I've been on a bit of a 'lazy girl's' health kick for the past couple of months, ie. working out a bit more regularly and making healthier choices when it comes to what I'm eating, but I haven't actually started a diet or stepped foot in a real gym, hence the lazy girl title.  Admittedly, while on vacation, I did indulge a bit more than I normally would, so to help me get back on track since I've been home, I decided to place my order for a 1 Day JUS by Julie Cleanse.  I've always had mixed feelings on the whole juice cleanse idea, but I thought one day couldn't hurt.  

 Jus by Julie is a vegan, gluten free and kosher producer for cleanses, juices and more based in Brooklyn, NY.  They offer pre bundled 1 Day Cleanses that you can purchase, but they also label all available juices with numbers (1-6) based on the order that you should drink them so that you can customize your cleanse with flavors that you enjoy.  I chose to design my own cleanse and found it to actually be pretty great. Read on for a play by play of my juicing day!




I woke up around 9am on Saturday and immediately started my day with the Morning Glory juice (kale, romaine, spinach, celery, apple, pear, banana, strawberry, rice milk).  I am used to a piece of toast or a waffle for breakfast so starting off with a juice was a bit out of the norm for me.  It took me around 2 hours to finish this juice but I think that's just because I wasn't remembering to drink often enough!  The taste wasn't too bad & the consistency of this one was kind of similar to pulpy orange juice.

I started my second juice, Spicy Pomegranate (pomegranate, lemon, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, water), immediately afterwards. This had been the juice that I was most nervous about because I usually shy away from spicy foods.  I started drinking Spicy Pomegranate and it definitely had a kick, but also a sweetness similar to a flavored lemonade.  Around the same time that I started this juice, I picked up a bagel for J and that's when my hunger pangs began :(.  Spicy Pomegranate had the consistency of water so it wasn't as filling as my previous juice, which was thicker like OJ.  After over 2 hours, I still hadn't finished this juice & the spice actually started giving me a bit of heartburn so I moved onto juice number three.

I started drinking my third juice, Sweet Spin (kale, spinach, pineapple, banana, mango, rice milk) around 2pm.  Note - Sweet Spin came labeled as a number 1 on the bottle, but is labeled as a number 3 on their website, so that's what I followed. This was my favorite green juice of the day.  Sweet Spin had the consistency of a melted smoothie and the ingredients were more blended than my first green juice. I could taste the greens in this one but, it also had a bit of sweetness from the fruits. I finished this juice around 4pm and realized I actually wasn't feeling hungry at all anymore.


I was most excited to drink juices 4 & 5 since they seemed to be the 'sweet' flavors.  Around 5p, my family started eating in front of me again and I started craving something salty.   I started drinking Juice 4 to take my mind off of their foods & it did not disappoint.  Nana Berries (strawberry, banana, rice milk) tasted pretty similar to a melted strawberry-banana smoothie. Compared to many of the other juices, this one was pretty simple in flavor & ingredients & super easy for me to drink.

Juice 5, PB & Jus (peanut butter, strawberry, banana, rice milk) ended up being my favorite of the day.  I would totally order this one again & again to drink as a snack; I found it to be super delish.  It actually smelled like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which made my mouth water a bit. Because it was my favorite, I finished this one the quickest.  The whole thing was gone within 1 hour!

 I did end up eating egg whites, which the cleanse allows for, at dinner time.  Not because I was feeling hungry at the time, but I was afraid of waking up in the middle of the night starving! I was surprised how full I felt after such a small meal and realized that the juice actually was keeping me full & keeping my energy up.   Around 8p, I was ready to start my last juice, All Green Everything.  At this point, I was proud of myself for making it through the day, but getting a bit tired of so much juice drinking.  This juice was similar to Juice 3 with more of a celery flavor that I could taste than any other ingredient.


Overall, I learned that my sense of smell is pretty good when it comes to food.  Among other things, I was able to smell cream cheese on a bagel, pizza cooking in the oven, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on J's breath (the real thing, not the juice). I also learned that I think my mind likes the idea of chewing.   A couple of pieces of gum during the day really helped curb some of my stomach rumbles. But would I do it again?  For sure. On a scale of 1 to 10, the day was about a 4 in difficulty. With the exception of a couple of moments throughout the day, I didn't feel too hungry and I maintained my energy for a typical weekend day of running around town.

 Phew, that was a long post!

Have you ever done a juice cleanse? How did it go?  I would love to hear your experience!


XO,
Michelle Paige