To cleanse or not to cleanse, what is the purpose?!
I decided to partake on a juice journey. I ordered my 3 day juice cleanse from BluePrint. You will receive emails from Blueprint explaining what to do and how to prepare for your cleanse.
Why did I decide to try this? A few reasons actually.
- I have been gaining weight and eating a lot. It has caused some serious belly budge and nothing I have tried seems to have worked to make it go away, so why not try this extreme.
- I needed a jump start to eat healthy. I don't eat terribly healthy. I do serve up healthy foods for my kids and make them eat their fruits and vegetables, but I'm sure a majority of my main dishes have a ton of preservatives. And who can resist some nightly chips and queso?! So why not do this and be really, really healthy for a few days.
- I thought I would be cool if I did it. It's the "In" thing to do right now. (although I am usually 2 years behind on the "in" thing, so this may be an untrue statement)
- It would take a lot of will power for me to do, so let's test my will power.
So - onto the Juice! I won't go into the details that anyone can look up on their website. I ordered my juice. They made my juice. They shipped my juice. I stored my juice in my garage fridge for 3 days. Yes I am slightly anal and they had to be in order and a line for each day. And yes, my Juice shared space with my beer.
Blueprint sent me an email to tell me to start and how to prep for my cleanse. Because I am not the healthiest eater or remotely close to a vegan I chose the easiest cleanse they had to start. I am not a good "prepper". I tried, really I did, a little bit. I tried to eat a little more fruit and eat a little less a couple of days before starting my first juice day. I however failed in the long run and had 2 beers and a glass of wine before bed while visiting with my mom that night, oops. I was however a good planner. I went and bought different green and herb teas that I could drink in between the juices as they suggested. It was great that I found some for my Keurig! I looked for the other not so pleasant pills and with my limited time and only one grocery store stop I didn't find them so I drank a smooth move tea on day two that I had at my house.
Day 1 - I woke up in the morning and grabbed a warm glass of water, squirted some lemon juice in it and a straw to help me get it down faster. I got ready as I always do, but without my morning coffee. I made a cup of tea after my lemon/water. I was hoping to wait awhile to drink my first green juice and then span them out over the day. I didn't want to start drinking all my juices and then at the end of the night be wandering like a crazy person around my house trying not to eat anything. I drank my first juice after a little time at work. I ended taking awhile to drink it because I had a meeting and didn't bring it with me and this put my timing off a little from what I had planned, but oh well. I made it through the day easily drinking my juices, tea and water. That night I had a tea before bed and all was good. Yay! Day one complete and I didn't nibble on a thing.
Day 2 - Woke up again, felt okay. I made my warm glass of water, squirted in my lemon juice and drank it, I was not feeling any love day 2 for the lemon water. I made some tea to drink. I packed up my juices for the day and headed to work. Note: Do not smoke in the morning after your first day of your cleanse if you are a smoker until after you have had your first juice. (Again, I said I am not the healthiest person). I did not feel good in the car and thought for a second I might get sick. I couldn't finish my tea on the way to work and left half in the cup. I made it to work and read some emails and drank my first juice and Yeehaw, I was good to go again and it didn't take long to feel good. I seemed more clear headed and ready to keep moving through the day drinking my juices. Halfway through the day I couldn't believe I wasn't hungry yet and I didn't have any horrible side affects. However, I was thinking a little too soon. Late afternoon the belly started to rumble and bubble a bit. I sat at my desk going "Nooooo, not here at work!" I got the hell out of the office at 4:30 and not a minute later and high tailed it home. Made it home and all was good and a few extra trips to the bathroom on day 2 that night and all was back to normal. I even cooked 2 meals that night. I made a spaghetti bake to freeze and made Wild Rice hot dish in the crockpot. The hardest part of this cooking night was not popping random foods into my mouth. I discovered that I do this a lot when I cook. Mozerella cheese - pop some in; piece of chicken, much on an almond, etc you get the picture. I had to keep my hands away from my mouth. Yes, I apparently like to torture myself and was really testing the will power. Day 2 left me feeling great and I was happy.
Day 3 - Glory Day! I had made it 2 days without touching even a piece of gum. I couldn't be prouder of myself and I felt great. Day 3 morning was not going to get me down. I traded in the lemon juice water for a warm glass of cucumber water and then drank a cup of green tea. This left me in a much better morning space than the previous two mornings. I made it through the day with no instances of bad bathroom behavior at work and headed home to drink my last 2 juices of my cleanse. I really felt good all day and had an amble amount of energy. I snuck in a hot stone massage over my lunch hour to continue to release toxins from my body (also suggested by Blueprint as part of the cleanse, a good reason to get a massage right?!) Friday is always movie night at our house with the kids, movie and popcorn. I have to be honest I knew my cleanse was coming to an end and I always think of the end as in I finished the last juice, but I know it really should be until the next morning. I held restraint and didn't pop any snacks into my mouth. I stuck with the program. I was so proud of myself that I made it the entire 3 days. I really thought for sure I would cheat at some point and take a nibble of something (Blueprint does have an approved cheat sheet as well).
3 Days Worth of Juice !
All that goodness- YAY!
I woke up on Day 4 and I was so happy to have a cup of coffee and yes, I was bad and added creamer, but I did leave out the sugar. Baby steps to health. I felt pretty darn amazing and my body showed it and so did the scale. I wish I had weighed myself before the 3 days, but I had a good idea of what I had weighed and the drop was good and I wasn't doing the cleanse to lose weight anyway. I could not believe my belly, it was flat again. Where had all the bloat and hangover go?! It melted away during the 3rd night and went somewhere. The sides of my waist (or if you have "love handles") were curved in again, another added bonus!! My neck and face area was slimmer, I swear! I felt amazing and couldn't believe the results after 3 days. I also had a thought that I could have easily completed another day of juicing if I had more juice. I was a little nervous to start eating again and scared of how my tummy would react to digesting again. I'm not a good "prepper" and not the best "post cleanser" either. I ate some cucumber slices until around noon that day and then we had gone out to eat so I ordered a Mediterranean omlet with some kind of weird cheese and kale. I figured the kale was a good call and eggs would be a good too. All was well and I proceeded to slowly put things back into my diet over the next 2 days. I did some thinking about how I felt during the days of the cleanse as friends asked me different questions. My main question was about being hungry all day/everyday and the truth was, I wasn't. It is a little hard to explain, but I don't recall being hungry on any day, even in the mornings. I felt content is the best way that I can describe it, very content.
I am definitely looking forward to my continued juicing with Blueprint now that I found out I can get them at Whole foods and save a ton on shipping. I may add this to my monthly return or every few months and see where it leads me. Maybe I can gain one healthy habit or cut one out after each cleanse. The first one is leaving the sugar out of my coffee in the morning. Baby steps to a healthier me!
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