Adventures in Juiceland: Day One of My DIY BluePrintCleanse

I’ve actually been looking forward to starting this cleanse.  I’ve been excited to try out my new juicer and find out what this juice cleanse business is all about!  So as soon as Courtney made it home from Costco with my juice-to-be bounty, I got started prepping the juices for Day 1.

Preparation: My plan is to prep the first four juices (two green, one P.A.M. and one spicy lemonade) the night before, and then prep the last two when I get home from work. Prepping the juices is somewhat time consuming, particularly washing out the juicer between each batch.  It’s also very messy (well, for me at least).  But when you take into account that this is instead of prepping three meals each day, it’s really no more time than I usually spend in the kitchen.

I was concerned when I saw how much gets left behind when you juice the fruits and veggies – all that pulp down the drain feels like such a waste of good, healthy food!  And isn’t that where much of the nutrients are?  And the fiber?  How am I going to take a decent poop if I’m removing my morning oatmeal from my diet and all of the fiber from my juice?!  Regardless, even with all of the pulp removed, each juice easily filled my 16 oz mason jars.  The green juice actually filled up two and a half jars.  Between my juices and all the produce, our fridge is very full.

Morning: I took a couple of swigs of my green juice before my 6:15 spin class.  Despite sore legs (this race seems to have taken more of a toll on my legs than past race– oy, my quads!) I had an energetic spin class.  I came home, showered, and drank my first Green Juice at around 7:30.  Oh, Mahy Gawd I love my Green Juice!  How could anyone not crave this stuff?  I also drink the jar with the ‘extra’ from the two batches of Green Juice.  And I’m still kind of hungry.  I start to worry if the three jars I’m bringing to work will be enough.  What if I overestimated how many calories I will be getting once all of the pulp is removed, and it’s not enough to keep me full?

When I get to work, I immediately make myself a mug of green tea and fill my water glass.  You’re supposed to drink at least 12 oz of water between each juice, and I figure I better stave off my hunger so that I don’t drink all of my juices before noon.  It works.  At 11:00am, I crack open juice #2: Pineapple, Apple, Mint (P.A.M.)  I’m quite certain I’m drinking straight sugar.  This tastes like candy and only takes me about ten minutes to finish.  Also holy, cow, Batman.  I bet this would be amazing with rum…

Afternoon: The weird thing about this cleanse is that you go back and forth between feeling hungry and feeling really full.  Or full of juice at least.  By 1:00pm, I was ready for juice #3/Green Juice #2. Well, actually I was ready for Josh’s garlicky bison burger or a bite of whatever Asian-smelling food one of my coworkers just heated up in our office microwave.  But Green Juice #2 would have to do.

By the time 3:00pm rolled around, I was feeling a bit light headed.  Proponents of the cleanse promise mental clarity, but the word word I would use is ‘fogginess.’  A thick hungry mental fog was hitting me by mid-afternoon.  Along with a bit of a stomach ache from all the juice.  I grabbed my fourth juice of the day, but I wasn’t very excited about it.  Juice #4, Spicy Lemonade, is really not my favorite.  Even with the additional agave I added, it’s so damn bitter!

Evening: Despite the fact that there seems to be almost nothing to it, the Spicy Lemonade seemed to get rid of my headache and the hunger.  I came home and made my remaining two juices as well as the first four juice for Day 2 (making the full batch of six took me well over an hour).  Then I popped them all in the refrigerator and waited for Courtney to get home from work (poor boy is going to get a little reminder what it’s like to have to fend for himself for dinner!)  Remarkably, I wasn’t starving.

Around 8:00pm  I finaly popped open the Carrot Beet Juice (C.A.B.).  Honestly, I had really high hopes for this one.  I love carrot juice.  I love beets.  I love ginger.  But I really don’t like it… definitely not what I have in mind when I say “I’ll have a glass of the Cab.”  You’re supposed to use the whole beet, leaves and all, and it results in a sort of… soily taste.  Yes, I’m pretty sure I’m eating dirt.  Next time I’ll wash them better and perhaps remove the leaves.

In typical Jo form, as soon as dinner is gone, I’m immediately ready for dessert.   So I head straight to the fridge for my Almond Milk.  This stuff is freakin’ delicious.  Even Courtney, who has become quite skeptical about giving in to my pleas of “just try a tiny sip!” likes this one.   I immediately think “Ooh!  This would be good in ice cream form!”  I try to freeze it for a little while to find out, but my willpower just isn’t that good.  Interestingly, I’m not at all hungry at this point, I just really like the Almond Milk.  I go to bed at 10:00pm, worried that I’ll be peeing all night since I didn’t listen to the “no juices after 8:00pm” rule, but I only get up to use the bathroom once, which is very normal for me.

Final Thoughts on Day 1:  I wasn’t as hungry as I expected to be.  In fact, with the exception of the major mid-afternoon dip, I didn’t really experience any other hunger or fatigue.  And I actually really like most of the juices (3/5 isn’t bad).  I’m not dreading Day #2 at all.  What I miss is the experience of eating.  Sitting down to dinner just isn’t the same when you’re drinking a juice and watching your husband eat Kraft Macaroni and cheese.

Lessons learned:

1. Green juice is delicious
2. P.A.M. would make an excellent mixer
3. Reading food blogs while on a cleanse is not wise.

For background on what I’m doing and why.

Johanna