Beachbody 21 Day Ultimate Reset--my experience

WOO HOO!!!!

I successfully completed the Beachbody Ultimate Reset!!! That's TWENTY ONE days of amazing food!!

This program was incredibly thought out both by the chefs who created DELICIOUS recipes and by the scientists behind the detoxifying of the body.

It has been so successful and it is now in testing by University medical clinics!

Take a look at a few days of food on the Reset:

At first, I was wondering why I would want to do such a program. After all, I was daily exercising and eating clean.

Or so I thought ...liked to think.

I had some serious addictions.

To what, pray tell?

Butter. Oh yeah.

And icing.

[Ahem.]

Two things that I don't eat everyday, but when I would, I would lose control. It felt like if there was bread and butter on the table, I could kiss my resolve goodbye. I would have at LEAST two slices...and the bread was merely the vehicle to get the butter to my mouth. [Nobody wants a grown woman chewing off a hunk of butter from the stick...at the table, right?]

Got a food like that?

Yah, you get me.

Anyway, after watching the results of several fellow Beachbody coaches, I decided to jump into this myself.

I had no idea that I would break FREE of my addictions!!

BUT I DID!!!

I also lost weight (8 pounds!), lost inches (4 1/2) and my face and arms look leaner. My smallest-sized pants are now loose and my thighs measure smaller than ever as an adult. I did not lose muscle but rather lost the fat over hard earned muscle from all those awesome Beachbody programs I've been doing like Turbo Fire and P90X2!

Other changes I've been so pleased with include deeper sleep, natural strong steady energy and new tastebuds!  (Did you know they remake themselves in 2 weeks? Mine now do not want sugar and crave healthy, whole foods!)

So, you are curious, how does it work?

You order the package from Beachbody. It arrives. You watch the DVD's to familiarize yourself with what you'll be doing. You put on your bracelet to remind yourself, "I'm worth cleaning up and resetting to my optimal best!"

You learn the routines of your supplements and shop for the main staples of the reset: oils, vinegars, spices, miso paste...don't worry, if you can't find it locally there are places to order online.

You have your coach (me!) support you all the way through. I will email you a helpful plan that gives you day by day all your recipes and foods and gives you the heads up when you need to cook double for tomorrow's lunch. (Thank you, Erin, for creating this for me!!)

If you want to document your progress with your doctor, you go see him or her. Get some basic bloodwork done especially your cholesterol. Turns out I had just been in to see my doctor for an adoption clearance and I couldn't have another well visit two weeks later. Silly insurance!

Going to insert a personal tip here: wean yourself off caffeine before starting the Reset! Oh, and don't worry about not having enough fuel for your workouts. You take a 3 week break from them and merely take soothing walks and stretch your muscles.

Then you do it. You shop about every 4 days and cook. You cook and chop and cook and chop some more. Your family and friends wonder what happened to you because you never leave your kitchen and somedays you feel a bit grumpy. [Gotta be honest--when things are in "detox" mode...you can't help feeling a bit weepy, irritable and generally dazed. But one thing you are not is hungry. You are FULL of GOOOOOOOD food! But worry I only had 3 1/2 days like this out of 21!]

You learn to replace all your previous drinks with water. You learn to drink water before a meal. You learn to chew your bites 20 times...afterall, your tummy doesn't have teeth! ;)

And you learn, or maybe marvel, that you actually do not NEED MEAT or DAIRY or even GRAINS in your diet to survive this reset. In fact, for 21 days, you wean off these foods to focus exclusively on high amounts fruits and vegetables.

Each week is a phase. Phase one you wean off of whatever junk you've been eating and dairy and meat slowly fade out. Phase two your focus is ridding your body of toxins...you drink a supplement 3 times a day that gently clings to impurities and unwanted crud in your digestive system and flushes them out. This supplement was created carefully so no one is doubled over running for the bathroom all day long. It was very natural.

Phase three ushers you into a vegan diet. This was the most incredible phase for me. I'd read a lot about vegan diets and really wanted to try it...but wondered HOW IN THE WORLD would I give up things like butter and cheese and Greek yogurt?? Well, the Beachbody Ultimate Reset answered that for me! I effortlessly slid into phase three and was doing it! [You know, like when you suddenly realize your dad's hand wasn't on the bicycle seat and you'd been riding all this time?? LIKE THAT!!]

I was plenty happy when the 21 days were over. Not because I couldn't wait to dig into a fresh slice of bread and slather it with butter though. No, I was simply weary of having to cook from a list of dictated day plan of meals. My desire for butter and icing were BOTH tested. And truly, their power was broken.

Test number one came when I was cooking for my family something they longed for. It needed butter melted and I was nervous. But I pulled that stick of saturated fat out of the fridge and saw it for what it was: saturated fat that was a hinderance to my health. Didn't. Want. It. Fo reals!!!

Test number two came when we held another cupcake sale for Sixty Feet. Spending several hours around icing-topped sweets had zero affect on me. I even bumped into a cupcake with my finger and my first thought was to wash it off, not lick it. I was further reminded of how bad it was for me when it didn't wash off easily...that fat clings! Just exactly what it does inside a body.

And now, you want to know...did she keep the weight off? Did she go back to her former addictions? Did her family eat the Reset food???

Let me answer those great questions!

Not only have I kept the weight off, I have lost more! I love love love eating the recipes that came with the reset. They are SOOOO GOOD. SO SO SO GOOD!!! I continue to make them in real life and am shocked to find myself roasting up some beets for Sunday night dinner. (This really sounds so different after doing the Reset...I know to you it must sound like I live on a different planet!) Even tonight, while I make dinner for everyone else (Friday night is PIZZA NIGHT in our family) I will eat an acorn squash. And be very happy, mind you!! :)

I have not had any butter or icing or cheese or any sugar for that matter since I've finished the reset. I simply don't want it. Now I know that I could eat them...and that old temptations could take hold of me again, so I will probably steer clear of these things for a long while.

My family rocks. They eat whatever I feed them. I intentionally cooked ahead before I began the Reset so they would have food that I could pull from the freezer and focus on what I needed to cook for my reset. As it progressed though, they wanted what I was oohing and ahhhing over. And I fed it to them. And we still eat it.

So, in my personal critique, I would say the Ultimate Reset was worth it. It was labor intensive, took some work to swallow the different liquid supplements (the capsules were nothing!) and those grouchy days were not fun, but the benefits WAY OUTWEIGH the "pain." It changed how I look at food and how I feed my family. My tastebuds long for healthy food and my body is satisfied with foods I never thought I would even like.

There is no benefit like feeling FREE from addictions, thin, happy and energetic!! Way to go, Beachbody for this great product!!