THE TRUTH BEHIND MY 3 DAY JUICE CLEANSE

I have said it once and I will say it again... I am not one to promote juice cleanses of any sort...HOWEVER, I am a big believer in trying everything a least ONCE AND I won a 3 day Suja Juice Cleanse from Orangetheory Fitness valued at $144 so I wasn't about to let that go to waste! With that being said I am about to give you the straight "skinny" on how this cleanse played out.

DAY ONE

This was the Wednesday before I was leaving for Vegas for my birthday weekend. I decided to eat half of an Rx Bar and drink half of my first of 6 juices before an Orangetheory class. This provided me with enough energy to get thru my 60 minute HIIT class. Throughout the day I strictly stuck to the juices. By 4pm I had completed 4 out of the 6 juices and was arriving in Anaheim after a long drive to catch up with a friend who was in town. I decided to skip out on the last two juices and instead have an Angry Orchard and be social. Okay no biggie. It happens! It's life! BUT... as I headed back to drive home I became extremely light-headed and decided as soon as I got home I needed to put some solid food into my system. Half a turkey sandwich on sprouted wheat bread and vegan cheese and BAM to bed I went as my last 2 juices remained untouched. I will admit it wasn't the smartest decision of mine to have a drink knowing I hadn't eaten food in 12+ hours but you live and you learn.

DAY TWO

So I know when completing a juice cleanse high intensity workouts are not recommended but that is where I get all my energy in the AM since I am not a coffee drinker! Working out gets my day started! SO... once again I drank half of my first juice and ate a Lara Bar and headed to Orangetheory! During my workout I developed a pretty intense pounding headache and decided to tone it down a notch. I made sure to continuously refill my water bottle and keep hydrating throughout the workout. After class I decided the best thing to do for my body was to... EAT SOME FOOD. My brother asked me to join him at By Chloe for lunch to give me my birthday gift AND it was the perfect place considering it is vegan and plant based.

I am glad I made that decision. I ate half of my meal there and saved half for later. I didn't want to continue to juice and then feel famished and not energized for my birthday trip... and my headaches were getting pretty out of control to the point where I couldn't even get things done! I ended up finishing all the juices for Day 2 mixed in with my salad and sweet potato fries from lunch and then I felt more energized and my headaches had subsided. I am so happy I made the decision to listen to my body!

DAY THREE

Woke up and headed to a super early Orangetheory class after yet again downing half of a green juice and a Lara Bar. After working out I finished the second half of my first juice. I then decided I was going to focus on feeding my body with whole foods on the way to Vegas rather than continue on with Day 3 of the juice cleanse since I knew that evening I would be having alcohol to celebrate my birthday and I didn't want to get sick from not having solid food in my system. I snacked on cotton candy grapes, a banana, okay snuck in a Starbucks spinach feta wrap (it was my birthday reward!), and a salad before I started my night partying. My Day 3 juices were right where I left them in my fridge when I returned Sunday evening. To be continued... below...

CONCLUSIONS

I concluded a few things while attempting my first 3 day juice cleanse. First of all, I am not a fan of fully taking on a liquid diet. I believe you can cleanse and fuel your body just as well with whole foods and fresh greens. On the PLUS SIDE this particular juice cleanse by SUJA was BY FAR the BEST TASTING juices I have ever had! AND I recently saw them in the refrigerator section at Costco as well as Amazon... so SCORE! My recommendation for these juices is to mix them in as meal replacements and snacks depending on if the juice was meant to be a snack juice or meal juice. For example as opposed to swapping all meals out for a juice, choose to swap A MEAL a day out for a juice over a certain period of time. Eat food for breakfast, snack throughout the day on food or a juice, have a juice for lunch, eat food for dinner. Get the idea?

These juices are a great way to quickly get A LOT of nutrients we may be lacking such as enough greens! Granted I didn't follow the cleanse completely but I had to stop because I really wasn't feeling great at all. I felt like I was punishing my body. As for Day 3 of the juices... well I still have a few left and I am drinking them periodically as my body wants them! Remember what works for someone else may not work for you and your body! And that is TOTALLY OKAY! Listen to your body, you only get one! Be safe and be smart if you decide to attempt a juice cleanse!