After my Master-Cleanse scare, in line with keeping my Get Healthy Challenge goals, I decided to do the Dr. Oz 3-Day Detox Cleanse.
Comparing the two, Dr. Oz was definitely easier than the Master Cleanse.
Lemonade with maple syrup and cayenne for 10 days (well, 5 days for me) vs. smoothies for 3 days?
Yeah, that’s a no brainer.
That being said, Dr. Oz wasn’t as easy as I thought. First, it was a lot of work…a lot of prep work of cutting fruits and vegetables; a lot of food shopping for the right ingredients; a lot of lugging mixers and blenders to work with me so I could make the smoothies.
Second, I didn’t love the smoothies. They did grow on me after I read up on a few tips to make them better, but it wasn’t exactly like having dessert for 3 meals a day.
Third, even thought I wasn’t really hungry, it was still hard not to eat. [Sidenote- sometimes I wonder about this. Why is it so hard not to eat? Why are we all so obsessed with food? I mean, it’s food. It’s just stuff we put into our bodies to stay alive. Sure, it’s delicious, but it’s food. Why is this on our minds 24/7?] All the same, I missed all the wonderful tastes I was deprived of (First world problems, right?)
So, here’s the rundown on how it went.
Day One: I started off with the green tea, which, surprisingly, I enjoyed. The breakfast shake tasted pretty good, although I could taste the spinach more than I liked. It definitely was filling, though. I started to get a little hungry mid-morning, but I just sucked it up. Too much of a project to try to make this concoction during an early, rushed free period.
The lunch shake, in all honestly, almost made me gag. First, it made waaaaay too much – four cups.
That is a A LOT of green smoothie. FOUR cups! Ugh.
To me, the cucumbers were overwhelming, and for some reason, I just didn’t like how it tasted with the coconut. I literally had to hold my nose and chug to get it down. It took me a couple of hours to do. So, after lunch, I was definitely feeling defeated and not sure if I could finish this cleanse.
But not wanting to fail, in public (i.e. the Blogosphere) (there’s that Type A again…), I persevered. The lunch shake took so long to drink that I didn’t have time to make a snack shake before dinner – and I was still too full from lunch, so I skipped it.
The dinner shake tasted good, although the cayenne was a little noticeable.
I didn’t notice any side effect – a little bit of a headache, but nothing severe.
I took the vitamins all at once instead of mixed through the day (I was already taking prenatal multivitamins, so I used that. I skipped the Omega 3 – didn’t feel like buying a bottle of vitamins I probably wouldn’t take afterwards. I did buy a bottle of acidophiles to take as a probiotic. Probiotics are really expensive, I discovered! ).
I did the epsom salt bath that night as well. Some reviews I read said they LOVED it, but for me, I didn’t really notice anything one way or another.
Day Two: After reading a few reviews, I changed things up a little. First, I decided to freeze the fruit, and that made a huge difference! The breakfast shake was definitely yummy. Didn’t taste the spinach this time at all.
For the lunch shake, I knew I needed to change it up. I decided to eat 1/2 the cucumber and 2 stalks of celery before lunch instead of putting it in the shake. I needed to decrease the volume, make it more palatable, and having a snack would tide me over until I could make the shake. I also cut a lot more of the ingredients at home ahead of time, so it was much easier putting it together. It took a little juggling, since my Magic Bullet wasn’t big enough for all the ingredients, and I had to use a hand blender, too.
I also realized I forgot the coconut oil at home (which I found out later that I really didn’t – it was just in a different bag). Eating some celery and the cucumber ahead of time definitely helped with the volume and cut down on the overwhelming cucumber taste.
Again, I didn’t have a snack shake – the times just didn’t work and I really didn’t feel like the hassle of putting it all together. I bought just the right amount of ingredients, and if I made the snack shakes, I would have to go to the store again (and I was SO tired of running around to find the cheapest ingredients!)
The dinner shake was much better with frozen fruit. Barely tasted the cayenne. I realized after the fact that I forgot the flaxseed, so I decided to just add more for breakfast.
As far as how I felt, I definitely was very tired and very sniffly. Not sure if it was related to the cleanse, but I was worn out. I skipped the bath because I was so tired and just wanted to go to bed.
Day Three: Nothing of note to report for breakfast. I did double the flaxseed from the day before. I did the same thing for lunch on as Day 2. This time, I didn’t forget the coconut oil – and I didn’t like it as much. I am a huge coconut fan, but for some reason, mixed with the cucumber, it made me want to gag. Still, I was able to get it down pretty easily – but I drank it quickly. I skipped the snack shake again – for the same reason as the day before. I forgot to take the vitamins during the day, so I just took them when I got home.
During the day, I felt very tired. VERY tired. Once I had the shake, I felt good, but I was pretty sluggish in between.
No bath on Day 3, either. Again, I just wanted to go to sleep.
So, I weighed myself on Day 4, when the cleanse was over. I was down 2.4 lbs. (I had read that the average was 4lbs). All in all, between both cleanses, I am down 5.1 lbs., and inch on my hips and an inch on my waist. This isn’t a huge weight loss, but my clothes are starting to fit normally again.
Here are some of the positives I am walking away with:
- Besides all the prep-work, this definitely is a fairly easy, enjoyable cleanse. I used to be intimidated by the idea of making and drinking smoothies, but this got me over my phobia. I have been pinning smoothie recipes like crazy, and I am excited to keep it up.
- I like knowing that my body feels ‘clean’ inside. It makes me not want to put junk into it.
- This cleanse helped to snap my sugar-cravings; I don’t really have the same cravings in general as I did before, and I feel fuller much more quickly.
- I have never been a fan of green tea, but the kind I bought had ginseng and lemon in it. I added the lemon slice as instructed and a packet of Truvia, and it actually was really good. I think I am going to incorporate this into my diet instead of coffee.
- This is something I can see myself doing on a regular basis – maybe once a month, or whenever I feel like my eating is getting out of control.
Here’s my overall suggestions for anyone considering the cleanse (though not all original with me):
- Freeze the fruit. When it is cold and icy, it literally tastes so much better.
- If you can, start on a weekend or on a day when you are home, especially if you are a smoothie-novice like me. I brought all of my appliances to school, made a mess in my classroom trying to cut the veggies, pulverize first, then blend it all together. If I had practiced at home, it would have gone smoother.
- If you aren’t home, cut as much as you can ahead of time, put all of the ingredients in baggies, and then in a larger bag. That made it easier to just grab the big bag with all ingredients and go.
- The lunch shake was huge – four cups. I definitely suggest cutting the recipe down or eating some of the veggies first.
- Drinking with a straw makes it taste better. I’m serious! It does!
So, goals for this week?
More of the same:
- Eating clean and healthy.
- Exercising regularly (mostly fell off that wagon last week – but hey, tomorrow’s a new week).
- Having a consistent quiet time with God.
- Proving all those New-Year’s-resolution naysayers wrong. 🙂
[Has anyone else tried this cleanse? Planning to try it? Done another cleanse you have liked? I would love to hear about it!]
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