“Let’s do a juice cleanse” are words I never thought I would hear my husband utter. So I was surprised when he announced he was going to do a two day cleanse, and was buying me juices for Day 1. I agreed reluctantly (read kicking and screaming) mostly because I was curious about what it would feel like (or how bad it would feel I should say).
We purchased juices at Raw Republic in New Orleans. I asked the lovely juice attendant if doing this for “just one day” was even worth it. I was hoping she would say “absolutely not,” yet she explained that any break I gave my digestive system would help your body, my health. My plan at escaping this adventure failed.
Mondays are not my favorite days of the week, but the Monday that I will forever remember as “Monday Day 1 of the Juice Cleanse” was atrocious. I was told that typically Day 2 is the worst, as it takes a full day for your body to start cleansing. Either I was overfull of toxins, or my body is super efficient (I prefer the latter), but it took my body just 6 hours to start feeling the effects of the cleanse. By 2 pm on Monday I had a horrendous headache, was feeling nauseous, and had the most upset stomach I can remember. Of the 6 juices, I could only drink 4. I felt so ill I was in bed by 8 pm to try and make the day end as quickly as possible.
I was only going to do a one day cleanse because I was flying to DC Tuesday morning. And flying with juices is not overly practical. However, I woke up feeling amazing and craving the beet juice from Day 1 that I hadn’t been able to even smell the day before. I had that on my way to the airport (breakfast of champions) and packed the almond milk juice in my suitcase. Upon arrival in DC, almond milk tasted delicious and then it was noon and I thought I might as well finish Day 2 since I was halfway through Day 2 already.
I headed to MINT Spa to purchase a Pure Cleanse from Puree Juice Bar. There, I met Kirby who works for Puree. She told me two things. First, that a cleanse should be done one day at a time – don’t say you are going to do it for 5 days. Start with day 1 and then figure out the morning of Day 2 if you want to continue. Second, that it is ok to have a glass of wine (which, after all she said, could be considered grape juice) or a salad during a cleanse – the worse thing, she said, is to think that if you do either of these things you are negating all of the benefits of the cleanse. I liked her immediately (she had me at “wine is grape juice”) and Puree is now my go-to juice destination in DC.
I continued the cleanse for 7 days – having 3 salads (lettuce and olive oil), two avocados, and a few glasses of wine only during that time, in addition to the juices. And I felt amazing.
What I learned:
– I should not have worried about being hungry; I was not hungry for a minute
of those 7 days.
– As Puree puts it on their website: “be in awe of how little your body actually needs to sustain itself.” Who knew I needed so little food?
– I will continue to incorporate some juices in my “normal life” – Puree’s Mean Lemonade with a shot of Ginger is something I now crave and indulge in regularly.
– I don’t (yet, perhaps?) want many of the foods I used to relish.
– I always thought I ate healthy, meaning mostly fresh foods, but the cleanse made me realize how much better I could do.
– I love and always will love champagne and wine; but I drink just a little less of each.
– My husband’s ideas, no matter how crazy they sound, are usually brilliant.
