3 Day Juice Cleanse

 
Prompted by our desire to “reset” our bodies after a particularly indulgent holiday season, Karl and I embarked on a 3 day juice cleanse (our first). What an adventure. And by “adventure” I mean “difficult & distressing.” Luckily, each of our daily 6 juices were very tasty. Let me also preface this post by saying that Karl and I really enjoy food. We love to whip up new meals at home and dine at the myriad of tasty choices here in San Diego. So this cleanse could prove particularly difficult for us, or as it turns out, for me.

DAY 1 – We started off strong with a super sweet fruit juice concoction this morning. Delish! As Karl and I swigged our juices we made a pack to not talk about food for the next 3 days, which I would subsequently break many times. The rest of the day hummed along without a hitch. Easy peasy! Our last juice of the day was at 7pm, which was super difficult for me since I am an avid evening snacker. Marathons of X Files helped to distract me from the hunger pains during those evening hours. It was at this point that Karl officially took the role of my motivator for the next 3 days.

DAY 2 – We started to get pretty hungry around 11am. The realization of how emotionally tied I am to food also started to set in for me; I think Karl fared a bit better in this regard.  I am starting to panic a little. My “insides” feel a bit ravaged, but I guess it’s just expelling those evil toxins.

DAY 3 – While Karl is handling this cleanse with grace and dignity, I am very ready for it to be over. I am not experiencing new creative ideas or a euphoric state. But rather growing intestinal discomfort and a strong hunch that this might no longer being doing my body good. But alas, we must push on.

 
REFLECTION – Overall I don’t think I’ll be doing another 3 day juice cleanse. One of the benefits I was hoping to achieve during this process was for my “naughty” cravings to be diminished after these 3 days of purity. But I found that the complete abstinence of solid food was driving me further and further into a binge eating state of mind. My original plans did not consist of 3 days of juicing only to then freak out over a plate of pizza/alfredo/chicken nugget bliss (Which, luckily, did not happen. But almost did.)

This cleanse also made me realize that Karl and I do actually eat very healthfully and that because of this our bodies are not in need of such a dramatic “cleanse.” I only tend to post photos of the indulgent things that we eat, but what I don’t post about are the 90% of our meals which are rather healthy. In this vain, we will continue to eat organic, local produce, fish, quinoa, etc. While also indulging occasionally on some tasty tacos, amazing cheese or luscious dessert. Balance and moderation will continue to shape our dietary choices.

-Gina