I started the Shakeology cleanse on Monday and finished yesterday. I followed it pretty strictly, 3 shakes a day, 1 big salad loaded with veggies and 4 oz of protein (chicken or tilapia) and 1-1.5 pieces of fruit per day if I needed it between meals (I continued working out pretty hard during the cleanse and had to listen to my body to get those few extra calories!) In the end, I lost a total of 3.5 pounds! Although weight loss was definitely a goal of mine for the cleanse, there were some awesome other effects from it that I never expected...!
1. REDUCED CRAVINGS - this is in caps because it is HUGE for me. I'm the type of person who generally tries to eat well and clean, but omg do my cravings get the best of me. Sometimes before I know it, I'll have eaten 4 spoonfuls of peanut butter only to realize that I just put about 400 unnecessary calories into my body and an amount of fat that I'd rather not calculate this early :) My cravings tend to come when I'm stressed at work, and although you every once in awhile really would like that dark chocolate nugget your coworker is offering you, doing it 3 times a day, everyday....well, it starts to add up more than I realized. Because Shakeology is so delicious and chocolatey and fulfilling, my mid afternoon shake eliminated the need I felt to do my usual picking! If I can stick with this mentality, it'll be huge in my overall weight loss efforts. The time between meals is when I'm the worst...
2. Reduced bloating - even though my weight only went down by 3.5 pounds, I feel so good, and my pants fit are fitting better! It's proof that the number on the scale doesn't have to be the ultimate determination of how you look and feel. I attribute this largely to the amount of water I have been drinking. I drink water pretty much all day at work, and since I work at a desk from about 830 - 730, having that little excuse to get up and walk around the office to get water is perfect.
3. Motivation to KEEP GOING - this has been the greatest thing I've gotten out of the last 3 days. I was feeling discouraged a little bit ago, and this kicked me off my plateau. I came to the realization that I don't feel nearly as good after a big meal or a night of drinking than I do waking up and saying "wow my stomach looks amazing...and my work pants aren't squeezing the life out of me!" There's nothing like a pair of tight pants to make you quite the cranky coworker throughout the day :)
I definitely encourage all of you to try this. This is something I would recommend to anyone and would certainly do again. It doesn't feel like a cleanse because you're not starving yourself, but that's the best part! My biggest challenge is going to be keeping the weight off and hopefully talking about it and sharing the experience will give me the accountability I need to meet my goals. In the last year I've had some fluctuations with my weight/fitness level due to starting my job as a consultant. I dropped a ton of weight initially (think I lost alot of muscle too) but because I didn't lose it the right way, I put it back on and more soon after that. I live in Pittsburgh and work in WV during the week so there's also alot of travel and social stress. I've actually been called out publicly for "what I'm doing" because I had a night where I didn't want to drink and ate chicken at home instead of eating pizza out. Thank you guys so much for being interested in what I have to say and, in a way, supporting what I'm doing. Makes me feel more normal! (who would have thought trying to focus on health and fitness can make you feel like you're out there all alone..?)
So to sum this up...I HIGHLY recommend trying the Shakeology cleanse...I really don't think you'll be disappointed :)
