Before entering college as a freshman last year, I had many pre-conceived notions of what college was going to be like. I’m not sure if it was the different stories that I heard from older friends and family members, or a few seasons too many of Blue Mountain State—I just had different expectations. Although I was slightly misguided on certain things, I knew for sure that there was no way I was going to gain the “Freshmen 15”.
Ouch.
After being mid-way through first semester of my sophomore year, I think the only thing of college I am certain about is that the Freshmen 15 is very, very real. I would like to place the blame on the open late hours of the MSC, and the amount easy mac cups always in my room, but in all honesty, it was my laziness that helped me gain the extra weight. I know how to eat properly, but it’s just way easier to eat from the pasta bar at the commons then to attempt to make the grilled chicken taste good.
With that being said, I knew I had to change my ways as soon as summer hit. I had always been open to trying new foods, so I thought it would be interesting to changing my diet. Not a permanent change—just something to help drop the added LB’s.
I stumbled upon juice cleanses. After one failed attempt my senior year of high school, I wanted to give it another go. Although having Chipotle back in my life on a regular basis was a little more empowering than just sticking to “juiced” foods, I became more knowledgeable this time around, and in all honesty—ridding your body of all the toxins from one year of college can be a wonderful thing.
If you’re going to start a new diet, it is important to have an understanding of what exactly the diet is.
Juice cleanses or “juice fasting”, involves eliminating all solids from your diet. This is probably seen as the trickiest part of the diet, and from personal experience all I wanted to do was eat a bagel, but as soon as you find a juice that keeps you full, or tricks your body into thinking it’s full, the effectiveness of the diet shows through. ABC news published an interesting “dos and don’ts” article which can be found at the bottom of the page, highlighting the main concepts, as well as the reasons why you should and shouldn’t do the cleanse.
The hard part to remember is that there is no “cure all” diet for losing the freshmen 15, or stopping yourself from gaining it all together. Everyone’s bodies are different, and what works for me, may not work for you.
With that said, I think having a vast knowledge of different ways to help your body is a great start. Knowing the basis of a juice cleanse, as well as different types of recipes, may spark an interest. There are several different cleanses that can range from three days to a week, but it is definitely not something to adopt as a permanent diet.
Juice Cleansing recipes:
Almost all of the produce listed in this article can be found at the Local Menomonie co-op, using all vegan products:
http://www.vegancooking.com/juicing/3-day-juice-cleanse/
This website is full of juicing recipes, as well as other yummy smoothie options
http://healthyblenderrecipes.com/recipes/children/44379
ABC website mentioned previously:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/juice-cleanse-dos-donts/story?id=19784975#1/