There is nothing more intriguing than the concept of juicing. Yes, juicing is just a fancy way of saying you are only drinking juice, and, yes, that sounds kind of horrible, but I have to admit that I fell under the spell of the juice cleanse fad.
In a world of fancy food Instagram accounts and non-stop food blogging, the juice cleanse has taken over. With celebrities and everyday humans alike trying this liquid diet, I had to find out what it was really like to only drink juice for the day.
Though some people juice for several days, I chose to do a simple one-day juice cleanse from my favorite local juice bar. These days, most juice bars offer some sort of cleanse, so if you aren’t loving the leafy greens from one, you most definitely can find another local or online store to order from.
Now, I don’t want to spoil the ending, but my day of juicing didn’t quite meet my expectations. Unfortunately, my beach bod did not immediately appear, and I don’t think a semester’s worth of going out was cleansed from my body. But, I will admit there is something to be said for solely drinking juice for the day.
So, with that, here is the play-by-play of my juice cleanse:
Photo by Collette Block
To prepare for my day of juicing, I limited my consumption of alcohol, caffeine and processed foods in the proceeding days. I also decided to cancel my trendy spin class that day since you typically have less energy while juicing. In order to reap the full benefits of my cleanse, I also mentally prepared seeing as it’s a pretty strange concept to not actually eat anything all day.
From here, I was seemingly ready to start my cleanse:
10 am
Photo by Collette Block
I chose Real Good Juice Co. as my cleanse provider not only because I love them and their juice, but because their cleanse includes six drinks instead of the common five. Each day consists of a smoothie to start your day and then five juices to drink every two hours following.
My cleanse started with a green smoothie called Yello! You’ve Reached The Greensteins (did I mention I love the names of the juices and smoothies almost as much as how they actually taste?). Consisting of arugula, matcha, avocado, banana and apple, this smoothie started my day off with something filling and something familiar seeing as I may or may not have lived off Yello! in high school.
So, at this point in my cleanse, I was feeling good. I could already feel my summer beach bod coming on – an effect I typically feel when drinking something green – and was ready for my day of juicing.
Noon
Photo by Collette Block
My first real juice of the day added some serious green to my life. The Whitney Juice-Ton is the combination of spinach, carrot, celery, cucumber, apple and lemon. If that doesn’t scream juice cleanse, then I don’t know what does.
I will admit – this juice was REALLY green. I am not always the biggest fan of super green juices, but the adrenaline pumping through my blood in response to my excitement over this juice cleanse made it easy to drink up these leafy greens.
In my experience, the greener the juice, the more filling it is. All that liquid rabbit food provides great sustenance throughout the cleanse, so it is important that you don’t skip over the shades of green.
2 pm
Photo by Collette Block
When 2 pm finally hit, I was beginning to feel hungry for the first time that day. The Juicy Lui is one of my personal favorites from Real Good Juice Co. The combination of almonds, hazelnuts, honey and sea salt reminds me, in some strange way, of a healthy milkshake. There is no milk and nothing is blended, but those are definitely the vibes Juicy Lui gives off.
I’ll be honest: I basically chugged this juice. At this point, the whole no food thing was beginning to get to me. Something about not chewing all day wasn’t quite sitting well. To supplement food, I drank two or three glasses of water. Didn’t quite do the trick, but definitely helped to suppress the hunger.
4 pm
Photo by Collette Block
Typically, the next juice in order is Juice Bigalow, which is comprised of apple, beets, carrot, ginger and lemon. I, personally, am not a fan of beets, so I opted to swap out the Juice Bigalow for a seasonal juice off the menu.
To replace the beets, I added an anti-inflammatory turmeric juice including turmeric, apple, coconut cream and cinnamon. Though the yellow-orange color was a little disconcerting, I am down with anything coconut, and, fortunately, this juice was super, super filling.
At this point, I was beginning to doubt my juice cleanse journey. I was hungry, tired and really wanted a snack. But, with my detoxified organs in mind, I sipped on my juice and carried on with my day.
6 pm
Photo by Collette Block
I was not doing well at this point. The whole you won’t be hungry while juicing thing was simply not true in my experience. By dinner time, I wanted nothing more than a burger, fries and a milkshake… basically, all the drunches I was trying to cleanse out of my system.
At this point, I had another leafy, green juice on queue. Celery, apple, kale, swiss chard, dandelion greens, parsley, ginger and lemon make up the Juice Springsteen. This juice includes everything but the kitchen sink in the world of rabbit food.
I definitely did not have the same excitement from my first green juice of the day, so sipping on my Juice Springsteen was not my favorite experience. Though feeling hungry, I could barely make it through half of the juice before I felt like I was turning into a leafy green myself. In short, I was no longer killing the juice cleanse game.
8 pm
Photo by Collette Block
My final juice. Another round of Juicy Lui ended both my one day cleanse and my juicing career. As I finished up my healthy milkshake, I couldn’t wait for breakfast the next morning.
Upon completing my cleanse, I definitely felt good inside, but I was both exhausted and hungry. For me, I would rather sip on juice after working out and spend the rest of the day chewing my food. Though the point of a juice cleanse is to lose weight and reap the benefits of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, I would rather live a more active lifestyle and eat more.
The next day, I woke up starving, which, to me, seemed to defeat the purpose of the cleanse when I snacked on a croissant and scrambled eggs before going to work out. In addition, I would recommend lots and lots of water if you are planning to cleanse especially if you want to work out the next day.
I don’t think I will be juicing again anytime soon, but I am definitely glad I gave it a try. Unfortunately, my beach bod didn’t magically appear, and I think my liver needs more than one day of cleansing to make up for a semester at school. That being said, there is something to be said for giving your body a break. Though I was exhausted most of the day, some rest, relaxation and juice could probably do everyone some good.