I woke up the first day of the cleanse absolutely starving; this did not bode well for the weekend. I went to the Center of Symmetry (where I tried chakra cleansing a few month ago) to pick up my first batch of juices. I got a carrying case filled with bright beautiful tropical drinks. It wasn’t what I was excepting and I was suddenly very excited about the cleanse.
With the first set of four juices I recieved a packet of chia seeds to add to the juices, a snack for the day, and antioxidant tea. I also received a packet of information about the cleanse, which is the first time I’ve ever had a meal that came with instructions.
My first drink of the day was “Chipper Elixir,” which contained mango, orange, and pineapple. It was delicious! And, believe it or not, it actually made me chipper. I had a lot more energy after drinking it than I do on most mornings.
Two hours later I got to try my next juice: “Metaboost” which contained lemon, apple, and cayenne pepper. My first reaction was “WOW!” It tasted like an apple and a pepper made sweet sweet love. I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I suppose it all depends on your feelings on fruit-vegetable procreation. (Yes, I know a pepper is actually a fruit).
Finally I got to have my mid-day snack, approximately 1 cup of nuts and berries. I’ve never been so excited about trail mix. Halfway through stuffing my face as fast as humanly possible, I realized that I was supposed to have my “snack” after my third drink of the day. Drat! I packed up my trail mix and exchanged it for my lunchtime “Pick Me Up” drink (cucumber, kale, apple, and lime). Not only did it taste like cucumbers, it made my office smell like cucumbers.
My last drink of the day was “Immunitude” which was comprised of apples, carrot, beets, and ginger. Despite being super hungry, I just couldn’t finish this drink. The ginger was a little over powering and made the drink gritty. Once I let the grit settle, it wasn’t so bad, but I had to leave about 1/4 of it behind.
It was around this time that I started craving food. ALL of the food. Anything I saw on TV I wanted. I wasn’t certain how I was going to make it through the rest of the weekend.
The next day I went to the Center of Symmetry to pick up my second day of juices and have a massage. The massage was part of my cleanse package and a great way to start a Saturday morning, However, at one point I was talking to the massage therapist about this winter and how it snowed a lot when I first moved to Nashville 11 years ago. He responded, “I remember that, I think that was my 7th grade year.” I felt super old. Although he did make up for it later by telling my I was really flexible.
The juices for day two were good, but not as good as they were day 1. Or, perhaps I was just getting tired of drinking juice. Day 2’s juices were: Invigorate (apple, lemon, and ginger), Replenish (cucumber, apple, and coconut water), Power Boost (apple, kale, pineapple, and ginger), and Vitality (apple, carrot, and spinach).
I spent most of my day being really hungry and fantasizing about food. At one point all I could think about was 7-11 nachos and cheese. However, once I had my daily snack of green beans and carrot chips I felt much better. (No, really, they were good!)
By day 3 I wasn’t as hungry, I got over most of my cravings, and I was less grumpy about my liquid diet. Yet, I yearned for Monday when I could eat solid food again.
The juices for day 3 were: Awake (orange, carrot, and ginger), Refresher (strawberry, apple, spinach, and lemon) (yum!), Beta Cleanser (red grape, beet, apple, and strawberry) (super yum!), and 20/20 (tomato, celery, carrot, and lemon) (not so yum). By day 3 I never wanted to see ginger or any ginger-related products again.
It felt like my body got used to the new diet by day 3. I see why people can do longer cleanses. After a while, it just feels kind of normal.
I thought I might feel rundown or weak during the cleanse, but I had just as much energy, if not more, than I normally do. However, I didn’t feel the same beneficial effects that my friends reported after doing juice cleanses. They’ve said they’ve felt healthier, “lighter,” and have even lost weight. I am a vegetarian and eat lightly in general, so I don’t think I benefitted the way others do. I had no expectations or goals going into this, so I don’t feel let down.
A friend of my did the cleanse with me (misery loves company) and she said that she plans to incorporate juices into her everyday diet and use this as a launching point to be more selective about what she eats. Other than going back to the Center of Symmetry occasionally to have more of the juices I really enjoyed, I don’t plan to incorporate juicing into my diet.
52 Things 52 Weeks 