3-Day Detox Cleanse

I found Dr. Oz's 3-day cleanse online and decided to give it a try.  I've never done any sort of cleanse before, and have actually always thought people were a little crazy for trying them.  But I'd been so frustrated with myself for eating so badly during the last few weeks that I thought I'd try it out.  This was a good one for me, because it only lasted 3 days, it was simple, and all of the ingredients were found at the local grocery store.  I went to a Smith's Marketplace and it even had a machine to make fresh almond butter!  Dr. Oz said it would cost $48, but mine was more like $70... more than I wanted to pay, but I do think it was worth it.  I did this with my sister-in-law Emilee, and it was nice to have a partner to keep me accountable and on track!

Breakfast Drink:
This drink was very good!  It was fruity and tasted similar to the protein shakes I've made in the past.  It was also VERY filling... I wasn't ever hungry until lunch time.
Lunch Drink: 
I forgot to buy kale, so I used spinach instead.  This shake took me a little over  an hour to drink on day 1.  It was very thick, and a little bitter with a strong lime flavor coming through.  I didn't peel the lime or the cucumber, which is probably why the shake was so hard to get down (I used a BlendTec to make my shakes, so I knew it could blend anything up!).  I didn't mind it at first, but after an hour of drinking it, I was on the verge of gagging... I didn't like this one.  After the first day, I just squeezed the lime juice out instead of putting the whole lime in.  That made a HUGE difference!  I still didn't love it, but it was much better.  Like the breakfast drink, this was also very filling.
Dinner Drink:
HOLY COW, this drink was SPICY!!!  I obviously knew the cayenne pepper would add a kick to the drink, but it was way more intense than I would have ever imagined.  I'm a wimp though when it comes to spicy food.  But even Emilee agreed that it was too powerful.  For days 2 and 3, I only put in a pinch of cayenne pepper to lessen the spiciness.  I still dreaded drinking it!  Like the other drinks, it was always very filling.
Bath: 
I only took the bath 2 of the 3 nights.  I'm just not a 'bath' person.  Dr. Oz recommended that the baths should be 30 minutes... that is so long for me!  But the Epsom salt and lavender oil made them super relaxing and I slept great those nights!

PROS:
-I slept better each night and woke up easier each morning
-My skin cleared up
-I was full the whole time
-I never had cravings for sweets or junk food
-I log all my food into MyFitnessPal and I've always noticed I am never even CLOSE to getting enough potassium each day (I usually get around 25% of what I need).  During the cleanse I got 99-105% of my daily needed potassium.  No more charlie-horse cramps for me!
-This wasn't meant for weight loss, but I did lose 5.6 pounds
-I just felt better overall

CONS: 
-The lunch and dinner drinks were pretty hard to get down
-By the end of the 2nd day, I had major cravings for a meal of substance that I could actually chew.
-Many trips to the bathroom... not very convenient at work :)
-Those 5.6 pounds that I lost?  I gained most back within 2 days of finishing the cleanse!

I don't think I'll probably do this cleanse again, but I was glad that I tried it and finished!  I wanted to cheat a few times, but then I reminded myself I wanted to see what results would come of it and that motivated me to keep going.  It did give me the kick I needed to get back into making healthy food choices again.  And solid food never tasted so good after those three days!