
I wanted to try a juice cleanse for a while, but wasn’t sure which one. I talked to Dori about it, since she had tried quite a few for her blog and she suggested her favorite: Cooler Cleanse. I went with their 3-day cleanse for my first experience.* The Cooler Cleanse consists of six juices per day with a combined caloric intake of approximately 1,200 daily calories. Each are made of fresh-pressed vegetable and fruit juices, raw coconut water elixirs and silky smooth nut milk blends.
I’m not the healthiest eater and I’m a sucker for food, so this was definitely a challenge. Here are more details about my three day juice cleanse:
Day 1: This was probably the easiest day for me because I was so excited to taste all my juices. The first one sounded very intimidating – Sweet Greens. Could that name be a contradiction? I mean, that juice consisted of kale, spinach, parsley, watercress and apple. Sounds gross, right? Turned out, the name was spot on: the juice was sweet, and it was delicious.
I was the most nervous about any green juices since I heard from friends that some can taste terrible, and I’m not a big veggie eater. But this juice was actually my favorite! Since I started late in the morning, I did not finish all six juices (I drank a third of my last juice and finished it the next day). By late afternoon, I felt exhausted and very worn out. I take a prescription medicine that may have contributed to this, so I decided that for the rest of my cleanse I wouldn’t take that medicine.
Day 2: I began my juices very early in the morning and by 6 pm, I was finished. I was in a class all day so I think I also drank them a bit too quickly. I’m not going to lie, by the end of the day I was hungry, but I also had much more energy than the day before. While lying in bed I started to think about food and had trouble falling asleep. I’ve been having sleep issues lately anyway, but I did miss my favorite foods.
Day 3: This was the hardest day for me because I thought a whole lot more about food, plus it was Friday. After work, I went to a fundraiser that had gourmet catering. The students were passing around little crostini Reuben sandwich sliders. OK, that’s my favorite food EVER. I mean, if I were to have a last supper, I would ask for a Reuben sandwich. So you can imagine how difficult it was for me to resist – but I did! This was the one day I really felt hungry and craved food. I had difficulty sleeping that night because I was thinking about Thai food, but I survived.
TMI Alert: Let’s get personal. I was asked this same question from everyone about my cleansing experience: “Did it make you go to the bathroom more?” The answer is yes and no. I drink at least a gallon of water every day, so I find myself making frequent bathroom trips anyway that I can’t necessarily attribute to juicing. Oh, you want to know about my other bathroom habits. OK, let’s get this out of the way because I know you’re curious. On Day 1 I went a lot (but might have been my prescription which can have that effect), on Day 2 I went more than usual (even though I didn’t take my meds that day) and on Day 3 I didn’t go at all. So on average, the cleanse didn’t affect my bathroom habits too much.
My favorite juice? Sweet Greens.
My least favorite juice? Spicy Lemonade or Almond Nut Milk. Neither were impossible to drink but I enjoyed the others more.
My final thoughts: Honestly, I really didn’t think I’d be able to do it. I thought after Day 1, I’d give up. However, I’m happy to say that my experience is 100% legit. I didn’t snack or cheat – hell, I didn’t even have mints! The only thing I drank aside from my allotted juices were a few glasses of (cleanse-allowed!) herbal tea – without sugar or sweeteners! I really tried my best to follow this cleanse as thoroughly as possible and I even drank them in the order Cooler Cleanse suggested.
The weirdest part of my whole experience was that the day after I finished (the day I thought I’d go on a food binge), I actually found myself craving juice. I whipped out my juicer that I’ve used only once before to put together a fruit and vegetable juice with whatever was in refrigerator; surprisingly to me, it actually tasted delicious.
I am so thrilled I lost my cleansing virginity. I feel rejuvenated.
Questions or comments? Please leave a comment below or email me and I will happily share any other dirty details.
*Cooler Cleanse sent Fit-a-licious a complimentary 3-day Cooler Cleanse. All opinions are entirely that of the author if this article.