Weight Loss and the Power of Leucine

Anyone who is really into body building or knows someone who is a big time bodybuilder has probably heard about Leucine.  But maybe you never understood why these weight lifters were making such a fuss over this little supplement.

The reason Leucine is such a big deal is that it helps anyone, muscle building maniac or not, lose weight but losing the fat but KEEPING the muscle.  That is why the body builders like it.  It helps them keep muscle!
Let’s take a closer look…

What is Leucine?

Leucine’s main job in your body is helping the cell with protein synthesis. It is one of 9 essential amino acids – those are the building blocks of protein.  The essential part means that you have to get this amino acid from your diet.  Leucine is found in many protein rich foods like dairy products, fish, chicken, lean meat and even soy based foods like tofu.

Why should you care?

When your body gets Leucine  it sends it directly to your muscle tissue.  Once there is helps activate the system that creates lean muscle.  One analogy is that Leucine is the cash that is required to build your dream house (the lean muscle). Once you get enough money (Leucine) you can purchase the supplies you need to build the house (the muscle).  The more Leucine/money you have, the more muscle/home you can build.

How does this help you lose weight?

If you go on a typical diet, you have to cut back on calories. This helps you lose weight but you lose both muscle and fat.  You also lose energy.  This is because you probably cut back to a point where your body isn't getting what it needs and this means you have less energy to do all the things your body needs to do – those daily biological functions that keep you upright and breathing.

You and your body probably like that part about upright and breathing so the body goes and steals energy by breaking down your muscles for protein and energy.  This is a bad thing.  Maintaining those muscles actually burns calories and boosts your metabolism.  Lose the muscle, lose the metabolism, gain the weight back.

Leucine is like the magic bullet that stimulates muscle growth so your body has to burn the fat instead in order to get the energy.  You lose the weight but you lose it from fat.  This means your metabolism stays up and you can keep losing weight and when you reach the weight that is right for your body you can maintain that weight MUCH easier.

That is where the science comes in behind the Shaklee system and the products in that system.

The Shaklee 180 Mobile App - Part 3

Other Resources and Workouts

This is the third installment of my Shaklee 180 Mobile App. For this post I going to focus on the extras that Shaklee has provided with this mobile app. I think it is these little extras that take this from being just another food and calorie tracking app.  While I think Shaklee has done a great job in the food and calorie portion of the app and I would rank them among the top in that app category, adding the extra resources pushes them into more that just and app and into a full weight loss program.

Resource Menu

The extra resources includes two areas that make this a complete weight loss program - the Workouts and the Recipes & Tips. To me these two areas are critical in order to truly achieve the turnaround that this 180 program talks about. Making changes in the choices you make physically and in your diet are important things to learn how to do and I think this is a good step in that direction.

The rest of the resource menu is more information about Shaklee, the Shaklee 180 program, and the products that Shaklee provides with the kit. If you are not familiar with Shaklee and their philosophy there is a lot of good information available including the information about the science behind the 180 system.

The Workouts

I have started the workouts and have tried several to this point. Shaklee has worked with a couple of trainers and they are using what is called the burst system.  The concept behind this is based on interval training.  Short bursts of activity done in various ways and using multiple muscle groups to shock your system and help you burn calories while working out and for hours after.

The workouts I have tried so far were definitely intense but they were easy in that there was no special equipment required and you could adjust your level intensity to fit what you could handle.  The jury is still out on the overall workout program but I am only starting week 2 so I will try to check back in after I have done more of the program.

Tips and Recipes

The Recipe portion is not huge on the app but it does have some good starting points and there is more help to be found online. Besides the recipes, there are several articles that explain ways to improve your health and your weight loss efforts

Honestly, I have not tried any of the recipes yet but I have read a few of the articles.  They are informative and give you a better understanding of some of what is happening behind the diet plan in order to help you lose weight now and keep it off later.

Overall Impression

Overall I am impressed the the mobile app that Shaklee has provided for their Shaklee 180 Turnaround weight loss system.

1. They included all the necessary components to be a good standalone weight and calorie counter.  
2. They also included enough stuff to be a good workout tracker, even going the extra mile and putting in every day, normal life activities as exercise.
3. And then they put together a nice resources section complete with dieting tips, recipes and a complete workout system.

Any one of these three items could stand alone and be a decent app from the App Store or Google Play Store.  But by putting all 3 together in one mobile app, Shaklee has gone the extra mile to truly create a weight loss system.

But the BEST PART - the app is only one aspect of the 180 turnaround program.  The real power of the system is the quality products you get and the science that went into creating those products. Shaklee went as far as doing clinical trials to prove that their products and the Leucine in those products really helped people to lose the fat and not the muscle.

And don't forget the online and social Web 2.0 areas of the program.  Just one more part of what looks to be a great system.

I am happy with what I have seen so far and would not hesitate to recommend this to anyone.  I am around 3 weeks into the program myself and I feel great and I have been making progress towards my goal. I will be updating my progress and my reviews of the products as my journey continues.

If you missed my first 2 installments of the Mobile App review you can find them by clicking on the following links:

• Shaklee 180 Mobile App Review - Part 1
• Shaklee 180 Mobile App Review - Part 2

The Shaklee 180 Mobile App - Part 2

Food / Weight / Exercise Trackers

Today I thought I would explore the Shaklee 180 Mobile App a little further.  I will be focusing this blog entry on the tracking portion of the app.  There are several things that can be tracked but mainly you will track your daily food (or calorie) intake and your daily workout or exercise activity.  You can also keep track of your weight and you waist size.  This part doesn't need to be done daily but you can if you would like.

The Food Tracker

Every day you will have the chance to log the food you have eaten. You are given a calorie budget of 1200 calories - or at least that is what I got.   The program might change this budget depending on factors such as age and weight and weight loss goal.  I am not sure if that happens or if we all get the 1200 limit. (I will do some research and if I find out more I will update)

This is a screen shot of my tracker bar from a couple of days ago. You can see that I have already logged a few meals and that I logged some exercise.  The calories you burn get added to your total.  You can see later I went over the 1200 calories but the activity I did kept me within the food budget.

When you are ready to log in new items, you just tap on the bar.

You get a new page.

This page will remind you to log your next meal and give you choices to put in the Shaklee products you are using or any other type of food. You can also tap on the meal you are inputting and it will give you the food choices from there.

The food list is very extensive and has pretty much anything you might ever eat as a menu choice.  There are a lot of food brands and restaurants included so if you eat pre-packaged meals or eat out it makes life easy to keep track of.

However, if you are really trying to get healthy, avoiding those box meals is really better.  When you make your own stuff you can still put it in but you have to either guess the amount or do lots of measuring.   I am not that concerned about having a perfect calorie count so I get it close. The mere act of tracking my food makes me at least think about what I am eating and in turn helps me cut back on my portion sizes.

There is even a place for custom foods, so if you make a certain meal all the time, you can put it in and then just pick it every time you eat it.

The Exercise Tracker

Another choice you have when you tap the bar is to log the activity you have done. This is very similar to logging your food. But to me, this is one place the Shaklee 180 app sets itself apart.

One thing that I think is really cool is that it not only does it have a place for the normal workout routines, but it also gives you credit for all the stuff you do in everyday life.

This is a feature I have really not seen in any of the trackers I have used in the past.  It is a nice thing to see, in my opinion, because so many programs say you should be working out but we don't always have the time to do a traditional workout using weights, a treadmill or going to the aerobics class.

The list shown in the screen shot has lots of things most of us do have time for because some of them are just the things we have to get done like cleaning house or carrying groceries. And no, you aren't burning a ton of calories but at least when you look at your tracker you will see some extra space so you don't have to feel quite as guilty when you splurge and have an ice cream with you kids.

Of course there is also a place to log traditional workouts and exercise and then there is a place to log your Shaklee workouts.  In the resources section of the app, Shaklee has teamed up with some trainers who provide you with what they call burst workouts.  I will be covering more about this area of the app in my next blog post.

Weight Tracker

Finally, the last thing I want to talk about today is the weight tracking portion of the app.  It is really not the focus of the app, but I think this is okay.  Even though weight is the measuring stick we use to judge our progress, the ultimate goal is to become healthier and learn to eat right and add some exercise and activity into our lives.  Skinny people are not automatically healthy.   But if you look at the last screen shot, you can see how there is a place that shows your initial weight and waist size that you enter when you first start up the Shaklee 180 mobile app.  After that it shows where you are currently and what your goals are.  There is also a nice graph that looks great when is it headed down hill.

In my next post I will go over some of the extras Shaklee has put in the 180 Mobile App.  Until then, keep on moving on and here's hoping all your graphs are headed down hill!

Read more about the Shaklee 180 Mobile App 

- Part 1 / Introduction and Overview

- Part 3 / Other Resources including Tips and Workouts

The Shaklee 180 Mobile App

Worth the Weight  

WOOHOO!! The mobile app has finally arrived.  One of my complaints about the Shaklee 180 system was the fact that they advertised a mobile app but it was not available when I first received my kit.  It is my understanding that the app was ready to go but was stuck in the process of getting approved for the app store.  A reasonable explanation but still a miscalculation on Shaklee's part assuming that Apple would push them through on the Shaklee schedule.  They should have known Apple does things their own way.

But anyway, lets move on with the review of the app.  We are not here to bash Apple or their policies or Shaklee's miscalculation. It is all water under the bridge now that the app is available.  And it is available to pretty much everyone since Shaklee at least had the forethought to create a version for Android as well as iOS.

I got the app almost a week ago (February 3rd to be exact) and so far I have been very impressed.  The disappointment of having to wait has been overshadowed by the great features that Shaklee included.  They did not try to throw together a rinky dink little app that would not be of any use but instead took the time to develop something that covers every part of the 180 turnaround journey.

In fact there is so much stuff  available on the mobile app that I am going to be breaking down my review into a couple of parts.  I am just going to give a general overview in this posting and will cover the diet plan, food recorder and progress logs in a second post, followed by a 3rd post where I focus on the workouts and exercise area.

Interface and Usability

Here is an area where I think Shaklee did a great job. The screens are bright and colorful and have easy to read buttons and menus.  I downloaded the app to both my smart phone and my tablet and it looks good on both screens.  The tablet is of course bigger and spreads out the information more but the smaller screen of the phone does not make anything looked cramped or unreadable.

The dashboard page uses large tile similar to a windows 8 setting.  It gives a nice overview of whats going on and has a nice tip or motivational quote that changes periodically.

I am using the Android version on both of my devices so I can't comment too much on the Apple side but I would think most things would look and work almost identically.

The bar at the top tracks your food calories and adds on additional calories to the daily goal when you log your daily activities.

You can see I am on day four when I took the pic and I have earned 15 contest entries.  (Shaklee has weekly drawing to win prizes)

Menus

Because Shaklee packed so much into this app there is a menu set available to help you navigate to the different areas of the plan. It gives the user an easy way to get to the different ways of tracking their progress whether it be the foods you ate, the exercise you did or even the little awards Shaklee has included to to try and motivate you to keep going and to keep using the app.

They are just little badges for recording your meals for a whole day or a whole week. This is a simple but nice feature.  It doesn't seem like much but its cool getting a new award and it keeps you using the app.  The app can become like your little diet companion.  And I think we all know we do better at something when we commit to it and commit to doing it with a buddy.  Shaklee tried to give everyone an extra "buddy" to keep them moving forward and committed with this app.  I say "GOOD JOB".

The Menu page also has other resources.  Clicking on this takes you to a whole new menu full of stuff like recipes and workouts and more info on the products you will be using.  It is a blog post in itself!

Overall Impression

This is not the first diet / food calorie / weight tracker app I have ever used, so  I think I can say with confidence that Shaklee did their homework and took the time to create a useful app.  It has all the elements you want without going overboard.  There aren't any flashing adds or extra junk to distract you.

I like how it keeps track of your progress and gives you a spot to record everything you do.  I was VERY impressed with the food tracker and possibly even MORE IMPRESSED with the exercise tracker.  The food tracker makes it very easy to find what you need.  There were places for the Shaklee foods (of course) but there was also foods by brand, by restaurant and by type.  You could even customize it with your own creations.  And while none of this is really beyond other apps you can get when you combine it with all the other things in the app it puts it over the top.

One of those things is the exercise tracker.  It had the typical list of workouts but what sets it apart in my book is the section devoted to everyday life.  It gives you credit for walking to work or mowing the lawn or doing stuff around the house where you are exercising even though you aren't wearing workout clothes or standing in a gym.  VERY VERY COOL - GOOD JOB SHAKLEE!

Lots of plans say you don't have to do fancy workouts but this app actually backs up that statement.  And while most of these around the house activities burn lots of calories to add room on your daily limit, they can give you just enough that you won't feel so guilty when you are living life and happen to have an ice cream cone with your kids.

I really like this app and all it offers.  If you were on the fence trying to decide on whether to try the Shaklee 180 turnaround plan I would say this app would bump you off that fence on the side of doing it.  I think it also gives Shaklee's 180 plan one more advantage over other plans out there.  They were already the #1 Nutritional Company in the U.S., now they are on their way to becoming the weight loss leader as well.

Read more about the Shaklee 180 Mobile App 

- Part 2 / Food, Weight & Exercise Trackers

- Part 3 / Other Resources including Tips and Workouts

Shaklee 180 - The Second Week

Well the excitement of the first week is over and now the work of staying on the plan really kicks in. I personally didn't think it was really very hard to do the smoothee for breakfast and the meal bar for lunch. That is something I think I will be able to do for the 90 days pretty easily.

I should say I can do it easily during the weekdays. The weekend on the other hand is a little bit of a different story.

Going out with the family and hiking, picnicking  or even just shopping makes it tough to do a Smoothee or even the meal bar. Even when I am at home the kids are eating yummy stuff like pizza and pasta and hamburgers, so I tend to join in.

Last weekend I did the shake for breakfast but didn't follow the plan after that.  I didn't gain any weight doing this last weekend but this weekend we are out of town at a wedding and it is Super Bowl Sunday so I am sure I won't be eating as healthy as I should.

I just figure if a plan can't work without me totally changing everything about my life then it will be a waste of my time because I will just gain the weight back when I stop the plan. I am willing to change, but I still have to live.  I think I have done a lot of good change as far as my food choices.  I only have a soda about once a month instead of once or twice a day.  I replaced my daily drinks with water and while it was a struggle at first, now I don't really miss the sugar drinks at all.

I did start doing push-ups and sit-ups this week so that should help. I am hoping to add in sure cardio soon. I have only lost about 1/2 a pound this week but it seems to me that I am looking better and I do have more energy. I am thinking I might measure my waist to see if I am losing inches even if I am not losing pounds. After all the plan says I should be losing fat and if I am working out, maybe I am gaining muscle. I am pretty sure muscle weighs more than fat for the same volume.

Shaklee 180 - What's in the Box

I couldn't really call this a review blog if I didn't at least show you what you will be getting for your money.

I ordered my Shaklee 180 Transformation Kit at the end of December when the program was first introduced.  When I ordered there were some choices I could make on what kind of smoothee, snack bar, meal in a bar and tea I would like.  I decided not to make any choices for my first order and just took the variety pack that comes standard.

About a week later a pretty good sized box was sitting at my front door.  It was very bright and colorful and not just a typical brown cardboard box.  You will definitely know when your kit arrives.

The kit is filled with products that are intended to last for 30 days and provide you with two meals a day, snacks, tea and a metabolic boost supplement. The program also comes with online support that includes exercise and meal tips and suggestions. There is also a chance to win rewards while you are on the program.

**UPDATE - Now, when you purchase one of the Shaklee 180 Kits, you also get access to their mobile app.  It came out in early February. I am very impressed so far with what it has to offer.  I started doing a post about it here.

Inside the box your will find the following things:

3 canisters of Shaklee 180 Energizing Smoothee Mix
You can choose from 4 different flavors and mix and match in any combination you would like. The flavors include Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry and Cafe Latte.  If you don't make any changes you will get what I did - 1 can each of the Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry.

2 boxes of the Shaklee Meal-in-a-Bar
This time you can choose from two flavors, Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip or Blueberry & Almond Crisp. Again you can mix or match but if you take the standard pack you will get one of each. There are 7 bars in each box.

1 box of the Shaklee Snack Bar
There are three flavors available including Chocolate Chocolate, Peanut Butter or Lemon & Cranberry.  There is also a variety pack box that gives you a few of each of the flavors.  This is your option when you take the standard order.  The box has 10 bars total.

1 box of the Shaklee 180 Energizing Tea
You get 30 servings of either Pomegranate or Green Tea with you order.  Again, you get to choose. The standard pack comes with Pomegranate.

1 bottle of the Shaklee 180 Metabolic Boost
This supplement is powered by green tea and helps gives your body a boost to help it burn calories naturally.  There are enough tablets for 30 days - 3 times a day. (90)

The box also comes with some written documentation, but I will have to admit I didn't spend much time looking it over and now I seem to have misplaced it.  I will try to do better about looking at it with my next box and if there is anything super cool or important I will provide an update.  There is lots of stuff online at MyShaklee180 so I think anything important can be found there.

I am saving the review of the online materials for another day.  I will also look at each product individually and do a review in the coming weeks.

My first impression of the kit was good overall.  It all looks very nice and it was well thought out.  I have enjoyed all the products I have tried so far and I have been impressed with the fact that I have not been hungry during the day following the smoothee and meal bar plan.  The tea does seem to provide a little pick me up so that was a nice surprise.

The things that concerned my were the amount of snack bars provided.  Only one box.  That isn't enough to have a snack bar every day.  But maybe that wasn't the intent.  But seeing that I haven't even eaten a single snack bar yet and I am 10 days in maybe this is really a non-issue.

One thing I do see as becoming an issue for me is the number of meal bars.  The program is set to have you do a smoothee for breakfast and some lunches.  I have only been eating the meal bars for lunch because I haven't figured out how to make the smoothee at work yet.  But I guess that is a problem I will deal with in about a week.

Shaklee 180 - Day 8

Well one week down and I am still going strong.  Well actually I am getting stronger or should I say doing better.  The first week I was just scratching the surface and trying to at least get started with the program.  I was all gung ho at the beginning of the year and spouted off lots of wonderful resolutions but then actually following through was, of course, a different story.

But I did get started and now this week I am trying to really do it right.  I went to the MyShaklee180 website that is provided to everyone using the program.  It seemed like a pretty good site with tips on staying active, eating the right foods and eating the right portions.  I didn't have time to look around much but I put it in my plans to come back and do a more in depth review of the website.

They did have a contest - what looked like a 'biggest loser' type of deal where you could win different prizes.  It looked like there might be weekly prizes (maybe from a drawing) and a couple of major prizes to be given out at 90 and 180 day intervals.  Remember the premise of the plan was 90 days to lose the weight and 90 days to keep it off for a total of 180.

I did enter the contest and even uploaded my pic.  I wasn't brave enough yet to do the shirtless pic but well see after a couple of months.

They website also mentioned a phone/tablet app for apple and android but apparently that is still in production.  I would mark this down as a negative.  If you are going to roll out a fancy new program it would be nice to have all the tools available from the beginning.  The app is promised to be here so I will make note of it and do my review when it shows up. (Update: (02/2012) - The mobile app has now been released.)

As far as my personal day, I was still at 254 pounds so I didn't lose any more weight over the weekend but for me just maintaining my weight over a weekend is a huge bonus.  This is the tough time for me because all the kids are home and we are out doing things and sometimes its eat on the go.  Which can mean not as controlled or healthy.

For Monday (day 8) I did the shake for breakfast (added my fruit as always) and I did add the Metabolic Boost supplement, FINALLY!  For lunch I had the Shaklee 180 Meal bar and then I had a normal dinner - crock pot pork with green chili, rice and beans. I took a Boost at dinner but missed it at lunch.  I tried the Pomegranate Energizing Tea after dinner and was not super impressed.  However, I am not a tea person so I will give it a couple of days before I pass final judgement.  For snack I did have 2 oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (not a suggested snack) and some mixed nuts.

So far I like the shakes and meal bars and don't find myself starving or dying for a big meal or a hamburger.  I think I can do this breakfast/lunch change.  I will report back later on how things are going.  See if anymore weight comes off. In the meantime, I plan on doing some more reviews of the products and support and trying to add some more exercise into my routine.  I think I will check out some of the Shaklee workouts.