We're almost through this week and that makes me a happy, happy girl!! It's been a rough one!!
We've been very busy at work and I haven't been 100% this week. I'm looking forward to my days off!
I survived the 3 Day Refresh!! And I hated every miserable moment of it!! I had heard good things about it and I was really hoping to like it, but not so much. Let me back up and explain why I decided to try it in the first place. Lately, I've been eating sweets and treats like they are going out of style. My husband and I can sit down and devour a medium sized bag of peanut M&M's in 2 nights. That's absurd! I have a weakness for candy, any and all kinds of candy. I try to justify it by eating the mini sizes or snack sizes, but I can't just stop at 1 or 2. Plus, I do a lot of mindless snacking in the evenings after work. I'll come home almost every night and "graze" on whatever I can find. Most often, it's tortilla chips. I knew if I wanted to make real progress with my weight lifting program that I would need to quit eating all the junk. Now, in the past, I've been able to go cold turkey on sweets, treats, and sugars but I've always gone back to them. And this time, I was having a little trouble with will power. So I decided to try the 3 Day Refresh to get me back on track.
Let me preface my review by saying that I am a fan of Team Beachbody. I've used several of their products in the past, Insanity, 21 Day Fix, and Body Beast, and have been pleased with those. I had heard good things about the Refresh, so I thought that I would give it a go. Now, I'm also a Beachbody coach but I don't make that readily known. Coaches make a commission off the products that people by from their websites, so I understand supporting the product that they are selling. But, I'm in it for the discount on products more than anything else. I feel that I need to be honest about my experience with the product, even if it is less than ideal.
I don't really believe that these weight loss gimmicks work. I actually think that they can set one up for failure. I didn't really expect miracles but I drank the Kool-aid and thought I would see what all the hype was about. I ordered it and planned to start it the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It was only 3 days and I can do anything for 3 days, right? It arrived and I meal planned/grocery shopped. It includes a fiber drink (like Metamucil) and high protein shakes. You can get it with Shakeology but I chose not to as I prefer another vegan protein shake. You eat an abundance of vegetables with some fruit and healthy fats to "keep you full and satisfied". The protein sources are vegetable proteins. The theory behind it is that vegetables are easier for your body to process. I followed the plan 99% There were a couple of variables that I was not willing to budge on. I drink and Advocare Spark daily. If I had to give up coffee, I knew I would need that Spark and its allowed on the Advocare cleanse, so I didn't cut that out. And, I mix my protein shake w/ unsweetened almond milk. I didn't change that either. So here's how it went:
Day 1:
I started with 8oz of Advocare Spark when I woke up. Breakfast was my protein shake w/ almond milk and 1/2 apple. Mid morning, I had hot tea then a little while later, the fiber sweep. It was kindy clumpy but I chugged it down. Lunch was the other 1/2 apple, 1.5 tsps. almond butter, and the vanilla refresh shake from the Refresh mixed with water. Mid afternoon, I had 1 red bell pepper with 2 tbsp. of hummus. Dinner was a spinach salad with peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, sunflower seeds and homemade vinegar/oil dressing and another vanilla refresh shake. Day 1 was actually not too bad. I did go to bed early but that's another story.
Day 2: Identical to Day 1 except I was starting to feel weak and tired, fuzzy headed and HANGRY!! The cravings, OMG, the cravings!! Please make them stop!!!
Day 3: Same as Day 1 but HANGRY!!! I was so weak and tired. I had such a bad headache that I was very unproductive at work. I was so glad that it was almost over!!
The PROS: I increased my water and vegetable intake. I try to get enough veggies but I usually only get 2-3 servings a day. I did not eat any candy!! My stomach is much less bloated! So, in that regard, it was successful.
The CONS: Not enough to eat. You only consume about 900-1000 calories. This is simply not enough. I was so hungry. I had zero energy. I didn't work out for 3 days while on this plan. I basically felt horrible days 2 & 3. I didn't cheat but I really wanted to. The vanilla refresh shakes were simply terrible!!
The end result: I didn't really lose any weight (maybe 3 or 4 pounds) or inches off my waist like I had seen others claim. But, my goal wasn't to lose weight and I really don't have that much to lose, so I wasn't expecting much. As I said, I did succeed at not eating candy or junk, so that was a success. And I was successful at increasing my water and veggie intake, so that's a plus. Did I accomplish what I hoped to? My goal was to clean up my diet, so yes I did. But I wouldn't go this route again. Its too drastic and too much deprivation. I wanted to binge so badly!! Would I ever do it again? Absolutely not!! If I need to "reset" my nutrition in the future, I will do it myself in what I believe is a healthy manner.
Now, I plan to follow a less restrictive, clean eating plan. I'm going to follow the 21 Day Fix plan without treats or sweets. That's going to be hard with Christmas coming but I think that I can do it now that I've gotten a jumpstart.
Until next time--get up, get out, and get moving! Make today ridiculously amazing!!
Your friend,
Theresa
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