There is no excuse, you must juice

There is no excuse, you must juice!

I am no expert but I would love to offer you, the reader, as a final blog post some piece of advice that will help you ease through the process of juice cleansing. 

Tip #1 - Do NOT exercise   

This is the one tip that I experienced first-hand during my juice cleanse. I went to the CCRB to work out and while working out I started feeling incredibly light-headed. Then moments after, I started feeling intense headaches and the rest of my day was pretty much ruined.  Its sounds counter-intuitive but it couldn't be more true, juices do not provide you with enough energy to exercise. But if you think about it, this also becomes a main benefit of juice cleansing, for a few days you can stay healthy yet still not exercise!  

Tip #2 - Prepare lots of juice 

Even if you don't exercise, there is still a large chance that you will be hungry throughout the day on a regular basis. Try to prepare at least 8 juices a day and drink on average a juice every 1.5 hours. Not only will this keep you from being too hungry while you battle through the day, it will also provide you with even more nutrients that will help you feel energized.  

Tip #3 - Make the colors of the rainbow!

This is where your childhood memories of ROY.G.BIV will come in handy. Not all fruits are created equally and therefore not all juices are create equally. Oranges contain tons of vitamin C, yet contain almost no Vitamin D. Following the rule of creating a rainbow of smoothies will help you and your body consume a wide range of nutrients that will only make you more healthy. Don't forget to put vegetables in some of your smoothies as well! (since how else are you going to create green smoothies besides using kiwi fruit?)   

So thank you all so much for reading my blog through the semester and i hope you all had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. And more importantly, I hope that everyone tries a juice cleanse at least for one day. I will now end this blog with an app that i found to be quite useful and easy to use. Its an app by Martha Stewart and its called Whole Living Smoothies, it details smoothie recipes using simple visuals and easy to follow instructions. Below is a screenshot of the app in use: 

My 3-day journey with juice

Journeying with juice

So here we are on day 3 of my juice cleanse, with a bottle of delicious sweet carrot juice by my side while writing this blog. This juice cleanse has been quite the experience and overall, I am feeling great! I feel really energized, lightweight, and happy. I am happy to share my experiences with you the reader and convince you to be open-minded enough to try out a juice cleanse for just a day.

So lets start with day 1, the day I really wanted to quit the juice cleanse.

Day 1: Home-made juice

Day 1 started out with me opening the fridge, bringing out all of the fruits and vegetables and basically improvising enough juice and smoothie recipes to fill up 10 medium-sized bottles. 

Juices created included:

• Banana, mango, pineapple, and lime juice. (my favorite of the bunch)
• Strawberry, blueberry, raspberry. (really refreshing and would have been even nicer if I added some yogurt)
• Lemon, strawberry, ginger. (this one was nasty!!)
• Carrots, tomato, strawberry, apple. (meh...but I guess it was really nutritional!)  

This was a Sunday, I had no classes so I went for a 30 minute swim in the CCRB. Before exercising I drank one of my newly-created juices, hoping for an energy boost to get me through the workout. The swim went smoothly, just like any typical workout, and I even had enough energy and positive emotions to go running for an additional 30 minutes. 

This workout initially felt great but ended up being a horrible idea. I got home looking forward to drinking more juice and was surprised how full I was after drinking a single bottle of juice. However, this feeling of fullness lasted for a brief 30 minutes and at about 6:00pm I ran out of juice (how could I finish 10 bottles so quickly??). 

Unsure of what to do, i drank lots of water but nothing else. The plan was to wait for a couple hours and go to sleep starving. This quickly got worse and I started feeling headaches and a lack of energy, I really wanted to quit the juice cleanse. But i persevered and I made it a rule to not exercise during the juice cleanse (or at most, exercise lightly). 

Day 2: Babo juices and Broccoli Puree

Given the previous day, I was not looking forward to day 2 of my juice cleanse. But thankfully Day 2 went surprisingly smooth as I had learned my lesson and overstocked on smoothies and not exercised. I had also made broccoli puree which got me through most of the day. My energy levels were pretty consistent throughout the day, the only thing of note was that i felt hungry oftenly, but as long as there was enough juice it never became a problem.

If you've never bought juice from Babo then I recommend you do so. Their juices are freshly made , extremely delicious, and are nutritionally dense. The downside is that it is very expensive (on average around $9!). It is probably not worth it on a regular basis but for very now and then its perfect.

Day 3 & Conclusion

 

Day 3 is half over, I am on my third liquid meal of the day and I feel really great. I'll be upfront and admit that it has been quite difficult. I feel like it has gone on for longer than 3 days, the feeling of hunger definitely makes the days feel longer. However, the best things in life require some degree of struggle and this juice cleanse is no different. To those reading I encourage you to try a one-day juice cleanse (preferably after a big day of eating) and to see the benefits of the juice cleanse yourself!!!!!  

I'm going to conclude with some really nice recipes for juices that i found on Epicurious.com:

Chilled Cucumber and Orange Juice with Oregano

Beet, Carrot, and Apple Juice with Ginger

Blog 1 - Juice Cleanse 101

Juice Cleanse 101

Whenever I go to the CCRB I am always amazed when someone with gigantic muscles approaches me and asks me "dude, whats your secret? Do you juice?". No, he's not talking about taking steroids or other performance enhancing drugs. He's talking about drinking orange juice, apple juice, pineapple juice, fruit smoothies, pureed soups, and other liquid treats. 

I wish I could say with passion that "yes, I juice", but the fact is i'm all about the solids. But next week that all changes when I start a 4-day juice cleanse and unlock my body's full potential. 

Over the past few years there has been a prevailing diet trend that has swept the nation and that is the juice cleanse. Seemingly overnight dozens and dozens of DIY juice cleanse guides begin to appear on the internet. Entrepreneurs start their own organic juice companies, preaching the benefits of juice cleanses (the juice on juice?) and offering juice packages and monthly subscriptions aimed at providing customers enough juice to last them a single day or even months.

I mean just look at all the different types of juice cleanses available online.

Today, juice cleansers are a large community proud, strong, and energized. Yet many believe that juice cleansing is just a fad, that it has no real health benefits and is just an attempt for companies to gouge hundreds of dollars from you on a regular basis (the average price of a daily juice cleanse in New York City is $60).

Next week, I am excited to prove or disprove the claims made by these skeptics as I begin my 4-day juice cleanse. I would love some input from you, the reader, as to how I should approach these four days. Share me your secret smoothie recipes, or how to make your grandma's tomato bisque. And if anyone is inspired enough to join me on this juice cleanse feel free to comment below and we'll figure something out. I am here as a sacrifice so anything you would like to know about juice cleanses, I will be your guinea pig.

Here is what i am planning so far:

Day 1 - Juice Press NYC juice cleanse
Day 2 - Pureed Soups (Tomato Bisque, Broccoli Soup)
Day 3 - Babo juice cleanse
Day 4 - Fruit and Veg Smoothies

Thanks for reading and see you in my next blog! I will be chronicling my experiences during these four days in the form of journal entries and pictures!