Everyone has heard of it. The infamous "juice cleanse." Celebrities do it, civilians do it, my mom even tried it once. It's the idea that in a mere couple of days you can drop pounds of weight and look/feel amazing. The idea sounded fantastic, so I recently tried it in order to shed a few before #sprangbreak. After starving myself for a day, I definitely do not recommend this weight loss method.
Breakfast
Day 1 began at 8:30 a.m. with a strawberry banana smoothie that had a smidgen of yogurt and a lot of honey in it. I'm not going to lie, it tasted amazing. It felt like I was drinking a strawberry shake for breakfast which is certainly not something I'll complain about. However, circa 11:00 a.m., my stomach started to grumble. Panicked and alone in the library, I was distraught. Thinking my morning smoothie would get me through until at least noon was a rookie mistake.
Lunch
At 1:30 p.m. I loaded my smoothie with chia seeds, almonds, and more yogurt than last time, as well as strawberries, mangos, and pineapple in effort to take a more tropical route. I finished it in a rapid 5 minutes, but this smoothie surprisingly filled me up until 4:00 p.m.
While it did the trick for a little while, I began to notice that the juice cleanse only suffices for a couple of hours. If I wanted to stay full throughout the day, I would have to eat a granola bar or something that would keep me going until 6:00 p.m. like a real meal normally would.
Dinner
For dinner, I was craving a salad but wouldn't dare break my cleanse. Because of this craving, I essentially made a salad in liquid form, a.k.a. a green smoothie. I have to admit, it was pretty good. I put lots of spinach, pineapple, mango, and kale in it in order to fill me up for the rest of the night.
Though it did the job for a couple of hours, at 11:00 p.m. in the library, once again, I felt the hunger come on. I was definitely craving a granola bar, but I refrained and kept grinding through.
The juice cleanse life is definitely not the life for me because it just isn't realistic. Though I only did it for a day, it is one day I can never get back. The smoothies were good, but I can't imagine going through another day of this torture. There is no way I could fully function through class, studying, or even working out while on this diet. You might as well try a water cleanse if you want to attempt the juice cleanse.
If you want to shed some pounds or try a new diet, just stick to the basics. Try an all salad diet or something more protein based. This much healthier option will fill you up throughout the day instead of leaving you starving in the library.