My Juice Cleanse: Day 1

I’ve always been fascinated with (real) juice cleanses (not the master cleanse). It’s not that I want to do it to lose weight or even detox; I just love juice. (I’ve always been a bit of an odd duck.) Today I’m finally going to do it. I’m starting a 3-day juice cleanse from Ritual Cleanse.

The build-up: They give you all these “rules” before you start the cleanse, like no eating meat or processed foods a few day before you start or no more alcohol or caffeine before you start. Let’s be clear here. My last true meal was a chili cheese hot dog, French fries and a root beer float. I wasn’t very good at following the rules. I’m also supposed to start my day with hot water and lemon. Well, I did not buy lemons in time. So it’s just juice and water.

9:26am: Ok, technically I should start at 9am, but I have to get settled at work first. Juice 1 contains spinach, romaine, kale, celery, cucumber, green apple and lemon. I think it’s actually delicious.

11:30am: On to bottle #2, which is essentially the same as #1 except without lemon. So far I feel extremely tired and a wee bit dizzy, but I think that’s from lack of sleep. I kind of miss eating already and feel like I’m going to drown in juice. But otherwise, I’m doing fine.

2:04pm: Just now starting bottle #3. I got a little behind with an unexpected meeting. This is the same as bottle #1 as well, except without lemon and with ginger. You can definitely taste the ginger, but still another good juice. I still feel a little weird, and I really want to chew on something. But overall, I’m ok.

4:12pm: We’re up to bottle #4, which has alkaline water, lemon, raw agave and cayenne. I’m definitely grateful for a change. While I love green juice, getting through three of them was a little tough. Although I think this one might be a little too spicy for my taste. We’ll see what happens. I still missing chewing though.

7:13pm: With the commute home, I got a pretty late start on bottle #5, which was the same as bottle #2. I feel a little cranky, but I’m not necessarily hungry. It’s a very odd feeling. I also stopped by the grocery store to pick up celery in case I can’t make it through tomorrow. Better to have an “ok” cheat than to cheat entirely, right?

9:30-ishpm: FINALLY! Bottle #6 is made with Alkaline water, raw cashews, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and raw agave. IT IS DELICIOUS. It also has gritty nut bits that sort of enable you to “chew” it, which is a huge relief. I feel like I’m going to go to bed completely satisfied.

So folks, I’ll probably be up another hour or so, but I’ve survived Day 1 of the cleanse. But I’m seriously packing celery tomorrow just in case.

**I got the cleanse through work for free.