5-day juice cleanse review from a first-time juicer

I'm excited to be writing this blog post and sharing my experience with you all.

It's definitely been a while and I am super excited to catch up. Before we dive into the cleanse, let's discuss what I've been up to and what's led me to this point.

During quarantine — WAIT! Let's talk about COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic has definitely changed 2020 and has settled itself into the United State for well over half the year. Although states are reopening and school is back in session for some, I hope that everyone is doing their part and continuing to wear a mask and social distance.

I go to the grocery store, I hang out with friends and I hang out at the bar from time to time, I will admit, but I'm always masked up, washing my hands frequently and avoiding touching my face with my hands. Not only that, but I've also been cleaning my phone a lot too. Hugs are also limited :(.

Let's get into this cleanse though.

(I am no expert on cleanses. Please do your own research or see your doctor to see if this is fit for you and your body before diving in headfirst.)

THE WHY

SO, over quarantine, I have consumed waaayyyy too much food. I basically was eating whenever I was hungry at any time. There were days when I would eat healthier, however, it would be spoiled by a Wing Stop meal one day, then a huge pasta from Cheesecake Factory the next. Not only was I eating everything in sight, but I was also drinking A LOT. I also knew I had a heavy salt-craving that I needed to break. It was bad. I felt like I needed chicken tenders, french fries or chips with everything. EVERYTHING. That is no bueno.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm no alcoholic, but I can say I drank a glass of wine, a few Don Julio mixed drinks or a White Claw more than three times in a week.

When you add that up, in addition to not sleeping more than five hours or going to bed after 3 a.m. because Netflix is life, my lifestyle over the last five months has not been conducive to leading a healthy lifestyle.

My sister, Jazmine, and cousin, Karlyn, asked me if I'd like to join them on a juice cleanse they were starting in the next couple of weeks at the beginning of September. Knowing how I had been living my life over the last few months, I knew this was a call I needed to answer. I said yes BUT didn't fully commit in my head until two days before the cleanse.

Instead of ordering my juices on Groupon like a smart cookie and saving money, I ended up going to a juice bar in Birmingham about every other day (Because they make their juices fresh with short expiration dates) to pick up my juices for the day. It ultimately cost me like $300... YIKES. Wouldn't recommend.

I have dieted before and cut back on my caloric intake so on the Saturday and Sunday before I started the 5-day cleanse the following Monday I had a mental chat with myself. Here are some things I knew I would encounter that I knew I would have to overcome:

During the cleanse I will be hungry, I will crave foods, I will crave the most unhealthy foods, and I will feel like each day is longer than 24 hours.

To overcome this, I told myself a few things.

Food does not control you. (MOST IMPORTANT)
Creating goals and sticking to them is a MUST in life.
Do you want to break your bad habits or not?
You have a juice crew accountability group to lean on.

These are things you must think about beforehand because you'd rather know ahead of time than be blindsided by the random stomach rumbles and cries for french fries that you are not eating. And if you are a follower in Jesus Christ, like myself, it's also good to pray about your goals, guidance and a strong head to get you through.

WHAT JUICES DID I DRINK?

I bought my juices up from Clean Juice. I honestly picked the location because it was what was closest to where I live and looked organic. We all love organic right? And it was a great choice! There were six juices total for each day. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. Sounds easy right? I'll let you be the judge.

The six juices in this order:

Sweet Green - Organic Kale, Organic Spinach, Organic Cucumber, Organic Apple, Organic Mint
Orange - Organic Orange, Organic Carrot, Organic Pineapple, Organic Turmeric
Green - Organic Spinach, Organic Celery, Organic Kale, Organic Cucumber, Organic Ginger, Organic Lemon
Yellow - Filtered Water, Organic Lemon, Organic Cayenne, Organic Maple Syrup
Red - Organic Beet, Organic Apple, Organic Carrot, Organic Lemon
White - Organic Cashews, Filtered Water, Organic Cinnamon, Organic Vanilla, Organic Maple Syrup, Himalayan Pink Sea Salt

So which one can you guess that I liked versus which ones were a struggle to get down?

Flavor breakdown:

'Sweet green' was delicious. It tasted like a less sugary green juice you pick up from the grocery store. 'Orange' was also tasty because it had pineapple and orange it. The next three were trouble EVERY DAY. 'Green' tasted like I was eating straight kale and cucumbers. There's no sweet taste. It's straight-up vegetable. Do enjoy! 'Yellow' is not that bad. It's just lemon, water and cayenne flavor really. The cayenne is spicyyyy and this is coming from someone who enjoys cayenne in everything she cooks. It just makes it hard to drink down fast so it took me a while to drink each one. 'Red' tastes like straight beets and apples. If you like drinking beet juice or eating beets, this drink will be no problem for you, however, the dirt-taste of beets is so pungent TO ME that it was a struggle bus to get it down. Lastly, the 'white' milk was my fav every night. I'm a fan of nut milk so cashew milk with vanilla and cinnamon was like a true dessert after my struggles all day. Truly a treat to end the night.

While drinking the juices throughout the day, my stomach would talk 24/7. I'm not even sure if it was necessarily hungry, but it rumbled all day. I think it was going through some gut changes and detoxing, trying to figure out what's going on. In addition, I also drank a lot of water. It's recommended to drink 8 oz. of water after each juice, but I'm sure I drank more because I'd drink every time my stomach growled.

During the first day of my cleanse, I was super motivated and it came easy for me. My second day was hard because my stomach was probably completely empty from my weekend food and I was relying completely on the juices for my daily nutrients while also battling a salt-craving. It was tough! I called my mom and complained and complained a little in my group message with my sister and cousin. However, the great thing about the group message is that each time one of us comes with a complaint, we gave each other some positive reinforcement to get us through. Teamwork really does make the dream work.

Each day was a little struggle, but once you're halfway through why would you want to throw away your progress? And I would like to add that each day I never felt bloated and I always woke up SUPER energized and this is coming from someone who is not a morning person. It was a refreshing feeling.

I Cheated.

I am not going to lie. It was a struggle. I read that if you think you can't take it anymore and you absolutely need to eat something, you should eat raw vegetables or some nuts. So I ate a handful of peanuts four of the five days once a day, just to solve my quick food craving. I didn't want to throw it all away but yall, it was hard. I get a small pass, right?

I'm sure you are all wondering about my trips to the toilet. You pee all the time. Yes, you do spend a little more time in the restroom. I mean, you're only eating vegetables and your body is detoxing, getting rid of toxins, excess water and fat in your body. I did not have a horrible experience with my bowel movements, however, everyone's body is different and I would suggest to expect any and everything going into the cleanse.

I worked out every day.

Many people wondered how I was able to live off of juices and also work out at a high intensity. My guess is as good as yours!? Honestly, I'm drinking straight vegetables that have carbs, protein, vitamin, fibers, etc. It's honestly all the fuel I needed to get me through 1-hour to 1.5 hour workouts each day. I'd encourage it if your body is already used to working out daily.

AFTER CLEANSE THOUGHTS

After completing my fifth day of the cleanse, I was more than proud of myself for holding myself accountable each day and completing the task in front of me. On day 5, my Juice Crew group message discussed what our first meals were going to be when we could finally eat again. I should let you know, in order to upkeep the weight that you lose during the cleanse and not throw away the juice diet you just worked so hard on, I'd start with light healthy foods as you go back into the solid food world. My first meal was a Caesar salad with salmon. That's all I wanted during the whole cleanse.

Things I gained from the cleanse:

Mental toughness
Awareness of what I'm putting into my body
My salt-craving is gone! (SERIOUSLY)
An appreciation for fruits and vegetables
Healthier food relationship

Coming out of the cleanse, I am excited to fuel my body with the food I need to wake up energized, keep me alert throughout the day, even if I indulge in junk food, I will not over-eat and use portion control.

And in case you were wondering, I lost a total of 7 pounds. Woo!

Please leave a comment if you have any questions I did not answer. DM me on Instagram or Twitter. I'm available everywhere.

XO,

Jordan Doll