I Did a Juice Cleanse and This is What Happened

As my second year of university came to an end, I realized that it had been the most unhealthy year of my life. I barely exercised, I hardly got enough sleep, I ate out almost every night, and I drank more than I’d like to admit (sorry mom). Being a student and living alone in Toronto for the second year in a row meant more freedom, less free time, and nobody watching how I was taking care of myself. I totally took advantage of it all.

After 8 months of living like this my body definitely started to hate me, I could feel it and see it. I’ve never really had bad skin but this year I started breaking out more, and my skin just looked dull. I decided it was time to make some major changes in my lifestyle, and the best way to do this was to kick off the summer with a juice cleanse.

Juice cleanses seem to be all the rave right now, making it really easy to get sucked into it. Every Instagram model and their mother has posted about theirs and let’s be honest, they look really great!

So this is what happened.

DISCLAIMER: The objective of this was not for me to lose weight, the goal was to detox and strengthen my immune system.

I should probably start off by saying this is not a cheap process. Juicing is expensive, whether you make your own or follow a pre-made plan like I did. The total cost of my 3 day cleanse was $200. I went to Greenhouse Juice Co. in Toronto, and followed their standard cleanse. Each day had the same juices in the same order:

So 6 juices a day, and 2 boosts. Out of the 8 things I had to drink each day, 5 of them made me want to throw up from the taste and smell.

DAY 1:

Pictured: Me just beginning to realize what I was getting myself into. You can see the regret and pain starting to show in my eyes.

So day 1 of my cleanse had a really bad start, I fainted and puked in a staff meeting around 8:30 am. I don’t think it was related to the cleanse at all, but it kinda made the whole thing a little bit more difficult. I didn’t find myself too hungry throughout the day because there are a lot of juices to drink, but I did have a headache. Headaches are pretty normal while cleansing so it wasn’t concerning at all.

By 4:15pm I was really starting to get over the whole idea of juicing, and I really just wanted a pad thai…not because I was hungry, I just felt like I deserved it.

I think what made it more difficult was having to go to night class after work! Only drinking juices and water = a LOT of peeing. Sorry, it’s true. As my boss said; if you’re not peeing every 15 minutes you’re not doing it right. So having to pee every 15 minutes in a lecture is actually brutal, and then the girl in front of me started eating Thai Express so I had to leave early and go home.

DAY 2:

There’s really nothing more enjoyable than starting your day off with liquid cayenne pepper…

Day 2 was seriously difficult. The headaches were real and I was getting really sick of all the liquids. I was starting to miss then sensation of chewing. Most of the day was a blur, filled with sadness and resentment towards myself. I resented myself for thinking this was a good idea.

I wasn’t actually starving until around 8:30 pm, but when it hit me…it hit me like a truck. I couldn’t watch my family eat so I just went to bed.

Day 2 can only be summed up by this:

DAY 3:

I gave up at lunch of day 3. All I could think about was fried rice from Thai Express. It was consuming me, and I needed to have it. I finished my morning juices and when lunch time came around I bolted for Thai Express and ate like I’d never seen food before. I was planning on taking a reaction picture of my first meal but I was too overwhelmed and on the verge of tears…so I forgot.

THE RESULT:

So after 2 and a half days of torture, what actually happened? Literally nothing. Nothing at all. I don’t feel any different, I haven’t noticed any major changes in my skin, and I didn’t lose weight (even though it wasn’t the goal, it would’ve been a nice treat). It’s likely that it helped out with my overall health and immune system, but there aren’t any visible results.

Would I do it again? Probably, I don’t really learn from my mistakes.

Would I recommend it? I don’t think so, unless you’re willing to commit to more than 3 days I don’t think its worth it. Its very hard to stick with it, and the hunger is real. If you are going to do it though I would really suggest buying from a juice company because you get a lot for the money and there are ingredients that you can’t really find in a grocery store!

Lastly, I used to make fun of people who only talked about their juice cleanses…and I became that person. It’s the only thing you want to talk about at all times. I don’t exactly know why but it feels better when you talk about it. I’m sorry to everyone I annoyed over those 2 and a half days, thank you for sticking with me in this dark time.