Dr Oz's Three Day Cleanse: My Review

I want to preface this by saying, that I've never done a cleanse before.  I bought the Master Cleanse Book and was too scared to actually go through with it.  I'm not really about starving myself and want to lose weight in a healthy way.  So when I saw Alissa's review on Dr. Oz's 3 Day Cleanse, I was definitely intrigued.  First of all, Dr Oz seems like a pretty reputable source {I mean, hello Oprah!} and second of all, I trust Alissa, since I know she's a "real" person!  ;)  Third of all, this is a cleanse that has  substance to it.  You essentially drink 4 whole shakes which consist of vegetables, fruits, and other fats.  No starving involved. 

Aside from all of that, I've been really struggling to lose those last 10 pounds from my pregnancy.  Nothing seems to work.  Just when I think I make progress, I gain 2-3 pounds back.  It's been super frustrating.  So I figured, this would be a good way to rein in my out of control food proportions {breastfeeding was the culprit here}, curb my sweet tooth, and maybe even lose a couple pounds.  

Here's an overview of what's involved:

And here's my review:

Day 1

I started the day with the hot tea and lemon...I skipped the sweetener   The breakfast smoothie was yummy!  I loved the combo of raspberries, banana and almond butter.  Speaking of, how have I never had almond butter?!  It's so delicious!  I was off to a good start!

The lunch smoothie is one word: DISGUSTING!  It's not so much the ingredients...I like apples, cucumber and can tolerate kale...it's the texture.  It's really dense and thick and just gross.  It took me 3 hours to choke down the first day. 

I got pretty hungry between lunch and dinner, so I made myself half of a breakfast smoothie again.  And then had the dinner smoothie 2 hours later.  The dinner smoothie is not bad...just a little spicy because of the cayenne pepper.

That night I took the epsom salt bath, which was nice, but it's hard to find time to really enjoy it with a small baby around the corner.  I did get to bed by 9:30 which is unheard of!  I was super tired.

Day 2

Still love the tea and breakfast smoothie and actually look forward to it.  I'm not missing caffeine nearly as much as I thought I would.  

I reduced the celery to two stalks and used a food processor which helped immensely with the texture.  It's not AS bad, but still my least favorite.  

I'm still hungry after work, but decide to just eat the raspberries and banana with a little almond butter instead of making the entire shake.  I was literally licking the almond butter spoon.

Dinner is the same.  I actually had the hardest time with day two.  It was hard knowing what I was going into and knowing that today wasn't the last day.  I end the day with another bath.  

Day 3

SO happy it's the last day!  Happily drink my breakfast smoothie and choke down my lunch smoothie.  Had the same snack after work and then my dinner smoothie followed by the bath.  I notice that I'm not as hungry as the first day and even feel less bloated.

Results

I can't say I felt immensely better...more energized and such.  But I did notice my skin seemed a bit clearer, and most importantly, I lost 7 WHOLE POUNDS!  Yes, I was shocked to read the scale on the 4th morning.  It's been two weeks since I did the cleanse and I've kept five pounds off...not bad for three days.  I can already tell that my cravings have been curbed and my proportions are much more in control.

If you're thinking of kick starting a healthy lifestyle, I would recommend this cleanse.  I really feel like you can do anything for 3 days...and it's probably best to start at the beginning of the week.  I even had a similar breakfast shake on the 4th morning, I was that hooked.  Update: I've been having a variety of the shake every morning along with the green tea and lemon.  I really do love it!

I hope this helps!  Let me know if you have any questions.

xo natasha