Now, when Beachbody launches a new product, I fully expect my husband, Redfield “Toby” Baum (you know, Ironman Dad), to use himself and his body as a guinea pig for testing purposes. So, when the Beachbody Ultimate Reset launched in late spring 2012, I knew he was excited. A week passes. A month passes. Hmmm, I think, where’s the big box of Ultimate Reset stuff? Where are the vegan meals? This is… different. But, then, I make a fateful mistake. I asked about it.

Me: So, are you going to do that Ultimate Reset thing?
Him: No.
Me: Really? I am surprised… Why?
Him: Well, this is the peak of my spring racing season, I am prepping for Ironman Arizona, and while doing the Ultimate Reset, you cannot exercise. There’s simply no way I can skip twenty-one days of training right now.

That’s not too bad. But, we continued:

Me: Well, what about me? I could do it.
Him: If you will do the whole twenty-one days, I will cook all the meals and assist in anyway that I can.
Me: Ok, I’ll do it.

There may have been more to the whole conversation than I recall but that’s the gist of it. I agreed to do the Reset and he agreed to cook and assist. Seemed fair.

I was a bit leery, after all, it is twenty-one days of eating more clean than I have ever eaten in my life. Totally vegan, healthy supplements, strictly adhering to the eating schedule, and so on. I knew I could do it; it would simply require effort and getting creative with my Starbucks visit.

Cark Deikeler called the Ultimate Reset a “game-changer”. He said that this product would not only work, but would work so well, people’s lives would be changed. Only time would tell but, as a preview, after the Ultimate Reset, I think he is correct. I am not going to summarize the product here. If you want to learn more, simply watch this 8-minute video:

As preparation, you are supposed to begin to reduce or eliminate your consumption of caffeine. Thankfully, I don’t drink caffeinated coffee, so that wasn’t a big deal for me. Beyond that, it was simply reviewing the materials, making a “supplement schedule”, and ensuring that Toby had all the necessary ingredients to make the various meals and I planned ahead packing snacks to take to work. Beyond that, I just had to follow my schedule.

While I was certainly a little nervous going in, I was very happy with the overall process and my results. In the twenty-one days on the Beachbody Ultimate Reset, I lost ELEVEN pounds. Eleven! I was stunned and very, very happy. I really didn’t know what to expect and would have been happy with any improvements, especially having no other “cleanse” experiences against which to compare.

As for a review of it, I would say that I generally found it great. The only real negatives were two of the supplements: the Alkalinize (I called this green sludge “Lake Water”) and Detox. The Alkalinize was, and I am trying to be fair here, kinda gross. Very green and no real easy way to drink it. The first day, I tried drinking it with a straw; bad move. After that, a quick mix and stir in water followed by a VERY quick chug was my preferred method. It worked decently well, under the circumstances and after the first few days, it really isn’t too bad. The Detox wasn’t nasty actually. I was more terrified that I would be sprinting to the nearest restroom multiple times a day. Thankfully, that never actually happened, but I was very nervous. The remaining supplements ranged from totally fine to relatively innocuous.

The Nutrition Guide and recipes were far better than I ever would have anticipated. When I heard it was fully vegan, I was not pleased. I don’t need a porterhouse every night, but I enjoy eating chicken, fish and so on. But, other than a few random recipes, all the snacks and meals were great. My kids and my husband, who did almost all of the cooking, enjoyed the same fare I was having and we had fun with it. The food tasted good while being super clean and healthy. Don’t get me wrong, I had my favorites and avoided anything involving beets! Even my four and five year-olds enjoyed it! I mean, come ON, if those two palates were pleased, there’s very little about which to complain. Also, having access to a healthy salad bar at my office cafeteria came in very handy. Funny how adding a few sunflower seeds to my salads made me very excited.

One piece of advice I would give is to make extra copies of the supplement schedule. I made one for each day and kept it right at my desk. When I started my day, I simply noted the time of the first supplement/meal and then checked off things as the day progressed. This saved me from having to think too much or remember what I had eaten when. (One note, I did this because I missed a snack one day and I was NEVER going to make that mistake again. Having a daily schedule was significantly easier than recalling/remembering everything.) Another tip that allowed me a fun “fix” during the day was to treat myself to an iced unsweetened Passion Tea from Starbucks. This was a good way to bring in fluids towards my daily required amount, but still feel like I was having a little something fun (and “clean”) to drink.

All in all, I would give the Beachbody Ultimate Reset a solid B+/A-. My results were great, the product is generally very easy to use and follow, not once did I sprint for the closest toilet, the supplements are fine (except for the two noted above; hence the B+/A- grade), and the snacks/meals are actually much better than I ever would have anticipated. While I obviously had assistance in that my husband was preparing the majority of the meals at home and the snacks/meals were not what I would normally do, with adequate advance planning I am certain I could have handled it fine without my personal Chef. I would definitely endorse the Beachbody Ultimate Reset and am glad I volunteered to be my husband’s guinea pig!

If you want to learn more, have questions, or are interested in purchasing, please contact Toby or click on the banner below.  Thanks!