As my close friends know, I am ALWAYS up for experiments and trying new things. So, when I began frequenting juice bars and incorporating more raw vegan food into my diet last year, I was intrigued by the idea of a three-day juice cleanse. This past weekend, I finally did one!

If you’re thinking of trying a juice cleanse, some things to know beforehand…

Set your intention in advance. Are you juicing to change bad habits? To get more in-tune with your body? For self-care?

It’s important to understand a juice cleanse is not a magical way to lose weight. I lost 8 pounds over this past week, but as I increase my food intake, a lot of that will naturally be gained back. You’ll also be peeing CONSTANTLY, so you lose some temporary weight from that, as well.

For me, starting a juice cleanse wasn’t because I don’t think my kidneys properly detoxify my body, but to help reduce my caffeine intake and jumpstart a lifestyle where I reduce my processed food and unhealthy carbs intake as much as possible. I am dealing with some health concerns, so I wanted a tool to help me make nutrition changes.

Some people may opt to make their own fresh juices, but in my crazy busy life, ain’t nobody got time for that. If you have juice bars near you, I recommend asking them if they offer a cleanse system. Be certain their juice is FRESH and unpasteurized – if they’re selling you pre-bottled juice with a long shelf life, you’re missing out on essential nutrients your body needs during a cleanse. My lovely coworkers gave me a gift card to Pure Raw Juice for my birthday, so I purchased my three-day cleanse juices from them! If you live around Baltimore, they’re a great option and their GM, Adam, is incredibly responsive, accommodating and kind.

It’s also important to know a juice cleanse requires pre and post-cleanse prep. I stopped drinking alcohol a week in advance, and ate raw vegan for three days in advance to help my body adjust. Again, if you need help with these diet adjustments, check out what’s close to home. I love another local juice bar near my job called Plantbar, and relied on them to help supplement my raw vegan meals and smoothies before and after the cleanse.

Post-cleanse, you’ll need to slowly ease back into eating. The first two days, stick with raw vegan or veggies, and absolutely NO caffeine or booze! If you want to add in lean protein after day 2, that’s totally fine. For me, I made a HUGE pot of all-vegetable soup the night after my cleanse, and it was a great way to ease into a low-calorie cooked food option. I used this recipe but with vegetable broth instead of chicken, and I added some mushrooms (my fave!) and modified to make it extra-spicy.

The Cleanse

My coworker graciously picked up and hauled this bad boy to the office for me:

Each day contained the same routine – seven juices and one “shot” in the following order:

1. Rx Green – kale, spinach, cucumber, green apple, celery, romaine, parsley, lemon, ginger
2. Orange Ginger – carrot, orange, green apple, lemon, ginger root
3. A second Rx Green
4. Heart Beet – apple, beet, carrot, celery, lemon, ginger root
5. Rehydrate – Thai young coconut water, cucumber, pineapple, kale
6. Lemon Ginger-Aid – lemon, ginger root, filtered water
7. Cashew Mylk – cashews, honey, cinnamon, Himalayan sea salt, filtered water

The shot can be consumed at any point during the day. I opted for a “flu shot,” which is ginger, lemon, raw honey and cayenne pepper.

You drink one juice every two hours, with lots of water in between and as much non-caffeinated herbal tea as you want.

I personally opted for a cleanse system that incorporated more fruit juices, but you can go with more vegetable-based juices, if you want. I get bored easily so felt a traditional juice line-up would help keep things more interesting for me.

I LOVE beet juice, so Heart Beet was my fave, but they were all delicious.

Day 1

I started drinking my juices at work on a Friday morning. I drink a ton of water, so downing a juice every two hours was no problemo.

Day 1 felt AMAZING. I wasn’t hungry, and I ended the day with an absolutely incredible self-love workshop that incorporated yoga, reiki meditation, essential oils, journaling, and even some dancing and singing. I highly recommend yoga (NOT hot in case you get light-headed), meditation and journaling while juicing. It’s a very self-reflective process – take full advantage of it.

I did experience some caffeine withdrawal symptoms – a headache quickly resolved with some Excedrin.

Day 2

I woke up on Day 2 still feeling high from my fun night before, and felt full of energy! I was really looking forward to my juices.

Around mid-day, I experienced a massive flip-flop in my mindset. I began craving all of the foods I’m trying to avoid BIG TIME! Full disclosure – I spent probably close to two hours on Instagram over the course of the afternoon looking at food porn aka Italian food loaded with cheese.

I normally like to do a Saturday morning workout or group class, but I was worried intense exertion would make me faint, so I chose to take it easy. A little light walking, which felt good.

Day 3

Day 3 was ROUGH. I was still enjoying my juice, but day 3 was the day I really started to feel weak from hunger. I spent the day trying not to fall asleep constantly, and was so hungry by my last two juices that I started to get dizzy.

Here is a key lesson: LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. I don’t care how much willpower I had throughout my cleanse or that my mind was telling me the day was almost over – my body was screaming at me to eat something. Once the dizziness started, I got some fresh steamed edamame and a very small portion of miso soup with plenty of tofu, and immediately felt better. If you’re simply craving the sensation of chewing something, I recommend resisting, but if you start feeling ill – go with your body’s needs.

My Takeaway

Overall, I enjoyed my juice journey! But, I’ll warn anyone reading that it is REALLY HARD to drink only juice for three full days. I looked forward to every single bottle of juice because at least I’d be ingesting something. And the cashew mylk at the end of each day was an absolute lifesaver.

I haven’t had any caffeine headaches this week post-cleanse and have also been full eating smaller portions. I overall feel like I have more energy and am loving all of my veggies, although I did enjoy the lean ground turkey I had with lentil pasta and kale today! I’ll be curious to see if I’m able to keep any of the 8 pounds I lost off simply by eating cleaner and exercising.

It was a great practice in willpower and proving to myself that I CAN resist cheating my body by eating indulgently. Speaking of which, here’s a common pitfall to avoid post-cleanse – resist the urge to “reward” yourself by eating complete junk to celebrate the end of your cleanse. Completely ruins the point of helping reset your system.

If I do a cleanse again, I’ll likely stick to two days – I think I could get the same benefit with less misery, haha. I recommend cleansing over a weekend, because even on Day 2, I had work to catch up on and was fighting some serious brain fog.

If you decide to try a cleanse, be prepared to fight the cravings, ensure you have mental distractions (and even better, a buddy! I texted one of my dear friends all weekend and she helped tremendously), and – what I know you’re all curious about – stay close to a bathroom. Between the juice, the water, and the tea, your system will be constantly flushing itself. Not in a bad way…but you’ll be very, erm…regular in every possible way, haha. Don’t worry, nothing unpleasant!

So, in general, a very refreshing and self-reflective experience. Have you ever tried juicing or do you have a favorite healthy recipe to share? I’d love to hear from you.

Stay bold. Try new things. Stay juicy, my friends.

❤ Andrea