First of all, let’s start with WHAT IS THE 3 DAY REFRESH? The 3-Day Refresh is a scientifically designed program that helps you fast-track your weight loss, kick-start healthy eating, and get a clean break from bad nutrition habits. 3-Day Refresh is a simple, straightforward program that will help cleanse your body and improve the way you feel— without starving yourself. Unlike juice cleanses or liquid fasts which tend to be high in sugar and low in protein (leaving you feeling weak, hungry, and sluggish), this easy-to-follow program helps support your metabolism while nourishing your vital organs. For 3 days you’ll follow a program of 3 shakes a day, a fiber drink, plenty of filtered water, plus a wide array of fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats throughout the day to keep your energy and metabolism going.
So now you are probably asking, WHY WOULD I DO A 3 DAY CLEANSE? Easy, I ate like crap for the past few weeks and wanted to get my body back on track. I had just finished my second round of Core de Force and I wanted to kickstart Round 3 with healthy eating and hopefully a few pounds lighter.
HOW DOES THE REFRESH WORK? 3 protein shakes per day, 3 plant based meals per day, 1 fiber sweep drink, and lots of water and herbal tea. It’s really that easy. Every day you start off with a glass of water in the morning to get your metabolism going. Then you drink Shakeology with some fruit (either in your shake or on its own, I put my banana in my shake). Mid-morning is time for the fiber sweep drink which I recommend you CHUG! Lunch time is a high protein vegan protein shake called the Vanilla Fresh. You can have another fruit, a vegetable and a healthy fat with your shake. This time I chose to eat my fruit on the side. Mid-afternoon is time for another vegetable and healthy fat, and at dinner you have another Vanilla Fresh shake with one of the vegetable dinner options. Between all of the shakes and food you drink LOTS of water and I chose to enjoy hot tea every day.
I know you all came for the results so here they are:
I ended up losing 1.2 pounds from day 1, 1 pound from day 2, and nothing on the third day. A total of 2.2 pounds and about 1/2″ off of my tummy area. My waist didn’t move, but I didn’t really expect it to. I definitely felt lighter at the end of the cleanse, in my mind I looked MUCH slimmer and it was nice to prove to myself that I could do this!
Here are how my days went.
Day 1:
The few days before the refresh I kept dreaming about it. I don’t know why, but I kept dreaming that I couldn’t control myself and was just eating everything in sight and then would forget my shakes. It was really odd, and seriously proves the fact that this is all A MENTAL GAME! You eat and drink plenty on this cleanse, but I was just so worried about it.
The morning of I set alarms for the next 3 days so I knew exactly when to drink and eat so I would be prepared. The timing for your meals is pretty specific and I didn’t want to mess it up or feel hungry throughout.
Woke up Wednesday at 5:30 am and drank an 8 oz glass of water. You are supposed to drink your first shake of the day within an hour of waking so I took my shower and (as quietly as possible) blended my Shakeology with 1/2 frozen banana and drank it at 6:00 am. Next you can have a cup of herbal or green tea an hour later so I made a cup of herbal tea and took to work with me.
Mid-morning (at least an hour after your tea) is time for the fiber sweep. This is not a laxative, thank goodness, however, just a high dose of fiber. The packet is relatively small and you mix it with 8 oz of water, I recommend that water be very cold. When you mix it, I also suggest chugging it all in one drink as soon as possible. It will start to congeal and get thick if you do not drink it quickly. It has a nice lemon flavor, but is very textured. Not gonna lie, it was pretty gross, but again it didn’t taste bad. Just FELT weird af. Also, I never took a photo of it because I just drank it too fast to even remember. LOL!
At least an hour after the fiber sweep is time for lunch. You get a Vanilla Fresh protein shake, a fruit, a vegetable, and a healthy fat. Today I blended my shake with water, ice, and cinnamon. It didn’t taste awful, but it didn’t taste great either. I had a side of strawberries, cucumber, and some hummus. I didn’t feel hungry afterwards but I wasn’t looking forward to the shake again for dinner.
Mid-afternoon is time for your snack. Another veggie and a healthy fat. I kept it the same every day and had carrots with 1/4 of an avocado. I think I had more avocado that you were supposed to have, but I was willing to eat a little more to feel fuller in the afternoon.
Dinner time was another vanilla fresh shake. One of the girls in my group suggested to make it into a pancake so I gave it a shot. 1 packet of vanilla fresh, 1/2 mashed banana, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 tsp vanilla, sprinkle of baking soda, 1 egg (I didn’t use the egg because I didn’t have any), and water to get it to the right consistency. I cooked it too high and ended up burning it and the inside was still mushy. It was NASTY! Also, ended up having an extra fruit because of the banana, but I only ate half of the pancake so it was ok. I also made the coconut steamed veggies from the recipe list, and could only stomach half of that as well.
I ended up sleeping as soon as I got home from work, woke up long enough to make/eat dinner, and went right back to sleep. I felt so tired and craved so much stuff, so sleep was just better. I did squeeze in my 10 minute yoga from the Beachbody Yoga Studio before bed and it felt great.
Day 2:
Woke up Thursday at 6:30, drank a glass of water, and took my shakeology with 1/2 frozen banana to work with me. I had another glass of hot tea after the shakeology and then fiber sweep mid-morning again.
For lunch I blended my shake again but this time with more cinnamon and some orange and coconut extract. I put too much orange and that was all I tasted so it was alright. I also had a whole apple sprinkled with cinnamon and cucumber with hummus again. You are only supposed to have half an apple, but I needed the other half.
Afternoon snack was carrots and avocado again.
Dinner I just shook my vanilla shake with extra cinnamon and chugged. It was better than way. I also had the roasted asparagus and almonds from the recipe list. SO GOOD! Not sure if it was because I was just a little hungrier, but it was amazing.
I didn’t drink enough water this day, but ended up feeling really good that night. I skipped my yoga and just relaxed instead.
Day 3:
I woke up on Friday (Day 3) SO HAPPY! So happy that today was day 3 and I was almost done. Not that I felt hungry really any of the time, but just happy to not drink shakes for every meal.
Had another glass of water upon waking, drank my shakeo with 1/2 frozen banana again and fiber sweep mid-morning. (Yay for the last fiber sweep!)
Lunch was another shaken vanilla fresh, but guys, I FOUND THE SECRET!! I shook it with cinnamon and like 2 teaspoons of caramel extract and it was SO GOOD!!!! Why did I not try that sooner?!?!?! Went back to strawberries with cucumbers and hummer.
Snack was the same carrots and avocado but today I had a half of an avocado and was totally ok with it.
Dinner was another shaken shake with caramel extract. YUM! (Yay for last shake!) and had the stir-fry veggies with some veggie broth. Note to self, I do not like veggie broth.
I did another yoga sesh tonight from Beachbody Yoga Studio and was so happy!!! Those late night cravings were really real that night but I was so close to finishing that I couldn’t cave!
I do have to admit that on day 1 I got a piece of the fiber sweep stuck in the back of my throat and it hurt so bad that I had a few pieces of hard candy to suck on to sort of keep my throat lubed, and on day 2 I had a few bites of my boyfriends dinner, and day 3 I had 2 ritz crackers and another few pieces of candy.
Final thoughts:
Was I perfect? Absolutely not. Did I lose some weight, feel thinner and prove to myself that I could do something? YES! I am glad I did it, but probably won’t be doing it again anytime soon. Cleanses have never been my thing (I have never done one before). I am now only half a pound away from my goal weight and that makes me so happy. I am starting round 3 of Core de Force today and I feel invigorated and ready to eat HEALTHY, WHOLESOME foods for the next 30 days to really amp up my results.
DO I RECOMMEND THE 3 DAY REFRESH? Yes, definitely. It isn’t all roses and unicorns, but it does what it says. Refreshes your system and helps you lose weight in a short of time. I think that everyone could benefit from the refresh, although it may be more difficult for some than for others. If you already eat pretty healthy, this won’t be too bad, but if your diet doesn’t include any veggies, it might be a struggle for you. Overall, I would say this was just about what I expected and wasn’t totally hangry the whole time so that’s a good thing. In fact, I never really felt hungry, but rather just had cravings for everything under the sun.
