I always said I would never do a juice cleanse. It just didn’t seem healthy to me. However, earlier this year I did a 5-day detox and I felt amazing when it was over. It dramatically changed the way I eat. I have been seriously slacking over the past few months, allowing some unhealthy habits to creep back in. After an awesome weekend at Disney that included way too many indulgences… I felt like it was fate when I found a coupon in my mailbox for a juice cleanse discount. I had been thinking about trying one, since a new Raw Juce location opened up near my house. I decided to give it a go.
Monday morning I went in to order my cleanse and they helped figure out which one would be best for me. (I selected the beginner option) They were super helpful and talked me through the process and told me which juices I was able to switch out if there was something I didn’t like. I asked if I could start the next day and she said, “Oh.. sure.. but have you prepped?” I said yes. I figured, I am here. I decided I wanted to do a cleanse, what other prep do I need? Take my money.
I picked up my first day of juices after work that night and quickly realized the ‘prep’ they were talking about. Apparently, you are supposed to eat only light meals in the days leading up to your cleanse. (does Taco Bell count?) It also said no alcohol or caffeine the day before. (I was drinking my wine as I was reading it) No big deal. I wasn’t going to let my failure to prep bring me down.
Oops. Now I understand what they meant by ‘prep’
Here’s what one day of a juice cleanse looks like:
I started my day with my first juice, called Raw Green. It was a delicious blend of kale, spinach, parsley, kiwi and so much more. I get two of these a day, so I was happy that I really liked them. Around 10am I drank my Thirst Quencher, which is pineapple, apple, cucumber a mint. Holy moly is this drink amazing. Since I cut way back on my sugar intake since my last detox, I don’t drink juice very much. So this sugary sweet goodness really hit the spot.
The cleanse allows you two ‘boosts’ which are mini juice shots. I drank my detoxifier boost around 11:30. Around 1pm, I had my third drink, Namaste Green. The cleanse comes with a different drink Ginger Green, but I don’t like too much ginger. I had Namaste Green before so I knew I liked it, however I wish they would have pushed me to select something a little less sweet. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was a pretty fruit-heavy green drink. I would have liked something with more veggies.
Around 2:30pm, I drank my second boost called beta-immunity. It was a bright orange carrot concoction that didn’t taste as bad as it looked! 😉 At 4pm it was time for my spicy lemonade. I get these normally when I go to Raw Juce since they are so good! I drink my second Raw Green on my way home from work, around 6pm. Once the kids are showered and bathed, I sit down for my final drink of the day. The deliciously rich and creamy Almond Joy. This is the only ‘milky’ drink in the bunch and it seriously saved me from quitting. It is very filling and helps you get through the night.
You basically repeat that for three days and then you are done. I wanted to quit about a bazillion times, but I wouldn’t let myself since the cleanse was expensive! (this was not something comped to me for my blog, I paid for the cleanse and didn’t even mention my website) I was hoping the cleanse would get my healthy eating back on track and I knew I needed something drastic to get me motivated. I hated the first detox I did, while I was doing it… but it really did help me break some bad habits and I wanted a clean slate once again.
My goal was not to lose weight and a juice cleanse is not for you if weight loss is your main goal. My husband is a registered dietitian with a masters in sports nutrition, and I’ve been with him long enough to know that if you lose anything on these things… it is just water weight that will come right back.
I did the cleanse a few weeks ago, and I have a feeling it will be my last. The other detox I did involved smoothies and one clean meal a day. This was just juice and I was miserable. It didn’t break my cravings (in fact, it was probably more sugar than I have had in months!!) and I didn’t notice any changes, other than being hungry. I know lots of people who SWEAR by juice cleanses and do them at least one a year. I just happen to really like food so I guess it just wasn’t for me.
I will say I think Raw Juce is amazing and I still love their juices. The “Popeye” smoothing is the bomb. Have you ever tried a juice cleanse? What did you think?
I’ve thought about doing a juice cleanse but this makes me not want to do it…nothing but juice for 3 days sounds terrible!
You know I am all for being healthy.. but this was horrible. and I really didnt feel any better!
You know, juice cleanses get a lot of crap, but I think it’s because when our bodies are so full of sh**, we’re going to feel AWFUL detoxing off it so quickly. I make a point to juice cleanse from time to time, and the last time I did a 10-day cleanse. The first three days I felt awful. so sick. so weak, so tired, BUT I was doing the math and counting the calories and intake and by no means should’ve been robbed of nutrients. I feel like that made me realize how unhealthy I was being and how much my body was used to it. After the first few days of awfulness, I started to feel better and better and better, and I was even running for the first time in months after those first miserable days. My outlook was when I did this for the first time it was a huge adjustment and my body fought it because it was so used to unhealthy foods or even just solid nourishment, but once I got past that, it was truly beneficial for me, personally.
I cant IMAGINE doing this for 10 days.. that is amazing you were able to stick it out and I am glad it made you feel better!
This the best way to clean the entire body. I will try it.
I have heard a lot of mixed reviews about juice cleanses. They do contain a ton of sugar for the most part, which I think would make me crave sugar even more!
That is what happened for me, since I was doing pretty good cutting back on added sugars, but after this I feel like my cravings are worse than ever.
I was a huge fan of the lemon/cayanne pepper cleanse back when I modeled because if all you were after was losing 5lbs And not caring if you gained it back after you started to eat normal again (after your gig)… it was great! These juice cleanses however ughh…. people claim you’re suppose to feel like a million bucks and I never felt anything from them at all…. only hungry and miserable lol
That is why I did it, since I thought they made you feel good. Nope. Felt the same… just hungry for real food!
I’ve never done a juice cleanse because I don’t know where to start, which brand to trust but from the sounds of it, you’ve found a pretty good one. It has to taste decent or I’ll never stick with it. I can’t handle drinking something nasty.
All of them were good, but three days of just juice made me miserable! ha!
So interesting! Were you hungry doing your cleanse? I feel like I’d be starving?!
I wasnt technically hungry, since it was a lot to drink through the day… but I did want to eat. It was pretty pathetic just drinking juice all day.
I had to read your experience after I saw your comment on Instagram 🙂 I’m on day one and pretty hungry. Very excited about the milky juice at the end of the day. I’ll let you know how I end up feeling afterwards 🙂
I was laughing when I read your update… I tried to warn you! 😉