One of my dedicated and in shape class takers recently did a juice cleanse. Never have I taken part in a cleanse, but I am always interested to see how different ones work. So I asked this dedicated and in shape class taker to do a little write up for me and my readers.
What cleanse did you do? What did it entail?
I did the 3-day Cooler Cleanse: It was a 3 days of 6 "juices" per day -- 2 green juices, 1 fruity juice, 1 coconut water or spicy lemonade, 1 red juice, and 1 nut milk (almond nut or brazil nut).... and tons of water and green tea. They encouraged you to eat super clean the few days before so it wasn't as much of a shock to the system. I tried to, and I usually eat rather clean, but didn't go too crazy the few days before and wasn't overly strict about clean eating. I also drank 1 mug of black coffee every morning even though it said to eliminate the caffeine -- I just didn't want to deal with the caffeine withdrawal headaches at work (sad, I know)!
See below link for more detail:
Did you eat during the cleanse?
No! No eating, just drinking. The juices totaled ~1200 calories/day though, so I was getting plenty of nutrients and enough calories to get through the day.
Have you ever done a cleanse before?
Yes - I have done a few. I did the Isagenix 9-day cleanse twice before - It was longer and there were days were protein shakes and actual food, and days with just a gross cleanse drink and weird "mockolate" (faux-chocolate) tablets to chew on. I had also already tried some of the juices from the Cooler Cleanse company before (the "Healing Cooler"), but never the full juice cleanse.
How did you feel before, during, after?
Before -- bloated, unmotivated to eat healthy, had gained a few pounds in the past couple months and just wanted a jump start, help reduce cravings and increase the desire to eat cleaner and healthier
During -- Believe it or not, great. I never felt tired, hungry, out of it, headachey, or anything else. Ok so I did get hungry a couple times but only if I had gone too long between drinks, and then I was fine. And I never got that low-blood sugar "I need food now" feeling. The only side effect I noticed was that I was abnormally freezing cold all day in the office. My friend from work that also did the cleanse said the same thing.
After -- Leaner, less bloated, and more motivated in general. Not craving anything in particular. On Friday (the day after), I actually felt a little bit headachey and out of it at work, but I think I might have been a bit dehydrated from the struggle of a workout that morning.
Was it hard at times? how did you get yourself through it?
I actually did not find it hard at all. I thought it would be a bit more mentally challenging, but I was totally fine. I did it Tues-Thurs, had no lunch/dinner obligations with anyone, and was super busy all day at work so the time seemed to fly by. The only hard part was the last drink of the day, when my boyfriend was eating solid food for dinner and I was drinking a nut milk drink. I more or less missed the act of eating & chewing, but I wasn't necessarily hungry.
Did you work out? How were your works outs?
I did. On Tuesday I did Yoga for an hour, and Zumba for 45 minutes. On Wednesday, I just did the elliptical for 35 minutes. I didn't workout on Thursday, and then Friday morning I did 30 minutes of BarreBurn followed by 30 minutes of Zumba, and felt horrible -- my muscles were completely fatigued after only a few reps (of little or no weight, mind you), and I just felt weak and a little dizzy. The Zumba portion was not nearly as bad, but after 30 mintues I was DONE! So, lesson learned - don't work out at 6:30am after 3 days of cleansing.
Would you recommend the cleanse?
Yes! It's not a miracle cure if you have a significant amount of weight to lose, by any means, but it's a great jump start to feeling leaner and cleaner.
Would you do it again?
Yes, definitely -- but no plans to anytime soon. It was a bit pricy, though I felt like it was worth it. In the end I lost 6.5 pounds in 3 days, and though I don't think it will all necessarily stay off, I have high hopes that at least a few of those pounds will if I keep up the clean, healthy eating, and workouts (with Lauren Hefez, woo!).
Have YOU ever done a cleanse?
