Nutrition - Vi with almond milk vs Ensure

Like my friend who got me started drinking the Body by Vi (Visalus) shakes for nutrition, one of my new customers recently became worried about her mother's nutrition after her mom was advised by her doctor she needed more protein. My customer said she was sure her mom would like the Vi shake much better than Ensure. Of course my curiosity got the better of me and I had to compare the nutrition of both products:

	Visalus	Unsweetened Almond Milk	Vi + Almond Milk	Ensure
calories	90	60	150	250
total fat	1g	2.5g	3.5 g	6g
carbs	7 g	3 g	10 g	41 g
fiber	5 g	1 g	6 g	1g
sugars	<1 g	7 g	7 g	18g
protein	12 g	1 g	12 g	9 g
Vit A	30%	10%	40%	25%
Calcium	30%	45%	75%	30%
Vitamin D	30%	25%	55%	25%
Vitamin E	30%	50%	80%	30%
Vitamin K	30%			25%
Thiamin	30%			25%
Riboflavin	30%	25%	55%	25%
Niacin	30%			25%
Vitamin B6	30%			25%
Folate	30%			25%
Vitamin B12	30%	50%	80%	25%
Biotin	30%			25%
Phosphorus	30%			25%
Iodine	30%			25%
Magnesium	30%	4%	34%	25%
Zinc	30%	10%	40%	30%
Copper	30%	2%	32%	25%
Manganese	30%	4%	34%	25%
Chromium	30%			25%

Vi Magazine Debut & AWESOME Shakes

Last night was the biggest magazine debut party ever. Body by Vi (Visalus) will grace the cover of Success Magazine in August. I can't wait to get my copy!
I decided to "woman-up" and attend my local party, alone (social anxiety be damned!). A storm raged outside as the presentation got started, the restaurant's guests speaking loud to hear each other over the storm drown out the presentation for most of the Vi crowd, luckily I had chosen to sit close to the front. I heard some amazing success stories! People came from as far away as Los Angeles. Many people think Visalus is for weight loss, and yes, you can lose weight with Visalus, but that is not the only reason why people drink the shakes or use the Body by Vi system. For instance, the stunt man & his girlfriend from LA are extremely fit, they use the nutrition shakes to keep that way and to build muscle, same with Hulk Hogan, Lil' Romeo, and more.
I have made Chocolate Peanut Butter Shakes of course, in fact that is what got me addicted to the Visalus shakes to begin with.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake


8 oz. chocolate almond milk
2 scoops Vi Shape Shake mix
1 scoop PB2 powder (use your Vi shake mix scoop)
Ice to the thickness you like

But last night I was able to try a few flavors I hadn't yet. When your shake mix arrives you will find it comes with flavor packets. I had used the banana one before, but I prefer a whole banana & a tbsp of sugar free pudding mix. The woman sitting next to me last night told me her favorite flavor mix in is the peach. Peaches are probably one of the two fruits I'm not big on, so I haven't had that one.
The first shake I tried at the debut / challenge party last night was made with the chocolate flavor mix in. I have to tell you it tasted like cold hot cocoa. I loved it! One of my new favorite flavors! Also, the chocolate almond milk has some sugar in it, so if you use the unsweetened almond milk (what I usually use in all my non chocolate shakes), and a little splenda or other sweetener, you will have cocoa flavor too!

Chocolate "Cocoa" (with health flavor mix-in) Vi Shake


8 oz plain almond milk (if you use the unsweetened you may want to add sweetener to your taste)
2 scoops Vi Shape Shake mix
1 packet chocolate flavor mix in
Ice to the thickness you like

The second flavor I tested was pina colada, oh yeah! The pina colada was truly awesome. In fact, the next time I have the girls over for "girls night" I may have to make us a batch of Vi pina coladas (with rum tho!).

Vi Virgin Pina Colada

8 oz plain almond milk
2 tbsp sugar free, fat free vanilla pudding mix
2 scoops Vi Shape Shake mix
5 large chunks of frozen pineapple
coconut to taste
Ice to the thickness you like

I hope you enjoy these new recipes, I know I will!

Letting go of demons

I think we all have demons in our lives, things we've been through, things that have shaped us. One of my major hurdles in losing weight has been overcoming things I was told as a child, as a teenager. I remember being in high school size 5, all of 115 lbs and being told I was "fat & no boy would ever like me". Every time I started to lose weight over the next 27 or so years, I'd lose 20 lbs & then hear that voice inside my head telling me that and, being of the rebellious nature I had to prove that person wrong. So I would gain that 20 lbs and more back. As if I were saying "see, boys still like me, so ha!".
Finally, this negative, abusive person was removed from my life, and guess what? I started losing weight! Down 10 lbs, no voice, down 20 lbs, no voice, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70! Do you know what I feel now? EMPOWERED. Every time I get on the scale and I have lost another lb or two I feel like I have shed more and more of that person's abuse from my system.
Tell me, what is your hurdle? 

Raspberry Cheesecake!

Visalus recommends 2 shakes per day & a healthy dinner. I've never eaten like a normal person, which is what brought me to Vi to begin with. My "normal" habit, when I have one, is a coke zero & banana for breakfast/lunch, dinner, then a bowl of cereal for late night snack at midnight or 1 am.

Instead I have my Vi-Shape Shake for breakfast/lunch, dinner, and my second shake for late night snack. 

Tonight's concoction is a Raspberry Cheesecake Vi Shake. 

8 oz plain almond milk

2 scoops Vi Shake

1/2 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen (I bought mine fresh, divided them & then froze them)

1 tbsp of no fat, no sugar cheesecake pudding mix

Becoming a believer

One of my weight loss challenges is I tend to forget to eat. My college friend, knowing this about me, had been trying to get me to try these "nutrition shakes" for about a year. Of course I heard "nutrition shake" and thought "diet shake" and immediately said "NO, no way, nuh uh, not happening, no thank you, yuck". She even sent me samples & I ignored them.

Finally, I went to visit her for a weekend. During my trip she had a table set up at a green market. She was making shake samples. I looked at her and said "you're gonna make me try those, aren't you?" She said "yup". The shake flavor she made me was chocolate peanut butter. It was delicious (she really enjoys rubbing that in!". 

I started drinking the Vi-Shape Shake by Visalus the next week. I found I was not just getting nutrition, I started losing weight. 

Visalus is known as the shake mix that tastes like cake mix. Open the package and yes it really does smell like cake mix. But, the awesome thing is while the base of it has a sweet cream flavor you can make your shake whatever flavor you want. 

The basic recipe is 8 oz milk, 2 scoops of shake mix. You can put it in a shaker or a blender & drink it just like that and it's good. I prefer almond milk over cow's milk for my shakes, lower calories, more calcium. You can find almond milk right by the regular milk in the refrigerated section at the grocery store. Like I said though, what makes it awesome is you can make it whatever flavor you want. For example, my favorite morning shake is banana walnut Vi shake.

Chele's Morning Wake-up Banana Walnut Shake

8 oz plain, unsweetened almond milk

1 med banana

2 scoops Vi-Shape Shake mix

1 tbsp. no fat no sugar added banana cream pie pudding mix

Blend in blender. Add ice & pulse each cube until you reach your desired consistency. I like mine smoothie thick. My friend likes hers thinner, so littler ice for her. The last thing I do is add a few walnuts, then pulse the blender a few times because I like the walnuts left pretty chunky. 

I will be adding more recipes and giving you updates as I lose more weight about how I've done this with little exercise & how you can do it too. For right now, here is a link to the Visalus Shake Recipe Facebook page & the link to my Visalus page too. If you'd like more information email me at brokendamselfly@aol.com, visit my site, or leave me a comment here. 

http://chelekell.bodybyvi.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Visalus-Shake-Recipes/187100778005926

My friend, Negar, & I, she got me started on Visalus!