Let’s be honest. Winter weight is a very real thing. Something about biting winds and below-zero temperatures brings on insatiable cravings for fatty, carb-loaded foods. This, coupled with the aftermath of holiday stuffing and Valentine’s Day chocolate, can be more than enough reason to swear off bikinis and head to the mall in search of a new one-piece swimsuit. But with spring break right around the corner, I figured it was time to bite the bullet and readjust my eating habits. But how, you may ask? *Enter juice cleanse*
For years, several of my friends have praised the benefits of juice cleanses, noting their ability to renew and refresh one’s body. But the fear of going without solid food for more than an hour, let alone days, scared me beyond belief. As a toddler, my first words were “fruit” and “cake,” if that’s any indication of how I have spent my entire life loving food. To my cleansing friends, I have consistently sworn that I would never engage myself in the utterly traumatizing process of a juice cleanse. However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and with spring break three weeks away, I was certainly desperate.
Before I embarked on my new adventure, I sought the help of Blake Murphy, a senior who says she has used juice cleanses from Peeled Juice Bar as a way to reset her usual eating habits.
“My mental health is very much connected to my physical health and juice cleanses can definitely help you regulate your digestive processes accordingly,” Murphy said.
Murphy’s praise proved sufficient in convincing me to take the juice cleanse challenge. I quickly found that juice cleanse packages are crazy expensive. Like, my-entire-budget-for-a-quarter expensive. At Peeled, a 3-day plan will cost you almost $200 and the week plan can cost you up to $430. After a bit of research, I found that I could buy the 1-day cleanse from Peeled for $65 and supplement it with BluePrint juices from Whole Foods, a popular brand for cleanses.
Presenting, my makeshift juice cleanse. The Peeled 1-day set included four juices, a cashew milk and a coconut water. To this mix, I added 4 BluePrint juices. I’m sure this mash-up of juices breaks some sort of official juice cleanse code, but this cleanse was about the experience, not the technicalities.
- Day 1: To my surprise, I rarely felt hungry on my first day. Maybe it was the novelty of the cleanse. Regardless, I looked forward to each juice throughout the day. I went to bed satisfied, feeling light and recharged.
- Day 2: I woke up ravenously hungry. My cravings subsided slightly after my first juice, but I remained at least partially hungry throughout the entire day. In part, I missed the simple act of chewing. Murphy said she sometimes uses a small handful of almonds to get rid of this craving, but I decided to stick it out. Day 2 was my hardest day.
- Day 3: Surprisingly, I did not wake up hungrier than I do on any given day. I also woke up with more energy than I typically do, and I arrived in class without consuming my usual gallon of coffee. Later in the day, I had to go by one more BluePrint juice to make sure that my body was taking in enough calories but this proved to be my only major obstacle of the day. I felt good physically and mentally on the last day of my cleanse. Day 3 was the easiest and most rewarding day.
I came out of the cleanse by eating fruits and vegetables for a day and easing into heartier foods in subsequent days. I assumed by the end of the cleanse I would be ready to eat an entire cake, but the opposite was true. I craved healthy foods and found myself satisfied with less food than I usually am.
While many criticize the health risks of juice cleanses, I found that my cleanse kick-started a healthier lifestyle. In the days since my cleanse, I haven’t craved the heavy foods that I had been eating. Instead, I find I am much more content to snack on vegetables, nuts and fruits. Experts warn that juice cleanses should not be used for weight loss. Instead, they should be used sparingly as a reset button for unhealthy habits. Perhaps more than anything, taking on the juice cleanse showed me that eating healthier foods can make a profound difference in my attitude, energy level and general mental health. I won’t become vegan, gluten-free or even vegetarian any time soon, but I certainly look forward to making healthy changes to my eating habits. It pains me to say it, but I loved my juice cleanse. There, I said it.