Juicing Extravaganza

Finally: the whole review of my juice cleanse. Near the end of November, I decided that I needed to take a week off of lifting because my body was exhausted, and I was starting to get some minor injuries (pinched nerve in my shoulder, pulled hamstring, etc.). I'd also wanted to try a juice cleanse for a while, so I thought taking a full week off of lifting would be a great time to try one. 

Turns out, I had a lot to learn. 

There are lots of reasons people do juice cleanses, but the main ones are:

• It packs your body with pure nutrients and acts as a huge power boost to your immune system
• It gives your system a break from digesting food and allows your body to use that energy on other things, like healing things that are wrong (people often report shinier hair, softer skin, healed injuries, and increased energy)
• It can cleanse the colon and get rid of an excess buildup of waste (people often report 3-4 bowel movements per day)
• It can help kickstart weight loss, although it is often thought that the weight lost on a juice cleanse is just water weight, so it may come back quickly

I wanted to do it for the first two reasons. As far as cleansing my colon, my diet is already so clean that I didn't think this would do much. Sure enough, it really didn't. Weight loss wasn't really on my radar, but it was an added bonus. After my 3-day juice cleanse I lost about 3 pounds, but I'll have to see if it lasts. 

After doing a little research, I decided to try the BluePrintCleanse, but to make the juices at home on my own. I found the recipes here: http://www.organicbeautytalk.com/2012/08/food/diy-3-day-rejuvenation-juice-cleanse. Since I don't have a juicer, I was just going to use my Vitamix, meaning I would still consume all of the pulp and fiber through more of a smoothie cleanse. Here's what it looked like:

Juice 1: Green juice (celery, cucumber, green apple, kale, lemon juice, fresh parsley, romaine, spinach)

• This was my second favorite of the juices - delicious and fresh, and I actually quite like the taste of green vegetable juice. In smoothie form, the texture was a bit hard to stomach, but I slurped it down.

Juice 2: Pineapple Apple Mint juice (pineapple, fresh mint, green apple)

• My favorite of the juices, and probably everyone's favorite. After this cleanse, a pineapple mojito will be my alcoholic drink of choice - SO GOOD! In smoothie form, this was the easiest one to get down.

Juice 3: Spicy Lemonade (filtered water, lemon juice, cayenne, agave nectar)

• This was much better tasting than I expected, and I grew to crave it. I altered the recipe a bit after the first day and added in apple cider vinegar and cinnamon, as I know from previous cleanses that those are really powerful at cleaning out the colon. I also thought it added something nice to the flavor.

Juice 4: C.A.R. juice (carrot, beet, green apple, ginger, lemon juice)

• This was BY FAR the worst of the juices. The first day I blended it, I could only get down about 1/3 of it before chucking the rest. The ginger flavor was too strong for me, and it might have ruined beets for me FOREVER. I hope not. I do not recommend this one. 

Juice 5: Nut milk (almond milk, agave, cinnamon, vanilla)

• Ok this isn't even juice, but I love that this cleanse included some kind of sweet dessert at the end of the day. It was also a really nice creamy neutral flavor after all of the vegetables and spicy ginger. I think I'm going to make a habit of drinking this when I'm in the mood for something sweet. 
• No picture - sorry!

SO HERE COMES THE TRUTH...

The juice cleanse was tough for several reasons.

I didn't give my body enough time to recover after my tough workouts. I did a really hard legs day on Friday, took Saturday off, and started the juice cleanse on Sunday. When I started, I was still pretty sore and my metabolism was high. I was starving most of the day (not supposed to be the case on a juice cleanse), and my energy level was so incredibly low. I felt awful. I have done cleanses and done complete fasts before, and I never felt this bad. To get through the first day, I snacked on fresh fruits and veggies and also had a spoonful of almond butter in the evening. So, technically I "cheated" a little, but listening to my body was the most important thing to me. I was also still focusing on eating things that were raw, blended, or liquid, so they would be easy to digest. I awoke the second morning and had a simple protein shake for breakfast rather than a juice. I immediately felt much better. I am not bashing juice cleanses here - again, this was just what my body needed that day. In the evenings I would sometimes have broccoli and brussels topped with a nutritional yeast sauce to cure my hunger.

The texture of the smoothies from the Vitamix was tough to stomach. After the second day, I couldn't really do it anymore. Luckily, I did some online research and found that an old pair of tights can serve as a juicer. On the third day, I started my morning with a simple protein shake (almond milk, protein powder, cinnamon, stevia). The rest of the day I juiced successfully by blending my juice and then straining it through an old pair of tights. It was so delicious! 

Around dinner time on the third day, I was out and about shopping, but was able to stop at a local juice bar. I got a juice identical to the C.A.R. juice, and thought it might be better if it was in juice, rather than smoothie form. It was easier to stomach, but still just really NOT my favorite. I got it all down though. Again, on the third day, I supplemented with fruits and veggies. 

SO I JUST BARELY MADE IT THROUGH 3 DAYS....

But then something odd happened. I awoke on day 4, and all I was craving for breakfast was more of that delicious green juice. In lieu of the tights, I had ordered a filtration bag on Amazon, and it arrived the evening of the 3rd day. I decided that now that I had the actually juicing thing down, I could incorporate juice for one more day. So, green juice for breakfast it was again, along with a bran muffin. For lunch, it was Pineapple Apple Mint juice along with some split pea soup and Ezekiel bread. For dinner, veggies with nutritional yeast sauce and a protein shake. I used this 4th day to ease back into "normal" eating.

So things didn't go exactly as I'd planned. So what? I made do with what I had and learned a ton in the process. I have mad plans to do another juice cleanse in the future now that I have the filtration bag. If I do it again, however, I'll be sure to take a longer rest from lifting before I start so that my muscles can recover and so that I won't be STARVING. [Sure enough, after the first 2 days, my metabolism slowed down and the 3rd day was much easier. As for day 4 and today (day 5), I am still not very hungry.]

MY ADVICE: plan ahead, listen to your body, and make sure you have clear goals in mind.

Just my 2 cents,

Avocado Athlete