A while back on Groupon I came across a deal for a 3 day juice cleanse. Trying a juice cleanse (or any "cleanse" in general) is something I have been back and forth about for a while, debating if it seems like a good idea or not, but in a late night Groupon-ing sesh on my phone I decided to go for it (PS - *pics of the juices to come tomorrow!* I didn't have my camera on me but wanted to post this as I was doing it to make the assessment more accurate). It was $97 (not including the additional $8.50 in tax they charged me when I went to pick up the juice!) for a 3 day cleanse. This deal is actually still available, here's the LINK for anyone in the Chicago area who's interested. It looks like they only have locations in Illinois, but I'm also on the Groupon list for Austin, TX, from when I went to school there, and I always see juice cleanse Groupons for there (and many other cities) too! Each day you get six - 16oz bottles of cold pressed juice for a total of 18 bottles of juice. The four different juices (two of which you repeat twice per day) are:
Green Lantern - a blend of kale, romaine lettuce, spinach, parsley, celery, lemon, ginger, cucumber, and apple. Designed to provide the majority of the essential vitamins and minerals you will need over the course of three days. These veggies deliver chlorophyll, iron, vitamin C, and much more while also helping to boost immunity and alkalizing your body and blood. (Drink 2X per day)
Haute Lemonade - organic agave nectar, organic maple syrup, lemon juice, ginger, cayenne, and purified water. The lemons serve as an antioxidant, fighting free radicals, while the cayenne and ginger help to pump up metabolism and cleanse the walls of your digestive tract and intestines.
Cashew Dream - blend of ground cashews, Madagascar vanilla beans, purified water, dates, raw agave, maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg. This sweet, creamy "juice" seems to be included as more of a treat than for the health benefits. However, the cashews do provide some fat and protein to help you feel satiated at the end of the day.
They recommended drinking one juice roughly every 2 hours in the following order: upon waking drink one 16oz. bottle of Green Lantern, a couple hours later have a bottle of Haute Lemonade, follow this with the first serving of Maroon Five, have your second 16oz. serving of Green Lantern after another 2 hours passes, next have the second serving of Maroon Five, last finish off the day with a bottle of Cashew Dream.
Day 1
So far so good! I bent the rules a little bit on the first day because I wasn't able to pick up the juices until around noon so I had a couple of pieces of toast and some coffee in the morning before switching over to the juice only regimen, but I'd say that's a pretty minor stray.I had the first juice, Green Lantern, in the car right after picking up (about 12:30ish in the afternoon). Pretty tasty! I've had some more "green tasting" green juices in my day, so I found this one to be easily drinkable - someone who is very unaccustomed to veggie juices or leafy vegetables in general may have a harder time. This juice also has a good amount of lemon juice to it which keeps the flavor fresh and a bit more mild.
The next one (around 2pm) was the Haute Lemonade, sort of the same concept as the Master Cleanse's famous spicy lemonade. This one was also good. A bit on the spicy side, but not overly hot. I've read that as the cayenne sits in the lemon / water mix it can tend to get spicier so I'm hoping that by day 2 and 3 it isn't too overpowering.
Then around 4 or 4:30pm I had Maroon Five, part one. This one is also pretty tasty and on the sweet side. It definitely has a beet flavor there (duhh that's the main ingredient, just sayin though!) which I don't mind too much but it can be a little strong. I also noticed that this one temporarily dyed my teeth red! I basically looked like a zombie haha - note to self use a straw next time. Since this one has more sugar and calories than the first two, I noticed a little energy boost. Nothing major like you chugged a Red Bull but hey its something!
After this I went to the gym and lifted some weights for about 25 mins (nothing too heavy) and swam moderate pace for another 25 minutes. They didn't mention anything about if you should exercise or not when I was picking up the juices but I figured it would be good to sweat a little and get the heart pumping to help further the detoxing effects of the juice.
After getting back from the gym at about 6:30pm I drank the second bottle of Green Lantern right away. It was satisfying and I didn't feel hungry or deprived.
Since I started this day a bit later than you're "supposed" to I felt like I was kind of rushing to finish all the juices by the time I went to bed. I didn't want to have the last one right before heading to sleep because I like to have at least an hour or two to digest before going to sleep. For this reason, I had the next juice (Maroon Five part 2) only a hour or so after returning from the gym - at 7:30pm. At this point I was actually starting to feel a bit hungry anyway, so it kind of worked out that I was having the juices back to back. Right after a workout I'm normally not super hungry so I have a smallish snack, then I'll have a meal when my hunger sets in, usually an hour or two after exercising. The post -workout juices sort of worked this way too because the Green Lantern is pretty light while Maroon Five is a bit more calorie dense and filling.
For the next couple hours I just relaxed (I'm currently re-watching old episodes of 30 Rock on Netflix haha - I need to find a new book!). Then around 9:15 or so I went for the Cashew Dream milk. Woahhh this one is SWEET! I normally have a pretty big sweet tooth, so I don't know if my tastebuds were altered from drinking the other juices during the day but I was surprised at how sweet I found this one. It was very creamy and rich, a good one to hold you over until morning, I suppose! Although I've tried most of the non-dairy milks out there (soy, rice, almond, coconut, hemp, etc.), I have never actually had cashew milk before so I didn't really know what to expect. Cashews, like most nuts, are pretty high in fat which adds to the richness; but the smoother, softer texture of cashews (compared to almonds for example) seemed to make the drink more thick and creamy than other nut milks. I did find there to be a slightly odd after-taste to this one, not sure if that's just the flavor of cashew milk and I'm not used to it or perhaps from the dates?? The semi-strange after-taste was very mild though and not really noticeable after the first few sips.
All in all I'd say day one was a success! I was a bit rushed to have all the juices since I picked them up late but it still worked out. There were not any times I felt super hungry, just slightly after working out but that was quickly satiated! We'll see how tomorrow goes :)
Have you ever considered doing a juice cleanse or done one in the past?? Let me know, I'd love to hear others experiences! xoxo emma
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