Day 3 – 5 Day Shakeology Cleanse

Wow! I was talking to some of my students and they mentioned they were waiting for my final installment of my experiences with the 5-Day Shakeology Cleanse. It just blew my mind that I had neglected to post the final installment! So everybody please forgive me on that, I’ll excuse it that I was doing end of grading period mania and got over worked for a couple of weeks. For those who missed the first few installments, you can read them here:

Starting the 5-Day Shakeology Cleanse

Day 1 – 5 Day Shakeology Cleanse

Day 2 – 5 Day Shakeology Cleanse

I did a modified 5 Day Cleanse. It was modified in that I was taking in an extra regular meal as well as some protein shake supplements. There were a couple of reasons for this. For one, I am a big guy, and the normal Shakeology 5 Day Cleanse comes in at only about 1000 calories. Since I was burning 500-1000 calories a day in workouts, that was just too low. Second, I just needed the extra protein to support the workouts I was doing. If I was a smaller person and not working out as much the regular Shakeology Cleanse would be fine.

Here is a review of my typical day during the cleanse, and then some observations.

4:30 am – woke up and drank two cups of green tea as I toodled around the house, doing my morning chores. I always have to get our five dogs fed, watered and settled, pack up lunches and make breakfast, and I like to do this with enough time so I am not rushed. It also lets me check my email and my day’s schedule.

Meal #1 – Shakeology with some fruit. Chocolate Shakeology and berries soon became my favorite!

6:35 am – The school’s bus picks me up, and I generally doze during the 20 minutes to school.

7:00 am – at school  and started teaching.

9:40 am – Meal #2 – Our first recess so I’d down another Shakeology shake, along with a piece of fresh fruit, an apple or pear.

12:20 pm – Meal #3 – Lettuce and vegetable salad with tuna, salad or chicken.

2:45 pm – Meal #4 – Shakeology shake.

3:00 – 4:00 pm – Fit Club –  or easy cardio workout depending on schedule.

4:00 – 4:30 pm – Organize classroom for the next day, then head home.

5:00 pm – Hit the hammock for a nap.

6:30 – Back up from the nap. Worked on the Internet, kitchen or graded papers.

7:00 pm – PRE-WORKOUT MEAL – Double scoop of Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey, Double Rich Chocolate – in a protein shake.

8:30 pm – Went to the gym – doing a slow, 15 minute jog to get there.

8:45 pm – 9:45pm – Resistance workout

9:45pm – 10:00pm – Ran home doing a tough, HIIT workout – slow jog 60 seconds, easy run 30 seconds, hard run 60 seconds, repeat for 7 cycles, then 5 minute walk home.

10:10: POST-WORKOUT MEAL – Scoop of Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey, Double Rich Chocolate – in a protein shake.

I also had a cup of tea before heading to bed at 11:00pm

So here are the nutrition totals for the average day

Calories Burned (est): 1070

Calories Consumed: 1763

Net Calories: 893

Protein: 214gr

Carbs: 156gr

Fat: 31gr

Which gives me a macro consumption of about 50/35/15.

Some Takeaways:

First of all, I really love the taste of the Shakeology Chocolate. If you mix it only with liquid, like water or milk, it does tend to have that chalky or gritty texture that is the not so good tendency found in powdered protein shakes. However, going off of some suggestions I’ve seen on the Internet (sorry, I can’t remember where!) mixing ice with it in the blender is fantastic. I make it into either a thick shake or sometimes almost a slushy consistency. Doing it that way it highlights the flavor and I don’t notice anything weird about the consistency. Cool! It also really worked with the strawberries or blackberries I added for breakfast. I like the Tropical Strawberry even better. I added some passion fruit to that and it was magnificent.

Even though the calories were very low, I didn’t feel hungry at all. I’ve read that this is a natural effect of the Shakeology products, in that they include several natural ingredients that act as appetite suppressants. At least on day one, I felt happy and satiated the entire time.

I really got thirsty with the Shakeology. I’ve noticed it before when I have had a single shake, but it was more pronounced now that I was having several in a day. It made drinking water real easy. I know I am supposed to drink at least 8-10 cups a day, and some programs say 2 liters or more. I really, really, really wanted to while drinking the Shakeology. Along with that, I ended up hitting the bathroom  – a lot! I guess all of that water has to go someplace. Of course, it is supposed to be flushing a lot of the bad elements and carcinogens out of my system! Something is definitely getting flushed out!

I did find myself dragging just a bit, which I understood is not unusual since you are on a calorie restricted diet.. My workouts in the evening weren’t great but weren’t bad – some of those “mnth” put in the hours sessions.

The results? Well, in the five days I lost 8 pounds. But more importantly for me, my blood pressure went from a borderline hypertension of 138/94 to 122/82. That is really cool. Plus, now that I am on a more normal diet, I am really feeling more energy, as the effects of the nutrition-dense diet sets in.

DOWNSIDE: The Shakeology is a bit pricey if you are buying it retail.  However there are some sizable discounts available if you sign up for the Beachbody Club, the online support site for Beachbody. It is even cheaper if you sign up to be a “coach.”

So in the end, it was definitely worth it for me. Beachbody suggests repeating a 3-day or 5-day version of the cleanse anytime you are starting a new workout program or have hit a plateau and not making progress. I’ll be putting this into my tool box and bringing it out again in the future.