Why?
My reason for deciding to do this juice cleanse were partly moral support for my husband who wanted to do one to try and kick his mac and cheese cravings in the butt and partly because i figured it could only make me feel better, right?What?
I purchased a 5 day renovation cleanse from Blue Print that consists of 6 juices a day.You can also drink as much water and green tea as you like and they do tell you a few things you can eat if you're absolutely desperate (such things as 1/4 an avocado or a pinch of salt in your juice).
How'd it go?
By about lunch time on the first day of the cleanse i already had a headache which is apparently to be expected during a cleanse along with other detox symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea, bad skin and sinus problems.After not having a migraine in years, my headache tolerance has gone down considerably and i felt miserable. The only thing i could think i could be detoxing from perhaps was caffeine but even then i probably have 2 cups of coffee at most per day.
By the end of day 1 i didn't feel hungry, just had a headache and felt low on energy.
Day 2 began and my headache was still with me and worsening, i spend most of the day feeling extremely nauseous and constantly on the verge of throwing up. Working out sucked today, too and i had no energy at all.
It was around lunch time i started feeling like my body really wasn't feeling good at all and i wanted to eat but just ate 2 dates instead of giving up totally. I didn't notice it helping at all and it was starting to get harder to stomach some of the juices.
Surprise surprise, by day 3 i ate some veggies and quinoa and by the afternoon i was feeling much better. Unfortunately it was too late to save my skin from the detox effects and my cheeks broke out on both sides which hasn't happened to me in a looooong time.
I continued to drink the juices and supplemented them with some carrots, dates and quinoa that day and by the end of the night i was feeling considerably better but still a bit weak, my stomach was also feeling painful and like i was getting over a GI infection or something.
Day 4, i continued to drink some of the juices i preferred the taste of and made myself a quinoa bowl and was feeling much better. I sold my remaining juices to a friend who wanted to try it and went back to my normal routine feeling much better with everything i ate.
Adam gave up around the same time as me, too. His headache was as bad as mine and he couldn't concentrate; not the way you want to feel just before leaving for another race. I'm not sure if he lost any weight because he didn't weigh himself prior but i lost 4lb by the time i gave up and ate again.
How were the juices themselves?
Now i'm no stranger to green juices and make them myself all the time but the 2 green juices a day were just not to my taste. There was very little fruit in them and just tasted like bland parsley juice to me. Usually i add a lot of lemon/lime or ginger to my juices to cut through the green taste but these were just way too healthy tasting even for me.The beet juice wasn't too bad at all but again, not how i'd make it myself.
The pineapple, apply and mint juice was delicious, along with the spicy lemonade.
And lastly the cashew milk was okay but a little powdery/chunky. Even so, it was something to look forward to while choking down the green ones.
What gives?
I tried a juice cleanse before where i juiced them myself and gave up at the end of day 2 after feeling nauseous all day and ending the night throwing up what i assume was just stomach acid. Since then i'd wondered if it was just a coincidence and something else was the cause but after another failed attempt i see that my body doesn't like to not be fueled constantly."But its a detox!!", you might say. Well i don't have enough to detox from to be worth being miserable for days.
If you're someone who knows your body thrives on many small meals and are otherwise healthy, i wouldn't advise trying a juice cleanse because i just don't think the headaches and nausea are worth it.
If you have weight to lose or think your health would drastically benefit from a juice cleanse, it might well work very well for you.
I would say to find a time where you're not super busy or stressed to try juicing, at the same time you don't want to be totally free to obsess over all the meals you could be eating so pick a time where you have some distractions.
I think its safe to say that unless something health-wise drastically changes, i won't be trying a juice cleanse again, but i will be juicing myself once a day or so, in addition to delicious foods!
In the mean time i'll be enjoying my usual health diet and thanking the lords for coffee every morning.
(if you have any health issues or are wanting to embark on a long juice cleanse, i'd really advise seeking your doctors input first)
Find posts about my previous juicing experience here.
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