It’s been a long time coming.
After all the green smoothies and health talk, a juice cleanse was clearly in the cards. I had been wanting to try the Blueprint Cleanse ever since I first heard of it, but I just couldn’t make up my mind to do it while I was still in New York, and once we left, well, that was that.
Besides, I just didn’t feel ready. Me, with the tendency to disordered eating and the blood sugar issues, drink juice all day? Didn’t seem like a good idea.
Until recently. Until just a few days ago, in fact. I have been juicing and making green smoothies and eating clean for the past few weeks, but I suprised even myself when, upon hearing of Jason Vale’s Big Juice Spring Clean, I realized that Hey, I think I’m ready. Yup, I’m going to do it!
I established a few ground rules. I told myself that I would give it a good chance, but if it felt like too much I would ease off it. Because I have experienced way too many times that awful thing where I restrict myself too much, and then it just backfires in the most spectacularly horrid way.
Sooo… fast-forward to today, Day 3. I have had only juice until dinner, then a bowl of veggie soup, for the past three days. And I feel fantastic! So good in fact, that it’s a little shocking. I know this is because I was ready both mentally and physically, and because I am keeping it flexible and really listening to my body, but still… it’s amazing that I feel so good and that I am not starving, cranky and daydreaming about driving to the closest bakery and going all Cookie Monster on their entire stock.
Instead, I am in a good mood, I’m sleeping well, I have more energy than I have had in ages, and I am enjoying some delicious juices. Here are a couple of recipes, so you can try them for yourself. Stella has been trying them too and these were her favorites, so feel free to share them with your tots!
So what do you do if you want to do a juice cleanse? Here are a few tips:
1. Prepare your body and minimize detox symptoms by skipping processed foods and drastically cutting down on sugar and caffeine for a week. Drink a lot, too: shoot for half your body weight in ounces (160 lbs = 80 fl oz).
2. Do some research. There are tons of juice cleanses that you can get delivered to your door. There’s Suja, which is all-organic and available at more and more Whole Foods locations; there’s JuiceRx, which might just have you instantly charmed at those adorable bottles and the delicious-sounding mixes; there’s Urban Remedy, with its appealing juice recipes and it’s educational website, so you know why each and every ingredient is good for you; there’s the Canadian Juice Cleanse, which includes blue-green algae in one of their concoctions… lots of choice.
If you opt for the homemade version, check out this post, which breaks down the juices in the Renovation Cleanse, the mildest of those available at Blueprint. Or you might do what I did and simply buy a juice recipe book (or an app!), and create your own blends.
3. Try to schedule your cleanse at a time when you can get enough sleep and won’t have, say, a dinner party for 20 in your own home.
4. Get ready to play it by ear. You might need extra sleep, you might need to lay off heavy exercise, or you might suddenly get up and be ready for a run. Don’t be too demanding on your body, it’s already working quite hard!
5. Last but not least, reintroduce solid foods gradually after the cleanse. Vegetable soups, green smoothies, a little lean protein, simply prepared, are all good choices. Keep the quantities small at first, to give your body a chance to re-adjust to solid food. A good probiotic and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar mixed with water before your meals will help with that.
I hope you found this useful!
And hey, even if a juice cleanse doesn’t appeal to you, maybe give the juice recipes a try and tell me what you think, ok?
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