Timing is everything, isn’t that what they say? Well, I didn’t nail the timing on this one, but I also don’t back down on a commitment so here I am, crushing day one and already looking forward to tomorrow!

A little background, yesterday I had oral surgery and had a tooth removed, yeah, GONE! Nothing was put in it’s place and this is the first smile since surgery. I’m delightfully surprised that ½ my face isn’t drooping. They suggested meals that are “mushy” or can be sipped through a straw, so I thought this would be the perfect timing for a 3-Day Refresh. Right? Wrong! ha!

From top to bottom, left to right:
1) Breakfast - I started with water and added a squeeze of lemon to make it more exciting, followed by Pumpkin Spice Shakeology. Note - this is a vegan cleanse so you can chose pumpkin spice, vanilla, chocolate, cafe latte, peppermint mocha, or salted caramel, but it needs to be the vegan formula.

2) Fiber sweep (am snack) - just the name makes me want to visit the toilet, but this cleanse does not have you glued to the bathroom one bit. In fact, I don’t notice any changes in my bathroom habits except possibly more peeing from drinking extra water to cleanse my body. Fiber sweep is lemony and gets quite thick, very fast, so I pour it in a breakfast glass + add 10 oz water and chug! (think back to your college days, down the hatch!)

3) Lunch - so delicious and oh so filling. I mean, seriously, this is a cleanse yall?!?! Look at all this food while others are fasting, juicing, or starving themselves. I choose to “eat” Vanilla Fresh protein shake rather than “drink” it, I just think it’s that good and want to savor it. Clean dark roasted peanut butter (1 healthy fat) is pretty damn delicious swirled in I must say, but you get a few healthy fat options (avocado, hummus, etc) if you aren’t feeling nut butter. Tip —> Almond butter is preferred over peanut butter because it has less bloating effects. I had a side of blueberries (1 fruit) and red peppers & cherry tomatoes (1 veggie) for a great combo!

4) Zing juice (pm snack) - I can’t believe I’m 42 yrs old and this is my 1st time juicing?!?! My 7 yr old even knew how to do it so he showed me. Any chance I have to get my kids in the kitchen is a win in my book. Of course after making my “juice” we needed to make some fresh lemonade. Cheeky monkey. Juicing is an option so if you don’t have a juicer, no dramas, you can do 1 veggie and 1 healthy fat (think celery and PB, cucumber, tomatoes and avocado salad, etc) and stick with the plan. I think I prefer the raw food over juicing, I just hate to see all that fiber being tossed out, but with my dental situation, I’ll try to juice each day. See 3-Day Refresh recipes here.

5) Dinner - Last Vanilla Fresh of the day and I was missing my peanut butter, but still delicious. I was worried about my teeth and thought about blending my salad, but thought I’d tough it out and see how things go. Delicious although I ate like a bird being very cautious of my stitches. That salad is huge and should have salt and pepper on it, along with pumpkin seeds, but I chose to add extra olive oil instead in fear a pumpkin seed might get stuck in one of my stitches. So many veggies, I love it!

The last beautiful picture is me winding down for the night with my ice pack strapped on my face and I was trying to drink water when it dawned on me, I couldn’t do both. Ha! I have ice for 5 days and then heat for a week. Wish me luck, this is going to be a long recovery! Read about Day 2 and Day 3 too!

Do you like vegetables? if not, what’s the hang up for you? If so, what’s your favorite?