Friday, January 4, 2013

Dr. Oz's 3-Day Detox Cleanse Completed!

"Eliminate harmful toxins, restore your system, and reset your body with this detox cleanse from Dr. Oz. All you need is 3 days, a blender, and $16 a day!"

From New Year's Day until this morning, Sam and I did a 3-day detox cleanse... and we survived! I had first heard of Dr. Oz's cleanse from someone who works at one of my organizations. He tried the cleanse after Thanksgiving, and recommended it. Unlike a juice cleanse -- like BluePrintCleanse, which both I and my friend have tried in the past -- this was a smoothie cleanse, so the drinks were substantial in both taste and texture, and I got to use my new red KitchenAid blender, which was a bonus.

3-Day Detox Cleanse One-Sheet (Image: Dr. Oz)

Shopping

This cleanse is advertised to cost $16 per day, or $48 for 3 days, for 1 person. It ended up costing more for us because we doubled it, and probably also because we live in NYC. I actually did not purchase everything on the one-sheet document though: 1) We already had green tea and cayenne pepper, 2) we didn't want or need Stevia for the tea, 3) I overlooked the coconut oil in the grocery store we went to, and 4) we didn't incorporate the Detox Ultra Bath in our experience.

This is not even 3 days of produce and supplies

Morning Detox Tea

Each day began with green tea and lemon. According to the video, Dr. Oz's Detox Cleanse, Pt. 1, each cup should contain a full lemon, but that seemed like a lot so we split a lemon between the 2 of us. I'm a coffee drinker and am used to having coffee first thing in the morning, but as much as I love coffee, I have no physical dependence on it (sometimes I wish it would have an effect on me), so fortunately I didn't have any caffeine headaches.

Green tea with lemon slices

Breakfast Drink

Key ingredients: Raspberries, bananas, spinach, almond butter, ground flax seeds.

This one was the favorite for both of us, and we ate this for our snack drink in the afternoons as well. Sam gave it a 3.4 out of 5, and I gave it a 4 out of 5. Final verdict: 7.4 out of 10.

The almond butter and ground flax seeds provided lots of nutty flavor, fiber, fat, and healthy Omega-3 fatty acids.

Fruity breakfast smoothie

Lunch Drink

Key ingredients: Kale, celery, cucumber, green apple, pineapple, lime, almond milk.

Many commenters on the Dr. Oz website disliked this drink the most, but as "green" as it tasted, the fruits added sweetness and brightness. It was chunkier and chewier than the other smoothies, though. Sam gave it a 3.2 out of 5, and I gave it a 3.5 out of 5. Final verdict: 6.7 out of 10.

Per person, each round of drinks made between 20-28 oz. The lunch drink resulted in the most volume, around 28 oz. for each of us. If you are familiar with fresh-pressed juices, this is the smoothie version of green juice: I repeat, lots of greens!

Green lunch smoothie

Snack Drink

As I mentioned above, since we liked the breakfast drink the most, we had that for our snack each afternoon. We're thinking of making it for breakfast post-cleanse, too!

Dinner Drink

Key ingredients: Kale, blueberries, mango, avocado, cayenne pepper, ground flax seeds, coconut water.

This drink wasn't bad, but it was our least favorite. Sam gave it a 3 out of 5, and I also gave it a 3 out of 5. Final verdict: 6 out of 10.

The avocado and ground flax seeds added healthy fat, fiber, and flavor, and there was a lot of leafy green kale in addition to blueberries and mango. The cayenne added a spicy kick.

Spicy dinner smoothie

Overall, we had a very positive experience doing this 3-day cleanse. You know I like my food, so it was a little difficult to get used to immediately after Christmas and New Year's, but we powered through. The first day we started, January 1, I posted a massive holiday update, we babysat my nephew and niece, watched the Michigan bowl game with Sam's brother, Daniel, and had our other brother-in-law, Dave, over to pick-up the kids and eat dinner in our apartment with Daniel! We drank our smoothies and I smelled their food.

We feel healthy having consumed such fresh, whole foods and lots of water over the past 3 days. Being on vacation this week, it was the perfect time to try this together. As a side benefit, Sam lost about 5 pounds, and his pants are fitting much more loosely around his waist. As I shared last January, I have no idea how much I weigh and don't think it changed, but I know my clothing fits exactly the same, wah-wah. I chalk that up to being a woman.

If you try this cleanse, they recommend you ease into it with healthy meals the day before you start, and to ease out of it similarly. I don't think our spicy Korean food, fried chicken, and champagne on New Year's Eve qualify! And we'll be breaking the cleanse with a bang this weekend: I'm taking Sam to Ai Fiori tonight for his birthday dinner, and tomorrow we'll be stuffing our faces with all kinds of pizza and cake. Oh well, we may just be doing this cleanse again soon!

2 comments:

  1. Glad you enjoyed your 3 day cleanse! Looks like a ton of fresh and nutritious ingredients were consumed. :-)

    Now you can enjoy sam's birthday meals even more. Happy early birthday to sam!

    ReplyDelete