Ok this was really hard for me! I went from Halloween candy straight to no sugar, no grains, no dairy, and limited calories. I was prepared for the 5 Day Clean Eating Sugar Detox Challenge. I knew I wasn't doing the 3-Day Refresh. Confession Time: I didn't actually know a Shakeology Cleanse existed so I wasn't planning on doing a cleanse until Monday morning when I actually started it! I know, talk about no-prep time! That kind of the reason I didn't even mention it until the day I actually started it. You can see details about that HERE.
So the gear switching was pretty challenging. I drank a Shakeology first thing in the morning, worked out, then I went to the grocery store and bought more salad mix, chicken, and bananas (my fruit of choice).
Day One:
Mostly liquid diet until dinner was pretty hard. It's getting colder and I'm getting hungrier. Not to mention that I'm not much of a beverage person to begin with. So drinking my meals and keeping up with my water intake was kind of weird. I also got a headache and some nausea by the afternoon. I'm thinking that's because of the sugar withdrawal. By 8pm I was starving so I ate some carrots. Technically not part of the plan, but the food is on the plan. I burned over 350 calories during my workout and I'm doing a 3 mile nature hike tomorrow so I'm not worried about the extra calories. It's only three days….I just have to keep telling myself that!
I was warned by Kim today that it's not recommended to do extra exercise during a cleanse because it's so low cal and you need calories for extra activity. Our hike was planned awhile ago because the school is closed for parent-teacher conference so I'm still going to go ahead and do it and see what happens.
Day Two:
Three mile nature hike including 5 moms and 11 kids! Fun times. It literally took about 2 1/2 hours including lunch and breaks. I knew that the liquid diet wouldn't cut it so I packed an extra banana. I also ate half of my dinner salad in the morning and drank at Shakeology before heading out. All went ok until the end when one of my best friends and workout buddy pulled out some homemade chocolate chip cookies! I really need to point out that these were from the cook book, Deceptively Delicious” and were made with chickpeas. They were delicious, not too sweet and 21 Day Fix approved. They are NOT Sugar Detox or Cleanse approved. Before I knew it I had eaten 3 of them. Bummer. I had a moment where I wanted to give up and say “forget it.” I changed my mind when my friend said, “No keep going.” She is right I mean I did go half-way without any issues and I did do that! When I got home I ate the other half of the salad and another shake. I'm probably going to have a shake and some carrots before bed.
It's not an exact cleanse but I still feel like I'm doing my body some good. Digestively I feel pretty good and I know I burned off those calories today and then some. I will say that the food restrictions of doing a cleanse make the typical clean eating food list look like luxury!
Day Three
Last day and I had planned to go out with a bang. Then I went to Zumba, did 10 sit-ups, weights, treadmill, and other ab exercises. I was feeling so good I just really wanted to work out. I started out well but then after my workout I was so hungry. My friend and I took out littlest kids to a local Baazar at a church and the food smelled so good! I caved and bought the low cal. chicken corn soup (The PA Dutch version of chicken noodles sans the noodles). I keep going throughout the day but at dinner I gave up and at some clean eating mac and cheese I made for my family. I also drank two shakes with almond milk because I don't really like it with water. Basically I kept the Sugar Detox approved diet, but not the cleanse.
Conclusion
In the future I really need to actually plan it. I can't jump into it without being physically and emotionally prepared. I also should do it on a weekend when I don't have workouts planned. I think I will do it after the holiday season.
I will say though, compared to the rules of the cleanse, the Sugar Detox is easy! I won't have any trouble sticking to that on Thursday and Friday. Then I start my next 30 Day challenge on Monday. Before then I am going to have a cheeseburger and piece of cake this weekend.
Even though I didn't follow it exactly, I still feel really good and not bloated. My energy levels have been higher than they usually are. I've definitely gotten some benefits.
For more, check out my Frugal Fitness group HERE.
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