Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse

I'm back from a brief internet hiatus!  Had some computer problems last week that thankfully didn't take too long to fix.  I'm been such a good blogger lately that I'm sure ya'll can forgive me.  :)

Over the weekend I partook in a 3-day Shakeology cleanse.  Shakeology is a meal replacement product available through Beachbody that is awesome.  In my opinion, most meal replacement drinks are not tasty.  And they rarely contain the crazy amount of nutrients and anti-oxidants that Shakeology has.  Beachbody calls it the healthiest meal of the day, and I don't disagree.

I added Chocolate Shakeology to my diet about three weeks ago, and I love it.  I usually use it to replace lunch, and with added peanut butter it tastes a-freaking-mazing.  So yummy.  Since I actually look forward to lunch every day, I thought the cleanse would be an awesome way to boost my metabolism before the next phase of P90x, as well as a great way to help me shed a few pounds.

The clease was crazy hard.

Essentially, it's fasting.  You're eating a bare 1000-1200 calories each day which is the lowest you should ever go.  And not for more than a few days at a time.  You drink Shakeology mixed with water three times a day, as well as a salad with chicken or fish for dinner.  You can also add 1-2 pieces of fruit as well as 1-2 cups of green tea as snacks throughout the day if you need the additional boost. 

I was starving!  I eat closer to 1500 calories each day, and during the cleanse I ate roughly 1000 calories.  That's a big difference.  Plus drinking Shakeology three times a day with the added anti-oxidant boost of Green Tea overloaded my body with so many fantastic nutrients that my body was flushing everything out like crazy. 

For three days, I was pretty tired, a little dizzy, and suffered through a headache or two.  I was able to do Yoga while on the cleanse, but since I started it at the end of my Phase 2 Recovery week, I mostly got to relax.

All in all, I think it was worth it.  I've jump-started my metabolism, gotten rid of a lot of gunk and junk that was clogging up my body, and lost almost four pounds.

And I'm ready to kick off my first day of Phase 3 of P90x this morning!  After I eat a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast.

Make sure to check back on Thursday for my 60 day P90x results!

Vacation Food Shouldn't Have Calories

I think it should be a law that vacation food doesn't have calories.

I say this because I was just on vacation for three weeks and although I ate pretty well most of the time, there were moments when I wanted to devour the bad stuff and pretend calories didn't matter.  Mostly, because the bad stuff is comfort food that triggers my warm fuzzies.  The "I'm home!" food fuzzies.

If you've ever moved away from home, you know what I'm talking about.  Some foods are pretty localized, and you just can't find them to save your life wherever you move to.  For Michael, that's cheese curds and lefse.  If you aren't from Wisconsin, you probably think I just spoke gibberish.  But I promise, those are both types of food.

For me?  Specific restaurants offer my warm fuzzies.  Pizza from my favorite family-owned pizza parlor.  A tantalizing appetizer from a Northern chain that doesn't quite reach us here in Wichita.  And Oreo Cappuccino ice cream from a local shop that I managed to stay away from this trip. 

I go home, and I all I can think about is food.

And to make it all worse (for my waist-line), I attended two family gatherings while I was there.  You remember that large family I talked about yesterday?  Well, when we get together there is a ridiculous amount of food.  What else would you expect from a family that is trying to take over the world?  Wink.

There is nothing I love more than the food at family gatherings.  No event is complete without my aunt's taco dip, my mom's cookie salad, and my Grandma's baked beans.  Oh. My. God.  If you want to taste a piece of heaven, all you have to do is try those baked beans.  I kid you not, boys and girls.  Heaven.  With a mouthful of beans.  Weird, maybe.  But oh so very true.

At my Grandma's birthday party, the bulk of my sustenance was taco dip and beans.  Two plate fulls, I might add.  I didn't even eat cake because taco dip and beans were way more important.  Don't judge me.

I may have kicked some major P90x butt these past two weeks, and have already seen results.  But I know if someone had passed a law along the way that prohibited vacation food from having calories, my results would have been even more significant. 

Call your congressman, people!