I would go ahead and give you body measurements of myself before, but that isn’t what this article is about. You see, when I decided to take this smoothie cleanse journey, I didn’t know how strong you had to be, socially, emotionally, and mentally to do it.
I only found out about this diet because my grandma, age 57, was doing it and convinced me to do it with her. Let me tell you, I was in for a whirlwind of surprise when I found out that it wasn’t just one smoothie a day and healthy meals the rest of the day, but it was six cups of smoothie per day (and sadly, minimal snacks).
The green smoothie cleanse is way more substantial than any juice cleanse out there. Typically, juice cleanses have you *actually* juice the fruits and vegetables which takes away a lot of the vitamins and nutrients you want out of fruits and vegetables in the first place. A smoothie, on the other hand, is way less effort with way more nutrients. Take just about any fruit or veggie, throw it in a blender, and you still have all of the nutrients you need.
These smoothies were made up mostly of kale, spinach, and mixed spring greens, mixed with a variety of different fruits, a packet or two of stevia, and two tablespoons of flaxseed.
Some of the other key components are 64 fluid ounces of water a day, a glass of detox tea each morning, and lots of food restrictions. Here’s a list:
- No meat
- No refined sugar
- No milk
- No cheese
- No liquor
- No beer
- No coffee
- No sodas (regular or diet)
- No processed foods
- No fried foods
- No refined carbs (white bread, pasta, etc.)
Remember the minimal snacks part? Yeah, sad. While smoothies take top priority, below is a list of some snacks that follow both the food restrictions and are ideal to eat:
- Fruits
- Crunchy vegetables
- Peanut butter
- Hard boiled eggs
- Raw and/or unsalted nuts and seeds
All these restrictions may seem like a lot, which is why JJ Smith, renowned author, nutritionist, and weight loss coach, created a modified version. You still drink your smoothies throughout the day, but you eat one healthy meal each day, too. Restrictions still include much from the list above, with the exception of rather than no meat at all, meals should include no red meat.
Now that you know the basics, let me share my journey on the green smoothie cleanse.
I went into this cleanse looking to make me feel better about myself and my health. When I started the cleanse, I had a super positive outlook. I had a strong support system all around me. I had daily checkups with my grandma, who lives next door, and we would make sure the other was doing okay. My family also started eating dinners that I despised so that I was more tempted to drink my smoothies over actually eating food. I would sit down and discuss my feelings with my mom each day just to let the stress go by.
After the first four days, I was mentally exhausted. I cried very often andover everything and would consistently get irritated about the same things. I was hungry 24/7, which quickly turned into hangry.. Detoxing your system is hard physically and mentally, almost like a factory reset washing everything out.
Physically, though, I was doing great! I lost almost five pounds in three days, and I lost two inches on my waist. My face broke out the first two days, but by the third and fourth day my blemishes were almost gone. I was definitely looking better than I felt, which gave me a bit more motivation.
Socially, it was a major challenge for me. One of the worst things about this was that, all of a sudden, I would only ever notice food. When my family was watching movies, all I would notice was the commercials for restaurants and fast food joints. I would notice the food that everyone was eating. Although it was only ten days, the peer pressure was hard to resist. With alcohol, coffee, and fast food on the list of restrictions, going out became a challenge. I ended up being isolated while I was doing the cleanse.
With so many negatives beginning to build up, I decided that after four whole days of this cleanse that I was not mentally, socially, or emotionally prepared for it, and it was doing more harm than good. I decided to stop but now know what to expect if I ever decide to do another cleanse like this. It may not have been the outcome I wanted, but I did learn that listening to yourself is the best thing you can do.
This cleanse taught me that you don’t need to stop eating all kinds of foods to be healthy. You can eat the food you want, but eat smaller portions. Make simple changes, like zucchini pasta over regular pasta. You can also go to the gym regularly. There are so many ways to stay fit and healthy without causing such harm to mental and emotional health.
What I discovered from this cleanse is that you have to prepare yourself for it, be ready to stop if it’s too much or too hard, and do it for yourself and not for others.