Shakeology Cleanse

I decided to give the 3 day Shakeology Cleanse a try.  I've wanted to do a cleanse for awhile, I've just been scared.  You can actually eat while doing this one so I figured I'd give it a try.  It is a 3 day "cleanse" but you eat 3 Shakeology shakes a day, some fruit and a salad with chicken of fish.  It limits your calories but not a ridiculous amount, like a typical cleanse.  I am most nervous about not having coffee or wine. I realize it's only 3 days but it will still be hard.

Here's how went:

Day 1

I woke up still unsure if I was really going to do this.  The fact that I ran out of sugar for my morning coffee made the decision easier.

7:30- Glass of green tea and a shake made with water and a banana. (213 calories)

10:30- hand full of blackberries.  Thankfully I have a blackberry bush on my street.  I grabbed some on our walk back from the park :) (20ish calories)

11:00-  Freaking out a little. Not that I was starving but the ham and cheese I made for the kids looked really good.

12:30-Shake with water and ice. (160 calories) Glass of green tea.

2:30-I feel like crap.  Not sure if it's the lack of food or lack of caffeine or my cold.

5:30-I was dying.  Killer headache and couldn't concentrate on anything.  Also had a very short fuse. Realize I should have had my snack shake this afternoon around 3 or 4.  I'll know better tomorrow.

6:00-Salad with 4oz(ish) of chicken, olive oil and vinegar.  (350ish calories)

7:30- Shake with water (160 calories)

I'm feeling much better after dinner and the final shake.  I should add that I'm drinking a ridiculous amount of water.  Not sure how much but I'm peeing all the time.  I'm estimating some of these calories but at the end of Day 1 I had around 900 calories.  WAY less than a normal day This explains why I was feeling sluggish and run down for most of the day.  I'm not sure I can live on 900 calories for 2 more days. We will see.

Now if I can get through the night without being tempted by that bottle of wine on the counter....


Day 2:


I had a great sleep last night.  Still have an annoying cough and itchy throat but I slept way better than the previous night.  I woke up feeling rested and my headache, while it's still there, is much less noticeable.  I got on the scale when I woke up and I lost 2 pounds yesterday.  I'm not 100% sure how I feel about that.  Nice that I lost 2 pounds but I'm guessing most of that is water and not eating enough calories.  I'm not sure that 2 pounds will stay off when I start eating real food.


6:50-Green tea

7:00-Shake with water and 1/2 a banana (213 calories)

9:15-1/2 banana (53 calories)

11:30-tired and cranky.  Snapping at the kids. Not sure this is worth it.

12:15- Shake with water and a handful of blackberries.  Feeling better. (180 calories)

1:30-Took a little nap while the kids were resting.  I have no energy.

2:45-Shake with water, ice and a tbls of almond butter.  The almond butter might be cheating but, I don't care. (260 calories)

3:30-Feeling pretty good. Just had a glass of green tea.  Might make it through the day.

5:45- Salad with 4 oz chicken, olive oil and balsamic vinegar (350 calories)

7:45-All in all feeling pretty good.  My stomach is less bloated and my energy is coming back, a little.  I'm still not sure if I will do Day 3. I'm going to see how I feel when I wake up.

I'm estimating a lot of these calories.  Today is somewhere around 1056.


Day 3.

I woke up unsure if I was going to stick with it for the last day.   My head hurt and I'm still groggy.  I decided to take the kids to a coffee shop for breakfast.  I ended up with green tea.  So...I guess I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet but I'm still on the fence about today.  I wouldn't be surprised if I stopped half way through.

I got on the scale this morning and I'd lost a little more than a pound.  That's around 3 pounds so far.  My stomach is way less bloated and my love handles seem smaller.  This could be my calorie deprived brain playing tricks on me.  Who knows.

7:30-Green tea

8:00-Shake with water and frozen peaches (185 calories)

10:15- Half of banana.  I'm feeling pretty good so far. (53 calories)

12:15- Shake with water, 1/2 banana and 1 tbls almond butter (313 calories)

1:00- I'm feeling really good so far.  I think I'm going to make it the whole day.  I'm already planning tomorrow's breakfast :)

3:00- 2 slices of apple and shake with water and half a banana. (213 calories)  I'm not even really hungry.  I'm just drinking it because I feel like I should.  I'm pretty happy it's the last shake of the cleanse.

5:30- Salad with chicken, oil and vinegar.  Pretty sick of this meal too. (350 calories)

So....if I can not eat or drink anything for the next few hours, I have done it!  Day 3 I had around 1115 calories.  I have to say I felt really good today compared to the last 2 days.  I'm glad I stuck with it. I'm really interested to see how I feel once I start eating again.

Day 4-

I made it through Day 3! The WHOLE way through.  I'm really proud of myself for sticking with it.  If nothing else, it showed me I have more will-power than I thought.  All in all I lost 4 pounds.  I am less bloated and I feel pretty good.  I was so excited to have a cup of coffee this morning.  I made it with milk and sugar (like always) and it is way too sweet.  I think this is a good sign.

I'm hopeful the weight will stay off.  Between this "restart" of my healthy eating and the awesome race I had last weekend, I think I'm on the right track.  I'm starting my off season workout schedule today.  Mind you I have no idea what that looks like, but it's not even 7am.  I'll figure it out.

One last word on the cleanse.  I'm am not a doctor.  I have no idea if this is healthy or not.  I am in no way recommending it to anyone.  I just wanted to document my experience and thought I'd share it.

I'll check in a few weeks from now and let you know if it was all worth it.