My somewhat accidental 3 day cleanse:
I have never tried to detox/cleanse before but recently I had in my head that it would be a great idea. I still have extra baby weight that's been making me feel "blah" even though I have been exercising and eating well. Not fitting into any of my old summer clothes is a huge bummer every day! My sinuses have also been making my eyes quite puffy at times so I figured it couldn't hurt to do a little detox. The original Dr. Oz detox I had found and planned on doing had regular meals but they were rich in fiber, such as quinoa and prunes for breakfast. When I was at the grocery store to gather the ingredients, I quickly searched on my phone "Dr. Oz detox diet" and bought all of the food items on the list. On my way home, I realized neither quinoa nor prunes were purchased....oops! In my quick search, I bought ingredients for a drink cleanse rather than the food cleanse.
I was up for the challenge of not chewing food for 3 days; how hard could it be? This is what my next three days looked like:
Day 1: I woke up ready to go! I was excited to make the healthy smoothie concoction and it turned out to be delicious! A few hours later, I was getting pretty hungry so I cheated a little and had a few bites of watermelon. I couldn't believe I felt guilty nibbling on some watermelon!
Around noon, I started prepping for the lunch smoothie. I was watching Rory make a chicken caesar salad wrap while I was cutting pineapple, apple and celery. I was cursing him & his food in my head, but it wasn't his fault I decided to do this! I happily blended all of the lunch ingredients together and it looked colorful and smelled pretty good! I poured it into my glass and oh my gosh....
Let me first start by saying, I despise pulp. I cannot eat raw oysters either because I can't stand thick, nasty strands of something going down my throat. Well, Dr. Oz needs to warn people about his lunch "drink." Now I know why it isn't called a "smoothie" cleanse because there is nothing smooth about this drink at all!!! I was still trying to stay positive so I decided to act like the drink was gazpacho and I ate it with a spoon. After 1 1/2 hours, I choked down about 3/4 of it and cringed after every gulp.
A few hours later, I had my choice of a drink to have. My stomach was still twisted from lunch, but since I enjoyed the breakfast smoothie I decided to have that again and it was still enjoyable! I was hesitant to make the dinner drink because I was worried it would turn out like lunch. The ingredients didn't seem that bad but I decided not to put in the cayenne pepper because I didn't want to ruin the taste and hate another meal. Overall, the dinner drink had good flavor but it was warm which I really didn't like. It took me close to an hour to drink but I think that was also due to the fact that I was cleaning and doing dishes while drinking it.
In the evening, I started getting a slight headache that wouldn't go away. I am not sure if it was from the lack of caffeine, toxins leaving the body, or Deaglan banging his rattle on the coffee table but it wouldn't go away. I was looking forward to quiet time in the bath! I wasn't able to buy lavender oil, so I just sprinkled in some lavender bath salts and I am sure it worked out just as well. Later that night, I read reviews on the lunch drink and found some good changes that people made to the drink and got some good tips! I also measured out my fruit for the next two days and put them baggies in the freezer so I could enjoy cold drinks. It was so hard not to have my bite of chocolate with a glass of milk before bed but I did it!! I started falling asleep on the couch that night by 8:30 so I finally went upstairs, exhausted with my headache still, and fell asleep by 9:30.
Day 2: I woke up feeling good! No headache and I was looking forward to my hot tea even though I could smell Rory's coffee brewing. I enjoyed my breakfast smoothie and it filled me up for a lot longer than the day before. I was looking forward to lunch because I wanted to experiment with the drink some. I warmed up the coconut oil, only put in half of the cucumber and eliminated the celery altogether. The drink was much more enjoyable and it gave me a chance to nibble on some cucumber & celery--it was awesome to finally chew on something. The lunch drink was refreshing, still a little thick, but I got over it quickly. By the afternoon, I was looking forward to snack and I had the breakfast smoothie again. Having the fruit frozen makes the drinks so much better! I enjoyed dinner and never got a headache which was great. I had a lot of energy by the afternoon and was running around the house getting a lot of stuff accomplished.
Day 3: I woke up missing my coffee routine but I still enjoyed the green tea. Even though I was tired of the smoothies, it was easy to get through them knowing it was the last day. I was surprised at how well the drinks were filling me up! That afternoon, I was out and about, so I didn't have my snack drink until around 4:30. I was feeling great though! I decided to try on some of my old summer clothes and they fit! I was the happiest girl!! Rory and I had plans to go out that night so I intended to bring my dinner with me in the car but I was still full from the snack so I skipped dinner. I was able to wear an old summer dress to the bars which was awesome since I've been stuck wearing jeans the past few months. While we were out, wings were ordered so I picked at some of the celery...and may have snuck one piece of calamari. Since it was our first time out in awhile, I decided some red wine would be a good drink choice. Hey, it was my last day of detox so I pretty much finished and it's full of antioxidants, right?
It has now been a few days since I finished the detox and I am still feeling really good! I honestly felt really weird eating food again. I felt guilty having my first mug of coffee so I used milk & stevia instead of my usual flavored creamer. I am going to now stick to this as my routine because the creamers & sugar always sit so heavy in my stomach. I have noticed that my appetite has curbed some because my meals are smaller and I don't feel the need to snack during the day. It's been a great mental game for me too because I know that I can get full from just fruits and vegetables and I don't need breads/carbs to complete a meal. I will definitely do this detox again, especially after a vacation or football season. I also talked Rory into doing it with me next time which will make it easier. I will also continue using these smoothies as meal replacements or snacks during the day. I weighed myself a few days after the detox, and I was down 8 pounds from when I started. I am sure I will gain some back from water weight and vacation coming up, but I am just so happy to feel like myself again!!
I also love that our fruit basket & fridge look like this:
