Here at Spoon University, we’re the last people you’d expect to willingly forgo food. Let alone for three days. But when Juice Press double-dog dared three of us to try a juice cleanse, we had to give it a shot. Skeptical as we were, we dove in head-first, hoping we’d come out of the detox feeling healthy, refreshed and sexy AF.
The Premise
Juice Press recommends 6 juices each day of the cleanse. The breakdown: 3 green-based juices, 1 smoothie, 1 citrus-based, 1 jp black (almond milk-based) or coffee.
Day One
Laura: FEELIN’ FRESH! After sending Tanya some excited muscle-flexing and fist-pumping emojis, we met at the store to pick up our juices. We started with “Glo”, a customer favorite. YUM. Going through the day felt like picking at a box of chocolates – I was always curious and excited to try the next juice. My favorite of the lot is “Fountain of Youth”, which is more like a smoothie than a juice. I feel like a superstar, which is weird because I’ve heard that the first day is always the hardest.
Tanya: Before starting the cleanse, I was getting nervous. As a serious foodie, I just couldn’t imagine not being able to eat or chew ANYTHING for the next 72 hours… especially when my Instagram feed is all delicious food. The day started off well, but in the afternoon my energy level dropped significantly. It didn’t help that I decided to go out to dinner with some friends and sat there sipping the Clean Green Protein shake while they dug into their food. I hope my energy levels won’t be this low for all three days!
Becky: Today was surprisingly… normal? I wasn’t feeling as A+ as usual when I woke up (headache, regrets, etc.), but I was miraculously back to normal after juice number one. I wasn’t that hungry throughout the day, even while watching my friends inhale guac on Taco Tuesday… That part was sort of lame, but totally survivable. Overall, much less scary than I’d expected (after 3 nights of impending-juice-detox-stress-dreams).
Day Two
Laura: Woke up with a raging fever and a sore throat. Well, shit. I gulped down “Spicy Citrus” and prayed for recovery. I googled “fever on a juice cleanse” hoping to get some answers. The internet tells me this is called a “healing crisis”, in which my body goes into a homeostatic shock after the initial flushing of toxins from my body. Was I really this toxic?! Later, I came home to a surprise delivery of SPRINKLES CUPCAKES today in celebration of my food Instagram reaching 10,000 followers! The ultimate temptation. I’m proud of myself for sticking to the cleanse despite this adorable, sugary obstacle. I really do feel like my body is resetting!
Tanya: Woke up the second day feeling pretty great, but I was still waiting for that energy boost that I keep hearing people talk about! I never got extremely hungry, but there was this hollow, minor hunger lingering throughout the day. What got me through the end of the day was catching up with Laura and Becky and sharing our experiences thus far. Juice solidarity!
Becky: It’s like I don’t even miss food anymore! Kind of. Picking out my juices and trying them all has been weirdly fun for me… Plus, I had barely any cravings. It sounds like complete BS, I know. I never thought I’d be so into this – my life usually revolves around my next meal. The only real issues I had with detoxing today were social – I hadn’t realized just how central food is to my social life. Even so, today was a good day. Ready to finish strong on day three!
Day Three
Laura: My fever persisted… It was a horrible feeling, both physically and mentally, because I expected to be feeling euphoric on my last day. Instead, I felt weak. I missed food. I missed chewing. On top of that, I received another celebratory package: a beautiful 3-layer vanilla cake from my beloved Magnolia Bakery. After snapping some painful photos, I hid the cake out of sight and forced myself to sleep.
Tanya: First thought waking up was “I survived 48 hours of juicing!”. The day consisted of me planning what I was going to prepare myself for my first post cleanse meal. There was one last hurdle before I would get to eat my avocado toast…. I had a reservation at Beauty & Essex that I couldn’t get out of. I sat there sipping on my green tea while everyone indulged in fifteen gorgeous plates of food. That said, I’m glad I persevered and resisted the temptation.
Becky: The end is near! Part of me is starting to dread the end of the cleanse, believe it or not. Having my “meals” all planned ahead of time and totally portable has made the past couple days pretty easy. The end of night three was when I finally got those wild cravings for solid food. I got this close to diving into an errant bag of pretzels at my friend’s place, but I downed a cup of tea and tried my best to get to sleep before I could cheat.
The Aftermath
Laura: Overall, the experience was super rewarding. I see why people do it – I felt completely in control of my body. Plus, those juices were delicious. But, because of the kind of person I am (a hardcore food-stagrammer), committing to a multi-day cleanse like this is hard. Perhaps I’ll commit to several one-day cleanses every month to let my body renew itself.
Tanya: This three-day cleanse was such an experience (huge thanks, Juice Press!), and it definitely challenged and strengthened my willpower.
Becky: I almost forgot how much I love bread. And cooked vegetables. And STEAK. Admittedly, though, I feel lighter and much glow-ier. As a long-time detox skeptic, I’m glad I got a chance to put my money where my mouth is and see what all the hype is about. Honestly? I get it. It’s hard, but I get it. When reintroducing solid food, I realized I’ve become much more cognizant of what I’m putting in my body and how it makes me feel.
The verdict? If you can shell out the $$$, it’s worth trying once. Besides feeling lighter, you’ll probably come out of it feeling a little more conscious about what you’re eating and how it’s effecting you. Here’s to trying anything once!
If you want to sample some juices without a multi-day commitment, join us at the Juice Crawl on May 9th. It’s like a bar crawl, but with green juice and a little exercise thrown in. You know, in case you’re recovering from a real bar crawl the night before. Bonus: Spoonies can get a 20 to 25% discount on tickets with the promo code GETJUICED!
P.S. Juice Press’s location at 2nd Ave and 10th St. is now taking Campus Cash! You can now stock up on juice and tell your parents you’re just spending a lot of money on laundry. Kidding… Sort of.