Helen Dao

Tell us your Story. What accomplishments did you make with IDLife in 2018 and how are you ‘Doing Life Better’? 2018 was an extremely challenging year for me personally and professionally. I had a toxic business relationship that I needed to end for my own personal well-being. My last blood test from the doctor’s visit in January 2018 was terrible. I was in denial and insisted these labs were from someone else because I’d never had test results this bad. I was so angry at the results that I didn’t come back for a 6 month follow up to re-evaluate my blood work. As a result, I hit my heaviest weight at 166.6 pounds on the scale on 12/31/2018. I could not believe my eyes, because it was the wake-up call I needed to stop living in denial. Before this challenge I could not go up a flight of stairs without stopping to catch my breath. My body ached from head to toe and getting out of bed was a daily struggle, because I was suffering from depression. In fact, I had many weeks where I thought that I would be better off if I didn’t wake up one day and my doctor suggested antidepressants to help. I started writing down everything I put into my mouth and monitoring my water consumption daily. I replaced two meals a day with ID Life Protein shakes and used sleep strips and hydrate every day to help with the weight loss. A week later I started feeling better and more energetic. I became a believer when I started to see the fat melt off and I started feeling joy again. I would wake up refreshed and well before my alarm went off each morning which was unusual at first. I had gotten used to sleeping 9 hours and hitting snooze a dozen times before turning off the alarm. I had brain fog and would literally roll out of bed and throw clothes on. I was at the lowest point in my life where I had to negotiate with myself to get out of bed and get to work because I had responsibilities. I’m happy to share with you all that I have lost 12.20 pounds and a total of 16 inches during this challenge. 
What are your favorite IDLife products, and why? My favorite products are the vanilla and chocolate protein shakes, orange energy, sleep strips, and of course grape hydrate! The ID Life protein is the only protein shake I can drink first thing in the morning without giving me problems. In addition to that I could just mix it in a blender with water and drink it straight. Orange energy is great because it gives me sustained energy throughout the day without that mid-afternoon crash where I needed another cup of caffeine to avoid taking a nap in my office. Yes, I used to take naps in my office because I couldn’t get through the day. I take sleep strips every night to help me get the sleep I needed. I never had problems sleeping but I never get more than 2 hours of “deep sleep” until I got on the sleep strips. I tracked my sleep on my Garmin Forerunner 30 and with sleep strips I managed to get 6 hours of sleep strips vs. 2 1/2 hours without it. Once I saw that I was sold on the product. Grape hydrate was perfect because I loved the taste and being that I was controlling my sugar levels it gave me the flavor without the calories. My skin also looked way better once I incorporated this because my adult acne went away. I’ve suffered from hormonal acne since I was a teenager and now that I’m a 36-year-old professional having cystic acne once a month was just frustrating to say the least. The say your skin says a lot about your hygiene and people judge you based on how you look. In my profession I work with clients directly, so I need to keep up with my appearances and look healthy.