Love it or hate it: the juice cleanse

Ah the juice cleanse. Most of us have heard about it. Some of us have even tried it. There are strong advocates for and against it.

I finished my juice cleanse this past weekend. It was the third one I’ve done in my life. It is something you need to prepare for, mentally and physically. My goal for this cleanse was to stop the hold, coffee had on me in the morning and to reduce my sugar cravings.

All together, it’s a 9 day cleanse. The first 3 days you pre-cleanse, followed by juicing and ending with a 3 day post-cleanse. I can’t stress how important it is to pre-cleanse. Otherwise, your body will seriously not react well to the detox.

Tips for pre-cleansing:

• Cut caffeine out (green tea is okay)
• Cut out meat
• Cut out processed foods
• Cut out processed sugars
• Cut out wheat products
• Cut out alcohol
• Increase your intake of fruits and vegetables
• Drinks lots of water

During the 3 days I was juicing, I drank 6 juices a day.

• 2 green juices
• 2 green citrus juices
• 1 beet juice
• 1 homemade almond milk shake

Tips while juicing:

• Do not strenuously exercise
• Drink lots of water and herbal tea
• Have a friend do with you
• Make your juices for a few days or buy them

I bought most of my food for my juices at Organic Garage and Whole Foods. I would highly recommend organic food. I really like my Breville Fountain Elite. It’s stainless steel and with an extra wide chute that allows you to throw in whole foods without chopping them. It’s a gem.

During my post-cleanse, I started adding back in green tea, seafood, meat and whole grains.

I can honestly say that I had no coffee craving whatsoever when I finished my post-cleanse. Not to say I will never have coffee again; I just didn’t like my addiction to it and I wanted to do something about it. I have had less sugar cravings, but I still have my 1-2 pieces of dark chocolate a day. 🙂

My biggest takeaways:

1. Set a goal for your cleanse.
2. Skin improvement. I had less acne and a nice glow.
3. Abundance of energy
4. Deep sleep
5. That foggy brain? Gone.
6. Concentration was through the roof. Euphoric state.
7. Cravings had gone down

If you would like my juice recipes, please email me at anna@kailotea.com.

Remember, at the end of the day, it’s your body and make sure you listen to it.