Putting It Out There.

I recently read somewhere that if one blogs about a goal and the process they're taking to get there, accountability is higher and success is more likely. So here I go.

I need to lose weight. And I guess, embarrassing and odd (for me) as it is, I'm going to blog about it.

I'm not excited about the blogging-about-it part, though I generally love to write about anything. (Or so I thought.) I am, however, excited about the journey and the end result. I truly believe the term "joy in the journey" isn't just a nice book title. If we don't find joy in our journeys, where will find it? Processes are part of what make us who we are, and I'm actually looking forward to the process. Interesting and new for me.

So, here goes. I'm trying to be realistic, so my goal is to lose 2 pounds per week. I'll blog next Monday evening or Tuesday about my progress.

Wish me luck! And lots of celery!

Drinking the Kool-Aid.

I've never been great with sales.

Public relations, personal encouragement, and talking things and people up that I believe in, sure. But sales? Ehhhh.... I just feel bad when asking peeps to part with their money. You know?

When I was a kid and had to sell things for school fundraisers, I would end up trying to talk my neighbors out of purchases. I distinctly remembering asking Mrs. Larsen down the road if she really needed another candle, because the ones in my catalog did seem a little expensive. Needless to say, the Girl Scouts weren't exactly knocking my door down to come join in their cookie-pushing.

A few months ago, I listened to a friend's pitch about a product, thought it sounded good, but told her that no way, no how -- I could NOT sell this to anyone, no matter how great it was. And that's been true. I do think it's a big product, but have a hard time asking anyone to listen to a pitch and part with money that they might not want to spend on something.

Blogging, however, doesn't feel so pushy. You choose to read this. If you want to know more, you can ask me. If you think I'm crazy, you can tell me (or not). If you don't give a rip, you can ignore this and go on.

I'm good with that.

The product I fell for is called Zoegetics. I dreaded attending the presentation but love my friends who were hosting it and so jazzed about it, so I went to hear the spiel. Turns out, after hearing what the products are about, being very impressed with the company's start-up, mission and ethics, and thoroughly Googling for a week or two, I just couldn't for the life of me find a reason not to at least give it a shot.

Zoe's main product is a powder you mix with water (or other drinks -- I like to alternate it in fruity stuff like G2 or Fuze).

It contains about a million antioxidants, quite a few servings of fruits and vegetables, a good dose of fiber, and other things that you can get more details on via the Zoe website. There is also a common side effect of weight loss, though the company does not promote it as a diet-type product.

In addition, the company manufactures "green" cleaning products, including cleaners for virtually every room of the house, as well as all-natural laundry detergents. (And it all smells good.)

Bare truth: I haven't been diligent with using Zoe. I've been sick a lot this summer/fall/winter, and sometimes anything other than water and tea seems icky. But I keep thinking -- how can getting those servings of fruits and veggies be bad for me? How can loading up on antioxidants hurt me?

Also, as you can probably tell from my first few paragraphs, I haven't been diligent in talking up Zoe. No one's pressuring me to, but I really do believe it's a good thing, so this blog post is my way of letting the universe know about it.

If you're still reading and are interested in the product, leave a comment, email me at rebekah.johnson1976@gmail.com, and by all means, check out the website for any questions you might have.

The friend who sold me on it has a blog, too, so you can read more firsthand accounts there.

For those who are gravely disappointed in me for falling for this, I'm sorry it has to be this way. I never thought I'd be "that person," either, and promise on my life's happiness that I am not pushing this on you!

Even if I did end up drinking the Kool-Aid.