So, in case you missed it, last week I embarked on a three day juice cleanse. If you haven’t been following along, please read my recaps of day one and days two and three before reading this post. Now that I’m a few days past the cleanse, here are my thoughts:
I realized that I think about food probably more than the average person. While on the cleanse, I didn’t have the luxury of dreaming about my next meal because I knew my next meal would be coming out of a 16 oz bottle. I also realized that I don’t require nearly as much food as I think. Now to be fair, I definitely bagged my Friday morning run because I was concerned about my energy levels. But I did work out Wednesday and Thursday (more on this below). Bottom line: I didn’t starve, wasn’t miserable and would do it again.
I also received some awesome questions on the cleanse that I’m going to answer here:
- Did you get the nutrients you needed? Yes. You can read all the ingredients for each juice here, but you will see that they are rich in protein and vitamins. I never felt like I was missing key nutrients and if you look at what is in each juice, that makes sense.
- How did you feel once you finished? Honestly, the cleanse ended a very busy week for me, so I felt tired. I did not feel like I was crazy hungry though. Just like I’d had a long day (which I’d had – I was at a conference until after 11pm).
- How did you feel the next day? I felt great. I actually broke my juice fast with salad and bread about 11pm Friday night. I didn’t have any negative reactions introducing solid food back in to my diet. I felt less hungry than I normally do the next morning and actually ate a good bit less than a typical Saturday. I would say I am now back to eating roughly the same amount of food I did pre-cleanse — just less sweets — I don’t have a craving for candy (more on this below).
- How did it feel to eat real food again? Um. It felt good. Real good, LOL 🙂
- Does it really help with cravings? Yes! I had been in a bad spot with eating sweets way too often. Those cravings are GONE! Grapes are the sweetest thing I’ve had post cleanse. I even threw out a bunch of candy that was laying around the house. Success!
- Did you work out while on the cleanse? Yes. I actually worked out twice on day one of the cleanse. I ran and went to barre class. On day two, I went to barre class. On day three, I skipped my workout because I knew I’d be up late at the conference and running around a bunch and I wanted to have a ton of energy. Had I not been serving at my women’s conference, I would’ve ran. I don’t think I would push it in workouts while on a cleanse simply because the calorie intake is less than I’m used to (around 1200) but you don’t have to quit working out.
Are you in the DC area and want to try out a cleanse for yourself? You’re in luck! The awesome folks at South Block Juice Co will be giving one of my (local) readers their very own FREE cleanse! All you have to do is email freecleanse@southblockjuice.com with “EAT PRAY RUN DC” in the subject line. One reader will be randomly chosen to win!
Other questions for me? Leave em in the comments!
Not sure I could have lasted 3 days with out food! I’m so hungry after a workout! Glad it worked for you.
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner recently posted…Top 10 Rules of the Road for Bikers & Runners
you absolutely could’ve done it, deborah 🙂
hmm….
Mar @ Mar on the Run! recently posted…Happy Memorial Day + Workout Recap
I hit submit too soon. You know I feel about grapes 🙂
Mar @ Mar on the Run! recently posted…Happy Memorial Day + Workout Recap
LOL I definitely do 🙂
I’m not a fan of cleanse just because I have such a terrible impulse control with my hunger cravings! Glad it’s working for you 🙂
Carmy recently posted…How Often Should I Replace My Running Shoes?
Congrats, Court! Thanks for posting. I wasn’t familiar with this company. I’ve done Blueprint in the past and really liked it. Definitely going to check them out.
yes, you’d love them. and the fact that they are local is awesome. their cafe also has yummy sammies and the like!
I am going to check them out. I’ve been back and forth on wanting to try something like this for a long time and this is definitely one of the most positive reviews of a juice cleanse I’ve ever read (and the first one from South Block that I’ve read). Very interesting stuff!
Sadly I’m not in the DC area so can’t enter your giveaway but was super interested to read how a juice cleanse went for you. I’m all for anything that can help reduce sugar cravings!
Sun recently posted…Madison Bun Run 10k Race Recap
It really did take those cravings away! And I liked almost all the juices!
I’ve been having a lot of sweet cravings recently (and unable to control them) so perhaps I need to do a juice cleanse! Not sure I can get through 3 days, but mabye one of those 1 day cleanses?
Patty @ Reach Your Peak recently posted…Unhappy
i think you could actually do 3 days just fine! i didn’t find it extraordinarily difficult especially because most of the juices were tasty! i was actually craving a few today 🙂
I’m in the DC area and I did the BluePrint Cleanse a couple of months ago. I felt like I’d been eating too much junk and my caffeine intake was too high. BluePrint was a lot like your cleanse and except for one juice I really didn’t like (the lemonade with cayenne) I did like all of the juices . I can say that it helped with the sweets cravings and caffeine intake which really helped me jump start healthy eating which has lasted for a couple months so far. I also have a serious green juice addiction now. I have to have one several times a week. Are you incorporating any of the juices into your daily menu now? And how fun is it to chew food again?!?! I was never so excited to eat celery and cucumbers as when my juice cleanse was over.
I haven’t had any of the juices since the cleanse but am going to pick some up very soon — I loved most of them! I’ve heard good things about Blue Print!
So impressed Court! I just love food soooo much, but never say never right?
Jennifer recently posted…NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon Race Recap
You could so do this — I LOVE food and made it through!
just saw a tweet that you’re doing another one of these. have to admit, this makes me sad. feel free to totally take my opinion with a grain of salt, because i’m a big believer in to each his own, but also like to share what i think.
i really, really dislike these cleanses and how popular they are becoming and how promoted they are by fitness bloggers. i think they promote disordered eating and can be major triggers for people with issues. also if you are healthy, your kidney does a perfectly good job of getting rid of what doesn’t belong in your body. and finally, there is no scientific backing to support any of the claims these companies make. i wear calf sleeves when i run because i think they help me despite no scientific backing on this (except in recovery), so feel free to call me a giant hypocrite too, haha – i just feel really strongly about these if that isn’t obvious!
Colleen LG recently posted…Race Recap: B&A Trail Half Marathon
i completely believe to each her own, so thanks for sharing. and i don’t think you are a hypocrite, either – i just disagree! i think that honestly, sharing any type of food related thing on a blog could be a trigger for someone and while i’m sensitive to that, talking about food and recipes and my desire to get my diet back on track is important to me and i’m not going to sensor that. if you read my initial juice post (and even this recap post), i don’t really talk about the science because that’s not why i chose to do it. when i did my first juice cleanse, i just wanted to try it out because i liked the owner of the company and the juices were yummy (for the most part). i found that when i finished the constant sweets cravings i had were gone. that is why i decided to do a second cleanse. to help myself kick my sweets craving. it has nothing to do with riding my body of anything (and never did – at least not for me) and everything to do with resetting my taste buds which demand cupcakes on a weekly basis now!
in regards to promoting disordered eating, i’ll be honest. that’s not something that i spend a bunch of time thinking about because that’s never been my struggle. that’s not to say that i’m not sensitive to that but, again, the cleanse represents more of a cravings reset than anything else for me. i think that folks should make their own choices based on what is right for them and i had a completely positive experience with my cleanse and am excited to be doing a second one. i certainly don’t want to promote anything that might cause others to struggle but this cleanse is a part of what i’m doing right now. just like there are folks who struggle with overexercising and probably find lots of running blogs like ours a trigger. it’s something we can be sensitive to but still share our journey, if that makes sense.
thanks for taking the time to comment, colleen 🙂
Very good point on everything food-related being triggers and the over-exercising issue for some too. I totally respect your opinion on this. Just wanted to share mine since I feel so strongly about it!
also, are cupcakes on a weekly basis really a bad thing?! haha, just kidding!
Colleen LG recently posted…Race Recap: B&A Trail Half Marathon
this dialog right here is why i love having people that i can disagree with but still have an enriching conversation. i’m so glad you commented. and…about the cupcakes. when i had one for breakfast a couple of weeks ago, i knew i was in trouble 🙂