Today is the day after my 3 Day Refresh! It's a new program that I picked up because for the last month or so I haven't felt myself and was sick and tired. Turns out (long story short), I was having thyroid issues. I'm feeling MUCH better now but after eating whatever I could because it hurt to swallow and a lot of medicine and antibiotics, I wanted to cleanse my system out. And just to let you know, I've worked hard the past few years to get to my ideal weight so I wasn't trying to lose weight. I wanted to feel better and give my nutrition the kick start that it needed. So the 3 Day Refresh was perfect for me because it was only 3 days. :)
Here is what I did!
For 3 days I had a superfood-packed Shakeology shake for breakfast along with a fruit option. I chose to not give up my coffee totally but I did drink it black. Of course I didn't drink as much because lets face it, black coffee is no fun. Then, later on in the morning, a Fiber Sweep digestive health drink. It was sweet and went down just fine. Just make sure you drink it up fast!
For lunch, I had a high-protein Vanilla Fresh shake along with fresh fruit, vegetables, and healthy fat options. For this, I just whipped up a simple salad of cucumber, cherry tomatoes, a little purple onion and a little avocado dressed with balsamic vinegar. (I thought this was fine but later found out it had sugar in in so next time I might just use red wine vinegar.)
For my snack I ate two stalks of celery and 2 TB of hummus which I found to be plenty. My advise is to chew your food SLOWLY and really enjoy it. I think it makes it last longer and helps with digestion.
For dinner, I had another Vanilla Fresh shake along with the choice from a list of delicious, easy-to prepare dinner recipes. You can also have tea twice a day.
Now lets talk about WATER! It is super important to drink TONS more water. The shakes can't do their thing without it. Drink at least half of your body weight in ounces and you'll be fine. Yes, I was peeing ALL of the time but I wanted to clean out, right? So for three days I could handle it. I even went shopping with hubby on day 3 and used the bathroom in REI 3 times. But who cares? I guarantee you that no one else did!
So what did I learn from this and what were my results?!
1. This program so doable! My first day was the hardest and I know it was all mental. I went through all the emotions and excuses to quit! I don't really need this, no one will know if I finish, It's too difficult (which is wasn't!), etc. But I stuck with it because I announced to the world and to my healthy lifestyle FB page that I was doing this. I wasn't going to let anyone see me fail! I wanted to do this for me and for you to show that you can do it too!
2. I was only tired on the first day. And I was never light headed or anything. Yes, there were times that I got hungry and it wasn't time to eat yet. BUT, it forced me to slow down and evaluate if I really was hungry. Sometimes I was just thirsty and sometimes it was stress. I had nieces coming for the weekend and a boy that broke his hand on the last day! I could have quit but I kept going because honestly, what would have beer or a piece of my daughter's cake going to do for me?
3. On this day after, my energy is through the roof. Can't put a price on that!
4. I lost about 2 1/2 pounds and I don't know how many inches because I didn't measure. Like I said before, I wasn't trying to lose weight. I really wanted to concentrate on the experience and how I FELT and not the numbers this time. I was doing this with a friend at the same time and she said she could fit into her super skinny jeans for a girls weekend and was very happy about that. Yay for non scale victories!
So will I do this again?
You bet.
My question to you:
Would you do this type of cleanse? Tell me in the comments below why you would consider it. Can't wait to hear from you.
