Living Nourished Lives

With the new year here, It seems a good time to think about how our consistent life choices add up to who we are. This is particularly true with the way we feed our body and the environment that we are surrounded by. My particular focus right now is how to help build a healthier body with good nutrition. Shaklee has been a key component in nourishing (and protecting) my body for almost 16 years now. So you might ask, “Where do you start with Shaklee?”  Well, in my opinion, it is best to start with basic nutrition and nontoxic cleaning products and then add personal care.  What does that look like? Truly, it depends.  Not everyone is the same.  For someone band new joining as a Member or Ambassador, Shaklee does have a good starting bundle that covers basic nutrition along with a free item of your choice. So I do recommend taking advantage of that special offer if you are not already a Member/Ambassador.  If you are joining for the first time, the special Bundle to get is called the Ready Set Wellness Bundle.  The RSW Bundle (available with Meology too) not only comes at a special “join order” price of  $179, but it also comes with Free Membership and Free Shipping, plus the Free Product (several really nice ones to choose from).  The bundle is essentially a months worth of premium Shaklee nutrition.  If you place it on a recurring order, in your second month, you can continue the same premium regimen (minus the free product).  After a new member’s join order, the basic monthly plan is called the Vitalizing Plan.  Why?  It contains 30 daily Vitalizer Strips of Shaklee quality Supplements (choice of either men, women, and gold) and 28 days of a meal replacement protein Life Shake in two 14 serve pouches to allow for up to 2 flavors in either soy or plant protein (note: I do trust Shaklee’s non-GMO, 350+ contaminant tested, non-heat, non-chemical prepared soy isolate protein even though otherwise I shy away from soy).  The Vitalizer is an economical way to get an excellent cross-section of greater than pharmaceutical quality (tested for 80 contaminants) Shaklee supplements that were taken by the long term (20+ years) Shaklee users that participated in the Landmark Study at UC Berkeley and who came out with markedly better health bio markers than the non-shaklee user participants.  The Shaklee user participants also supplemented with Shaklee’s protein, therefore the Ready Set Wellness Bundle also comes with Life Shake. The average age of the Shaklee participants was 63 years old and on average they were taking less than one prescription (0.6/per person).  Those are amazing results for the average age category! The biomarkers of the Shaklee users were in the optimal range and were better than both other categories even though the average age in the non-Shaklee participants was younger. Those participants who took no multivitamin on average were 53 years old and those who took a single multivitamin of any brand (for 20 years) were an average age of 58 years old. 

If you want a different plan or selection of basic Shaklee products in the second month, I still suggest to select the box to set up your first order as a monthly “Loyalty Order” (month 1 is at 5% back in loyalty points) and then simply log back into your account and adjust your next month’s loyalty order to whatever combination of products you want (best to do it at least a day before the next ship date).  As long as the loyalty order is $100 (before taxes or shipping), you will earn loyalty points that can be used toward free products in a future order. You are nicely rewarded for keeping a $100 loyalty order going each month.  When you order $100 minimum on your loyalty order (by the 15th of the month if you are an Ambassador) your order rewards incrementally increase toward 15% back in points (3 mos. @ 5% & 3 mos. @ 10%). By the 7th month of a $100/mo Loyalty Order, you would be getting the full 15% back in points each month.  To help you see how the points can add up…at 15% back, a $100 order will earn 15 points (redeemable in a future order for up to $15 in free products).  In 3 months you could get any items up to $45 in free products. It really helps you save money while keeping healthy.

So what kinds of things would be good to order on loyalty order?  Well, as previously stated, the Vitalizing Plan (the Ready Set Wellness with Viatlizer, minus the free product) is an excellent option. If you have more funds that you could spend on your health each month and especially if you are age 50+ the RX for a Healthier Life is superb because it has 30 Vitalizer strips, 28 scoops of Life Shake, and 2 Shaklee exclusives: Vivix (anti-aging at a cellular level) and Nutriferon (immune system balancing and support at a cellular level).  However, if you are younger or on a budget, let me give you some other options.

You can choose a simple, no frills option of Shaklee’s excellent pure and proven nutrition.  This would be one of Shaklee’s Multivitamin/mineral: Vita-Lea (men, women, or gold or there are other non-tablet forms available & also methylated) and one of Shaklee’s proteins products.  Life Shake is the best tasting in my opinion but Shaklee’s Soy Energizing Protein or Soy Instant Protein (Dr Shaklee’s original with no flavoring), or one of the whey protein options like Build or Build+ or Meal Shake, or even Collagen 9 or Up and Glowing could all be good products to use as a protein/amino acid supplement.

Ordering the Life Shake Family Pack is also a good option especially if you have multiple people in your household that want to experience the excellent quality of Shaklee protein and supplements.  Life Shake is a meal replacement, so it does have vitamins and minerals as well as a high level of protein (10 grams in each scoop).  I have been told that Dr Shaklee said that if you could only choose one supplement from what Shaklee had to offer, he would recommend Shaklee protein before Vita Lea (multivitamin/multimineral).  Why? Our cells are built with protein (made from amino acids), so essentially protein is the building block of our bodies and this is why Dr Shaklee named it as the most important supplement and why good protein is essential to building a new you. That being said, of course I believe that Vita Lea is a very important basic supplement because our soils are so very depleted these days, and as a consequence, our foods are not as nutritious as in the past.  Shaklee tests all botanicals in their products for 350+ contaminants…and the raw botanicals are 3rd party tested, and then re-tested in house and then the finished products are also tested…. that’s Shaklee quality. So you don’t need to worry if you are taking a dose of lead with your protein or your multivitamin. In 2007 supplements were tested for lead and many multis had lead (ask me and I can email you information about this study).  To me, using Shaklee brand is peace of mind. If I’m paying for supplements, I don’t want to chance paying for a dose of lead tagging along.  So why is this important to talk about in regard to Life Shake? Well, one Life Shake has 1/3 of the daily value of core vitamins and minerals in addition to 20 grams of protein.  So while it won’t give you the full daily value of core nutrients like Vita Lea, in addition to pure quality protein, you will get some vitamins and minerals too and they will be the ultra-pure, Shaklee quality.  The Family Pack can make 56 meal replacement shakes (2 scoops each) for $3.28 per meal…so it is a delicioius breakfast on the go… or one scoop can be used for a nutritious snack.  The Family Pack is also the most economical way to follow the Shaklee 180 weight management program.  Just get one Family Pack and a bottle of Metabolic Boost and you have a months worth of breakfast and lunch (2 meals for 28 days) and enough metabolic boost to have one with 3 meals per day.  I can do a weekly check-in accountability call or text with anyone who would like that (YouTube video link). I plan to use the Shaklee 180 to take off some unwanted pounds that crept on over the holidays.  I can go over Shaklee’s cleaners and personal care… without the toxins…in another post.