On Black Friday 2018, I decided to order a three-day juice cleanse from Pressed Juicery. After a big Thanksgiving dinner, lots of snacks and binge eating leading up to and following the dinner, I knew I needed to reset my body. In 2016, in this same week, I did my first juice cleanse from Pressed Juicery and I loved it! I knew I needed to do it again.
In no way did I want to do this to lose weight. Any weight lost will certainly come back if I eat anything like I was before. The biggest reason for this cleanse is for exactly that – a cleanse. I’ve been so bogged down by so many high fat, high carb, barely nutritious foods that I have not felt like myself in a long time. So on Wednesday, November 28th, I started the cleanse.
There are six juices to drink each day: Greens 2, Citrus 2, Greens 3, Roots 3, Citrus 1, and Vanilla Almond. I didn’t eat any food but drank a lot of water every day and had one cup of herbal tea each night. It’s freezing here in Louisville and the tea was the only warm thing over those three days!
Here is a breakdown of the juices and how I felt each day.
Wednesday, Day 1
The first day I was really excited. I felt really good and was really ready for this cleanse. Three days would be nothing! The first juice was a green juice that was really good. It was very sweet and didn’t taste at all like a green juice! I was very happy. Then the second juice was even better. It was a citrus juice that tasted so much like pineapple juice – I loved it! The third, fifth, and sixth weren’t bad.
The fourth juice, however, the beet juice, was awful. I remember it from the first time and it really was just exactly like I remembered. It took nearly four hours for me to finish it. So hard to drink, just so so bad. It tasted so bitter and almost spicy – honestly could barely handle it! Then the last drink, the vanilla almond was the best thing I’d ever had. It tasted like a milkshake. It was amazing, I truly don’t even know what words I can use to describe it. There’s a lot more protein in this drink than the others giving me lots of energy to finish off the night. I was not hungry one time during the day and I felt great.
I ended up falling asleep around 9:30 that evening and slept soundly through the night. Honestly, it was probably the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time. The first day was a success and I was so excited for day two!
Thursday, Day 2
On Thursday, I woke up feeling a little bloated, weirdly enough. I weighed in and had lost three pounds from the day before. Since high school, my body has retained water from any grain of salt I ate or drank so weight fluctuations of two-three pounds a day is pretty typical. I felt good and was excited for my green juice. The first three juices went down so easily but I was quickly dreading juice four. This time I made sure it was ice-cold. It helped tremendously! The beet juice was cold the day before just not as cold as it needed to be. I also chased it with many drinks of water. It only took about 30 minutes to drink this time, so I was much happier with it.
On day two, the fifth juice didn’t taste quite as good. There’s aloe and coconut water in it and for some reason my taste buds could only pull out those flavors. All in all, it wasn’t the worst and I was absolutely ready for my ‘milkshake’. My vanilla almond milk tasted just as good as the day before and it was so satisfying!
I ended up taking a Pure Barre class that evening and felt great through the whole class. It had been three weeks since I’d taken a class and was nervous about lack of protein. Regardless, I was so glad I went! It was another early night – I ended up falling asleep on the couch at 8:30, woke up at midnight to go to bed and slept until 5:30. Happy camper over here!
I will say that on day two, I started getting the urge to chew something. Drinking doesn’t feel quite as satisfying as actually chewing your food. However, my stomach hadn’t growled and I still didn’t actually feel hungry, but I was really wanting to chew something.
Friday, Day 3
I was hungry. There’s no way around it. I woke up after a bad dream and was flat-out hungry. This girl was not excited for day three in the slightest and did not want to drink the first green juice of the day. Honestly, I didn’t even start on it until I’d already been awake for two hours. Water tasted really good but the juice was only mediocre.
The citrus juice that tasted like straight pineapple juice was delicious and probably the only thing that got me through the day. I paid more attention to how much water I drank and tried hard to drink more any time I felt vulnerable. The beet juice was better than day one, but not as bearable as day two. Again, I drank it ice-cold and chased it with lots of water. Juice five was harder to drink on day three than any other day. I was ready for my vanilla almond milk and to eat something substantial. I even found myself ready to go to bed so that I’d be able to wake up and eat real food!
All I could think about all day was what I would eat on Saturday. Would I go crazy eating as soon as I woke up? Would I wait to eat one good meal and just stick to fruits and veggies in the morning and afternoon? I wasn’t sure how I’d break the cleanse, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Again that morning I weighed in and had lost three more pounds. I was light-headed a couple of times throughout the day and had a pretty consistent headache. I was still able to work a full day and overall still felt pretty good, other than being super hangry.
The Verdict
Would I do it again? Absolutely. I woke up on Saturday feeling like a new person. Glad I finished and happy with my results. I’m so much more aware of what it feels like to be hungry. My stomach hadn’t growled in probably three years until day three. I trust myself again that I’m able to make smart choices in the kitchen. Eating or drinking fresh foods is what our bodies need. No extra vitamins or supplements are necessary when we eat clean, nutritious meals.
Your Turn!
Have you tried a juice cleanse? Or are you interested in trying one? I’m happy to answer any questions about my experiences and about different ones I’ve researched!
