The 3 Day Juice Cleanse
Welcome to the month of February my darling little followers. 'Tis the month to love and be loved! Or to be single and therefore really depressed, lying on your couch, clutching a big bag of Doritos and a box of chocolates you bought yourself at CVS, re-watching all the episodes of "Girls" and telling yourself "I am such a Jessa!" But you know what I say to that? SUCK it McValentines day! Rather than dwelling on being alone (as per the rest of the world's opinion) I am using this time to completely revamp and rejuvenate myself. And since I just moved to Banker's Hill (beyond obsessed with my little studio and my amazing location) what better way to cherish a fresh start then with a nice cleanse to get rid of all the nasty lingerings of foods and relationships past.
Juicer:
Dash 800 Watt Juicer
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| Image Courtesy of GoFreshGetFit |
Cleanse aids:
Trader Joe's Complete Body Cleanse; This cleanse is not only great on its own (packed with natural ingredients ranging from Milk Thistle Extract to Licorice Root, but also provides the vital fiber you need during the cleanse).
Cinnamon, Ginger and chamomile tea.
Recipes:For a great list of recipe's go to Just Cleansing or Detox Lounge's website for inspiration for ingredients.
The favourite juice I discovered consisted of 1 large beet, 2 carrots, 1 inch cube of ginger, 2 grapefruits, 1 green apple, 1 pear, a large serving of alfalfa sprouts, a bunch of spinach, a bunch of dandelion root.
Day1
2:12pm So far the day has not been bad at all. This morning I walked to Sprouts (2.6miles/4.2km from my house) to get started with the juicing. Although the walk to the grocery store was a welcome distraction, being in a grocery store whilst this hungry is extremely dangerous. For this reason I would suggest doing your shopping the night before. I managed to make it out with just my necessary produce. I was kind of put off by the high bill that came with buying all this organic produce. But then I remembered the Detox place downtown charges $225 for their 3 day cleanse and walked out feeling chuffed with myself once more for doing this at a fraction of the price.
I then spent a majority of the afternoon cleaning up the fruits and veggies then juicing them. I found myself having no energy and no urge to go out. After being in bed for 10 minutes, I got a sudden rush. 20 jumping jacks, 10 squats, a huge pile of clean dishes, and a clean apartment later I found that I was actually in a great mood (despite my head feeling like it was constantly in a clamp of pain).
11:32pm This evening, as I was driving, I found myself even more irritable than normal (is that possible?). But the irritability hit the fan once I walked in to Taste of Thai to meet my friend. I sat down and ordered a pot of Jasmine tea as the smell of spices and duck swirled around me.
God, the torture! I had fared well all day, but sitting across from a scintillating pad thai, my insides wrenched. The hunger had become so severe that I started crying about a mundane story and telling my friend I just saw no meaning in anything anymore. A sudden bout of anxiety had taken over all the happiness I had experienced all day. With the absence of solid food, it was as though I was missing something in my life.
Later we went to the cinema to watch "The Impossible." While being in the presence of popcorn felt like torture, the movie's gruesome imagery and overall story line made me thankful for being able to consume even juice (some of which I snuck in with me) and that I was all in one part- unlike poor Naomi Watts! Had a nice glass of coconut milk with my pills at night and went to sleep feeling satisfied.
Day 2:
8am I care not about the food. Hunger is not an issue. But coffee. I NEED MY GODDAMN COFFEE! I no longer feel hungry, I feel a lot less bloated, and I have a great amount of energy this morning. But I still feel like my life is lacking. Its as though I am learning to live without a friend, learning to live without a lover. Food has always been present in my life and it has always been a big comfort to me. Especially on a Saturday morning where I always rely on a nice hearty brunch to keep me happy, I feel as though a pot full of Jasmine Tea (even if it is a delectable blend I got from Fauchon in Paris) simply didn't suffice. Well the only cure for this is to cure my boredom. Off to the Market I go!
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| A nice bouquet of flowers definitely helps alleviate the anxiety |
So, so far I have dealt with the temptation of Thai noodles at dinner, popcorn at the movies, food at the farmer's market, and the pastries at Monica's. Come on world: I dare you to challenge me more!
8:00pm The pain. The torture. I F*$%!ing hate life right now. I don't want to be around anyone. I don't want to talk to anyone. All I want is some solid f&#$%ing food. I snapped at a total of 9 people today. Yes I counted. You know why? Because I am so f*ing bored!!! I feel as though i will have no friends once this cleanse is done. Someone once told me to not be around your significant other when doing a cleanse and to NEVER do one together. I am starting to see why. This is why most uber skinny girls are so mean, they're just damn hungry. Feed the models!!
9:00pm I can't stop thinking about food. It's all I think about. It's all I talk about. A pita chip, a banana, a cup of soup. Anything, ANYTHING is better than this. I am so sick of juice. It's all the same now. Anything with Kale tastes like Kale. They are all impossible to consume now, a green mulch that makes me want to gag. I am not hungry but I am starving for something to munch on.
I give up, I'm going to bed at 9pm tonight. I just want this weekend to be over.
Day 3:
1:55pm Woke up feeling great this morning. I feel lighter and energized. I went on a 3.5mile hike with my friend. It felt great being out and distracted. It helps that I discovered an awesome juice that revamped me from the mundaneness of all the juices that had all blended to be one taste (see above for the recipe). I am discovering the secret to a good cleanse consists of good recipes. Keep it interesting and similar to your own routine. For example, I like to have sweet breakfasts so I do a sweet juice for breakfast, a savory juice for lunch, a sweet afternoon juice and a savory evening juice. I have discovered that the Detox Lounge publishes their ingredients on their websites, so its just a matter of experimenting with ingredient amounts to find the perfect juices at a fraction of the price
It looks like I may make it through today after all.
7:03pm I am starting to see a trend here. Although the days start bright and hopeful, by the end of the day the hunger kicks in and the energy level drops to below normal. I can't even stay awake anymore because I am so hungry and bored. I can't wait till the morning so I can have some stupid food. I don't even care about the results anymore.
Post Cleanse
Today I weighed myself. Down 6 pounds! That, my friends, is impressive. But at what cost? How long will this weight loss last?
As you may have noticed, the mood of this blog changes completely from paragraph 1 to this. But so has my mood. I thought this morning I would go bat-shit crazy and eat everything in sight. But I didn't want anything. All I wanted was my morning coffee and a banana (which made me overtly full). I feel sad and dull. The food doesn't even really give me please. After all that pain and effort I don't want to go back to eating like shit. I want to be conscious of every bite I take. Fuck, maybe that's why people do cleanses. I mean, I guess the whole cleanse thing is great for your body. And maybe full completion, with its instant reward, sends people to
Whatever it is all about and despite my cynicism here I am happy I stuck to the whole thing and would recommend everyone to do a juice cleanse at least once. I just know I am so much happier now that I can once again enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee.
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