Earlier this week, I undertook my first ever juice cleanse. It was a complimentary three-day cleanse that a company (who shall remain nameless) sent to me to review. However, I am no longer going to review it, because the utter disorganization and ineptitude of the company (who messed up the order not once, not twice, but three times…including one time when I had to dump out the entire shipment of juice because it had gone bad) was so appalling that I cannot in good conscience recommend them to anyone.
BUT the cleanse itself was pretty rad, once I actually got to do it. There was some pain involved, but only on the first day (and that was mainly because I started it the morning after a late night of drinking wine and eating peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets with H. That’ll getcha every time.). The rest of the time I felt pretty good, never too super-hungry or anything.
It was an interesting experience, certainly. One big thing I took away from it was that I am way too obsessed with food and eating. As in, constantly thinking about what I’m going to eat and when. It was kind of nice to have everything just there, ready to go, with a schedule for when to have it.
Anyway, I finished the cleanse on Tuesday night, which meant that yesterday it was “back to normal.” However, the cleanse came with some guidelines for the next day, which, as a total virgin cleanser, I followed pretty strictly out of fear of making my body go totally haywire. The recommendations were:
“Start the day with a bottle of green juice or fresh fruit, followed by a small handful of raw nuts. Have a salad for lunch and snack on raw veggies between meals. For dinner, have steamed veggies and a piece of tofu with some fruit for dessert. Avoid processed foods, refined carbs, added sugar, and fake sugar.” [Editor’s note: this isn’t a direct quote. I took liberties with grammar and punctuation to create whole, logical sentences. Sorry, I edit and write for a living and I can’t just let these things go.]
Both yesterday and today (so far), I have done exactly that–started with a green juice from Whole Foods, snacked on raw soaked almonds for a morning snack, and enjoyed a delicious salad for lunch. I suddenly feel like a total Detox maven. First of all, check out my new toy:
I have always wanted a mason jar with a handle and a straw top, but felt reluctant to pay the $31 plus shipping that they want to charge on Vegan Cuts for it (to be fair, their version does also include glass straws…but still). Well I found this mug for $1.99 at A.C. Moore and just cut a hole in the top with a knife and voila! I now have my own juice/smoothie to-go mug.
I’m also feeling really good about last night’s dinner:
Grilled tofu (oil-free), steamed asparagus (with garlic) and Brussels sprouts, and a baked mashed sweet potato. Plus lots of seasonings!
This was the largest quantity of solid food I had eaten in four days and boy did I feel full! But also insanely nourished. I’m planning on having a similar thing tonight.
I’ve obviously gotten a boost from all of the whole foods I’ve been eating (tofu being the most processed thing), but I realized this morning that I also have not had any caffeine or gluten for five days. So much detox! Basically I’m just feeling really good and really motivated.
On top of all of it, my weight loss and Ragnar training regimens are also progressing well. As of yesterday I was down 9.2 lbs overall (although, obviously, coming off a cleanse…) and also able to pound out a 3-miler at a pace that is probably super-slow for most but very, very good for me.
It’s been an interesting week, for sure. The key will be to see if I can keep it rolling through the weekend (which will include a baby shower as well as H’s birthday)…
Have you ever done a juice cleanse or detox? Did you find it difficult to maintain the momentum afterwards?
A.Cook in the Making 