the truth about juice cleanses

I have heard about juice cleanses for years. Celebrities do them on the reg, normal people do them to slim down before events or revitalize. Although there is currently snow on the ground in Chicago, summer is closer than we know it, so I decided to try a juice cleanse myself.

I got a three day cleanse from Infiniteus Rock & Juice Bar in Bucktown. I picked up my juices and instructions with Caitlin on a Saturday, and we were told to start the next day. I was cautiously optimistic about the experience.

Let’s go over some ground rules here:

• There are 6 juices per day
• Juices can be consumed in or out of order
• You should hydrate with water constantly
• If you absolutely need to eat, you should eat veggies like carrots or celery
• There are enough calories and nutrients in the juices to meet daily requirements and stay healthy (this was a big deal for me)

DAY ONE

Sunday came along and I drank my first juice. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t mind the taste. Granted, I’ll never ever have a craving for it, but it was manageable. I went to a brunch event and avoided all food successfully. I filled up on my second juice when I got back, and this is where ish got real.

I hated this juice. I hated the smell, the texture in my mouth, and the taste. It was unappetizing to say the least (but apparently this is one of the most popular juices, so maybe my taste buds are crazy). I held my nose and downed it, hoping it would keep me full. I was a third done with my six juices for day 1.

A few hours passed and I had finished juices 3 and 4. I was doing alright, until I felt like I was going to be sick. I knew it was my stomach acid building up because nothing had been in my stomach – the juice was long gone. I consulted  the instructions, which said to trust your body and eat veggies if you knew you had to do so. I DID! I ate some carrots and all of a sudden my body was thanking me. I also got completely full off of 3 carrots… which would have never happened pre juice cleanse.

I finished out the day unhappy and hungry. I was not that excited to bring the juices with me to work and to be so hungry while my brain was needing energy all day.

DAY TWO

I drank the first juice of the day, the same as I had for “breakfast” the day before. It tasted completely different to me. I did not like it, but tolerated it.

Work with the juices was BRUTAL. I got a massive headache after lunch from hunger. Yes, I know the juices are healthy and contain enough calories and whatever, but on an all liquid diet, things do not sit in your stomach and keep you full. You are lucky if a juice keeps you full for an hour!!! Hearing my stomach growling all day was distracting and quite frankly embarrassing. I made a mental note to pack carrots the next day just in case.

Mentally, this was the hardest day. I found myself craving super healthy food that I hate just because it was solid food. I also went to my friend Jordan’s birthday dinner at my favorite pizza place and watched as all my friends drank wine and ate giant slices. I was not a happy camper.

DAY THREE

The best part about this day was knowing I could eat food in less than 24 hours. I scheduled a pizza to be delivered to my apartment Wednesday since I was off work, and this kept me happy all the way through lunch, where I was faced with more juices. By now, the juices all tasted the same. It didn’t matter if it was a juice I liked or hated, they all were slimy and gross in my eyes. I was racing to get through the day so it would be over and I could eat again!!!

I had to eat more carrots the last night, probably because I was salivating over the picture of the pizza I was about to devour the next day. Yet again, only a few carrots were needed for me to feel full.

TAKEAWAYS

• Juice cleanses are not for the faint of heart. It is super duper hard to go on an all liquid diet.
• Listen to your body. Some people can handle juice cleanses more than others. I clearly don’t do as well as my friends who also did the cleanse!
• Your stomach shrinks and when you go back to eating real food, you eat way less. I’m a week out and my portion sizes are drastically smaller still – I can eat such tinier portions and feel full!
• You do look smaller after the cleanse, but I lost no actual weight. Since nothing was in my stomach besides liquid, I just naturally appeared skinnier.
• You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone – you will like healthy foods INFINITELY more after this, because it’s food.
• If you’re going to do a juice cleanse, make sure the juice company knows what they’re doing. I’m lucky I had high quality and nutritious juices from Infiniteus, cause this would have been 1000000x worse without the proper health standards.
• I would recommend juice cleanses before big events that you’d like to look slimmer for, like weddings, dances, beach trips, etc.
• HOWEVER, this is not a sustainable diet! I would not do this on the reg or for more than 3-4 days.
• I am overall happy I did the juice cleanse and tried it out for myself. I feel like I pushed a “reset” button with my eating habits – now I am 100% gluten free (for the first time ever and my doctor will be so happy!) and eating way better than I was prior to my cleanse.