Hangry and Lethargic: My Juice Cleanse Experience

 In my last post about new year resolutions I talked about wanting to get back into good health. I also mentioned I got a Dash Juicer for christmas, so I put the two together and decided to detox my body with a juice cleanse. I planned on doing two to three days of only fresh juice, green tea, water and coconut water. Sound extreme? Well its actually not, our bodies are build to store fat and survive on it for periods of time like our hunter gatherer ancestors. That being said, our modern day life is MUCH MUCH different than those of our predecessors. We sit on our butts most of the time and eat whatever is fast and convient. I had stated to fall into that same pattern and wanted out! I wanted more natural energy, and to
stop the cravings for all of the sugar, caffeine and salt. So it began.
The day before I went to target and got a plastic water bottle, and a pack of throw away paper cups with straws. I know thats not the most environmentally friendly way but I figured I didn't want to lug around empty juice containers at work and what not. I filled 6 8oz cups with juice and made detox water, infused with cucumber and lemon. I was pumped.

Day one

I started my day with one of my favorite juices to buy at my local organic cafe Heirloom Food Co. They call it the Heirloom Sunrise, it's carrot, lemon, apple, and ginger. I also had a cup of green tea. Everyone at work thought I was crazy. Yes, I also had to work a 10 hour day with out any food LOL. Midmorning I had a pineapple, orange and carrot juice. Same for my afternoon snack. For lunch and dinner I had a beet, pear, lemon and ginger juice. I drank a ton of water, and had another green tea with my afternoon snack. To be honest I felt like crap. I had highs and lows of zero energy to this euphoric burst of energy only to dip back down. I never actually felt hungry but my mind was foggy and I became clumsy and couldn't think straight almost like being tipsy from alcohol. It was strange, but never the less I finished day one without the one thought of chewing.

Day two

Now for day two I was home all day, I didn't have to work and we were snowed in. I thought it would be easier without the temptation of looking at and smelling other peoples food. I was wrong. I woke up ravenous, and extremely cranky. I went right to the juicer with a midmorning juice of cucumber, celery, pear and lemon and a green tea. About 20-30 minutes after I felt better. I got my boost of energy and literally did some silly karate chops at Patrick who was working from home due to the snow. I cleaned the house feeling great. I had a beet, pineapple, grapefruit, and ginger juice for lunch. A Grapefruit, apple, pineapple, carrot juice followed shortly after that because I was starving. I had those three juices between 6-9 pm again. And then I began to crumble. I had no more juice left for the day and much stomach though feeling flat, felt so so so empty. So I had about a handful of Town House Pita crackers covered in mediterranan herbs mmmmmmm. It was just enough to satisfy me but sadly end the juice cleanse at about 10 pm. 

The aftermath

I wasn't upset I didn't do the full two or three days I planned, I was happy I started at all. I did feel like I already craved less junk food and wanted more fruits and veggies. I think it was a great way to kick off my health goals for 2014 and I would do it again. I'll just warn everyone ahead of time that the juicing crabby Brianna is coming out for a few days. I did read that the first few days are the hardest. I experienced breakouts on my face which is another thing that can happen in the beginning of a juice cleanse, since the skin is the body biggest organ it does a lot of detoxing. Then after about a week you'll have the most radiant glowing skin, or so they say. Right now I look a mess.

After I finished my cleanse I discovered a documentary called Fat, sick and nearly dead. It followed a man who did a juice fast for 60 days. He not only lost weight but improved his health thus adding more years on to his life, he even was able to stop taking prescription medication. I wish I had seen it before I started I would have had a lot more motivation to keep going. I'm thinking about doing a 5-7 day cleanse in march or april sort of as a "spring cleaning".

Thanks for Reading xoxo Bri! Go ahead and follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram too!