My First Ever 7 Day Juice Cleanse Experience
When I first went plant based, I would incorporate a fresh juice from time to time.
But I was never consistent with it. Between my lousy juicer, the clean up afterwards and the fact that I was winging the recipes (which led to subpar tasting juices), there was nothing keeping me from wanting to proceed.
However that started to change these last few years. Thanks to Instagram, I had come across various accounts of people who were either vegetarian, vegan or raw vegan who would also juice. And thanks to them, it had opened up a new world for me when it came to juicing. Through the content they shared, I really got to witness the benefits of juicing and learn various types of juice recipes.
One particular Instagrammer who I found to be quite inspiring is Jonny Juicer. His story of how he overcame illness, fatigue and gut issues through juicing is amazing.
As a result of all of this new and inspiring information, I decided to bite the bullet and invest in a high grade juicer. From there I would start to make fresh juices and add them to my weekly routine.
Some of you reading this may have juiced before or have had a fresh fruit/veggie juice once in their lifetime (and if you have, kuddos to you!), but have any of you ever done a juice cleanse before?
I had never, nor had I ever thought to do so. The idea of consuming juices and no solid food for days seemed daunting and impossible to me (I loooove food!). But here I am, sharing with you my week long journey on how I conquered the “impossible”.
But first, let’s circle back to how it all began…
Sometime in November of 2022, Jonny Juicer, along with Tribest, was doing a juicer giveaway. But not just any juicer, the ‘Lamborghini’ of juicers! Just like others, I entered my name into the draw hoping I would win but not holding my breath that my name would actually get picked, especially since I had just won Jonny’s LAST giveaway (how cool is that?!), but lo and behold, I had received a message from him congratulating me that I had won. I couldn’t believe what I was reading!
A few weeks later I received the juicer and immediately got started on juicing. This juicer, comparing to my last one, was amazing. The veggies and fruits were effortlessly masticated and cleanup was fairly quick and easy. If you’re looking to invest in a juicer, I highly recommend checking out their website www.tribest.com
Moving forward to December, I’m noticing that a few of the IG accounts I follow are posting that they are participating in a 7 day juice cleanse and that anyone can be a part of it at no cost. This got me seriously thinking.
I had never done anything like this before nor have I ever really participated in anything that really challenged me, especially mentally. The questions lingered inside my head, could I actually do this? Am I strong enough mentally to get through an entire week of eating no solid foods? Would I be able to resist the temptations of food? For a few days I would go back and forth, weighing out the pros and cons.
While scrolling through IG, these juice cleanse posts would keep popping up on my feed, I took it as the universes way of telling me to jump on board and to give it a try.
If you’re curious as to why I would want to commit to such a thing, one of the reasons is pretty obvious. The health benefits. Juicing is a great way to reduce inflammation in the body, remove toxin build up, boosts the immune system and is an easy way to flood the body with nutrients without having to overwork the digestive system. But the main reason really why I decided to partake in this challenge, I say challenge because it is one for me specifically, is for discipline reasons. I’m just like any other person who has their personal struggles and one of them is the discipline to stick with something and follow through to the end. So I thought that participating in this would be an ideal way to really test myself and see how far along I can really go. Refraining from eating solid foods for 7 days, especially for the first time, takes a lot of self discipline!
So, let me take you through my journey, day by day …
DAY 1: The first day was a breeze! All of the suggested juice recipes were delicious, although I am going to tweak the green juice. My favourite juice is the morning grapefruit ‘fat cleanse’. I now have an appreciation for grapefruit. Energy levels were great throughout the day. Oddly and surprisingly, by the end of the day I wasn’t starving like I had anticipated, instead I felt ‘empty inside’ and a ‘lack of satisfaction’ … if that makes sense. Peed a lot! LOL
DAY 2: Woke up and got out of bed easily (5:45am) with high energy levels! Went to the gym for the first time this week, did a brisk 40 minute walk on the treadmill, noticed that my sweat was a bit more stinkier than usual (perhaps the sign my body was beginning to detox?). Felt great throughout the day!
DAY 3: Struggled to get out of bed this morning. Felt a little bit lightheaded, almost ‘high’ in the morning prior to completing my first juice. Again, energy levels were great throughout the day. Surprised at how easy this is!
DAY 4: Feeling really good! Skipped my afternoon drink because I wasn’t hungry
DAY 5: Energy levels still good, starting to miss food
DAY 6: Hardest day of the week thus far. Physically I’m feeling great, but struggling mentally big time. I’m finding myself thinking about food, strong cravings are starting to kick in. Not necessarily craving or wanting to eat junk or something sweet, at this point any type of food is welcome. Found myself immersed in all types of food content, such as cooking shows, Instagram food accounts … stupid me, this is not helping AT ALL! Feeling quite hungry by the evening. By body wants food, but my mind is telling me to push through, I’ve gotten this far and can’t screw this up with one day left to go.
DAY 7: Last day, and I am incredibly proud of how far I’ve come and that I was able to set a goal and accomplish it! Feeling very grateful.
All in all, this cleanse was certainly a mental challenge to see if and how far I can go. It has given me strength to pursue future endeavours that I may have been hesitant to do so in the past.
This was overall a great experience. Would I ever do it again? Certainly! Would I do another 7 days straight? Probably not anytime soon, but I am definitely open to do a juice cleanse a few times per year.
Will you be joining me?
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