So the cleanse has ‘officially’ come and gone but for some reason we both seem to still be juicing! That light and surprisingly energizing feeling is too hard to pass up on when we both still have leftover juices. Like we mentioned before with Greenleaf Juicing Company you get 6 juices a day for the cleanse but below, see how we managed to make them last a little longer!
JAMIE:
With this being my first time cleansing I was a little nervous. I knew I could handle it but was more worried about the mental part of not chewing on anything (similar to that feeling when you have a smoothie for breakfast and even though it is a sufficient breakfast you still feel like you actually need to ‘eat’ something). Also as we all know I am a total foodie and not eating can sort of mess with your social calendar… It’s America– a lot of things revolve around food!! Well this is where the cleanse is a little rough, no morning coffee catch ups, no catered lunches at the office, no happy hours, no dinners out… you get the point. It’s too hard to be around food but this is where you have to remember it’s only 3 days!! Keep yourself busy in other ways, we did a few yoga sessions and a movie night in with friends. Let me tell you… it’s so much easier having both your roommates on it with you!
Tips for juicing: Although it’s my first time, these are the tips I have noted for the next!
- Only drink a juice when hungry- Don’t schedule them… me? A scheduler? No way (I did keep a log of when I drank them though so email me if interested!)
- Drink an entire glass of water between each juice- It leaves you constantly sipping on something and curbing your appetite
- Green Tea is your friend- I have never been a tea person but after day one I started to get a bit of a caffeine headache so this def did the trick
- Get lots of sleep- No 5am work outs for me..
- Which leads to PM workouts- Wednesday was the only day I did a morning workout as well and it was also the only day I ever felt ‘hungry.’ Make sure your workouts aren’t high intensity because although you are getting plenty of calories, you aren’t getting enough for high impact workouts.
- Yoga, Yoga, Yoga- We took classes each day which paired perfectly with the cleanse, I would not recommend clocking my normal amount of miles on a juice cleanse.
- Optional: Save a juice per day. 5 juices seemed to be enough for me specifically but listen to what your body needs. I found myself craving something sweet at night so instead of my 6th juice I’d have ½ a frozen banana mixed with almond milk and cinnamon for a mini smoothie/’dessert.’
Due to the above, we both have leftover juices and since they are supposed to be consumed within 48 hours (or they lose nutrients) we are still cleansing! I already had lunch and dinner plans today pre cleanse, so I juiced for breakfast and will have another for an afternoon snack as the perfect way to ease my body back into my normal routine.
Overall I would HIGHLY recommend the Greenleaf Cleanse if you live around Portland! Since they are fresh juices you do have to go there once a day (either the morning before work, or in the evenings before 7pm) and pick them up. If you do this specific cleanse they adjust your juices to what you like. Some of my favorites I would suggest; Orange Giant: orange, beet, apple, carrot, and lime— Green Lemonade: lemon, spinach, kale, parsley, pear, pineapple, and cucumber— Sweet Carrotlime: lime, pear, orange, carrot and ginger— Wondrous Punch: spinach, kale, beet, orange, apple, pear, strawberry and carrot.
I am already planning when I want to do my next cleanse and this time I’m challenging myself to 5 days. I feel great, energized (I’m shocked), light and like I could keep this going. Don’t get me wrong I can’t wait for lunch, but take it from me, it’s not as hard as you think it’s going to be!
SARAH:
This is by no means my first cleanse, but I can definitely say it was the easiest! In the past, I’ve done all my own juicing which is tedious, time consuming and super expensive. Plus, it’s always easy through the day but it’s tough to motivate yourself to make juice for dinner after a long day at work. Doing a pre-prepared cleanse was a life saver, I honestly don’t think I’ll be going back to the DIY method.
Cleanses aren’t about losing weight, they are more about resetting the body by getting rid of old toxins. Many times, since toxins reside in our fat cells, weight loss or a decrease in bloating/water weight result. Here’s my “after” shot I took this morning…I can’t complain!
To add to Jamie’s tips, here are a few of mine:
- Before the cleanse, try to stay away from animal products, processed food, sugar and alcohol for at least 3 days or so. We drank over the weekend and did fine on the cleanse, but not doing so will minimize detox symptoms and maximize your results.
- First thing in the morning, have a huge glass of water with lemon and cayenne pepper. This hydrates you and kicks your metabolism and digestive system into gear, plus it curbs your hunger for a little while so you can have your first juice later.
- Drink when you are hungry, which for me was every 2.5-3 hours.
- Veggie broth can also be substituted for any of the juices, which is how I managed to have 5 juices left over today. At dinner I usually want something savory, so I picked up some low sodium organic vegetable broth and heated it up in a mug.
- Nut milk makes an excellent dessert. All I did was pour myself a glass of almond milk and add a few drops of vanilla stevia. It’s honestly to die for, might have to make that a regular thing!
- Back off gently!! Don’t go right back to heavy, solid food. Keep it light with smoothies, soups and salads, at least for a day or so. Trust me, you’ll be miserable if you don’t.
I, too, would highly recommend you check out Greenleaf! They are by far the cheapest cleanse we found in Portland, the juices are delicious, and they make it so easy to stick with! I’ll definitely be doing this again 🙂
❤ Jamie & Sarah
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