3 Days of Detox

Last week, coming off of my last auto show, I decided to try Dr. Oz's 3-day Detox Cleanse.  I was not looking to loose weight, just reset my body.  No meat, no dairy, no refined sugars, no alcohol (which was easy, since I gave it up for lent), and no coffee.  Here's how Dr. Oz's cleanse worked out for me...

Day 1- Wednesday, I woke up excited, and ready to start.  I brewed my green tea before taking Jordan to school. I did have a banana before heading to my local YMCA for yogilates.  I figured it couldn't hurt since it was an ingredient in the breakfast smoothie. After class, I came home, pulled out my blender and made my breakfast smoothie, overall opinion... Pretty good, considering raspberries aren't my favorite fruit.  Before I knew it, it was time to make my lunch drink, and surprisingly, I was hungry!  I made extra, since I needed a snack drink later in the afternoon.  I actually liked this smoothie too.  Once I got past  the texture (from the apples, celery, kale), it was quite good... Or maybe I was quite hungry.  I had the snack smoothie while waiting in carpool, and got some strange looks and comments from fellow parents waiting to pick up their kids.  When the kids and I returned home, I was starving, and drinking water in between and during the smoothies was not helping.  I ate some celery while my kids had their after school snack.  Again, I thought, 'well this is an ingredient in the smoothies, it can't hurt'.  This is where it got pretty comical for me, my family was not on this cleanse with me, and I still had to make them dinner... Great!  And what did they have, grilled steaks and roasted green beans... Yum! It smelled so good, I was drooling at one point.  But I pushed through, and made my dinner smoothie.  Again, pretty good, I liked the creaminess of the avocado in the smoothie!  But as I was drinking it, I started to have a dull burning feeling in the back of my throat... And for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what it was... Cayenne pepper, duh Ashley!  Lol!  Besides the burning throat, I was starting to develop a pretty nasty headache.  But of course, moms don't get a day off, and my kids wanted to go for a family walk after dinner since the weather was so nice (which ended up being 2 miles of chasing my youngest kid around the neighborhood).  After a quick bath and bedtime routine for the kids, I drew my detox bath... Hoping this will relieve my headache.  The bath felt amazing, and I was sweating (detoxing) like crazy (think steam room sweat).  However, no relief for my head, it only hurt worse and then nausea... I could not get myself together, all I thought... 'If I could just get in the bed, and go to sleep, this will all be better in the morning.'

Day 2- Thursday,  And it was!!!!  Thank goodness!!  Day 2 was the same as day 1, however I found myself less hungry in between smoothies, and water was finally helping.  I didn't add the extra banana or celery, bonus.  I felt great, again... Until the 3:15 slump hit me, and I couldn't keep my eyes open.  I was tired!  I fell asleep sitting up, while my oldest daughter did her homework right next to me.  I needed a power nap, and I've got to tell you, that made all the difference in the world.  I felt rejuvenated, good thing because we were meeting a friend at Glasgow park for a 2.6 mile trail walk at 4:30.  After the trail, I did not feel like cooking, so... Yes, I, Ashley, let my kids eat Chick-fil-a kids meals for dinner, and I had my beloved dinner smoothie, however, I cut the 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper down to just a sprinkle.  After the kids bath & bedtime, it was time for my new bath & bedtime routine.  Detox bath went much better then the previous night, sweating was still there, but I got into a great relaxation place, and meditated for the entire 30 minute bath.  Amazing!  I went right to sleep afterwards... I did pray for day 3, to not bring any surprises.

Day 3- Friday,  I woke up Friday with a great feeling and sense of accomplishment... I did it, I made to day 3, I did not quit!  I made my green tea for school drop-off... And you know what.... I didn't not miss my morning cup of Starbucks. Once I got back home, I went through the motions of making my breakfast drink, and I made extra, so I could have it as my afternoon snack smoothie.  Then I got started on my dreaded Taxes... This was worse then anything the cleanse could do, I hate doing Taxes!!!  I made my lunch smoothie before taking Mia to school, then prepped the meatballs for dinner... Spaghetti and meatballs.  I drank my snack smoothie in the carpool line again, and once again some strange looks when I told people what was in it!  After school, my cousin Lenise and I enjoyed the dinner smoothie as we headed to Middletown to meet my other cousin Danielle for pedicures with the girls. Again, I felt better than day 2, no afternoon power nap needed!  This was getting better and better I thought!   And it did, my detox bath was relaxing, I had a great meditation session... I had to add hot water to the bath I stayed in there so long.  Another bonus, I slept like a baby!!  And guess what, I woke up Saturday wondering if I should make another breakfast smoothie, lol.

So, overall... Did it change anything?  Did I loose weight?  Did it detox my body?  Well, I peed a lot, really, more than a lot!  I could feel my pores trying to expel the toxins in my body.  No crazy explosions... Enough said.  Crazy gas did accompany this cleanse, be forewarned!  I also learned to hate cleaning my blender, over and over again... It also didn't help that my youngest kid loves smoothies, so I had to make her a separate one every time I mad myself one.  I feel the headache on day 1, was my body trying to purge all of the bad things in it.  Even, the nap on day 2, Dr. Oz encourages you to rest a lot while you are doing a cleanse, but lets be realistic... Moms don't have time to rest!  I have no clue if I lost weight, because I did not weight myself before or after.  I have learned I love spinach in my smoothies, not kale so much.  I learned I don't need coffee in the mornings anymore, however, I still love the flavor of coffee, Starbucks coffee especially.  Green tea has become my morning drink for drop off though.  I do feel like my digestive system is more regular now... Again, enough said.  I've also become even more conscious as to what I am putting into my body, and making better choices.  I felt great (a little hungry), but the cleanse made me feel good, energized, and clean.  I loved it, and will probably do it again, and again... Maybe once a season.  Sometimes you have to hit reset and just detox!!  Check it out, try it... It's 3 days, what do you have to loose... Well, maybe some toxins.