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.

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