Disclosure: My Experience with a 3-Day Raw Juice Cleanse was made possible by Moms Meet and Skinny Limits, a raw juice company that agreed to provide juice for three days in exchange for my experience with a juice cleanse.
This is my real experience as an “average person” doing a cold-pressed raw juice cleanse for the very first time. I am not a health nut, but someone who is working on it!
PRE JUICE CLEANSE
I decided to do a raw juice cleanse because of health issues. For the past few years, I have gone from one illness to the next. During the cold and flu season, I am almost always sick. I get sick more frequently than anyone I know.
Not only do I struggle with sinuses and immunity health problems, I also have digestive issues. Boy, do I. Fiber, water and a fairly clean diet hasn’t helped much for me in that department. Doctor after doctor, I have had no solution to my constipation issues. Sadly, my digestive issues were beginning to interfere with my daily life. It is a frustrating battle, and I had nothing left to lose when I decided to try this juice cleanse.
JUICE CLEANSE JITTERS
I had done a lot of prior research on juice cleanses, and hoped that all of the benefits I read about, could also benefit me! I was eager and excited about the immunity boosting properties, the balancing of alkaline levels and regulation of digestion and metabolism – I had jumped on the raw juice bandwagon! The raw juice benefits were all great things in my book –yes, please, sign me up for a healthier life!
So when I finally did settle on a 3-Day cleanse with Skinny Limits, I was excited and got a bit nervous at the same time. I looked into my refrigerator, now jam-packed full of juice, and thought “Wow this is a lot of juice…” and “But it’s just juice! Can I survive off juice?”
I had never done a cleanse before, I had never gone a single day without food, I was nervous about hunger pains, dying of starvation and if living on juice alone would make me feel like a zombie. (I also was a bit nervous about being testy and irritable to the hubby… but that was an after thought!)
DAY ONE
Nerves aside, I jumped right into the cleanse!
I know that a lot of people do these raw juice cleanses for weight loss purposes, and although that was not the reason I was doing mine, I knew that many people reading will ultimately want to know if I lost weight. So, when I first woke up, before my first sip I weighed myself, 118.2lbs pre-cleanse.
I started my day as directed, with a hot cup of water with lemon then followed by the first juice on the menu – the “Pure and Simple”. I happily found the P&S more tasty than was expected. At first I really only tasted the celery, lemon and some type of herb (parsley). Then after reading the ingredients, I could taste them all – Apple, Lemon, Celery, Kale, Spinach, Parsley. The blend was surprising good, and I was very encouraged – “I can sooo do this!”
Seriously, they are so much easier to drink than typical green-juice vegetable blends!
Throughout the day, I followed the strict order of the juices. It was simple after reading the pamphlet that comes with the juice. Each juice is labeled, and should be taken 2.5-3 hours after the one before, supplementing water in between! Man, that is a lot of liquid!
And yes, it was a lot of liquid! After the third 16oz bottle of raw juice, I was basically living in the bathroom. I was glad to have the day off of work, and highly recommend starting this cleanse on the weekend! It really was the wrong day for me to be wearing tight jeans and a belt. Note to self: wear sweatpants tomorrow!
And to give you the gruesome details, I was getting A LOT out of my system. My backed-up digestive track was clearing out by mid afternoon. It wasn’t a forced bowel movement, like usual, either. I was getting it all out, and I felt lighter and more clear.
As for hunger pains? I had them. I was pretty darn hungry by the time dinner rolled around. It was a little hard to see my husband eating while I worked my way through another juice. But, after a successful cleansing day, I was still encouraged to not cheat. I was excited by the digestive detoxing that went on, and I wanted to see what day two and three would bring!
DAY TWO
After trying all the juices and really liking them the day before, I was eager and excited to start day two. Waking up a little later on day two helped ease my early morning hunger pains. I am one of those people who, if I wake up really early I am starving, but if I sleep in a little and wake up on my own terms, I cannot stand the thought of eating right away. I usually don’t eat for an hour or two after getting a relaxing nights sleep.
So… I forgot to drink my hot lemon water mixture this morning. I was too eager to drink my first juice! Honestly, they are so good!
Today was pretty laid back, I did a lot of work on the computer and didn’t even leave the house but to give my dog a walk. I followed the daily cleanse rules, and set my phone alarm for the times I needed to take my next juice. I highly suggest doing this, it is easy to forget what time you consumed the last one!
I really wasn’t interested in food today. The juices were satisfying enough, and I felt full most of the day. I will also say, I didn’t use the bathroom as frequently. I guess my body was trying to hold on to some of the nutrients finally. I barely went to the bathroom more than I do on a typical day!
I found myself doing a better job of drinking water in-between juices, and I think this is due to (1) being home (2) not feeling like the liquid is just flowing right through me.
It was a successful day on the cleanse, and I went to bed feeling full and satisfied.
DAY THREE
Oh, how I have looked forward to this day a lot… and yet not at all.
Being the final day, I was a little sad that it was ending. I was just getting used to that sort-of always hungry feeling, but then excitedly gulping down the next “numbered” juice.
I decided this day was going to be the best one yet. I was going to drink more water in-between and be a little more active than the days before (which mostly were spent on the computer).
It was a little harder following the cleanse when I filled my schedule full of errands, but it was ok. I packed a cooler of juices for the car, so I could drink and go. We did lots of running around; went shopping, looked at furniture and visited our new house. It was an exhausting day. At one point, I had to leave the store and go to the car and chug a juice!
I will say, all that activity made it a little harder to stay on schedule. At one point, I drank a juice about 3.5 hours after the last one (recommended 2.5-3 hours) and I felt very lightheaded. My body really needed that juice!
We had some friends over for dinner and a movie. We made a huge batch of chili, and they enjoyed it while I drank my juices. I shared a few sips of the Scorpion Lemonade, Pure&Simple, and Crescent Moon with them. They were shocked by how good they were! Everyone took a sip of the Crescent Moon because earlier in the day I was trying to describe how delicious it was, and I just couldn’t do a good enough job… they had to taste it themselves!
Crescent Moon: Raw cashews, Vanilla Bean, Cinnamon, Agave Nectar, Filtered Water.
By the time I had hit the hay, I had finished all of the 18 juices in 3-days! And it was good that I had finished them since they are so fresh – they are very perishable – they are only good for 3 days and today was their expiration! You know you are getting fresh when you are consuming something with a 3 day shelf life!
AFTER RAW JUICE CLEANSE
The morning after my cleanse ended, I treaded lightly on food, as suggested. But before eating anything, I did a final weigh in. I knew I had lost weight, I could see it and feel it. Also, having been constipated for a week, and then literally clearing out my digestive track, my stomach was flatter and didn’t have that bloated “bulge” I normally have… ok, so the morning weigh in after the 3 day cleanse I was at 113.8. I lost nearly 5 pounds!
But, like I mentioned before I didn’t do it for weight loss, I did it for health. And my results were great. I felt cleaner, leaner and healthier. it felt like a fresh start. I didn’t feel like I had the looming bulk in my intestines, like I almost always do! I actually didn’t suffer at all from any of the potential detox symptoms that they mention like headaches, breaking out or cramping. This was shocking, besides my one lightheadedness moment, the cleanse was incredibly smooth.
I found that limiting yourself to solely juice wasn’t as bad as I expected, I wasn’t TOTALLY starving… but I did find myself giving my dog a little extra helping of dog chow at night, which I took as compensating for all the food I wasn’t eating. No but really, when I think about it, I actually missed the idea of eating (chewing, swallowing) more than the food itself. I wasn’t all that hungry after the initial day one.
And the dreams of spaghetti with meatballs only happened on night one! 😉 No, seriously.
MORE AFTER RAW JUICE CLEANSE
My second day off the cleanse was not good. I went back to work today and nearly fainted. I was lightheaded all day, and frequently sitting down. We had a ton of turbulence on my flights and I felt like I was going to puke nearly the entire day.
I am not sure why I had such a rough time getting back to eating foods. I tried to ease into it, but my body was rejecting me. Every time I ate I felt more sick. It wasn’t a lack of sleep either. I will say, my job is not the easiest on the body, and I should have had more to eat right when I woke up.
Even though I had a rough day-after-the-day-after the cleanse, my overall experience with a raw juice cleanse was incredible. The Skinny Limits company makes delicious cold-pressed raw juice that I was very pleased with. Drinking the juice gave me mental clarity and cleared my colon with regular bowel movements. I will ABSOLUTELY be doing a raw juice cleanse again. Next time, I will be more careful to eat more the day after, especially in the morning!
If you are looking to do a raw juice cleanse – you should! They are a great natural and organic method to detoxify and heal!
WHY JUICE?
Like I said before, a juice cleanse gives your body a fresh start. It helps your body absorb nutrients from vegetables by pre-digesting them for you. It gives your digestive system a little break, yet still provides your body with enzymes and nutrients. Raw juice cleanses are nourishing, detoxifying, alkalizing and rejuvenating.
But don’t just take my word for it.
Of course there are a ton of sources out there for more information on doing a raw juice cleanse. Do some research so you know just what they are and how they work. This was my raw juice cleanse experience and I hope it helped!
MORE ABOUT SKINNY LIMITS JUICE CLEANSE
Skinny Limits suggests doing a monthly cleanse to keep you body’s alkalinity in check. If not a monthly cleanse, a quarterly cleanse at minimum to keep your body running like a well oiled machine.
They offer various raw juice cleanses including: Standard Juice Cleanse, Variety Juice Cleanse, Tropical Juice Cleanse, Master Cleanse, Green Juice Cleanse, Coach Guided Juice Cleanse and Custom Juice Cleanses.
All of the Skinny Limits juice cleanses are natural and raw, made without any pasteurization or processing. They are fresh to order, vegan and gluten free.
Oh, and one last thing about Skinny Limits – they are cheaper than the majority of the cleanses I found. The cleanses above start at $49. If you are local to Austin, TX you are even luckier because you don’t pay shipping! Otherwise they ship nationwide.
Check out their menu: http://www.skinnylimits.com/menu/
Have you ever done a raw juice cleanse? What was your raw juice experience?