now that i’ve rejoined the world and had wifi installed in my new apartment i’m back! sorry for being such a slacker lately, with the big move and a friend visiting last week i haven’t really touched my computer since last weekend (crazy i know).
i checked another thing off my 101 in 1001 two weekends ago and completed a 3 day juice cleanse, or as the lovely ladies at jrink juicery call it a 3 day reboot! the juicing craze has been in full swing for the last year or so and i’ve been wanting to do a juice reboot for quite some time now. with the craziness of getting ready to move, traveling a ton and work i have been neglecting my body and eating junk for the last few months, so i figured i’d give it a shot and see what all the hype was about. i had originally planned to make the juices myself with my handy dandy breville juicer but as i was making the grocery list i figured out it was going to be about the same cost to make it myself as it would be to simply order all the juices from a juicery, so i started researching.
initially i thought i’d go with blue print – it’s well known, i have a few friends who have used it and i figured why not. then i stumbled upon jrink and the more i explored their website the more i started to fall in love with them! plus its a small business run by, from the sounds of it, some pretty awesome women and it’s conveniently located right in dupont! it was a no brainer, so i quickly sent them an email and asked how to get started! i heard back from shizu, one of the founders, within an hour and they were willing to indulge my crazy impulsiveness and get my order for day 1 ready for pickup about 3 hours later that day – they usually ask for 36 hours notice! something i will keep in mind for next time! i stopped on the way home to pick up my brown bags of goodness and, oh my god, their space is so amazing! the perfect combination of rustic, industrial chic. i fell in love pretty much the moment i got to the top of the stairs!
i expected it to be really hard, i was actually really anxious about it! i’ve used my juicer a lot and i definitely eat pretty well but i was still really nervous for 3 days of nothing but juice. and what if they didn’t taste good?! thankfully they were amazing, of the 6 juices i drank each day there wasn’t one that was difficult to suck down, they all had such great flavor and were surprisingly filling! which leads me to my next point, i wasn’t hungry at all! i drank the juices 2-3 hours apart and drank them slowly- over the course of a half hour-45 minutes, and in between each juice i drank tons of water and a bit of coconut water, i think that really helped – i have to say it again, i wasn’t hungry at all. i did get a bit of a headache the afternoon of the first day but then i got a lovely pick me up email from shizu reminding me that the hardest part (day 1) was almost over and that i was doing great! i’m a sucker for positive reinforcement, my headache just about disappeared.
i woke up day two and felt amazing, i was clearer, more alert and waking up wasn’t all that difficult, i was also so excited to drink my green juice…yum. it was easier than day one, i didn’t get a headache and still didn’t get hungry. i also found that i needed less coconut water throughout the day. the hardest part for me was not being able to crunch anything, it can get kind of annoying only drinking juice/water for 3 days straight. i did allow myself to have 5-6 almonds each day just to kind of alleviate that desire to eat something. overall, i survived. i more than survived! i felt amazing during and after the cleanse: lighter, clearer and just healthier overall! i’m a huge fan and will definitely be incorporating jrink into my routine more regularly- i’ve been especially missing the wake me up juice- to die for. i also can’t wait to try their new 3-day not as easy cleanse!
here are my tips for how to successfully complete a juice cleanse:
1. follow the instructions, especially the ones about how to prepare and what to do right after your reboot
2. use social media to post pictures of your juices and to communicate with the juicery to keep you accountable! especially if you’re working with a small local business since they’re more likely to engage!
3. drink tons and tons of water
4. let your body rest, you don’t need to be running a marathon during this, it’s called a reboot for a reason, your body needs a break from the abuse it takes every day, do some light yoga or take a walk. nothing major
5. enjoy it! be in tune with your body while you’re on the cleanse, listen to what it’s telling you. for me it was begging me to stop eating all the processed crap i’ve been basically living off of. message received.
6. don’t stop when your juices run out. just because you’ve completed 3 days doesn’t mean you need to go out and eat a double cheeseburger and a pound of fries. make a healthy lifestyle change and incorporate more real and raw foods into your diet, start eliminating the fast food and take out and processed junk that we so often get caught in the cycle of eating!
have you done a juice cleanse? or tried jrink? what did you think?
