Everyone seems to be doing them these days. The ever so fabulous celebs walking around with their colourful ‘liquid lunches’, people raving about them on my Instagram feed, magazines providing all the tips you need. All this makes the infamous “juice cleanse” seem like a near-religious experience, which is going to cleanse your body and rejuvenate your spirit (or whatever).
When I came back home after my exams in May, I was feeling a bit gross to be honest. Late study nights, horrible eating habits, you name it, had made me feel worn out. Juice cleansing seemed like a perfect solution. I love fruit and veggies, so I didn’t see what could possibly go wrong. I went to Tesco, bought some fresh spinach and celery, stocked up on fruit all ready for my rebirth. I even got some nettles from the garden!
Now, all the sources said the ideal length of a juice clease is 4 days. Just enough time to cleanse your body and replenish the vitamins without messing up your digestion too much. I technically started on an evening, but I don’t count that as a full day.
Day 1
My juice cleanse started on a very green note. Celery with cucumber, spinach and an apple. Apart from the slightly bland taste, it was not too bad. It perhaps wasn’t as filling as I would have expected, but it is supposed to be a “cleanse” after all.
The smoothie I had for lunch was delicious, I used an apple, banana, berries and a bit of honey. This sounds decidedly more appealing than the idea of drinking celery for breakfast. Thanks to the bananas, this one was slightly more filling and all the sugar from the fruit and honey gave me more energy.
My dinner smoothie was possibly my most favourite of all. The combination of a banana, an orange and berries came together to create a delicious summer taste (10/10 would reccommend).
Day 2
Since I went to sleep slightly hungry, I woke up absolutely famished. By this time I was apparently so hungry and weak, that I haven’t even written down what ingredients was I using. Going by the colour, I assume my breakfast smoothie contained some berries and bananas. Since the picture was taken at 07:34 in the morning on a summer holiday, I assume it must have been the hunger that got me out of bed so early.
As the day went on, I was feeling weak, cold and constantly hungry. I still had some faith come lunch time, because I had prepared (and consumed) this very green concoction (probably plenty of spinach in there).
By the time afternoon rolled around, I was grumpy and tired. I thought that maybe – just maybe – I could pull through those two additional days if I could only drink my smoothies and rest. That was until my mum came home from work and announced we were having crepes for dinner. There went all my motivation and persistence!
To be honest, I didn’t even feel bad, because I believe that if your heart isn’t in it, you shouldn’t force yourself to do it. Maybe if I was feeling all the amazing benefits of the cleanse, I would have finished it, but I was just miserable. That being said, I am not trying to put anyone off trying out a juice cleanse! I think my main problem was that I simply wasn’t drinking enough fluids, as I only had roughly 600ml of smoothie 3 times a day, and I believe you are meant to consume at least a litre in one sitting. Thus, if you own a juicer or a blender, by all means, go for it! Just remember to listen to your body, and stay safe and healthy!