Juice Cleanse: Day 2 of 3
/At one point yesterday, I thought to myself: "One day was easy, but do I really have to do this for 2 more days??"
I'm happy to report that Day 2 was a success and this cleanse has been A LOT easier than I'd expected! I attribute that to a few things:
Adequate amounts of mental preparation
Not having to make the juice myself
It's only 3 days...some people do 10, 30, 60, 90 day juice feasts. That is not something I'm ready for, nor is it something I think I'll even want to try (a 5-10 day one, maybe...but a longer term one doesn't appeal to me unless it was recommended as a way to treat some kind of health issue)
Having long, stressful and busy workdays have kept me distracted from focusing too much on the cleanse
I was already eating a fairly clean diet before the cleanse (not a whole lot of meat, dairy, caffeine, alcohol, sugar, gluten, processed foods). I imagine that this would be a lot more shocking to the system (and perhaps the mind) had I consumed a diet that contained these items.
Ready for the Day 2 Rundown?
6:30am: Woke up after 8 hours of sleep.
Didn’t feel any different than usual. I was, however, pleased with how my skin looked upon waking. I applied coconut oil on my face before I went to sleep like I always do, but I think the fact that I had it on my face all day yesterday too (in lieu of lotions and makeup) made my skin look extra healthy this morning.
7:15am: 60 minutes of Hot Yoga
Felt extremely hungry when I got to yoga. I always do morning yoga on an empty stomach, but I’m typically not starving when I’m on the mat. Today was different. I felt a little light-headed in the very beginning. Fortunately, by the time class had ended, the feeling of extreme hunger subsided. It was another wonderful class and I felt good about supplementing my juice cleanse with a lot of sweating and breathing. It seemed particularly timely as I had just recently read an article by Dr. Mark Hyman called How Toxins Make You Fat: 4 Steps to Get Rid of Toxic Weight which references the following as the body's four main exit routes for toxins: peeing, pooping, perspiration and pranayama (deep breathing).
9:50am: Hot water with lemon
11:05am:JUICE #1 (Spinach, Romaine, Kale, Celery, Cucumber, Green Apple, Lemon)
1:30pm:JUICE #2 (Spinach, Romaine, Kale, Celery, Cucumber, Green Apple)
3:00pm:JUICE #3 (Spinach, Romaine, Kale, Celery, Cucumber, Green Apple, Ginger)
I think Juice #3 is my favorite of all the green juices. I really love the ginger!
5:00pm:JUICE #4 (Alkaline Water, Lemon, Raw Agave, Cayenne)
7:00pm:JUICE #5 (Spinach, Romaine, Kale, Celery, Cucumber, Green Apple)
8:00pm: JUICE #6 (Alkaline Water, Raw Cashews, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Vanilla, Raw Agave)
Drank this one way too fast...in only 15 min :-( I wasn't even super hungry when I drank it, but I wanted to go to sleep early tonight and didn't want to drink it too close to bedtime. I have a decent amount of energy tonight and feel very awake. I was expecting to be tired by 8pm every night of the cleanse, but that hasn't been the case at all!
DAY 2 Notes & Observations
I felt more awake today. I didn’t have as much energy as I usually do, but I didn't feel weak either. I was pleased that I didn’t have any headaches and my hunger pangs weren’t as distracting as they were yesterday. I’ve just kind of gotten used to them.
I am not taking any of my usual daily supplements (Probiotics, Cod Liver Oil with Vitamin D, and Vitamin B Complex) during this juice cleanse so that might also have an impact on how I’m feeling. My Vitamin D and B levels are fairly low without supplementation and when I don’t take them, I can feel a difference in my mood and energy levels.
Had a tougher time drinking my juices mindfully today. Drank each during the span of about 30-40 minutes.
Anyone who knows me well can tell you that if the temperature drops below 75 degrees, I get cold. (A complete mystery, considering that I grew up in New York and endured at least 20 cold winters!) Yesterday and today, I was feeling very cold...more than usual. Part of the reason is because the air conditioning in my office was on full blast (not sure why considering we’ve been battling temperatures in the mid-50s these last couple of days which is considered “freezing cold winter tundra” for most San Diegans). I also attribute my being cold to the cold beverages I’m consuming (juices must stay refrigerated), not to mention that they consist of cooling foods (raw foods in general). The cayenne pepper in Juice #4 warmed me up just a little bit, but in general I’ve been trying to stay warm by bundling up and drinking my hot water between each juice. It didn't work that well though. It was a bit frustrating and distracting being cold all day without being able to warm up :-( I wonder how much of this is due to the air conditioning and how much of it is due to the juice. That said, this cleanse might be more enjoyable in the warmer months, particularly if you’ve packed on a little extra “insulation” during the winter months that you want to shed once spring hits.
I'm coming to terms with the fact that I might not get as huge, obvious results from the cleanse as I was expecting. We'll see how I feel after tomorrow. All I can say is that while I do miss solid food, I think I miss the feeling of satisfaction I get afterward as opposed to the food itself. At this point, I'd really like to continue eating a light, high raw, vegetarian diet after this is over and think that would be a good idea since transitioning out of a cleanse can also be quite shocking to the body. I don't have any desire to go out to a restaurant and indulge in a heavy 5-course meal, so I'm happy about that! Drinking juices all day hasn't really bothered me and in fact, the lack of food prep, dish washing and planning has been a tremendous help this week in keeping me as balanced as possible. I don't have any cravings whatsoever and the heavier Cashew Milk drink at the end of the day has kept me satisfied for the rest of the night.
