I feel it is necessary to start this by saying I am not on a mission to lose weight, although something like this will inevitably result in some weight loss as part of the detoxifying and cleansing process. I am also not a Dr Oz disciple, so to speak. I have seen him on all of maybe two talk shows in my life and thought he was mildly obnoxious. I feel that healthful lifestyles can, like anything else, go overboard and I personally have no intention of giving up Oreos or burgers entirely. That said, this cleanse seemed reachable and effective, per my research, and I decided to challenge myself by trying it.
Here is the picture page you can print out should you want to try it yourself:
The cleanse is touted as costing 16.00 a day...NOT TRUE. Assuming you don't already have the required supplements, green tea, berries, etc on hand, you can expect to pay almost 100.00 for the whole mess. So keep that in mind when making out your shopping list.
DAY ONE:
A.M.
I woke up this morning at my standard time of 6:30. I don't typically work out on Monday mornings since I go grocery shopping and so I have to look presentable and make out a list. I made the morning DETOX tea and drank it relatively quickly since I was on my way out the door.
The DETOX TEA was not an easy drink for me. I do not like Stevia, I've decided, and will probably skip it tomorrow. I also have an extreme aversion to lemon in liquid. I don't like it in my water, my tea, or especially anything hot. So I'm not gonna lie, by the time I got to the grocery store, I was ready to throw up. I got over the nausea though and got home by 10AM, which is when I mixed up my MORNING DRINK.
Having been drinking kale smoothies almost every day for a month or so (and loving them!-(another blog entry for another time), I thought this fruit and spinach concoction would be a breeze. Wrong. I could barely get it down, unfortunately. The culprit is the fact that it was not very cold and not very sweet. My raspberries were very tart, and one banana is just not sweet enough to overcome all the other ingredients. The almond butter and lemon also makes for a less drinkable smoothie than I've had before. But I did feel a bit of a 'buzz' after drinking it and I figure: 'Hey, you can do anything for just three days, right'?
At 11:30, I duly swallowed my 1/2 multivitamin and Probiotic with a 16 oz bottle of water. I am using my kids' multivitamin since it's easier to cut in half. My own One-A-Day is actually not as potent as theirs, which is a higher quality multivitamin from Whole Foods.
P.M.
My LUNCH DRINK was a little late because of the late breakfast. Thankfully it's a lot more along the lines of what I'm used to with my kale smoothies...a little chunky, but somehow refreshing. I hate celery and I had my misgivings but thankfully, the pineapple saved it. An automatic energy boost was the after effects of this drink and it was infinitely more drinkable than the breakfast concoction.
At 4pm, I went for a quick bike ride to buy some lavender extract for my nightly 'detox bath'. The ride was easy and I felt fully energized and normal. I noticed that this afternoon I was a little grumpy at my kids but this is a normal thing since I tend to feel very stressed as the day winds down and I have a lot of work left to do. Otherwise, all feelt the same. I have noticed that my urine is as clear as water. Interesting.
I was supposed to have a snack about this time, but since my lunch was late and I didn't feel hungry, I decided to skip that shake today. Maybe not recommended but I couldn't see force feeding myself one of these fiber filled smoothies at the time.
By 6:30, perhaps due to the missed 'snack' shake, I reached a low point of the day. Heavy eyelids (admittedly, partly due to the high pollen count in the air), fatigue, and an almost impenetrable haze that meant I needed to get up and move or succumb to exhaustion.
Making dinner for my family was hard; I'm not gonna lie. I didn't realize how much I 'nibble' when I'm preparing dinner, until I am sworn off of doing it. But once I made my shake and left the kitchen, it was not too bad. The DINNER DRINK is surprisingly tasty, although I worried about the avocado and cayenne idea. But it was fruity, refreshing, and the pepper gave it a great kick that was so invigorating at the end of this day of bland.
Interestingly, the 'buzz' that kale gives me during the day is replaced by a sort of 'clarity' at night. A restful clarity that made me feel sort of blissful and calm as I forced myself to relax with my family instead of run around doing the 20 million things I typically do in the evening.
The DETOX BATH was very relaxing as well,although the smell of lavender has never been a favorite of mine and it was a bit overpowering.
DAY TWO:
A.M.
I woke up at around 6:30 full of energy and fully prepared to do my 100's Workout before getting the kids off to school.
I drank a few swallows of my green tea with lemon (unsweetened this time),walked the kids to school, and guzzled the rest of it lukewarm when I got home.It was much easier since I hate hot lemony beverages; I think I'm going to try it cold tomorrow.
To improve my BREAKFAST DRINK, and make it more drinkable, I cheated a little and used 100% juice instead of water.I also froze the raspberries and ended up with a cold smoothie that was at least 80 percent better than yesterday's.Sometimes you just gotta break the rules a little.
P.M.
After taking my Probiotic and Multivitamin,I made my LUNCH DRINK and was saddened to find that it was much more celery tasting and chunky today. Pretty terrible actually...I could not finish it and so by mid afternoon, I was feeling depleted. The snack shake is probably very important but to someone who does not snack much, it was hard to make time for it.
The DINNER DRINK couldn't come soon enough. I made it while I made tacos for my family and it picked me right up. Definitely my favorite shake of the three.
The Epsom Salt DETOX BATH is the highlight of this whole thing. I turned the lights down low and watched ASMR videos while I soaked. Felt very calm and relaxed when I climbed into bed.
DAY THREE: THE HOME STRETCH
Today dawned with another pleasantly energized feeling. I walked my kids to school and drank the DETOX TEA cold, when I got home. So much easier that way. Yucky...lemon. Ugh.
Physically, I don't feel tired or headachey, which bodes well for me since I guess I wasn't as 'addicted' to my coffee and Coke Zero as I thought. I will continue my habit of one a day, for now, and am REALLY looking forward to a cup of coffee tomorrow morning! Emotionally, I feel more 'stable', more calm, more relaxed than usual. I don't feel hungry but I do want to chew something...it's hard to drink your meals every day. Today, I intend to stick to this entirely and NOT miss the snack shake. I mixed it up last night to eliminate having to make one at snack time...so there is have no excuse today.
My BREAKFAST DRINK down, I settled down to work and tough out the rest of the day. Perhaps because the finish line is so close, food is looking especially good today. My husband's coffee spoke to me, I swear. I thought I'd grab Ruby's string cheese right out of her hand. It's not that I'm hungry...I'm really not. I'm just craving different tastes and textures, I think.
The LUNCH DRINK was infinitely better today. I blended it an extra long time and used a little less celery. Finished it pretty quickly this time.
The afternoon dragged along and I tried to distract myself with reruns of Friends and plenty of water. Water isn't on the print out but is integral to flushing out the toxins. So I tried to drink a lot, although it was hard since my food had to be swallowed in the form of a 'drink' as well. This time I didn't skip the SNACK drink, and duly downed the leftover concoction from last night along with my last cleansing dose of OMEGA 3.
I discovered when I drank it as a snack, that the DINNER DRINK actually went down easier the next day since the ingredients seemed to break down and blend together better. This was further confirmed when I mixed up my DINNER DRINK again for the last time (sans the avocado, which I seemed to be out of) and found it comparatively chunky. Still my favorite of the three drinks though.
The DETOX BATH was especially rewarding that night since it was a way of bidding adieu to this whole process.
All in all, I'd say it was a great experience and I feel like the benefits far outweigh the inconveniences involved. Here on this fourth morning, as I'm about to enjoy my coffee (and I mean ENJOY my coffee), I feel energized, alert, and motivated to continue incorporating healthier foods in my diet. My skin is brighter, clearer and I've lost 5 lbs (that wasnt the prime goal but was inevitable and hey, my clothes fit better). I would absolutely do it again and actually intend to, maybe prior to Viva in the spring. Seems a great way to prepare the body for the onslaught of sleepless nights, off-schedule meals, and Frankie's Tiki drinks.
So til then, 3-Day Detox, cheerio! I've got some chewing to do...
xoxo
Ashley
