Do Juice Cleanses Really Work? [Part 2]

Now that it’s officially cleansing time, I need to get down to business. After my research, it was suggested to eat vegan for three days before actually diving into the juice cleanse. But see the way that my stomach is set up…

Pre-cleanse

I ate vegan-ish for three days. I made some baked chicken, brown rice, mango salsa and plantains. Oh, and I couldn’t resist my favorite snack — Popcorners. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.

Day 1

The first drink was a Himalayan sea salt sole at 9 a.m. I thought it was going to be much saltier than it was. It was very refreshing, especially for the first drink in the morning.
First juice not so bad. Around 10:15 a.m. there went my stomach growling. Each juice is spaced out two hours apart, from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Next, I had the green juice. I like my juices to be on the sweet side over vegetabley, and their green juice was chocked full of veggies like spinach, kale (the “it” vegetable), cucumber and celery. The only fruits it contained were apples and lemon, plus some ginger for added zing.

I actually liked it! It didn’t taste too veggie-like at all, even though it smelled like the grass in someone’s backyard.

It’s 11 a.m., and time for my third juice – their Positive Balance. This juice had a lot of the same ingredients as their green juice, but this time it added beets (I hate beets!) and carrots. I take my first sip very hesitant, but it’s yummy as well. I drink in record time, and then wonder to myself if my breath smells like ginger because whoa.

Because I don’t always read directions, I realize that I drank my juices out-of-order. I make a mental note to get it right the next day. I drink another green juice. I’m doing my work online, and, of course, I see pictures of fried chicken and mashed potatoes in a waffle cone because this is what gets shared on the internet. After I made a mess drooling at my desk, I close out of the pictures because this can’t be good for my mind. (I mean, look at it!!)

What was my life currently about? (Photo: Thrilist)

Next at 3 p.m., I drink a carrot concoction — Bodacious Bunny (aren’t the names cute?), and again I wasn’t disappointed. By this time, though, once I’m done and working for another 45 minutes I find myself a little sleepy. I know as soon as I go home I’m going to knock out right on my bed. Maybe not eating for three days wasn’t such a good idea after all.

Once 5 p.m. rolls around, I’m ready for my last green juice, and this one is a little harder to swallow. I don’t know if my mind is playing tricks on me because it’s the third green juice I had or what. I get the job done. But then I saw a Buzzfeed quiz shared, What Food Should I Hookup With? (Really, Buzzfeed? What does this even mean?) I didn’t click out of fear I would relapse.

I’m ready for my hour-long commute home, and by the time I get there, I’ll be ready for my final juice, the Happy Belly. With Life Juice Shop, they recommend their Spiced Almond Milk. It’s meant to be the perfect end of the day with almonds, honey, nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon. Sounds great, right? I’m allergic to nuts, so they replaced that for me with the Happy Belly, which consisted of purple cabbage, apple, parsley, ginger, and lemon. Not sure how the purple cabbage would fare, but it ended up tasting really good.

I was honestly surprised at everything I drank for day one. I was sure I was going to plug my nose, forcing these juices down, but none of that happened.

Now I’m also sure that I’m going to fall asleep around 8 p.m. and miss “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta,” but that didn’t happen either. I actually went to sleep around 10:30, and I was surprised because every single account I read of people doing it fell asleep around 7. Was I doing this right?

Days 2 and 3

In the morning it’s super hard for me to get up and out of bed. Mainly because my bed is comfy and warm, and who wants to leave that? But on the day two, it was surprisingly easy. Getting ready for work was a breeze, and I drink my first juice at my subway stop.

The rest of the day was a breeze. I drank my juices in the proper order, and I didn’t feel tired at all. It really gives you so much energy to drink these juices! The only thing I wondered now was if my breath smelled like a forest thanks to all the green juices. I was convinced. No one would confirm. -_- In between juices I just drank more water throughout, so there were plenty of bathroom breaks in between (Lord!).

I celebrated my last juice on day three feeling super accomplished. Never did I think I would complete three days of no eating. More energy and I had some of the best sleep of my life, I was totally surprised at how it all turned out.

Post-cleanse

I ate paleo for the next three days. It was recommended to stick with another juice and incorporate fruits and veggies after that, but I missed chewing!! As crazy as that sounds, I needed to chew every single thing. I ate homemade paleo chicken nachos and guacamole for three days. (Don’t judge me! It was delicious.)

I would totally do another cleanse. I liked how I felt while on the juice, and I think it would be good to get all of the junk out of my system every few months. The next time I were to do it, I would probably go five days instead of three.

Would you try a juice cleanse?

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