After hearing amazing reviews about the 3-Day-Refresh, I absolutely HAD to
give it a try! I figured it would be great for me, because lately I’ve
had a lot of outings, Holiday parties, splurge meals and “Holiday fun.” So
I was feeling bloated, gained a few pounds I didn’t really want, and I just
felt….blah. So I took three days to give my system a little kick in the
pants, and I made it through! And as promised, I’m here to give you a
full rundown of my three days of refreshing, renewing and detoxing my
body. I warn you, this three days was NOT all “sunshine, rainbows,
unicorn farts and cotton candy,” it was TOUGH! The results you see
here are the result of hard work, a strong will and focus! I pushed my body to its limits, yes I did.
There were hours where I felt like I wanted to give up because I’m not
used to plans like this. But more than anything else, I
wanted results. I wanted to see what this 3 Day Refresh could do, and man, I am happy
I stuck to it!
3 Day Refresh: Day 1 (left) and day 3 (right)
Now
let’s talk about the basics of this program. If you’re not familiar with the 3 Day
Refresh, basically it’s a short-term, low-calorie, high-nutrient
mini-detox. That’s the easiest way to describe it. For breakfast
you have Shakeology with some fruit, your morning snack is the 3 Day Refresh
“Fiber Sweep” shake, lunch is the 3 Day Refresh “Vanilla Fresh” shake with some
fruits, veggies and healthy fats, there’s a small snack of a veggie and healthy
fats, and then a dinner of the Vanilla Fresh shake with one of the veggie-heavy
dinner recipes in the booklet. Super easy to follow. There’s more
stuff to it than that, like certain things to avoid (like coffee, excess
caffeine, etc…) but that’s details you only need if you’re doing the program
But basically what you need to know is that stuff. So let’s get down to
it! Let’s talk about my “good and bad,” because yes, there were plenty of
items in both categories!
First,
let’s talk about the really good stuff that came from the 3 Day
Refresh.
▪ Bloat is GONE! As I mentioned before, I’ve had Holidays full of good times, splurge food and relaxed nutrition. So I’ve
been bloated like crazy and holding water like a camel. After the 3 Day
Refresh (really, even after the first day…) that bloat is GONE. I feel
like myself again, and I feel less inclined to eat the junk and the sodium
filled foods. So YAY!
▪ What’s temptation?! I’ve
found that after this three days, resisting the temptation of junk food is so
much easier! For example, I am a HUGE chocolate eater and Diet Coke Drinker. Last week, I would have made the excuse that “oh
if I just have a piece of chocolate and a diet coke, I can skip my second snack today and I’ll be
fine.” And then a piece now would turn into a piece later.
Today, I looked at them, said “oh those look and smell really good” and didn’t
even have an OUNCE of temptation to pick one up and eat it. Victory!
▪ hello quality sleep! Now who doesn’t love a good night of
sleep?! These last three days, I’ve been sleeping better, more soundly,
and I haven’t been waking up every few hours for whatever reason. So
thank you to the 3 Day Refresh for allowing my body to reset and sleep like it
should!
▪ No more “dead body” feeling! My body has felt “dead” for the last
few weeks. By “dead,” I mean absolutely exhausted. Limbs not
wanting to move, every muscle aching, just feeling overall lethargic. I’ve been cutting back on my workouts for
these 3 days, and with no meat, no dairy, and no grains, the 3 day break was a
welcomed renewal for my body. It’s not a diet I can keep up, but the
break from things that notoriously will slow you down if you don’t eat a proper
balance of them has refreshed my energy levels, and I’m back to feeling like
myself again.
▪ Peace out crazy cravings! I’ll be honest, day 1 was rough!
I was craving meat and diet coke by the end of it. Thankfully I was WAY TOO
BUSY to give in to the cravings, but man were they strong. Day 2 I was
still craving the meat and diet coke, but was able to resist again. later that night though I was starving and, I was also craving
sweets and it took all of my strength not to make a mug brownie…. Day 3 I had zero cravings. Day 3 was the easiest for me.
I didn’t crave much of anything except for a nap. I was excited for today
though, because it meant I could reintroduce meat, dairy and grains back
into my daily plan, but the CRAVINGS weren’t there anymore! I don’t feel
the urge to splurge, you could say. So bye bye cravings for random foods,
hello satisfaction in the healthy stuff!
▪ Bye bye pounds and inches! Of course, this is REALLY what you
want to know about, right? Along with the bloat disappearing, my body has
lost a few inches and a few stubborn pounds. Obviously nothing MAJOR
since it was only 3 days, but everything fits better, I don’t have to worry
about putting my jeans in the dryer because of that “fear they won’t fit when
they come out,” and I don’t have to be self-conscious about how I’m sitting
because I think “things are hanging out and over everywhere.” When all
was said and done, I had lost 8 inches, and just 2 pounds. The 2 pounds were probably all water weight and bloat weight, but
hey, 2 pounds of water weight is still 2 pounds of uncomfortable feelings
flushed down the drain, right?! And who can complain about inches
dropping off of their waist in only 3 days?!
Now
let’s talk for a minute about the bad things that happened during this 3
days. Like everything you will do in life, there are good and bad
points. It’s up to you to decide if the bad you have to experience is
worth it to experience the good. I found that it was, but let’s run down
the parts of the 3 days I didn’t care for so much.
▪ Headaches – First off, if you are a regular caffeine drinker, you may experience this, and it’s going to be quite bothersome.
The 3 Day Refresh instructs that you do not drink caffeine during this 3 days. I went from drinking
anywhere between 1-3 Diet Cokes a day (I know, I know….I'm really trying to stop my addiction! It's terrible! But it is getting better!) to ZERO! Day 1, my head was pounding so hard I could hardly function
at 9pm. All 3 days I had caffeine withdrawal headaches. Day 3 was
better than day 1, but it was still there. So if you are a caffeine
addict, I suggest taking a few days to significantly decrease your consumption
before attempting this 3 day program.
▪ I. WAS. HUNGRY. – There! I said it! Yes, I
was HUNGRY! Don’t let anyone fool you and tell you that going from eating
about 1500-1700 per day to eating about 950
per day (about what the 3 Day Refresh has per day) isn’t going to make you feel
hungry. You’re going to be hungry. It’s not unbearable, but it’s
there. IT’S THERE. Now keep in mind, for those of you criticizing
the 950 number, this is a 3 day plan, not a long-term thing. You do not
eat that little on a daily basis. But because of the nutritionally dense
foods you are taking in, and the fact that this is a SHORT PERIOD OF TIME meant
as a detox, do not freak out. You’re not going to starve yourself in 3
days. Relax. You’re getting your nutrients, and you’re only doing
this for three days. BUT I WAS FREAKIN’ HUNGRY. During the day, I was fine. But
it was after I had my second snack (meal 5) that I started to really feel
hungry. When AJ got home, I was SPEEDING to the kitchen to
make my small dinner of a shake and a veggie-heavy side dish, and once that was
gone, I was still hungry! If I didn’t have a way to keep myself
distracted, I would be in trouble! So beware, while this 3 days is giving
you all the nutrients that you need and your body is not going
to shut down because of the low calorie number, it still is a LOW CALORIE
NUMBER. You will feel hungry!
▪ I had to be CAREFUL not to binge.
I have to mention
this, because it affected me. If you are prone to “binge eating,” this is
probably not something you want to attempt. Now while I don’t binge to
the point of purging there have been moments
in previous detox attempts with other methods where I tell myself, “just a
taste” of this new almond butter that I bought, and before I know it…I’ve
devoured three pieces of toast topped with the goodness along with a homemade
chocolate mug cake. Why? Because my body went “OH MY GOSH, YES THIS
IS SO GOOD, FEED ME MORE!” And because I was HUNGRY from not eating
properly for the beginning of the day and I wasn’t FUELING myself with the
proper nutrition, that little “taste” turned into a binge. I was able
to resist that temptation during these three days, because of the whole “no
craving, no temptation” thing, but in a moment of weakness (say, if I had heard
some really bad news or something), I am certain that would have
happened. So if you are prone to binge eating, please be careful and be
aware. Stick to the plan! Don’t allow yourself “just a taste” of
something if you’re anything like me. Even that “little bite” or licking
the spoon after prepping your food for the next day could trigger a binge.
▪ No MAJOR weight loss – Ok, so I lost just about 2 lbs.
To me, that’s a healthy number, but it really put me “back where I
started.” It basically just kicked me back on track and got me back to
where I was before the Holidays started. It didn’t put me “ahead of the game”
like I was hoping. My hopes were to see about 5-6 lbs of weight loss, but
that just didn’t happen for me. You may see other people who had awesome
weight loss. 5, 6, 7 pounds or even more! Most of that weight will
be water weight, but it’s still pounds lost. Now of course, as I always say,
the scale shouldn’t define you, so even though you may not see real WEIGHT
LOSS, there are more important things here. The changes I felt internally
and in how my body looks and feels in clothes was really what was
important. So while you will see people talking about how they dropped 8
lbs in the 3 days, you MAY NOT! Be prepared for that.
▪ I was a HANGRY little MONSTER! Oh gosh, I need to apologize to anyone
who crossed my path during the 3 days. Along with being hungry and along with the pounding headaches from lack of caffeine…I was CRAZY
IRRITABLE. My poor husband saw the most and probably got the most anger.. ha and I felt bad because I just seemed to be in a bad mood. I wasn’t, but
I’m sure I came off that way! (Sorry AJ, I hope you knew I was just
irritable! ) But you know that term “hangry?” Yeah, that was me.
That is the monster I turned into at various points of this 3 Day
Refresh. It was manageable, but man, it was intense sometimes! I knew I was cranky because I was
detoxing. I knew I was moody because I was hungry. I knew I was
short with my temper because of my headache. I knew that, but it was
still there! So be prepared for some mood swings and crankiness!
Make sure your friends and family know that you’re not hateful and mean, you’re
just…detoxing.
So
that’s my good and bad. Those are the biggies. That’s the bulk of
what I wanted to share with you, but before I send you on your way and you
decide whether or not the 3 Day Refresh is for you, let me give you a
few last closing thoughts. They didn’t really fit into the “good” or
“bad” category, so they’re kind of just here at the end.
pick your days WISELY. Pick three days where you
are busy enough to not be mindlessly wandering the kitchen, thinking about food
all day, but not so busy that your day ends up lasting 19 hours. I picked Monday through Wednesday because those are usually the most “steady” days for
me. Errands, household stuff, even work is steady on those days. So try to pick days where you can structure this into your day
the best.
In
closing, the big question becomes, would I do this program again?
My honest answer is yes…with some limitations. So “yes and
no.” I have a vacation coming up in March. I would LOVE to do
this again just before and just after that trip. Before so I can be
“bikini ready” for our cruise, and after the trip to rid my system of the sure
“vacation bloat” that I’ll bring home. That is a special circumstance,
and I feel like THAT is a great reason for me to pick up that 3 Day Refresh.
I would absolutely do this program again (if I give myself more time to slowly
reduce my caffeine and prepare myself mentally and physically) to prepare
for a vacation, recover after a few weeks of not-so-great eating, or as I did
this time around…after Holidays full of food. However, there is the
option to get this program on HD so you can “refresh” once a month. Will
that ever be something I find myself doing? No, probably not.
While I understand WHY that may be beneficial to some, that is not
something I feel would benefit me in any way. I don’t feel that putting
myself through those headaches and hunger is necessary once a month, and I’m
fairly sure those around me would say that seeing “Hangry Jordyn” once a month
wouldn’t be necessary either! So for ME, a 3 Day Refresh after vacations,
to prepare for special occasions or after a few weeks of “slip ups,” that would
be incredibly beneficial. No more, no less.
Overall,
I really enjoyed this 3 Day Refresh. During it, I may have said otherwise, but in
the end, the struggle, the focus, the dedication and even all the headaches…all
worth it! I feel amazing, my body feels lighter, tighter and I feel
like myself again. EXCEEDING my expectations in what it was able to
accomplish in the end, but falling short with a few of the negatives of how I
felt during the 3 days. For me, the positives outweighed the negatives,
and I am super happy I chose to take on this 3 day adventure! I think you
will be too. Now that you know what you expect, you may even handle it
better than me!
If you’d like to
check out the 3 Day Refresh for yourself, or if you have any questions, comment
below, shout at me on Facebook, find
me on Instagramor send me an email! I’d love to hear
from you and I’d love to help you refresh your own body in just 3 days!
I used to always be so fit. I was in the best shape of my life my first year of college. I was happy with the way things were. But I struggled. I didn't love myself. I had that little voice in my head always telling me I was fat and compared myself to other girls!
To make the change that has changed my life! Are you ready to change YOURS??
