I’m a fitblr. You haven’t heard that word before? I’ll define it. Fitblr: individual on tumblr who runs a fitness focused blog, follows fitness focused blogs, and has an obsession with squats. By all components of this definition, I am a fitblr. The fitblr community and the community of women our age has become uncharacteristically focused on the latest health fad–the juice cleanse. As you probably know, there is a healthy debate regarding how beneficial juice cleanses are on a long-term scale but short term cleanses (1-3 days) are generally understood to be good for jumpstarting the metabolism. Ritual Wellness graciously provided a three day Seasonal Wellness Cleanse for review purposes. Below I’ll share my cleanse experience and more information about Ritual Wellness.
THE EXPERIENCE
Day One: Nervous. That’s how I would describe how I felt the morning that I began the cleanse. Nervous because I knew it was the first day in which I wouldn’t eat solid food, on purpose. I began the cleanse on a Saturday, which is a particularly busy day for me, and so I did not have far too much time to think about the fact that I wasn’t truly eating or the fact that I was a smidge hungry or the fact that it is really quite odd to not chew anything for the duration of a day.
The cleanse is composed of three green drinks that do not shy away from hearthy amounts of kale and spinach; the three drinks that follow each spinach/kale combination include a spicy lemonade, a cranberry orange beverage, and an almost milkshake. As you can probably imagine, they were more enjoyable. On the first day, I found it incredibly difficult to down all the spinach but I found the other bevarages to be an absolute delight–I’m entirely serious!–and even now I could go for another bottle of the cranberry orange drink . Overall day one went without a hitch.
Day Two: I’ve read this before but I hoped it wasn’t true. This was the day in which I was hungry. Not just when I woke up. Not just before I had my first green drink. No, I was hungry for the entire day. That may have actually been one of the hardest Sundays of my life. Either I was more used to the spinach/kale or my hunger made them taste better–for this I am thankful–and I could not help but cave and indulge in a small cup of soup.
Day Three: When I woke up on the third day, I already felt better. I felt smaller. Lighter. I felt like I was running on legitimate fuel and I think this is the true benefit of doing a cleanse. The body definitely responds to what we use to fuel it and I was able to see this within the span of a few days. The third day was definitely easier to complete than day two or day one even though day three was riddled with tons of free time (and thus, lots of time to contemplate the fact that I was actually eating).
REFLECTION
I felt extremely energized while I was on the cleanse. I didn’t experience any issues of reduced energy and so it was easy to continue to exercise while I was still on the cleanse (this is not always recommended). What I found was that the cleanse seemed to restart my tastebuds; I found myself reaching for the greens more often at lunch and dinner, which I definitely needed. Overall, I would recommend the cleanse for collegiettes who are have not previously suffered from eating disorders because, as mentioned in Glamour, a juice cleanse can serve as a jumping off point for unhealthy practices; in moderation, cleansing can be a great addition to your health routine.
If you’re interested in trying out the Ritual Wellness cleanse, use code hercampus15 for 15% off until May 8th.