Have you ever wanted to do a cleanse, and the word itself scares the sh*t out of you? (No pun intended lol). I was one of those people. Aside from being a licensed aesthetician, I am a certified personal trainer, and have taken several nutrition courses that always steer clear of fad diets and cleanses. Everywhere you look you’ll see online what was healthy last week will kill you now. I never was able to find any evidence if it was bad for you, good for you, or completely and totally pointless. So, a few weeks ago at work my coworkers and I were discussing our plans to try to shed some pounds for the approaching warm, bikini months. My fellow coworker, who is also a certified personal trainer as well (kind of random since I work in a plastic surgery office lol), and mentioned Jus by Julie’s cleanses. I had my knee jerk reaction and said I could never do this. I’m one of those people that think about food from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to bed; I think it’s the Italian heritage in me. But, anyways, she stated that the gym she worked at, the trainers and staff would do this regularly. I thought that if others that were into health and fitness would do this more than once, I should at least give it a shot. So, all my coworkers (4 of us together) decided to do the cleanse, and I figured if I were to ever do something this crazy, I would want to do it with people I spend most of my days with.
Ordering Jus by Julie was super simple, her website is clear cut, we all selected our 3 day cleanse, and picked a delivery date to receive our 18 bottles of juice, excuse me, “Jus.” The one comment I have regarding the website, is that there is no FAQ section. So, we didn’t really know exactly what to expect, other than what our coworker experienced when she did the cleanse, months prior.
The following Monday we began our suffering lol. The 3 day cleanse consists of 6 juices, easily marked by number, that are to be consumed every couple of hours, and the last juice to be consumed 2 hours before bed. The only thing allowed is water throughout the day to stay hydrated. Her website also states that if needed 1-2 cups of coffee or green tea can be consumed, and if you absolutely have to eat, egg whites or steamed greens can be eaten at night. But, if you’re a rule follower like me, and spend $100 on just 3 days’ worth of just juice, then you want to try everything in your power to get what you paid for, so I pushed through and consumed nothing but the juices, water, and celery juice.
prior to cleanse
What my coworkers and I did not do, was properly prep for the cleanse. Apparently, you are supposed to slowly wean your body off of gluten, dairy, meat, and refined sugar. By properly prepping your body to prepare for the cleanse, the less you’re going to suffer during the actual cleanse. Unfortunately, we did not figure this out until we were halfway into day 1 and was feeling flu-like symptoms, which was because we basically were shocking our systems by eating normally and then not eating all day but consuming blended juices and water. If you are considering this cleanse, or another cleanse, please wean your bodies off a week ahead of time, so you don’t have to feel awful like we did.
cleanse day 1
Monday was the hardest day for me. I woke up excited but also slightly regretting this “healthy obsession” so to speak. I follow the medical medium, so I drink celery juice every morning on an empty stomach. So I wouldn’t give that up. I made my celery juice, and as soon as I arrived at work I started my first jus. The first one is called sweet spin; it consists of kale, spinach, pineapple, banana, mango and rice milk. All of Julie’s jus is blended not cold pressed, which means they’re gritty and pulpy in texture. This was a very difficult thing for me to overcome because I hate feeling anything in my beverages let alone seeds and food particles. I’m not going to lie, after that first sip I wanted to throw in the towel. But, I paid the money, and we were all in this together. The second jus is either spicy lemonade (lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper), or spicy pomegranate (pomegranate, lemon, maple syrup and cayenne pepper) there are 2 juices in the bunch that are interchangeable, #2 and #5. The spicy lemonade is good, but the spicy pomegranate is one of my favorites. I started feeling hopeful after jus #2 lol. Around lunch time is our third jus, which is another green juice, called green radiance (spinach, apples, mango, strawberries, coconut oil, and ginger). Its consistency is gritty, just like sweet spin and is probably equal to it in taste. Not delicious by any means, but drinkable. Drink #4 is chia berry, (chia seeds, pomegranate, strawberry and lemon), this is another good drink. I joked with my coworkers and stated that I’d love the chia berry so much more without the chia. The seeds make it very weird in texture to drink. The 5th jus, is interchangeable, some of us got watermelon wizard (watermelon, pineapple, strawberries, lemon juice, rosemary, and maqui powder), choco nana (cocoa, banana, strawberry, pomegranate, and coconut milk) or PB jus (all natural peanut butter, strawberry, banana and rice milk). The PB jus, was not what I thought it’d be. I love peanut butter, I’m one of those people with an unhealthy addiction to peanut butter, so I was really excited for this one. It wasn’t good. It was super chunky and I mostly tasted the strawberries. The watermelon wizard was amazing, most likely my favorite juice of the entire collection. I really wanted to love the choco nana, I saved that one for my last day because I was so excited for it, only to be completely let down. It tastes like watered down chunky chocolate milk. The sixth and final drink of the day is X-treme greens, and boy is it extreme. It consists of spinach, kale, orange, hemp seeds, and lime. This drink, no lie is disgusting. It’s drinkable, but the after taste is not what I expected.
By the time lunchtime hit, I felt very light headed, and my head was pounding. I was also freezing. These symptoms lasted until Tuesday morning when I woke up. Day 1 was very difficult for me. I felt like I was craving everything. I felt unhealthy and contemplated giving up because cleansing already was something I didn’t necessarily “believe in.” But, I stuck to it and woke up 0.9 lbs lighter, so that was motivating enough to keep going.
day 2
Tuesday I woke up with a pep in my step. I had my celery juice and felt energized and ready to start my day. The juices went down so much quicker on the second day, probably because I already knew what to expect. It wasn’t until I made it home and my energy crashed, my mood changed to very irritable, and I started feeling sick again. I felt like I was hit by a truck. I was weak, slightly light headed, and had a nagging ache in my head that just wouldn’t go away. I actually texted my coworker to keep me from eating, I had my moment of weakness, but pushed through and remained strong.
day 3
Wednesday I again, had my celery juice and felt great; energized and happy to start my day. I woke up and lost 1.1 lbs, so a total of 2 pounds lost thus far. The juices now are no big deal, even the gross ones. Now, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The end is finally near. It was a long, arduous 3 days. But we all made it out.
post cleanse
Thursday morning I woke up tired, I didn’t really sleep much, maybe because I was so excited to eat food again lol. I only lost an ounce from Wednesday, so my total weight loss in the 3 day cleanse was 2.1 pounds. I feel lighter, and still feel like I have energy. Now, in order to properly complete the cleanse and have a jump start into a healthier lifestyle, it is recommended to eat only fruits and vegetables for the first day after the cleanse. I packed only fruits for breakfast and snacks during the day, and a salad for lunchtime. The next day is when we can slowly start to incorporate other foods, and I believe by day 3 we can start to introduce meat.
final thoughts
After consuming mostly fruits and vegetables on Thursday, I woke up Friday an entire pound less. So, during the week of the cleanse, I dropped a total of 3 pounds, which is great for anyone that would want a jump start to healthier lifestyle, this will definitely help motivate you. I went to the gym Saturday morning, and still had a ton of energy, I still felt great, throughout the weekend, and of course lighter. If you are considering this cleanse, or something like it, please properly prep for it, you’ll thank me later, trust me. Also, be prepared to be by a bathroom for the entire 3 days, since drinking the amount of liquids that you have to drink, you will definitely need to urinate often. In conclusion, after dropping 3.1 pounds and struggling to make it through the 3 days, by basically starving, I have to admit I don’t think I’ll ever put my body through this again. It’s a lot harder than you may think, and if you are considering it, make sure you have a ton of support and it definitely helps if you have someone do it with you, to help keep you motivated and share in your misery lol.
