It is not a miracle cure.
If you are looking for a quick fix and a way to lose 20 pounds in 3 days I'm telling you now to go waste your money elsewhere! This is a cleanse only, meant to jump start your health and fitness goals, not to rocket you to the finish line and gain it all back! There are plenty of other magical pills and supplements out there that have crazy guarantees of doing such a thing but I wouldn't put anything with chemicals like that in my body!
If you have never done a cleanse if any kind, this may not be for you.
I have done juice cleanses (talk about being hungry!!), shakeology cleanses (turns out this is NOT recommended!), tea cleanses (I can't drink that much tea!!), the military diet (another Pintetest FAIL!) and just about everything else a 20 something year old girl can get her hands on and each one was MISERABLE! The idea of a 'cleanse' is to rid your body of toxins and essentially flush your system, what about that sounds fun??
I'm not saying that you shouldn't do this program if you are a cleanse virgin, I just want you to be prepared! It was however in my opinion the easiest to follow without starving yourself!
What does the Refresh consist of?
The refresh is 3 days, each day is the same foods:
Breakfast is shakeology and a fruit option, you pick your flavor, I did vegan chocolate which I highly recommend (the other shakes are vanilla and you can only take so much!!)
Mid morning is Fiber Sweep with is a Metamucil like digestive health drink (these were a bit rough!) I had the hardest time with this one, however keep in mind it's all natural so there is only so much they can do to make it bearable without over-processing it!
Lunch is Vanilla Fresh shake plus a fruit, vegetable, and healthy fat option.
Afternoon snack from the fruit, vegetable, or juice option list.
Dinner is another Vanilla Fresh shake plus a meal from the dinner recipe list.
Along with these meals.. You have the option to drink a morning and evening tea which I highly recommend! It cut my hunger cravings and will help with headaches if you are used to drinking caffeine daily!
You also need to drink a lot of water!! It's recommended to drink half your body weight in ounces during the Refresh, so I weighed 184 when I started meaning I had to drink 92 ounces of water a day on top of the shakes and juices!
My thoughts and results from the Refresh
In 3 days I lost 5.6 pounds, I wasn't hungry like with other cleanses, and have kept most of the weight off for over 4 days without extreme dieting! The best part is that I feel my body is back on track to keep tackling my fitness goals after being off track for almost a month!
• Its very hard. I am not going to lie and say it was easy to sit and eat my veggies while everyone else at work was downing pizza and chocolate!
• Day one I was not hungry at all. After forcing down all the shakes and spacing the meals around my work schedule I was so full and bloated that I couldn't eat another thing!
• That didn't last! Days 2 and 3 I was hungry in between meals, but once I ate I instantly felt full again. I was eating wayyyy less than usual and feeling satisfied which was a huge plus for me!
• I slept better and woke up feeling rested. I have NEVER felt like that before!
• It was very hard to do after eating such a high calorie diet for so many days! It would have been much easier to ease into, however that was why I felt I needed a cleanse was to kick start my healthy eating again!
• I didn't workout during the 3 days. The program allows for mild to moderate exercise, however with my current work schedule and how often I had to drink shakes and water I didn't feel able to push myself!
• It works. I feel "Refreshed" and in the days since the cleanse I have continued to eat less and feel satisfied! I also didn't have any 'stomach cleansing' effects, however I was constantly in the bathroom due to how much water I was consuming!!
I would definately recommend this program to someone looking to kick start a fitness program, however I'm still not sold on cleanses without an ongoing fitness plan! They are a quick fix and not a substitute for a healthy diet and daily exercise!!
Email me for a free fitness evaluation! Let's do this together mariagracefitness@gmail.com
