Juice Cleanse

Yes... I am finally writing about my juice cleanse!!

It feels like forever ago that I did it, but no matter, I promised some info so some info I will give!!

The big question that I'm sure is on everyone's mind... why did I do it?

Believe it or not, weight loss was not at all near the top of my list.

I started investigating a juice cleanse a few months ago and shortly after it seemed like every blog I follow was partaking in one. I decided to jump on the juicing wagon and buy a book to get all the details I could.

Blue Print Cleanse is probably the most recognized juice cleansing company I've been able to find. Trouble is they only ship within the US, so as a Canadian, this wasn't an option for me. I bought the book, read through it and decided that it wouldn't be hard to do on my own (and cheaper to make my own juices!)

The benefits of "juicing" are supposed to be quite magical. Skin is supposed to improve, hair becomes more shiny, headaches lessen, sickness is fought off, sleeping & moods are supposed to improve... basically juicing is supposed to be quite a supernatural experience! Weight loss is said to be a bonus however it's only a pound or so a day... I completed a 3 day cleanse and lost 5 pounds however they came back within the first 3 days back on food. The book encourages a raw food diet and food combining once the cleanse is completed in order to maintain the weight loss however the raw food diet is suuuuper unappealing to me and the food combining confused the heck out of me!

The cleanse itself was actually quite easy! I did a 3 day cleanse, as mentioned, at the most basic level of intensity, which is what is recommended for a first time juicer. I drank 3 fruit juices, 2 green juices and a cashew nut milk everyday for 3 days. I honestly was not hungry while doing it, much to my surprise! I spaced the juices out roughly 2 hours apart and drank water with lemon and tea with lemon in between and felt quite satisfied the entire time! All the ingredients were pretty easy to find (living in rural Newfoundland this shocked me!) and to make the juices I only needed a blender and juicer.

A typical day looked like this:

Every morning I started with a cup of hot water with lemon followed by a Greens with Apple, Green Juice.

A morning snack of Mango-Strawberry, Fruit Juice

Lunch, Raspberry-Banana-Orange, Fruit Juice

Afternoon snack of Spinach-Blueberry-Apple-Lemon, Green Juice

Dinner, Cran-Banana, Fruit Juice

Bedtime snack of Cashew Nut Milk

A few others that I enjoyed were the Grape-Cucumber-Pear, fruit juice

and a raspberry-strawberry fruit juice.

And now the big question... would I do it again?

I would! I'm actually planning on doing another one within the next week or so and am planning on incorporating it into my life on a monthly basis.

Did it make me feel like a million bucks?

Well, no, but my sleeping habits did improve and my headaches lessened. I wouldn't say it improved my mood while I was doing it, but after I did feel I had a bit more control over my emotions.

All in all it was a great experience! I would recommend it to everyone!