It’s 9:12pm and I’ve finally reached the end of Day One. I’ve actually felt pretty good, even borderline energetic. But I’m craving everything! Burgers, french fries, chocolate, steak, salmon, my friend Anita’s italian cookies, everything. So let’s talk about the details. I overslept a little bit this morning and had to run out of my apartment for a bit, so I didn’t have my first juice until about 10:30am. It was ok though because I’m a late sleeper and normally don’t eat until at least 10 anyway. I wanted something fruity to start the day, but I also wanted to pack a bunch of greens into it, so I bulked up this recipe (the Easy Starter). I added more spinach, more kale, more strawberries and half a lemon. It was a little “green-tasting”, but still really sweet. Even Sudan liked it. This recipe made about 18oz so double it up if you need to.
I had to run out again, so I put a cup of hot tea into a Starbucks travel mug and ran out of the door. I felt really great for about an hour and half, but by 12ish, I was starving. I still had a couple of errands to run, so I planned to swing by Robeks and pick up one of their juices. Only the Robeks by my office was closed today for painting. Painting?! I about passed out when I saw that sign. But instead of freaking out and cheating, I quickly finished up my work at the office and rushed home. All the way home I was dreaming about eating Chik-Fil-A french fries and chocolate. Possibly together. But somehow, I made it home without caving.
I decided to give myself a treat for not cheating, so I made Raw Raw Life’s Sweet Potato Dream Juice (you can find the recipe in Carla’s e-book or on her YouTube page). Oh man. This juice is, dare I say, delicious. Her recipes typically make 32oz, but I cut it down a bit: 1 sweet potato, 6 carrots, and a bunch of pineapple. I drank the entire 24oz while sitting on the floor complaining to Sudan about how hungry I was. But as soon as I finished, I felt good again. I still couldn’t get my mind off of food, but I felt good enough to overcome my cravings. It didn’t help that every other Instagram photo is of a gorgeous plate of food or that most of my favorite blogs are food-related, but I got through it. I distracted myself with Hulu for another two hours before tackling another juice creation. Embarrassingly, I cried my eyes out for the better part of an hour while watching the Parenthood finale. And I’m not just talking about a few stray tears. Apparently, I picked the wrong week to go on a cleanse. These mega-cravings and my overly-emotional state could only mean one thing: PMS. This is going to be a tough week.
I’m gonna be honest, my last juice wasn’t the best. I found the original recipe on Breville’s Food Thinkers website. I switched up the ingredients a little bit because I wanted to make more juice. I also didn’t have any bok choy. So I added an extra celery stalk, three leaves of swiss chard, and a couple of extra carrots. The end result was not my favorite, but it wasn’t terrible. I’ve never tasted beets before so I’m not sure if it was the beets, the celery or the swiss chard that threw the taste off. What I do know is that my stomach did not enjoy this juice at all, so I definitely won’t be making it again. I know there are so many benefits of beet juice, but so far I’d go for spinach and kale any day over that stuff. I also looked like a vampire when I finished it. Not sexy.
Despite that minor setback, I still felt good and finished the night with a cup of mint tea and lots of water. I feel pretty good about day one. I learned a lot and overcame my food cravings for the first time in my entire life so that was huge. And I didn’t feel like crap. I’ve read that day two brings the true detox symptoms so I’m bracing myself, but I’m trying not to get too nervous. Knowing that you are all waiting to hear my experience is definitely helping me stay on track. And if any of you decided to do your own juice cleanse, do a variation of a cleanse, or just add a few juices into your diet, let me know! Take pictures of your juice/smoothie creations and post them on Instagram using the hashtag #jrjuicecleanse so we can all follow along. I’m excited to see the recipes you all come up with!
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I am right there with you Jerrell. I’m too grouchy to even talk about it. Day 2.
Doing this kind of diets is a sacrifice that sometimes we have to do for our own sake, yes like you said craving is one of our mayor difficulties to cope with, but let face it, every Diet plan must be adapted by a nutritionist or Dr to you. So the diet plan works.
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