To THRIVE or not to THRIVE?

By Elise Ruiz De Porras

Okay folks!  I’m starting my journey and I hope you’re ready to start with me as well. For those of you who are reading my blog for the first time, it might be helpful for you to refer back to my first entry, called “The Walk” to give you a background about why I am doing this.  I want to remind you all that while I am trying different things, you should ALWAYS follow the advice of your doctor before beginning any health regimen, exercise, product, or pretty much anything that can affect your body.  While the results of these products vary for each person, I can only tell you how they worked for ME.  Try these at your own risk.

It’s easy to say you want to change but it’s really hard to make changes.  Trust me, I know.  We’ve all tried something to improve our health or weight, only to get so damn bored that we give up.  This time around, I am changing things up a bit.  I’m going to keep myself interested in the process by trying different things so that I don’t get stuck in repetition.  I find that for me, when something becomes repetitive, I find any damn excuse to stop and just give up.  And if you are anything like me, then you tend to procrastinate a lot.  (How did I get like this? Anyway…) 

So for me, I thought it would be fitting to start this journey by fighting one of my demons, LAZINESS! If I could, I would sleep all damn day.  I can lie in bed and not budge.  It’s because of this enemy that I “slack off” a lot on my housework and other things.  I understand why I feel lazy.  It is the sheer amount of fatigue caused by my life every day.  I work, I have four children, and I have my entrepreneurial projects.  So what do I do?  How do I find the energy to get started?  How can I reach my goal without finding excuses to quit?  Lucky for me, my first attempt actually landed on my lap.  

An acquaintance on Facebook is a promoter for this particular company called “THRIVE”.  From what I understand, THRIVE is an “all natural” nutritional supplement company.  This woman was so confident that “THRIVE” worked that she sent me a 3-day sample pack.  This included vitamins, patches, and shakes.  I was told to follow the instructions on the label, and was warned not drink coffee.  I thought to myself, “This will be interesting because that’s how I survive in the mornings.”  I honestly didn’t know how to feel at this point.  I was eager to start, but at the same time I have my doubts.  I went into this praying that it does work.  So here we go! 

DAY 1

I woke up and took the capsules with some water.  I didn’t notice any difference right away, and I thought to myself “Okay…what now?”  I started to get myself and the kids ready, since I pretty much leave everything for the last minute.  I went on to the next step in THRIVE, which is making a shake.  The shake wasn’t so bad; it had a vanilla flavor, and I just mixed it with lots of water.  I drank that down, took my shower, and applied the final THRIVE item, the patch. 

All of a sudden, I was wide awake.  I didn’t need my coffee, which surprised me, since I’m a huge coffee drinker.  In my euphoric state, I texted my friend and told her “OMG! THIS REALLY WORKS! I FEEL REALLY ENERGIZED!”  I climbed up a flight of stairs and was not out of breath, and I didn’t feel tired whatsoever.  I felt REALLY good.  A little TOO good.  I laughed as I went throughout the day because I really felt like I could do anything.  It got very intense.  I was sitting on the train, suddenly feeling hot and being unable to sit still.  

So, how long did this feeling last?  Well, I was at work sitting around when I suddenly felt like I was going to crash.  I was very tired and felt like I needed a nap or a cup of coffee.  I felt like that for a good while, maybe an hour or two.  I finally finished work and got on my bus and knocked the HELL out.  When I got home, I thought I was going to take another nap. 

NOPE--I suddenly got a second wind. I couldn’t sit still.  I was wide awake and I felt like I needed to physically do something.  This, to me, is a good sign because normally, all I want to is either nap or watch TV when I get home.  

DAY 2

I got up and took the regimen as instructed, and I did the shake a little differently, by mixing in frozen fruits, which made the taste much better.  I felt very energetic, I was able to think clearer and I made a healthy breakfast.  I haven’t experienced any headaches from the coffee withdrawal, which is a “plus” in my book.  

Today, I noticed as I was driving, I was getting “the shakes” and feeling hot again.  I had to take off my scarf and open the windows in my car.  This was very uncomfortable.  I noticed that I wasn’t as hungry, but made sure I ate and drank plenty of water.  I also noticed I was very thirsty.  I was able to work quickly, and my mind was clear like before.  The shakiness finally passed.  When I got home, I felt VERY sleepy, and I completely crashed.  I had no energy.  All I wanted to do was sleep.  

What made it worse was that I had my little ones with me.  They were full of energy and I felt so depleted.  I even tried to take a nap and I couldn’t.  The kids had me wide awake.  All I wanted to do was sleep. “ISN'T THIS WHAT THRIVE IS SUPPOSED TO HELP ME WITH?!?!”  I thought to myself.  I went to bed hoping tomorrow would be a better day.  I kept my fingers crossed. 

DAY 3

I was exhausted.  To be honest, I couldn’t tell you if it was because of the lack of sleep because my little one had me up all last night, or the fact that my other daughter wanted to co-sleep with us all night.  I just wanted to scream out “Ughhhhhh!!!!”  I could barely keep my eyes open.  I took the last of the THRIVE. After I had my shake my stomach was turning.  I felt very disconnected, like I was going to pass out.  It was a little scary for me, especially since I had to work and I had to drive.  I start thinking “WHAT THE HELL?”  I make my way to work but start feeling shakier and very lightheaded.  I tried drinking water and eating but that wasn’t working.  I start working as slowly as a turtle.  There was NO energy in my body whatsoever.  

What I Learned

I reached out to my friend and tell her what I was feeling.  She asked if maybe I was allergic to something in the ingredients, so I read the ingredients in the supplements.  Now, mind you, I realized my mistake in all this.  I never once read any of the ingredients before I agreed to try these products.  Looking back, that was the first thing I should have done, for my own safety.  But this gives you a little insight into me.  I felt so desperate to try something that would give me energy that I just jumped in without looking.  So in the ingredients there is bunch of vitamins—some typical ones and some proprietary blend--what that is, I don’t know.  I couldn’t pronounce half the ingredients, and I felt like a patient at the doctor’s office when the doctor comes in with medical terminology and you’re like “English please?”  

As I read, I discover these supplements had 8 different blends of caffeine in total.  No wonder I had the shakes! I also then realized why I didn’t get coffee withdrawal.  Then I kept reading and found another ingredient was Garcina Cambogia.  Now here’s a little history with me and this particular extract.  When Dr. Oz came out about how well this worked for weight loss, I went out and bought it, but it didn’t sit well with me.  I had the some of the same symptoms as I did when taking these THRIVE supplements.

I started cracking up with my friend.  I’m thinking that it’s “all natural,” but the “all natural” had all natural side effects on me.   Thank God I was given samples because had I spent money on this, oh man, I would have been upset!  I’m not upset that I tried the product, but I am disappointed that this didn’t work for me.  That first day was good, but after that it was down-hill for me.  I’m bummed out.  I was really hoping this would work and I had something better to report back to you folks.  But what I did learn from this is I really need to learn to read the labels and ask questions (and I mean, A LOT of questions).   I can’t let this get me down, although part of me feels like I failed somehow.  I’m not going to allow this to defeat me, I’m going to continue on to the next thing.  Let’s see how far I must go, and I thank you for taking the trip with me.