After my last cleanse my supervisor was so impressed with my results, she said I glowed, that she decided she wanted to do a cleanse. She is a single mom and has 2 kids, so she wanted to wait until they would be out of town so she wouldn't have to prepare food without being able to eat it. Then a couple weeks ago it turned out that the kids were going to be out of town and she found a Groupon for Two Jus by Julie 3-day Cleanses and she convinced me to participate. The timing also worked well for her since she will be in Miami next week.
I was a little hesitant of this cleanse because the juice is blended instead of cold-pressed and isn't organic. It reminded me a bit of my smoothies that I can do at home, but I wanted to be a support for my supervisor. Also, my last cleanse really helped quash my urges to eat fatty and sugary food and I hoped to have the same results this time. Although I have been working out regularly and eating healthly, I am still having a lot of cravings, which I sometimes give in to.
The goal was to do the cleanse during the work week, but unfortunately with the Groupon options we only had this Wednesday available as a delivery. Knowing that the juice probably wouldn't arrive until midday I planned to start on Thursday. Once the juices arrived my supervisor started, even though she had already eaten. I chose to wait because I had already eaten breakfast and had some good salmon packed for lunch that I didn't want to waste. I wish I had started with her though because I knew my workout plans would probably need to change a bit over the weekend.
A quick recap of the plan, some of the juices are the same each day and others change. You always start with a
Morning Glory, then comes either a
Spicy Lemonade or a
Spicy Pome-nade, juice number three is the
Sweet Spin, the fourth juice was either
Chia Berry or
Acai Blend, juice number 5 was different every day and then you end with a Sweet Spin. This cleanse allows you to eat a moderate amount of steamed vegetables or egg whites. You can drink 1-2 cups of coffee with Truvia or Stevia or tea. And you are allowed to chew gum. I don't know how I feel about this option, most other cleanses recommend against this. Blue Print Cleanse says, "
Chewing gum contributes to gas in your system, as well as, “confusing” the digestive process. What does this mean? Your stomach is getting ready for food that isn’t coming. That being said, try to avoid it, but if you’re tempted to chew off your colleague’s arm please chew the gum, and make it sugarless."
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| Chia Berry |
Day One
The first juice started out rough. I already knew that I probably wasn't going to like this juice because my supervisor had such a hard time getting it down on Wednesday. We ended up chugging it down together and moved on.
I had the Spicy Pome-nade next and it was very tasty. It is nice. light, just a tad sweet with a little bit of heat. I would definitely drink this any day.
Next up was the Sweet Spin, this juice was much better than the Morning Glory, but still not my favorite.
On my drive home I drank the Acai Blend, which I also enjoyed. It was fairly chunky, so it you have trouble with certain textures this may not be the drink for you, but I thought it was very tasty.
When I got home Big B and I discussed going for a workout, but I opted out because I didn't feel like I had enough energy to do an actual workout and I was sore from my Hard Drive class the night before. However, I did end up getting almost 10,000 steps by the end of the day.
Later Big B and I walked over to the Brambleton Town for one of their Sizzlin' Summer Concert, the
Doyle Brothers performed. One the way over we stopped at Subway to grab a sandwich for Big B. I'm usually not a humongous Subway fan, but boy did their sandwiches look delicous. Cleanses are definitely harder if the person you share your house with is eating normal food. For some reason I don't have much temptation to eat food at work, but I did at home tonight. It was also a bit hard to watch other concert attendees enjoying their adult beverages. I definitely plan on brining a beer or some wine with me to the next concert,
Cherry Crush.
At the concert I had decided not to follow the Jus by Julie's instructions. I had the Sweet Spin next because I really enjoy something sweet at the end of the day and didn't think I could go from something sweeter to the Sweet Spin. Once we got back home I ended the day with the
Not So Chunky, yumm!!
Day Two
I slept really well last night and today I felt just a well as I did during Day One. I don't know if that is because I didn't do the detox baths or if it was because the juices were blended. I had the Spicy Lemonade today, this juice is tasty, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the Pome-nade. Another difference was the Chia Berry. Again this drink was tasty, but I liked the Acai Blend a bit more (I think because it felt a bit more like normal food). This night I got home later than normal and Big B had already eaten, luckily, because his food smelled so good (and it was just chicken and squash)! The last juice of the day was the
Island Coconut, also delicious!!
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| Morning Glory |
Day Three
I had planned on sleeping in, this would be the first in a while because I normally set my alarm so I can make it to gym classes during the weekend (although I usually wake before it goes off on Sunday). Unfornately I didn't make it very late, but I was lazy and laid in bed for a couple hours. Again I feel pretty normal and not like I did last cleanse. Unlike the other cleanse were my opinion on the juice changed each day, I didn't notice that this time. Morning Glory, was still not great and I had to chug it down. I actually don't know if there would be much flavor if I plugged my nose. I didn't try this, but I think most of the dislike was the strong smell of kale.
After drinking my Spicy Lemonade I felt good enough to go for a walk/run, I planned on incorporating the walking because it is hot outside, high 80s. Boy was I glad I hadn't planned on running the whole way, it was warm and I should have brought some water. It actually looked like I had taken a bath by the time I got home, I was that sweaty!
Next up was the Sweet Spin, but it tasted really weird today, so I had less than half and then ended up throwing it away.
After about an hour I was really hungry, so I had 8 almonds. These are not on Jus by Julie's plan, but they sounded better than egg whites or steamed veggies and they were allowed on the other cleanse. I also drank the Chia Berry, it tasted even better with the almonds. Sweet with a little bit of a sour kick. Again some people might not like this juice because of the texture, but I love chia seeds.
Another reason I wish that I had started the cleanse on Wednesday is because we went to the Red, White and Bram (an event in our town center with music and fireworks). Because I knew that there were going to be some good food carts, beer and wine, I decided not finish the cleanse that night. I figured now I could extend my leftover
bottles and have one for lunch and one for breakfast. Either way I cheated a bit and don't regret it one bit. The lobster roll from Red Hook Lobster Pound! Now the challenge is to not let this derail my plans.
Side Effects (fun details not everyone might want to know)
With both cleanses I have had fairly normal stool, which is awesome since a lot of people seem to have issues with this, at least from what I have read. I also always get a bit of a white/green film on my tongue. It is gross!
This time I noticed that I had to urinate more often and when the urge came I had to go then. I don't remember this occuring as much during the first cleanse. I've also noticed that I've been a bit chilled, luckily its warm and humid here, so I can just step outside to warm up.
. I read it with my new book club!
