I decided to embark on the juice cleanse trend, and try it out for myself. I’d been researching and hearing so much about it and as the holiday season was creeping up, and the anticipation of all of that holiday food. I knew I wanted to try something to help my gut prepare.
Most people start their juice cleanse after the Holidays, but I wanted to have a test round before and see how my body reacted to it. I wanted to learn more about the process, cravings, recipes and how it would make me feel both mentally and physically.
The first thing I noticed while researching is that there is a lot of information, and there are many contradicting opinions about how to juice, and whether someone should even be juicing at all. I decided for my first try I wasn’t going to run my body into shock. I wanted to have a build-up and build-down period, which included eating a detox menu for 2 days, and juicing for 1 day. It’s also very important to still stay mindful for at least 2 days after the juicing, to re-adapt the body back into eating. For the post-detox I didn’t stick to the detox menu, but will still share what I ate during those days as an example menu.
Click here to jump straight to the Recipes/Method.
I’ve found the best way to learn about what my body needs is by listening to it when introducing new ways of eating and observing any changes in mood or comfort I may be experiencing. And trying to connect those feelings to what I’ve consumed.
I would advise to keep a log of the times you consume the juices or meals and keep short notes of how you’re feeling after each one. This way you’re able to reflect on the entire experience and whether you want to make adaptations for the next time.
I also used Myfitnesspal to check how many calories my plan contained for each day that I ate food to make sure that I was consuming enough calories for my BMI.
Detox Cleanse Plan
Daily Schedule
Day 1 & Day 2
- Morning Snack – Red Detox Juice
- Breakfast – Green Smoothie
- Afternoon Snack – Red Detox Juice
- Lunch – Green Salad
- Dinner – Green Soup
Day 3
- Morning Snack – Lemon Detox Water
- Breakfast – Green Juice
- Afternoon Snack – Red Detox Juice
- Lunch – Yellow Juice
- Pre-Dinner – Raw Spicy Lemonade
- Dinner – Greener Juice
- Evening Snack – Almond & Date Milk
Day 4 & Day 5
- Breakfast – Yellow Smoothie (Same as yellow juice recipe but blended)
- Afternoon Snack – Black Grapes, Avocado
- Lunch – Pumpkin Soup
- Snack – Mandarin, Unsalted Roasted Mixed Nuts
- Dinner – Chili Sin Carne (Without meat or soy, just vegetables and a little bit of quinoa)
Recipes
Red Detox Juice
- 4 Carrots
- 1 Raw Beetroot
- 1 Peeled Lemon
- 1 Apple
- Combine all in Juicer
Green Smoothie
- 1 Celery Stalk
- 1/2 cup of Spinach & Kale
- 1/2 Apple
- 1/2 cup Pineapple
- 1 Cucumber
- 1/2 cup Almond Milk
- 1 Lemon (juice only)
- Combine all in Blender
Green Salad
- 1 Avocado (cubed)
- 1 Cucumber (cubed)
- 1/2 cup Steamed Broccoli
- 1/4 cup of Kale
- 1/2 cup Cooked Brown Rice
- 1/4 cup Toasted Walnuts
- 1/4 cup Mango (cubed)
- Dressing: Juice of 1/2 Lemon, 1/2″ Ginger, 1/2 tsp Turmeric, Black Pepper
- Combine all into a bowl and add dressing on top
Green Soup
- 2 cups Broccoli
- 2 Celery Stalks
- 1 Onion (diced)
- 2 Garlic Cloves (crushed)
- 1 cup Spinach & Kale
- 2 Carrots
- 2 cups Low Sodium Vegetable Broth
- 1/2 Lemon (juice only)
- 1 tsp Olive oil
- 1 tbsp Chia Seeds
- Toasted Mixed Nuts (to garnish)
- 1 tsp Coconut milk (to garnish)
Method
- Heat olive oil in pot and add onion, garlic, carrot, celery and broccoli
- Cook over low heat for 5 min
- Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil, cover pot and simmer for 5-7 min until tender
- Stir in spinach and kale then transfer to blender or use a hand blender to make it smooth
- Add chia seeds and lemon juice and stir
- Garnish with nuts and coconut milk
Lemon Detox Water
- 1/2 Lemon Juice
- Lukewarm Water
- Squeeze lemon juice into a glass of lukewarm water and drink
Green Juice
- 1 Apple
- 1 Cucumber
- 1/2 Lemon
- 2 Handfuls of Kale
- 2 Handfuls of Spinach
- Wash produce and combine in juicer (best to try to put the leaves through with more hydrating types like cucumber or lemon)
Yellow Juice
- 1/2 Cucumber (in finger sized chunks)
- 1 Handful of Mint
- 1/2 Pineapple (peeled)
- Wash and combine in juicer, and mix leaves between other chunks
Raw Spicy Lemonade
- 400ml Water
- 1 Lemon
- 1 Pinch Cayenne Pepper
- Squeeze lemon juice into water and add cayenne pepper
Greener Juice
- 2 Celery Sticks
- 1/2 Cucumber
- 1 Small Lemon (peeled)
- 2 Handfuls of Kale
- 1 Handful Parsley
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Apple
- Cut everything into finger sized chunks and combine in juicer, mixing leaves between juicier chunks of produce
Almond & Date Milk
- 400ml Almond Milk
- 2 Fresh Medjool Dates
- Combine in blender until dates are smooth and blended
My Experience Log
Day 1
- 9:40 – Red Detox Juice, was delicious.
- 10:30 – Green Smoothie, was a bit too pulpy and had a hard time digesting the flavor. Reminding myself it’s healthy and I can stick it through.
- 11:30 – Aromatherapy Yoga class, super soothing and great way to get into the right mindset for the day.
- 12:30 – Bought a Christmas tree and decorations, felt inspired and in a good mood.
- 13:30 – Green clay face mask.
- 14:15 – Red Detox Juice and Green Salad for lunch, salad tasted quite bland.
- 15:00 – Cleaned bedroom.
- 16:45 – Having salt and sugar cravings, but mostly salt. Proud of having made it through most of the day. Being able to snack on nuts is what’s kept me sane. Feeling good about my productivity throughout the day.
- 17:40 – Feeling a bit bored, which is making it harder not to give into snacking on random foods.
- 18:45 – Dinner, broccoli soup was delicious. Boyfriend decided to join from this point on, which is great for emotional support to continue.
- 19:30 – Decorated Christmas tree.
- 21:30 – Did groceries for Day 2, and feeling re-motivated to keep going.
- 22:30 – Bed time.
Day 2
- 8:30 – I wake up starving, and feeling like my body has definitely digested everything I ate yesterday.
- 10:00 – Red Detox Juice.
- 10:30 – Green Smoothie, the boyfriend really disliked this one and I think next time I’ll use banana instead of pineapple and add a lot more water to improve the flavor/texture.
- 11:30 – Feeling good, less cravings than day before. Boyfriend is regretting decision to join me.
- 12:00 – Chakra Yoga class, received a head massage during the class amazingly zen experience with a lot of meditation.
- 14:00 – Lunch, added Mango to the salad which gave it a burst of flavor and depth and really enjoyed the result. It was boyfriend’s suggestion, which he will gladly remind me of for future reference.
- 18:00 – Dinner, again the broccoli soup was a great success.
- 20:00 – Decided I was ready for a full day juice cleanse, and bought produce.
- 21:00 – Got very emotional and had an intense crying session, I think the detox is not only helping my body digest but my mind as well. Released and shared fears I was having and feel an overwhelming feeling of relief.
- 22:30 – Bed time.
Day 3
- 9:45 – Feeling really excited to juice today, my body is feeling great from the previous two days.
- 10:45 – Lemon Detox Water .
- 11:15 – Green Juice, was delicious.
- 11:40 – My stomach feels quite empty, and I’m feeling a little sluggish like there’s a fuzzy cloud over my head.
- 14:00 – Red Detox Juice
- 14:40 – Cravings for food are starting, I’m not actually hungry but I feel like chewing on something…anything.
- 15:00 – Temptation is everywhere, my roommate is eating pasta for lunch and I’m slightly losing the will to go on.
- 16:10 – Yellow Juice.
- 18:00 – Raw Spicy Lemonade.
- 18:00 – The cravings have actually stopped and I’m feeling pleasantly surprised.
- 18:15 – Yin Yoga with the Sweat with Kayla app.
- 20:15 – Almond & Date Milk.
- 20:15 – Wow! That was literally delicious, didn’t expect to enjoy this drink so much. I plan to add it into my day-to-day diet as a nice evening drink when i still have calories left.
- 22:30 – Bed time.
Post-Detox
After my detox I felt really good, both physically and mentally. During my post-detox I had to go back to work, and made sure to bring my lunch/snacks with me so I wouldn’t be too tempted by my surroundings.
My stomach had zero bloat, which is normally something I struggle with because of digestive problems and a slight gluten intolerance that I tend to ignore.
I noticed it was hard to get back into eating, the first half of the day went fine but I shouldn’t have added quinoa back in that soon. It felt very heavy to digest and made me feel tired.
The other thing I noticed was that it had become a lot easier to say no to unhealthy foods. Because I also knew my body would reject the foods I wasn’t even tempted. Showing me how eating healthy is really a mindset that we can adapt.
I will 100% do another detox in 2020, with some minor adjustments. My plan is to have mini-detox days once every two months. Detox food menu 1 day – Juice cleanse 1 day – Detox food menu 1 day. I think it will be a great method to keep my mind mindful of healthy eating and continue this holistic living path I’ve embarked on.
0 Comments