I just finished the 3 Day Shakeology Cleanse! It was the first time I've ever done something like this, and it was quite the experience. I have very mixed feelings about it. This blog post is going to be a very thorough review of the cleanse, and hopefully it will provide some insight for those of you who are thinking about trying it. *ahem* Emily *ahem* ...sorry, had to clear my throat...Ok, here's my review:
The Cleanse:
Basically, you're supposed to drink three Shakeology shakes per day for three days, with green tea and fruit as a snack twice a day. End your day with a salad/veggies and about 4 oz. of lean white protein. Your shakes are supposed to be plain - one scoop of whatever flavor Shakeology (I used chocolate) and ice/water. Your daily schedule for three days would look like this:
Breakfast - Shakeology
Snack 1 - green tea/fruit (I had bananas for my fruit, but you can use whatever)
Lunch - Shakeology
Snack 2 - green tea/fruit OR your 3rd shake
Dinner - Veggies & protein (I had grilled tilapia every night)
Snack 3 - If you didn't drink your 3rd shake for Snack 2, you'd have it after dinner sometime.
Also, you're supposed to be drinking a LOT of water, at least 64 oz. I had close to 90 oz the first two days, and only about 75-80 oz on the last day.
This is supposed to help you lose weight, detox your body, regulate digestion, and re-energize you. It can also help break a plateau and kickstart your metabolism. It did all of the above for me, except for re-energize and break a plateau. (I will explain about the energy in my "Bad" list. The plateau didn't apply to me because I wasn't on one. I've been losing weight steadily.)
The Good:
- The cleanse was really short, and it was also really easy to follow. I've never done any juicing or cleanses before, but I always assumed they're be more complicated.
- I lost 5.6 lbs in 3 days! That's the most weight I've lost at one time since I started my weight loss journey.
- In addition to the weight loss, I lost a full inch off my waist, a half inch off my hips, and an inch off my chest. (Goodbye, boobs!) For it being just 3 days, those are HUGE numbers. It usually takes me about 2 weeks to lose inches.
- Meal preparation was incredibly easy because all I had to do for most of the day was mix my shakes. For dinner each night, I had grilled tilapia and veggies, which is also quick to make. (Can you tell I like things to be quick and easy?)
The Bad:
- This cleanse is supposed to re-energize you. I was dead tired the entire time. Now, I've heard that the first day is kind of hard because your body is adjusting to the change in diet, but I got more tired as the days went on. I'd say part of that was my fault. I bought the wrong kind of green tea when I went to the store before the cleanse started. It was the Crystal Light powder green tea, and it had aspartame in it. I didn't notice til I got home, and by then I didn't want to have to walk all the way back to the store just for green tea. And since I had just bought my groceries for the week, I didn't go to the store the entire three days I was on the cleanse. No green tea for me! I guess I could have had the Crystal Light stuff, but it kind of goes against the whole point of a cleanse if I'm drinking man-made sweeteners that are totally not good for my body. I also blame the lack of energy partly on my kids. For some reason, neither one of them decided to sleep at all the last two nights. They're both usually really good about sleeping through the night, so I don't know what happened there. Maybe it was a full moon or something. Whatever it was, it didn't allow me to sleep either. So, no sleep and no green tea for energy...yep, I was pretty exhausted. I have no idea if the cleanse had anything to do with it or not, so this one might be on my bad list and no one else's.
- You have to drink the Shakeology plain. I like to put fruit or peanut butter in my shakes, and drinking it plain was just not fun. Beachbody recently changed the chocolate shakeology formula to make it more nutritious; now it has less sugar per serving and has more superfoods than it did before. It's WAY healthier than it was, which is crazy because it was already really healthy. The only bad thing is that there is now a strong stevia aftertaste when you mix it with just water and ice. I had just gotten my bag of the new formula, so starting out the cleanse by discovering the harsh aftertaste was not fun. By Day 2, I was mixing it with a tiny bit of honey just to try to tone it down a little. (That helped, by the way. So did adding half a banana instead of the honey.) Even if the shakes didn't have an aftertaste, I still like to have different recipes every day, so it wasn't my favorite thing to have to drink 'em plain.
- I got bored eating tilapia for dinner every night. That one was my fault, too. You can choose chicken or fish, and you can cook them however you want as long as there's not really any kind of sauce or butter on them. (Shouldn't be eating them with butter anyway...but that's a different topic.) You can also make a salad instead of veggies, if that's what your heart desires. My heart, at the time of grocery shopping, happened to desire an easy shopping trip, so all I bothered to buy was tilapia. My advice is that you switch things up! It's the only food besides fruit that you get to eat all day, so please don't make the same mistake I did and eat the same thing three days in a row. (Unless you absolutely LIVE for tilapia or chicken. Then you can do whatever you want.)
- I didn't buy enough fruit because I didn't add Jon and Tori into the equation. Not that I blame them, but they ate most of my fruit supply. Again, my fault. I didn't buy enough, and I didn't tell Jon not to eat it. So yeah, make sure you get enough fruit to last the full three days, and if you have a significant other/family/roommate, tell them to step off. My lack of fruit probably also contributed to the lack of energy.
- I wasn't able to work out on the cleanse. I did my workout on Day 1, but the other two days, I just didn't have enough energy. It's fine because I still lost a lot of weight. However, I hate losing my routine, even for a couple of days. I'm always scared I might not be motivated to get back into it, and then my workouts will just stop altogether. (Which, thankfully, is NOT the case this time. I'm about to go do my workout after this. The worry is always there, though.)
The Really, Really Ugly: (I'm not proud of any of this, but I'm determined to give you an honest review, so here it is...the UGLY.)
- I was on my period for the entire cleanse. I wasn't expecting it. It came early, two weeks early as a matter of fact, and it really pissed me off. There's nothing like not being able to eat food when you're PMS-ing. Combine that with the lack of sleep/energy, and my family had a raging bitch on their hands. I felt so angry by the end of the three days, I'm surprised I didn't punch a hole in the wall or flip the kitchen table over while everyone was eating dinner. I DO NOT recommend doing this cleanse when you're on your period. Don't do it. Seriously. Don't.
- One of Shakeology's many benefits is that it curbs cravings. I'm not just saying this - it actually does really help with cravings. I don't even really think twice about junk food or chips anymore. But...trying to do this cleanse while PMS-ing...let's just say that all the Shakeology in the world can't curb those kinds of cravings. I think all you ladies know what I mean. On Day 2, Jon was eating chips and salsa, and it was all I could do to not lunge across the room and shovel chips into my mouth, Cookie Monster-style. Normally I wouldn't even be tempted. (I gave in on Day 3 and had two small chips. I consider that a win.)
- And while we're on the subject of food temptations, I am never, ever tempted to take Tori's food before she even gets a chance to eat it. But Days 2 & 3, I was making her lunch and battling with myself to not house the whole thing before it even got to the table. That's horrible. I hate feeling like I have to fight with myself just to avoid eating my daughter's food. I made her a grilled cheese sandwich, which I don't eat anymore and don't even miss, so having cravings like that is ridiculous to me. When she didn't eat her whole lunch, I immediately threw it in the trash, but I had to cover it with a dirty diaper because part of me was ready to dive in there and retrieve it. I feel dirty and disgusted with myself just talking about it, but it's the truth. (I didn't eat any of Tori's food on any of the days. That's a win, too.)
The Recommendation:
I doubt I will ever do a cleanse again. This was not a fun experience for me, and even though I lost weight, I don't think it was worth it to go through the emotional turmoil. I believe that clean eating combined with exercise is more than enough for me to lose weight and be healthy. Cleansing, to me, has too many negatives to make it worth my while. That's not to say it won't be worth it to anyone. I DO feel pretty good today. I have energy even though I still didn't get enough sleep last night, my digestion is working nicely, and of course I'm almost 6 lbs lighter than I was a few days ago. So my recommendation is this:
- Do the cleanse if you don't have to deal much with anyone on a 24 hr. basis. I had two kids who wouldn't sleep at all, and things got crazy. If you live by yourself or with supportive adults, then go for it.
- Do the cleanse if you want to lose weight really quickly, like for a wedding or a hot date. If you do it right, you can lose quite a bit.
- Do the cleanse if you've hit a plateau and you're just not losing weight anymore. I have a feeling this would really get things going again.
- Do the cleanse if you don't have a problem drinking Shakeology plain. This was hard for me, and I think it would be a lot easier for someone who was actually enjoying what they had to drink three times a day.
- Do NOT do the cleanse if you are on your period. I can't stress this enough!!!
- Do NOT do the cleanse if you have to deal with people constantly. My kids drove me to the brink of insanity because I wasn't able to get a break. As my energy decreased, so did my patience, and I ended up being one angry mommy. Not fun for anyone. My customer service friends, if you're planning to do the cleanse, I recommend trying it on your days off. That way you'll still have a job when you're done. (I could be exaggerating...I still don't know if my bad attitude was more PMS or cleanse-related.)
...and that's it, I guess. I thought I had more "do NOT" reasons, but that's all I can remember. So, in conclusion, I think cleansing is not the best thing for me personally, but it might be right for someone else.
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