I consider myself pretty healthy. I'm vegan, I go to the gym every day, and I definitely eat my veggies. When things are trendy—a new workout, restaurant, or dessert—I usually have to at least give them a try.
Juice cleanses, popular as of late, was one of the few health trends I had yet to try, though I love green juice, and had spent a significant amount of time scrolling through various cleanses online. But after six days in a row having a stomachache from god knows what in my dining hall, my body was begging for a break. A juice cleanse would hopefully fix my stomach woes, and give me a chance to try something new.
I was killing two birds with one stone. I committed to a three-day cleanse (I feared the toll five or seven-day hangry-ness would take on those around me), and treated myself to a little celebration of what else but fresh squeezed orange juice.
All juices came from Raw Generation and arrived packed in styrofoam, frozen. I placed them in the fridge to thaw, and took stock of the flavors. Each day consisted of three green juices, and three others. I decided to alternate the green juices with the non-greens, to keep things interesting.
Before I start, there are several things you should know about me:
1. I get migraines.
2. I dislike apple juice.
3. I have a metabolism as fast as Seabiscuit, SOO I am basically always hungry.
4. I get super hangry.
5. I was sick the day before I started the cleanse, and so I only ate a couple pieces of toast in the 24 hours leading up to the cleanse. This was incredibly stupid. (Starting the cleanse already hungry put me on a crash course from the start.)
Day 1
8:30 am: I woke up hungry af, as per usual. I chugged down 20 ounces of water, which did a surprisingly good job of filling me up. I selected a juice called Energy & Endurance—a blend of apple, kale, spinach, collard greens, carrot, and lemon—and sipped it as I walked to class.
Because apple juice can sometimes make me feel headache-y, I have never liked—in fact, I have always disliked—it, but this juice it didn't seem so bad. The juice was much sweeter than I thought, due to the apple and carrot. It had a nice lemony flavor and smooth consistency and was overall fine, and if you like apple juice, you would probably find it quite pleasant.
At this point, I was feeling confident. I could do three days, no problem.
10:30 am: By this time I was craving a little mid-morning snack. I chose the Beauty & Brilliance juice, which has carrot, orange, ginger, and lemon. This is a combo I get at the deli all the time, and so I was excited to have it. For all you ginger-haters out there, fear not, the ginger flavor is quite mild. I drank this while watching the Walking Dead in bed. After I finished the juice, I sent my boyfriend a frantic text. "I can't do this!!!" The juices were good, but I was dying for a bagel. This was my first major drop in morale.
1:00 pm: After a pick me up phone call from my mom, I was ready to dive back in. I chose another Energy & Endurance juice, trying to use them up first. I had my boyfriend try some. He liked it. I took a sip, feeling strong. I wish I liked apple juice, I really do. But try as I might, I just could not get over the taste of the apple juice. I chugged down the bottle in one fell swoop and washed it down with water. At this point, I really did not feel as if I could handle any more apple juice.
2:00 pm: I went horseback riding, which proved to be one of my major mistakes. The directions of the cleanse could not have been any more clear in their recommendation for resting during the cleanse, but nothing can keep me away from my Leo. If you're wondering, this is Leo. He's pretty cute.
3:30 pm: I was not feeling good. I was starving from horseback riding; and I could feel a headache coming on, caused by who knows what. However, I felt really refreshed. Not wanting my headache to worsen, I decided to call it quits on the apple juice for the day. I sipped down one of the Heal & Hydrate juices—pineapple, cucumber, and aloe vera—hoping it would rid me of my headache. I
LOVE cucumber and aloe vera, and so Heal & Hydrate was definitely my favorite juice of the cleanse. It tasted super refreshing and reminded me of the beach. I would happily drink this with a meal.
4:30 pm: I realized I was going to have to eat something because no matter how much liquid I guzzled, I couldn't get full. The cleanse directions said it was ok to take a day off the cleanse, so I figured it was ok to have dinner.
5:30 pm: I reluctantly made my way to the dining hall. I had some vegetables and soup (basically hot juice right???), and washed it down with another Heal & Hydrate.
Day 1 Takeaways
Until about midday, I was feeling awesome, and then the hunger set in. The juices kept me feeling energized and super refreshed, and never have I ever been so hydrated. I knew tomorrow I'd need a little food to keep me from slipping into hanger, so I decided to pair my juices with an occasional mini meal. (Definitely broke the rules here). I gave a couple of the green juices to my boyfriend, as he really enjoyed their sweetness, and because it's doubtful he'll eat his veggies any other way.Day 2
8:15 am: I decided to have my morning pineapple cucumber juice with an açai bowl, which turned out to be a really good combo. I messed up here though as I polished off all of my favorite juice before even halfway through the cleanse.
12:00 pm: Lunch time... To resist temptation, I sat in the library and drank one carrot juice and one beet juice as I read a book. I chugged them down in one fell swoop without tasting them. The whole ordeal must have been over in less than two minutes.
3:00 pm: My boyfriend and I went to the local carrot cake bakery, where he got a huge slice of warm, fresh carrot cake. I sadly chugged down the last carrot juice on the walk back.
5:30 pm: I prepared myself a delicious dinner of green juice, and even treated myself to—gasp—a head of romaine lettuce. Midway through the juice, I felt the apple-induced headache setting in. I swore off the green juice, pawned the rest off on my friends, and drank the last beet juice. I was starving, but strangely, I felt unstoppable.
Day 3
8:00 am: I was out of juices, as I had poorly rationed the previous days' beverages. Though I was bummed I could only manage two days of the cleanse, I was also stoked to be able to eat some breakfast potatoes.
Takeaways
1. Though I couldn't do it, this cleanse definitely is doable. I messed up by going horseback riding, while I definitely should have taken a more sedentary approach.
2. These juices have way more protein than I was expecting! Consider me impressed.
3. Since the juices arrive frozen and can be thawed whenever they could also work well as one (or two) a day meal replacers.
4. Thank you to Raw Generation for providing my juices for the cleanse. Cheers!