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 bundle1 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