Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase using one of the links in this post, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, Thanks for your support!January is a time for renewals and resolutions... and juice cleanses. It feels like those bright green juices are everywhere these days, and the advertising for a juice cleanse got me. Even though I found a way to liquefy my greens a bit cheaper at home, sometimes, you need a full on reset. Enter: the juice cleanse!
As a kick-start to the new year and some much-needed clean eating, I decided to give this juice cleanse thing a try. I was a bit of a skeptic - surely drinking JUICE all day wouldn't be filling enough - but we picked a weekend when it would be easy to avoid social activities and went for it.
This brings me to my first tip: DON'T pick a weekend. I felt like we missed out on the only two days where we get to go do fun things. And most of our fun weekend activities involve going out to lunch ha (see: new baby, thirtysomethings, and city life). Cleansing would be MUCH easier during the week because there's already a routine and lots to keep you distracted, especially if you have a busy job.
Also, I'm not sure how things would have gone if Luke and I hadn't done the cleanse together. Not only did we have each other for support and commiseration, but I also think I might have turned on him if he had even taken a bite of an apple in front of me.
So, second tip: Cleanse with a friend! If you can't get your significant other or roommate to cleanse with you, at least be up front about requesting that they respect your commitment. If you're going to invest the money, time, and effort, don't let someone eating chips in front of you ruin it all!
I used
Squeezed Online's Three Day Juice Cleanse (not sponsored, just heard about it on the radio!), and it seriously couldn't have been easier. I ordered at 1:30 on Friday, and the juices arrived on our doorstep before 6 am on Saturday in insulated grocery bags. The juices last for four days, so we got them all at the same time. Each juice was labeled with a number (for the day of the cleanse) and a letter (for the order in which you drink them - A through E).
Mini-tip: clean out your fridge in advance! You need space for the juices, AND you don't want to see your favorite treat staring you in the face every time you reach for one.
Day one started off with beets. Let me tell you, I do NOT love a beet. They taste like dirt to me. Surprisingly though, the juice wasn't so bad! The carrot and fruit juices really covered up most of the "earthiness" of the beets. Out of all fifteen juices, I only had one or two that I didn't care for. Fortunately, I was hungry enough to drink them anyway :) Plus, you're supposed to drink the juices slowly since it would take awhile to eat the produce packed in each bottle if it was whole, so I sipped away.I packed day one with LOTS of home projects. Cleaned out the shed. Cleaned the bathroom. Ironed clothes. Really, I just distracted myself with all of the things I've been meaning to do for forever and had, probably, the most productive day in recent history. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you're not planning what to make for dinner or sitting on a patio drinking a mimosa. Of course, I was sad that I wasn't doing those things, but the feeling of accomplishment and the dedication to my commitment outweighed that.
Then came day two, and things got TOUGH. It was so weird how much I missed CHEWING. Those damn brunch pictures and Sunday suppers on Instagram were driving me crazy...
third tip: eliminate the opportunity to drool over food. Cut out social media, avoid Food Network, keep the fridge (relatively) empty, don't look at the long line in the Starbucks drive-thru. Will power is hard enough without setting yourself up for temptation.
I even tried to distract myself with a workout for the first day of my new workout program. Bad idea. I thought I was going to PASS OUT. I'm not saying that you can't work out at all on a cleanse, but day two is NOT the day for it if you are a first-time cleanser. I picked myself up off the floor, drank about a gallon of water, chewed some gum (BIG HELP, even if it's not strictly "allowed"), and went for a walk. The fresh air actually helped a lot. My head hurt less, and I regained some of the motivation that was slipping.fourth tip: get moving, but don't overdo it.
Finally, day three arrived! Tylenol cured the headache. I think that was more related to caffeine withdrawal (no coffee - sad!) than the lack of solid food. Honestly, I appreciated having the cleanse on a week day because I didn't have to think about making breakfast, packing a lunch, or getting dinner on the table. Just pack up those juices and dominate the day! I even managed to get in my 35 minute jog/walk with the dog (hi, Ziggy!) after work and didn't feel like dying!tip five: Know that it gets better. I'm not sure if it got better because it was the third day, or because I knew it was the last day. But still, it got better.
The verdict? Definitely worth it. I really went in with some expectations to kick start weight loss and reduce sugar cravings, but I got way more out of it than that. I lost a total of five pounds, but I'm trying to be realistic about gaining some of that back since a lot of it was probably water weight. The realizations that came with the cleanse were much more valuable to me in the long term.tip six: Keep an open mind. Your experience might be different from mine, weight loss will surely be different for everyone, but I think you can at least expect to learn something about yourself.So what did I learn about myself?1. I spend a lot of time thinking about food.2. I eat when I'm bored, when I think I "deserve" it, and out of habit a LOT (I was shocked by how NOT hungry I was throughout the cleanse. I found I only wanted food when I saw it).3. I can stick with something challenging when it comes to food for at least three days, meaning that I am in control of food rather than the other way around. I found some discipline that I thought I'd lost.4. Losing a little weight gave me a LOT of motivation to keep going.5. I feel happier and more energetic when I don't eat junk.6. I have to make eating clean easy if I'm going stick with it. The grab and go juices were SO easy, and I know I need to make that the standard as I get back into a regular routine.
All in all, I'd say my juice cleanse was very challenging but very successful! To recap, here are my tips if you're considering a cleanse too!
RECAP
first: DON'T pick a weekend (stay busy).
second: Cleanse with a friend (or at least have a support system).
third: Eliminate temptation (consider gum as a last resort).
fourth: Get moving, but don't overdo it.
fifth: Know that it gets better.
six: Keep an open mind.
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