting healthier and are living your passion.  I could not be more grateful.

I am now a Ruby Ambassador with Plexus and my husband Ben is a Sr. Gold Ambassador and joining this incredible company was the best decision we have ever made.  I love the way we feel, I love that he can be home working with me full time and not commuting to a job where he makes money for someone else, and I love knowing that we are truly helping people change their lives with this tool.  It is beyond humbling.  I am so very grateful for the team of 300 we have with us and for the many others not directly on our team that we have gotten to know and learn from daily.

Now a year later, I look back at those first few weeks when I was so scared to go public with what I was doing and I just laugh and smile.  I think of the PhD who literally told me I was in a pyramid scheme and giggle.  I think of the few people whom I had to block from Facebook and just pray for them to one day find happiness and a tool that they can be as passionate about as I am about Plexus.

This is my friend and business partner Susan who has lost about 40 pounds and lots of inches and has gone down several sizes and who I get to work with daily as we help others get healthy. I love this lady and love seeing what Plexus has done for her and her family.  Watching the stories come in daily of amazing and positive changes people are seeing to their overall health means way more to me than the paycheck I get each week.

 

 

Plexus is changing lives.  Chew on this incredible fact for a moment- Inc. Magazine recently named Plexus the 8th fastest growing privately held company in America.

This is a BIG DEAL.  This is a network marketing company.  I am so blessed and grateful to be part of this company.

 

To Casey Brown RN, CBN- I love you and thank you so much for meeting me for lunch at Panera on this day one year ago.  WOW I am so in awe of what God has done in my life and Ben’s life through this opportunity.  You are a wonderful person who truly cares and I am loving being on this journey with you!  I am so glad you did not give up on me when I said NO WAY!

 

 

 

 

To Sara Marble- You as well are an amazing mentor and leader!  I am so glad YOU got Casey Brown into this business and so blessed to have two incredible nurses to learn from each day.  You are both changing lives and I love that Ben and myself can now try to follow in your footsteps!  The two of you teach me new things daily about just how incredible Plexus is and what it can do for people! I cannot wait to be with both of you in Orlando in a few weeks!

 

 

 

To my AMAZING TEAM- I am so stinking proud of all of you and thankful for each of you.  You guys continue to amaze me daily and I see incredible things in the future for all of us.  Each time one of you messages me about you or one of your customers coming off of a script, losing another 5 pounds, losing another 3 inches, being able to walk past the cookies, being free of migraines, being free of fibromyalgia and other painful issues, I literally want to cry.  YOU GUYS ARE LIKE FAMILY!

 

 

I truly feel like Plexus is a gift from God and one I am not going to take for granted.  I cannot say enough about the company and the integrity of the leaders we have.  If you are really struggling with carbs and sugar and pain and stress, send me a message.  Think of where YOU could be a year from now!  YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!  All it takes is commitment and healthy tools.

If you want more information on what Plexus can do for you, by all means come visit my site at Erin Akey.com  Or email me- erineakey@gmail.com  What do you have to lose besides another year? Please be sure to visit our Facebook page Erin and Ben’s Plexus Slim!

XXOO

Erin

 

 

 

 

The elephant in the…sanctuary. Why does the church avoid this?

Those who know me know that I am passionate about a few things. First off is that I am passionate about God and my faith. I am passionate about my family. Those come first. After God and family, there is my passion for health and fitness and for fighting the disease of obesity that likely would have killed me had I not made a decision to take control of my health back in the fall of 2008. Trust me I was the poster child of unhealthy living. Fast food, huge portions, processed boxed meals, and pretty much everything I did not need to be eating.  The change was not overnight and not easy.  It is still a daily struggle for me, but my health is my priority and more important than the momentary pleasure offered by the taste of an Oreo or Doritos.

I have been thinking a lot over the past year about my faith and about strengthening my relationship with God. I had regained 44 pounds back in 2012 after an accident where I ended up having to have spinal fusion for some cracked vertebrae.  Steroids, lack of being able to run any longer, pity party over my anti-obesity tour coming to a halt for medical reasons, lack of physical activity prior to surgery, and poor habits creeping back in, all contributed to this gain.  I had to wake up and smell the nachos and realize that I was responsible for my health.  Thanks to a good friend I discovered the tool of Plexus to help me make better choices and now Ben and I are both down over 50 pounds since last October.  

I did a lot of soul searching and realized there truly is an elephant in the sanctuary.  Obesity.  In a report that came out last week by The  Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation the statistics are quite alarming.  We now have two states with obesity rates over 35%.  Mississippi and West Virginia have the highest obesity rates with 35.1% of adults in those states being obese, or having a body mass index of 30 or higher.  My state of Alabama is ranked 8th and my birth state of Louisiana is ranked 6th.  Here is a glimpse at the top ten.

1. Mississippi

1. West Virginia

3. Arkansas

4. Tennessee

5. Kentucky

6. Louisiana

7. Oklahoma

8. Alabama

9. Indiana

10. South Carolina

Let me be the first to say that obesity has so many different causes.  There are factors that range from genetics to environment to lifestyle choices. While we cannot control our genetics and sometimes cannot control out environment, we can control out personal choices.  There are also a host of medical conditions that are made worse or caused by obesity.  Hypertension, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and many joint issues, back pain, and so much more are all related to our obesity.  

Knowing all of this, I made a conscious choice to truly treat my body as a temple about a year and a half ago.  My martini bar became a coffee bar. Oh, and before anyone tries to lecture me about caffeine and coffee consumption, let me just say that for every study you can show my that says coffee is bad I can show you two more that show the health benefits, so let us put that aside.  I love coffee.  And it has almost no calories and helps keep things flowing and tastes amazing to me.  (Especially with sugar free flavorings)  I realized that for my to lecture someone about the calories in a cake yet drink a 300-500 calorie martini was a bit hypocritical.  I choose to get my calories from nutritious foods and not drink them. Another great reason to have my own coffee bar at home where I can add some skim milk and have a healthy drink for pennies as opposed to the $4-$5 creations that are often filled with fat and sugar at coffee houses.  Most people have no idea the calories they are drinking in some form.  Sodas, lattes, and sweet tea- a staple here in the south- are the biggest culprits.  

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us:

“do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body^[a] and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

We often hear this verse when the preacher is speaking about drinking or drug use or sexual immorality but how often do we hear them speak of the sin of gluttony?  

Proverbs 23:21

For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

                                   

 

It sounds to me like God is telling us there is no difference in being drunk with alcohol and drunk with food.  I am a recovering food addict.  I know this and only by the grace of God and daily work do I  overcome this addiction.  For many food is their drug of choice when they are sad, lonely, or feel alone.  This is no different than the user of other “drugs” like alcohol, pills, sex, pornography, or gambling, to name a few.  

We have become such a sedentary society.  God designed our bodies in such a way as to be made to MOVE.  Our ancestors did a lot of manual labor and worked hard and burned off what they ate and often did not have enough to keep full.  Now we have become a society of more is better and quantity over quality and faster faster.  Most families rarely even sit down to a meal together during the week because of our busy lives.  I hear people say they have no time to cook, but in all truth you can throw together a healthy meal just as fast as you can drive to a fast food joint and get dinner.  And if you have time for TV and Facebook, you have time to cook a healthy meal for your family.  Is it easy?  No, of course not, but it has to be a priority.  We have to decide that the health of our family is just as important as catching the next episode of whatever TV show you like to watch.  

Unhealthy food is cheaper yes.  And yes we can buy more empty processed junk for $25 than we can healthy food.  However we CAN buy a good healthy meal that is enough to feed our family on a budget.  This is part of what Ben and I show people how to do every day in our programs.

So why do we avoid the topic of obesity in church?  Now I happen to attend a church where my pastor runs marathons and we have a running club for kids and tons of sports and physical activities we can participate in if we so choose.  We have an amazing gym and fitness center that if free to use.  This is a good and proactive thing.  This is not the case in many churches though for various reasons and also how many people actually use these facilities in churches that DO have them?

We owe it to God to treat our body as a temple and not a garbage dump.  There is no difference in putting unhealthy, empty carbs and food with no real nutritional value in or bodies on a regular basis than there is filling our bodies with drugs.  Both have very damaging long term effects.  The problem seems to be more prevalent here in the south where we center all gatherings around FOOD.  When we are happy we celebrate with food.  When we mourn or are sick, FOOD- how many times have you been asked to bring a dish to someone’s house after a loved one passed away?  

So much of our social life surrounds food.  Now I love parties and potlucks and gathering with friends over a good meal.  This is a wonderful tradition.  We southerners especially have a sense of hospitality and togetherness and that is something to be proud of for sure.  But it is time to start looking at what we are eating and how what we eat plays into our health. Almost all of the top 20 states with the highest obesity rates are here in the south.  Our culture plays into this in a big way.  Okay maybe I am biased but come on now, where is the BEST food in America found?  IN THE SOUTH!!  (I grew up in New Orleans- I know good food). People come from all over the country to try the delicacies and wonderful traditional foods of the south.  WE ARE FAMOUS FOR SWEET TEA??  This is about as unhealthy as you can get as far as a drink goes.  A 24oz glass of Red Diamond  Sweet tea is 210 calories, 51 grams of sugar. Pretty crazy.  And we all know we use way more sugar when we make it at home right?  

It is time to start a wave of change in our community of believers.  

I would love to see a potluck or gathering where everyone brings their favorite healthy dish.  We do this at our home when we have a Plexus meeting and I can assure you nobody leaves hungry or feeling like the food was not good.  It is possible to eat well and still enjoy food.  

                                                   

 

Ben and I have created a program that involves total balance of physical, mental and emotional fitness called Cook, Eat, Live, Smart. We love showing groups and families and churches how to change their habits and improve their health.  I would love to see this topic be discussed in church just as much as financial fitness, and over indulgence in other things that are not so good for us.  I challenge any pastor or church goer who reads this to start looking at being a whole balanced person for God as a balance between not just emotional and spiritual, but also physical fitness.

Understand this does not mean everyone in your church needs to run marathons and wear a size 8.  This is about healthy and active, not skinny. All it takes to start is 15 minutes 3 times a week of some type of physical activity to get your heart rate up.  We need to create a movement of healthy living among our church peers.  IT can be done and it can grow and spread and we can make a difference one person and one meal and one good choice at a time.  

We owe it to God, our children and grandchildren and friends and family who want us healthy and able to live life to the fullest and serve God with the body He gave us.  If you need help getting started, email me- cookeatlivesmart@gmail.com and I am HAPPY to help.  Ben and I are happy to come to ANY church in America that wants to learn how do live a balanced healthy life and bring our program to your congregation and show you how to get started.  When you start living healthy and changing habits one at a time it becomes a lifestyle.    This is our ministry of health and we are passionate about spreading the blessings of healthy living.  I would love to hear from you and get your thoughts on this topic as well.  

In Health!

Erin

Thank you OAC!

My video shout-out to the OAC!