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:
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ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteI have never been on a juice diet/cleansing before but I do want to try it. I think I might have the same problem you mentioned earlier, about the whole exercise thing and feeling exhausted. (Babins/Harris 72). I usually go to the gym early in the morning and sometimes play some pickup games of basketball at night. From your experience, what is the best way to start and what are some things to look out for in this type of diet?
David,
ReplyDeleteI am really glad that you have successfully persevered through the juice cleanse! I have been on a liquid fast before and came across the exact same problem of feeling exhausted and hungry every so often. Going on a juice diet/cleansing, in my opinion, enhances our senses towards food (Babin/ Harris, 49) and hence sometimes making it really challenging to pull through. I would recommend the next time you go for a juice diet/ liquid fast, you may want to supplement one of the "meals" with protein powder when you want to exercise during the day because this helps you to last for the day. Hope this helps!
David,
ReplyDeleteI personally have never tried a juice cleanse but my roommate is doing one now. He is on day two. He has indicated to me that it's not a good idea to work out while on the cleanse. While this made a little bit of sense (He would not have the energy to do so), it would seem to me that sweating would be a benefit.
An interesting aspect of the juice cleanse that I have thought about would be that the hedonic value associated with going through it would actually be negative. But, when the cleanse is competed, your body is left completely changed and the utilitarian value outweighs the initial feelings. Great blog!
David,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear your cleanse went well for the most part! I think a juice cleanse is a great example of weighing the options of utilitarian versus hedonic value. On the utilitarian side, you had to give up the satisfactory feeling of food as well as the opportunity to exercise. However, you gained the hedonic values of feeling refreshed and healthy from succesfully completing the cleanse. (Angell Lecture 1/20)
I enjoyed hearing about your experiences with the juice cleanse! I have been wanting to try one for a while now, but have been researching various ones vs. doing a homemade one. Have you every considered doing the Babo juice cleanse? They have a 3-day cleanse with I believe 6 juices a day for $90, which seems more affordable than the $9 per single juice you mentioned in your post. One of the perceptions and stigmas with juice cleanses is that it is a diet and way to lose weight quick. However, I think there is strong utilitarian value because the cleanse still provides all essential calories and nutrients that you need while re-setting your body to feel even more energized once the cleanse is over. My only hesitation regarding trying a cleanse is the headaches that some people say to get and fear for not getting enough protein to keep me from getting light headed. After reading your post I am inspired to at least give it a try!
ReplyDelete