If you keep up with health fads or have been on Tik Tok lately, you’ve probably heard of a juice cleanse. The idea is that you only drink cold pressed juice and lots of water. I’m not talking about ocean spray cranberry-apple juice, I mean celery and beet juice. This is supposed to help with weight loss, detoxing, and receiving nutrients through fruits and vegetables. I decided that after my spring break down south filled with the best (and unhealthiest) food I could possibly eat, I would try this out and of course, let all of you know if you should really do it.
I was really tempted by the results that I’ve heard from others like losing 10 pounds in three days. I didn’t think that was realistic, but still, I gave it a try.
A little background information about me for context: I’m the kind of person who gets really angry, mean, and irritable when I’m hungry. So, I wasn’t expecting to last.
Day 1:
They say to do this cleanse when you’re busy so you don’t think about eating as much. I decided to start on a Saturday when I had work. My first juice of choice was a carrot and turmeric juice (Disclaimer: I opted for one 30-35oz jugs of juice a day instead of multiple juices throughout the day).
The juice itself wasn’t horrible, as I’m pretty fond of carrots, but I definitely would’ve rather eaten anything else. I made sure I was drinking my water and being consistent. I was pretty distracted by work all day, so I wasn’t thinking about hunger.
But then I got home and felt the hunger hit immediately.
I usually can’t trust myself at home because I get really snacky at night and I was nervous that I would fail the first night. I was able to keep my hunger under control, but I felt myself getting irritated and antsy. I just started drinking my water and went to bed early.
Day 2:
Day 2 was another work day for me and the juice of choice was a green juice with kale, spinach, green apple, celery, cucumber, lemon, and ginger. This juice wasn’t amazing, but it was better than the carrot one, so I didn’t mind it being my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. To fill the void of hunger, I simply chewed gum the whole shift.
I was able to get through my work day without any problems, it was my after-work plans I was worried about. I went to see “Project Hail Mary” (which was absolutely amazing, by the way) and my biggest hurdle of these three days hit me like a bus.
Popcorn is my favorite food.
Luckily, I walked past the concessions quickly enough to avoid the temptations and drank the rest of my juice. I was distracted enough by the movie and only felt the hunger kick in after I got home. Nonetheless, I forced myself to sleep through it.
Day 3:
I was back in school on day 3 which meant that my routine was going to change a little bit. I would be a little less busy so I decided to have one single serving of celery juice, along with my usual 33 ounce juice.
The celery juice was by far the absolute worst out of all. I love eating celery but for some reason, it was a nightmare to drink. It took me forever to finish it because it was so disgusting. But I was a trooper, and downed the rest of it.
I still had my 33 ounce juice with beets, cherries, and more and that one was pretty good so I didn’t mind ending my three days with it. I was still making sure to drink all of my water and made sure to meal prep something healthy for myself for the next day to break my fast. Honestly, I wasn’t feeling that hungry that day so I wasn’t really agitated.
Final Thoughts:
If you choose to do this cleanse, make sure that you’re drinking water and staying busy. I would also do your research on which juices to drink and when to drink them. I was honestly really worried about being hungry and getting sick because of it and I really didn’t feel any different. Sure, occasionally I was hungry and could’ve gone for chinese food over beet juice, but I think that it went better than I could’ve imagined. You also need to make sure that you’re breaking the fast with something healthy or else the weight will come right back.
But was it worth it?
In short, no.
