Review of Dr. Oz’s 3 Day Detox Cleanse

Last week, I was watching Dr. Oz and his 3 day detox cleanse totally caught my attention. I had been eating complete crap and felt pretty much disgusting. Low energy, very bloated and simply didn’t feel good about myself. I thought that it was a great way to focus and get my act together to reboot my healthy lifestyle. So I went to Trader Joes (& another store, because they were out of a couple of things) on Tuesday March 12th and began on Wednesday March 13th.

Each day, you drink 4 smoothies (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack). The snack is which ever out of the three ‘meals’ is your favorite. Also upon waking each day, a nice wake-up tea is in order (green tea & lemon). So if you are switching from coffee, this is the caffeine alternative which is in fact kinder to your body.

You can find a breakdown of exactly what is in each smoothie, including exact measurements right here from DrOz.com. [The cleanse calls for a nighttime bath, but frankly my bathtub is not in acceptable condition for me to sit in so I didn’t do that.]

DAY 1

For me, this was the toughest day. The biggest thing about Day 1 is that I felt so hungry. I was used to eating tons of food so I knew my body was just adjusting. I also did not prepare the smoothies up to par. What I mean by this is- I didn’t use any frozen fruit and also didn’t blend them well enough (especially the lunch smoothie which contains lots of celery, kale and cucumber – blehhh).

But I had to just suck it down, even though it took me an hour. I wasn’t home so I couldn’t reblend it or even refrigerate it so it definitely was nasty. Day 1 was definitely a learning day, so if you are reading this before trying the cleanse – make sure most of the fruit you use is frozen (because you don’t add ice) and also blend them realllllly well. ESPECIALLY the vegetable-y lunch drink.

DAY 2

Day 2 was a huge improvement just because the smoothies tasted better to me. I blended them better and used frozen raspberries/blueberries/pineapple which made a HUGE difference. I actually enjoyed the morning drink immensely! I had to bring two smoothies with me to work so I put them in thermals and also in the fridge. This is key – seriously, drink these bad boys cold otherwise ya might gag. I learned that from the first day.

And as for the dinner drink, it was actually quite good…except for the cayenne pepper. If you know me, you know I love spicy. Turns out, I do not enjoy it in my ‘refreshing’ smoothies. I didn’t like the combination of a cold, fruity drink with the cayenne pow in it. It really turned me off of the dinner drink but without the spice, I would have liked it. I will probably try that same drink sans cayenne sometime soon.

So on Day 2 I was definitely feeling better and wasn’t as hungry as the first day.

DAY 3

I felt great when I woke up and was excited for the morning deliciousness.

I sipped down smoothie #1 as I prepared my next couple of drinks for work. Another thing I learned in the past two days, leave yourself lots of time for preparation! You can even prepare beforehand by bagging things together/freezing ingredients/etc. Basically anything to alleviate more work for yourself. If you are literally not doing anything for three days straight, then don’t worry about it – just make them as you go because they do taste better fresh.

At work I definitely felt more focused than the weeks before. I was able to concentrate and felt all-around good. Someone actually said to me, “So…why are you so happy today?” I blamed it on the cleanse. Although I am a very happy person in general, I exuded even more delight-fulness and my coworker even noticed!

POST-CLEANSE

Throughout the 3 days to be honest, I didn’t really feel much lighter. BUT on day 4 (yesterday) is when I woke up feeling like I did lose a bit of weight. Turns out I lost about 3 pounds.

I was so excited that I could finally eat food, but frankly by eating completely raw the past three days in smoothie form made me think before I grabbed the first thing I could bite into. It made me more conscious of what I put into my body. I had been feeding myself nutrient-rich foods that were fresh, healthy and easily digestible. So what did I do? I made myself a green tea with lemon and a damn smoothie for breakfast!!! I used a lot of the leftovers that I had – spinach, lemon, banana, raspberries, blueberries, almond butter, flax seeds, and almond milk. IT WAS SO DELICIOUS. I am now on a smoothie-for-breakfast kick and I will definitely be having at least one per day especially now that the warmer days are coming it’s perfect. I had one today with kale in it – let me tell you, the almond butter + banana + berries (of any kind) eliminates the taste of the greens in there. But they are in there all right!

SO all-in-all I think this cleanse was definitely worth it. I’d definitely consider doing it again. I am now consistently (well, its been two days) taking my supplements (multivitamin, omega-3, probiotic) and also going for tea rather than coffee. I have not gravitated towards coffee once since last Wednesday. I also really want to keep eating healthy. Everything tastes better too! That’s another perk! All I want to eat is fresh fruit and salads – they taste amazing.

OVERALL ADVICE

-Use at least 2 days before the cleanse to eat clean by cutting out sugar, alcohol & caffeine. It is a much easier transition. Trust me.

-Blend smoothies very well for better texture.

-Prepare ingredients/Leave yourself enough time to make the smoothies.

-Buy big enough To-Go containers if you have to bring them to work, school, etc. I found a couple of awesome ones at Wal-Mart! I got a big (and cute) tumbler with a straw for about $5 and a HUGE thermo (called Bubba) for approx $9. I will use them again for sure and they are definitely necessary.

-Freeze all of the fruit.

-Drink a ton of H20. My body ended up craving water nonstop. It’s important to stay very hydrated because it helps flush out the toxins more efficiently and faster. You’ll be peeing a heck of a lot but it’s a cleanse so what do you expect?

-Power through it! It’s really not that bad, like I said it’s worth it so keep your eye on the prize [feeling healthy, clear-minded, happy, lighter].

I highly recommend this detox cleanse especially as winter comes to a close. It’s time to get out the shorts and tanks so why not do this now? It’s perfect. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I’d also love feedback from anyone else that has tried this.

Now go get your smoothie on! Good luck 🙂