Dr. Oz Three-Day (2.5 day?) Detox

While I don't consider my eating habits horribly unhealthy (I haven't gone near fast food in years, try to incorporate fruits and veggies into all my meals and don't oversalt food or bury it in heavy sauces) I do make some food choices that aren't always great. I drink a lot of coffee,  and consume wayyyy too much sugar and white flour. Oh, and the wine.

I decided that maybe I needed to break the cycle by "jump-starting" my body and cleaning out all the toxins and crap that are most likely floating around in there. I'm not normally a fan of any kind of cleansing fast, partly because I like food, and also because I think our bodies work just fine for the most part when it comes to cleaning things out. But I thought it might do me good to get off the sugar rush a bit, and tone down the coffee drinking. And the drinking in general...

Dr. Oz's Three Day Detox intrigued me because it was only three days, included real food products (not lemon and cayenne drinks-disgusting!) and seemed to be something I could manage. I figured I'd give it a shot! I'm going into this hoping I will come out on the other side with reduced sugar cravings and a plan to really eat clean. Here is my day-by-day review.

Day 1

First off, when I purchased all the ingredients for the detox, I knew I'd have to do a couple substitutions. One of the items on the shopping list is Almond milk, which makes me gag. So I bought coconut milk, which is palatable for me. Same with the almond butter, can't eat it (which is weird because I do like almonds by themselves!), so I got some freshly ground peanut butter from the natural food section at the store. Another ingredient that I am dreading is coconut water. Unlike the creamy goodness of coconut milk (which is like normal milk) coconut water is HORRIBLE. I always think I want to drink it, but when I take even a tiny sip, I remember that its HORRIBLE. I did get a couple small bottles of it, but I don't know how that's gonna go down.

So here's my day-

I got up and rather than my usual morning coffee, I had the green tea. I'm glad we are allowed some caffeine. I had a big cup of it, worried about a potential caffeine headache.

Breakfast smoothie. Everyone else who reviewed this said this was the best tasting of the three smoothies you get every day. Its pretty good. This was easy for me because I often have smoothies for breakfast.

I went to the gym after breakfast and did a moderate workout with one of my girlfriends. I didn't feel low energy, but afterwards I was hungry!

Lunch smoothie: I was initially excited by the Kelly green color and the addition of pineapple, which I love. The taste really wasn't bad at all, and it smelled very refreshing. But the texture-oh Sweet Mother of God-the texture. I couldn't finish it. I drank (ate?) most of it and the rest went down the sink. My boyfriend said I tasted like lawn clippings when he kissed me.

I didn't get to do the snack smoothie. I had a dentist appointment in the afternoon and by the time I got home it was close enough to dinner time that I decided to forego it and just have the dinner smoothie. By the time I got home I had a headache that was giving me blurry vision. I probably shouldn't be putting medication in my body, but I took an ibuprofen anyway.

Dinner smoothie: This smoothie has the dreaded coconut water. I only put in half of the amount called for because I  hate coconut water that much. I added some ice and a splash of coconut milk. The blueberries and the iciness of it with the added cubes made it okay. But just okay. Barely...barely okay.

So far I don't feel overly tempted to eat "real" food. I made dinner for my son and didn't even want a taste of his lovely and delicious looking chicken....seriously, I was fine.

I took my super-detox bath before bed, and had some herbal tea (I am not restricting myself with tea, even though it doesn't have it on the list other than breakfast.) I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed a relaxing bath, and while I couldn't find lavender oil, I found a pre-made Epsom and lavender soak! Perfect!

I felt  relaxed and slept great, which isn't always easy for me.

Day 2

I'm up and while I feel a little weak, overall I am good. No headache this morning and I actually looked forward to my green tea. Its not coffee but it will do!

The breakfast smoothie was still pretty good. I'm not as enthused about it as yesterday, but I drank it. I confess, I added a touch more coconut milk and a smidgen more of peanut butter....

Its almost noon and I am procrastinating about the lunch smoothie. I'm not sure if I can do it. Seriously. I think I may just make myself a big salad from all the ingredients. Does it really have to be blended? I think not.....

And that's what I ended up doing. Every time I thought about the lunch smoothie, I would literally start gagging. I have a high sensitivity to texture and I just can't get past it. So I created a salad. I used all the ingredients except the coconut milk. I diced everything up, and then I used the lime juice and coconut oil, along with a touch of balsamic and some dried herbs, to make a dressing. Quite delicious!

Its probably messing up the whole dynamic of the cleanse, but I figure its better to at least ingest all the required ingredients as opposed to my other option, which was to not eat anything. Or to eat a burger. I miss burgers....

By dinnertime I was dreading the dinner drink almost as much as the lunch. I tried to choke it down but the texture thing...ugh. It isn't as horrible as the lunch smoothie but almost.

I had a little bit of clear soup....so shoot me.

I took my relaxing bath and had some herbal tea. I didn't sleep as well tonight, because I kept having dreams of cheeseburgers....

Day 3

I feel fairly energetic today, had my tea and while I'm looking forward to coffee tomorrow, I do feel good about being able to skip it for a few days. I weighed myself this morning and I'm a little disappointed that I haven't lost much weight. But I'm going to the gym today to do my normal workout. I'm going to try to stick to the regime as close as possible today, all gagging aside.

My workout was fine, I felt a little lightheaded on the stairstepper but nothing major. I do feel like my body has adjusted to the detox. And I am not craving sugar anymore, which was one of the main reasons I did this. The breakfast smoothie was fine, I could have one of them every day.

Then came the EPIC FAIL.

I had to work at my other part time job, so I took off at 11am with no thoughts of my lunch smoothie. I didn't get out of work until 230pm. The chef always makes lunch for the staff, and when she asked if I wanted to eat I asked her to make mine to-go. I figured I'd have it for lunch the next day. I left work and went to pick up my son from school, with my to-go box sitting quietly and oh so innocently next to me on the seat.

By the time we got home, it was 4pm and I was ravenous. I'd consumed nothing but a breakfast smoothie all day, AND I'd worked out that morning. I stared at the to-go box for about a minute after I got home, before tearing it open and eating the contents.

It wasn't an unhealthy lunch by any means-small piece of grilled fish, some sliced red potatoes and sautéed greens. I didn't even feel that bad about eating it and ruining the detox. Because at that point, I just.didn't.care. I was over it.

The end result

I went into this detox to lose a few stubborn pounds and maybe give myself a kick-start for getting back to healthier eating. While I am a little disappointed in myself for not sticking to the plan for the three days, I do feel like I reaped some benefits from it, regardless of my cheating heart.

I lost 3 pounds.
I have still not had a glass of wine.
I have only had a few small bites of chocolate here and there.

But this guy....oh how happy I was to see this....

All in all, it was a good experience and something different to try. I probably wouldn't do it again, because I think that healthy eating should be a way of life-not something packed into a three day event.

I did, however, realize a few things about myself during the detox, namely that I can live without tons of sugar and I can survive without coffee. Oh and I hate green smoothies. With a passion.

The days of our lives

Like sands through the hourglass...does anyone remember that from the soap opera Days of our Lives? I haven't watched it in years so I don't know if they still use that phrase, but its been running through my mind lately.

This is my birthday month. And while I'll only share with my family and friends my REAL age, I will say that the big 5-0 is one year closer. I'm not sure why that freaks me out so much, but it does. Because it sounds soooo darn old! And all I can see in my head is that Molly Shannon skit from SNL:

Okay so please God that is NOT me...

I prefer to look at ladies like these for my inspiration:

 

Elle MacPhearson, Iman, Madonna. These girls have still GOT it! And I can only hope to look half as good as they do when I reach their ages. I know a 50 year old woman today is NOT a 50 year old woman even 20 years ago. Times have changed. We live longer, are healthier, and modern medicine grows by leaps and bounds almost daily-not to mention modern plastic surgery and many non-invasive procedures to fight aging.

 

I still have my mojo (most days), but its interesting to me how the years seem to slide by so quickly now. I remember when my kids were small, someone said to me "The days are long but the years are short". Which is very true, and the older I get, the more it seems to ring true with life in general.

There are still so many things I want to do, places I want to see. And while I know I still have (hopefully) many years left, I also know that life can be fleeting, and fragile. I find myself feeling a little rushed sometimes, looking at my bucket list and thinking about all the accomplishments I still want to achieve, and how time-precious, precious time-should not be wasted.

And sometimes, morbid as it may sound, I stop and ask myself, "If I died tomorrow, will everyone that I love know I loved them? Will they remember?" If  I can tell myself yes, if I can feel in my heart that those I love know just how much they mattered to me, then maybe thats all I really need to know I've done in my life.

Happy Birthday to me, and to you when yours comes around. Make a toast on your special day to love, and then make sure to share it with everyone who is important to you. Because at the end of the day, love is the greatest accomplishment of all.

Sally Beauty Deals and Steals!

Sally Beauty Supply is a new discovery for me, and has quickly become a favorite. Last week, in addition to their ongoing sales and specials, they were offering an additional 15 percent off to rewards members:

For those of you who have a beauty club membership at Sally (which is free-you pay $5 and get it back as a $5 gift card immediately) when you spend $25 you get a coupon for 15% off. My coupon was expiring at the end of February, and February 23 was their double rewards day. Knowing that I was going to get 30 percent off my entire purchase, I went in there with a list of needed beauty items and got all this:

I purchased two applications of AGEbeautiful hair color (I cannot afford to get a professional color every 3 weeks as my hair demands, so I do my own touch-ups here and there), along with AGEbeautiful strengthening treatment and daily conditioner. I am really liking this line, it is from Zotos and is supposed to treat the "five signs of aging hair". I can't remember right now what those five signs are, but I can guarantee my hair has them....

I also picked up some conditioning treatment packs, heat protective spray for before blow-drying and a couple travel size lotions for gifts (and I like keeping extras in my car or purse) and some "Sally Girl" eyeshadows and nail polish.

If you haven't tried the "Sally Girl" makeup line, you are missing out! Most of their makeup is 99 cents, and it is surprisingly good stuff. The pigment on the shadows rivals any high-end line, and the polishes are long lasting and such great colors! The little round pots of eyeshadow are very versatile, in that you can use them wet or dry.

Total cost to me for alllll those items was a mere $29.00 after my deep discount! Very affordable!

Check out your nearest Sally Beauty Supply for their latest deals. They always have plenty of items on sale, and most of those apply both in-house and online.

Here's to deals and steals, and staying beautiful on a budget!