When I heard my doorbell ring, I knew my juice had arrived overnight delivery as promised by Suja. Heavy-duty packaging with frozen cooler bags did their job as the bottles were all still intact and ice-cold. After snapping a quick photo for social media, into the refrigerator they went.
The closest I have come to doing a juice cleanse is a few days prior to a colonoscopy. Drinking an entire bottle of Miralax and spending the day close to the bathroom isn’t my idea of an enjoyable cleanse. Although the idea of “enjoyable cleanse” seems like an oxymoron, I feel more positive about this one.
Why a juice cleanse? My motivation is to simply detox my system. I don’t have any crazy ideas about weight loss but since I have been following a more plant-heavy diet all summer, I am hoping to simply boost myself to the next level and hopefully be able to get rid of my insatiable cravings for sugar/carbs and caffeine.
Why Suja? While attending the International Food Bloggers Conference last month in Seattle, I sampled 3 delicious flavors of Suja juice during a live blogging event. I must admit, over the many products on display at the conference, I was most intrigued with Suja as I am a juicer myself and I am always up for trying unique concoctions. Juicing takes a lot of produce and a lot of work, so when Suja offered me a 3-day cleanse, I was in. This way I can focus on the positive aspects of the cleanse and not worry about where to find all the organic produce it would take to do this from scratch.
Day 0: Preparation
Hurry up and eat all the great food in my fridge… salmon, kale/nasturtium salad, mushrooms sauteed in black garlic and a sundried tomato/black-eyed pea salsa. No coffee, just green tea and herbal teas. Find a place to stash all my grazing foods (I am a grazer and on my counter sit multiple jars of nuts, seeds and dried fruit/veggies). I don’t want to ruin my cleanse by munching on these things out of habit. The cleanse instructions say to limit or eliminate sugar, caffeine, alcohol, dairy, red meat, white flour and other bread products in the few days before the cleanse.
I found myself wanting to indulge in something but I didn’t want to set myself up to feel worse during the cleanse. My mom surprised me with an early birthday cake but it was made of banana/zucchini/apple and gluten-free so it wasn’t much of a splurge.
Day 1: Sunday
8:00 am Drank a cup of warm lemon water as suggested by Suja.
9:00 am Drank my first bottle (GLOW) crisp and refreshing.
Felt great during church, more alert than usual. Digesting breakfast must take a lot of work. My stomach growled a bit but I felt fine. I sipped on a cup of white/chamomile tea.
11:30 am Started to feel a bit lightheaded, was ready for my mid-morning juice (FUEL) but I got caught talking to people and didn’t get to my juice until 12:15. I felt much better after drinking it.
2:00 pm Having my lunch juice now (PURIFY). Feeling a bit of a headache, not sure if it is from lack of protein or just sinuses. This juice has a nice flavor but I can really taste the beets and that isn’t my favorite taste. I only like oven-roasted beets.
3:30 pm Headache didn’t last, time for the afternoon snack (FIJI).
5:30 pm Dinner time… (GREEN SUPREME). Feeling munchy but not hungry. Thankfully my husband picked up Hawaiian BBQ so I didn’t have to cook. Hey, this juice cleanse could really cut down my time in the kitchen!
7:00 pm Dessert (VANILLA CLOUD). Because this juice is from a coconut and almonds, it feels much more substantial than the all fruit/veggie juices. YUM! I feel full.
10:30 pm Treating myself to a late-night hot tub in the middle of a torrential downpour. My stomach feels a little flatter than usual for this time of night.
11:00 pm Had a hard time going to sleep, a little hungry but wondering if it is the fruit sugar content in all the juices that may have me a little wired. I am usually a low-fruit consumer, more heavy on veggies and lean protein.
Day #1… 16 carrots, 11 apples, 14 celery stalks, 1.5 bunches kale, 6 collard leaves, 2 cups spinach, 1.25 cucumbers, 2 lemons, 1 slice pineapple, 1 orange, 1/2 coconut, 12 almonds and a bit of turmeric, ginger & mint.
Day 2: Monday
Woke up feeling well rested. Had some warm-lemon water and drank my breakfast (GLOW) between 7:30-8:00 am. One thing about the juices, it is more pleasant to sip them than to gulp them down. Working at the computer most of the day so I am going to go make a white/chamomile tea to avoid the need to nibble.
9:30 am Feeling low-energy, fatigued and hungry. My body wants some protein. Heading into town with my next bottle (FUEL) in hand.
12:30 I felt fine earlier, once I was running around my mind was off of eating. Enjoying lunch (PURIFY) now. I like the names of the drinks, some of them are reminders of what we are trying to accomplish.
4:30 Afternoon snack (FIJI) nice to have something to sip on when I am playing taxi driver to my busy kids. I do miss my car munchies, usually at this time of the day I have sliced veggies, nuts, seeds and an apple.
5:30 Really feeling munchy, had a few sips of my dinner (GREEN SUPREME) and made some chamomile tea. Trying to get some work done between homework shifts. My stomach has been growling a bit but I don’t feel like I am starving.
7:30 Boy was I looking forward to dessert tonight (VANILLA CLOUD) and it hit the spot.
I just did the math and for the past 2 days I have consumed 12 bottles of juice, lots of water and herbal tea. After crunching the numbers, I am concerned about the sugar content I am putting into my body.
TWO DAY TOTAL = 180 grams sugar + 12 grams protein + 9 grams fat = 2 grams fiber
(The sugar grams are fructose but without the fiber involved with the fruits/vegetables our body treats it much like plain, old, not-so-good-for-you sugar)
Day 3: Tuesday
Woke up feeling energized. Last night I had some thoughts and decided to alter the 3-day cleanse. Because there are benefits to even a 1-day cleanse, I feel that a 2-day cleanse is the right thing for me. I had Gestational Diabetes with both of my pregnancies and I have a family history of Type 2 Diabetes, I am at a much higher risk of becoming pre-diabetic. It is important that I eat a balanced diet including healthy proteins and fats with a limited amount of sugar (yes, even sugar from fruit). This 2-day cleanse has served its purpose for me in that has reset my body to be able to avoid trigger foods that cause cravings. So instead of another day on the cleanse, I am going to use one of the juices as a mid-morning pick-me-up in place of the iced-coffee I tend to crave. These juices are all tasty enough to feel like a special treat any time of the day.
Today I will be following the recommendation from Suja to ease back into my normal diet, I started with lemon water and a baked sweet potato. Then I went right to my suggested morning juice (GLOW). I can’t believe that is all I wanted. Even after making breakfast burritos with venison for the kids for breakfast, I was craving the crisp, refreshing juice blast. I only drank 1/2 a bottle so I can enjoy some after a lunch of vegetable soup.
I am feeling really good about what I did for my body in the last few days and am confident that I will be able to keep on a healthier path as I welcome year 47 tomorrow!
Things I didn’t like:
My teeth felt fuzzy throughout the day. I am a morning and evening brusher/flosser but while juicing I felt the need to brush a few more times a day. Maybe the lack of chewing causes stuff to build up on teeth?
I miss a lot of the good stuff… I haven’t been without my daily kale salad for months, also craving nuts & seeds, salsa and hummus with veggies. This is a challenge for a food writer!
Things I liked:
I was never in the kitchen! When doing a cleanse like this, I highly suggest preparing your families meals ahead of time or make other arrangements for them to eat or cook for themselves. I would be feeling very negative if I had to cook meals and not get to eat them.
I learned that I am a habitual/transitional eater. When I change tasks during the day, I almost always graze on something. I also procrastinate using cooking as my crutch… if I don’t want to edit photos, I suddenly must make Zucchini Bread… if I don’t want to clean the house, I suddenly need to go to the orchard and pick apples for applesauce and then fill the dehydrator with apple slices.
I am very happy with the fact that I haven’t craved coffee, chocolate or carbs during this two days.
This seems to be having the opposite effect as when I have tried dieting. Restrictive diets cause me to crave everything I have told myself I CAN’T have. This experience and the week leading up to the cleanse have made me crave all the things that I SHOULD be eating.
No side effects and I think this is because I haven’t been eating a totally toxic diet.
I will continue with starting my day with a warm cup of lemon-water (a naturopath gave me this advice years ago but I have gotten out of the habit).
This cleanse also motivated me to continue my own juicing regime (1x/day), especially focusing on the greener side (celery, cucumber, parsley, ginger, kale, collards – but I have to have some citrus and a green apple or carrots for a bit of sweet).
Thanks Suja, for the opportunity to try your fabulous 100% organic, non-GMO, cold-pressed, convenient, fresh juices with a Suja juice cleanse.
