Refresh with a 3-Day Cleanse

After the holidays, I needed to get my body back on track. Doing a short cleanse is like hitting the refresh button on your body.

Our current society might tell you that “juice cleanses” are a hipster thing, but the truth is people have been doing cleanses for hundred of years.

After researching some of the cleanses out there, I noticed some general commonalities with a few differing “smoothie” or “juice” recipes. Most cleanses will have similarities, but you can adjust it to meet your needs, likes, dislikes, and schedule.

Once I developed a plan for my very own 3-day cleanse, my sister Megan also decided to join in the fun. Just like me, she was also feeling a bit sluggish after the holidays. She is hard-working mama of 4 beautiful, energetic kids and I don’t know how she finds the energy each day.

We are now a several weeks post-cleanse and feeling great. What have I learned during the 3 days of doing a cleanse? Well, I’ll just go ahead and say it… I feel like a BADASS! Seriously.

This cleanse was physically and mentally challenging. I’ve learned that my will-power is incredible and I feel stronger than any piece of food or temptation.

I have also found this to be a test of true strength. This probably doesn’t come as a surprise since I fight my own body every day, but every so often it’s easy to wonder if you are actually as strong as you think.

It would have been very difficult to do the cleanse without another person. My sister and I kept each other accountable and didn’t give up. We definitely didn’t want to disappoint one another, which absolutely kept us going.

Overall, I would do this again with a few modifications. And now … you can too!! Follow the steps below and read all the notes carefully. It’s important to follow these steps with only slight modifications to get the best results.

Please note: Before starting a cleanse, it is important to seek medical advice, especially if you suffer from a gastrointestinal or immune related illness (like Crohns, Celiac, IBS, Diabetes, etc). This is NOT recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding mothers! You NEED to limit physical exercise during this cleanse due to low-calorie intake.

The 3-Day Refresh Cleanse

What You’ll Need:

• 6 quart size freezer bags
• 1 large carton of organic strawberries
• 1 carton of organic blueberries
• 3 to 6 large organic apples (of your choosing)
• 4 to 6 organic bananas
• 1 bunch of kale
• 1/4 cup of golden or regular flax seed
• A bag of organic almonds or cashews
• 3 to 6 twelve ounce cans of coconut water
• A jar of Sun Butter or Almond Butter (optional)
• A container of organic hummus (optional)
• 1 bag of baby carrots or an organic veggie of your choosing (optional)
• Tons of lettuce and veggies for salads
• A juicer or blender
• A freezer
• An accessible bathroom

Note: For the best results, choose organic fruits and veggies. This lessens your exposure to chemicals that are sprayed on regular produce. The point of this is to CLEANSE. So… buy organic.

Step 1:

The day prior to the cleanse, assemble 6 individual bags (without liquid) and place in the freezer. Each bag should contain enough to make a 16 ounce smoothie.

I recommend rinsing and splitting the fruits and veggies equally among the bags.

Step 2:

Assemble your prepared juice bags with the following ingredients.

• The Breakfast Bags:
  • 1 cup of kale, 1/2 cup apple, 1/2 cup banana, 1/2 to 1 cup blueberries, and 1/4 cup almonds
• The Lunch or Dinner Bags: 
  • 1 cup of kale, 1/2 cup apple, 1/2 cup banana, 1/2 to 1 cup strawberries, and 2 to 3 TBSP flax seeds

Once your bags are prepped, place them in the freezer. You can pull them right out the freezer when you’re ready to blend the smoothies or juice.

You can also prepare your snacks and proteins at the same time. Grill or bake your chicken, boil eggs, and cut extra snacks like pears, apples, carrots, etc. I wouldn’t recommend preparing 3 days of salads ahead of time, as the lettuce can go bad after being cut.

Morning Breakfast Instructions:

• Pull the first breakfast bag from the freezer. I recommend using something like a NutriBullet to blend each juice, but a regular durable blender will suffice. Empty your bag into the blender, then fill the coconut water to the top of your ingredients. If your prefer a thicker smoothie type consistency, then add less liquid. If you want a juice consistency, you’ll want to add extra liquid. You can always add more to the blender. Note: If you run out of coconut water, it is OK to use filtered tap water.
• You may want to have one of your protein options in the morning with the smoothie. My sister and I usually opted for a hard-boiled egg in the morning.
• Coffee or tea is OK, but do not add sugar or creamer. Raw organic honey is okay, but nothing else.
• Snack options before lunch: almonds, pumpkin seeds, carrots, apple slices with sun butter or almond butter.
• DRINK LOTS OF WATER!!

Lunch Instructions:

Your choices for lunch and dinner may vary. Megan and I chose to eat salads for lunch instead of dinner, because that way we weren’t as hungry at night. It also helped give us some extra energy. The choice is yours.

• If you choose to make a salad for lunch, add a prepared protein (chicken or hard boiled egg). Add vegetables, lettuce, and an ORGANIC dressing with LOW SUGAR. You may also simply use oil and vinegar. Iodized salt is okay.
• If you choose a smoothie or juice for lunch, same instructions apply for breakfast. Obviously, you will be selecting bag # 2 for this meal and it will taste differently.
• Snack options before dinner: almonds, pumpkin seeds, carrots, apple slices with sun butter or almond butter.
• DRINK LOTS OF WATER!!

Dinner Instructions:

Again, you may choose a salad or smoothie for dinner. For the best results, it would be ideal not to do 2 salads in the same day or 3 juices. You may, however, eat 2 salads for the same meal. You see how that works?

• Same instructions as lunch apply here. 
• Continue drinking a ton of water. If you only fill a reusable water bottle 3 times, that’s still not enough. You should be filling a water bottle between 6 to 8 times a day during a cleanse. Obviously, this is why you will need an accessible bathroom.
• Do not drink alcohol or stray from the instructions of the cleanse until the morning of “Day 4”.

Repeat this routine for 3 days. After all 3 days are completed, you will be amazed how great you feel on day 4. I thought that I’d be ready to eat a truckload of carbs, but I wasn’t. My cravings and unnecessary snacking was completely controlled post-cleanse.

I would recommend that you continue to eat healthy for the days following the cleanse. Eating a greasy cheeseburger the day after a cleanse would be like taking the world’s greatest shower, followed by a roll in the mud. You just wouldn’t do that. Keep it clean.

Thanks so much for reading. Definitely, leave me a comment below if you have questions. Let me know if you try the cleanse and how it goes!

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