I’m not normally a cleanse, detox kinda gal… I’ve attempted it once before, and failed miserably, although that time required meal planning and pill taking both of which I was fairly rubbish at. The Pure Health Delivered (PHD) Juice Cleanse was easy, so easy in the fact it was just a list of juices and some suggested times. There was no arduous expedition to the grocery shop, or hours of meal planning, only to end up with bland food. The juices are far from bland… in fact they’re DELICIOUS and if even tasted like a treat rather than pond scum.
I chose a juice cleanse, for exactly that reason… to CLEANSE, not to lose weight! I felt I needed to kick start my new healthy lifestyle by giving my digestive system a wee break and starting fresh. I’m oddly anal retentive and like to start things right, with a clean slate and at the start of the week.
I opted for the 3 Day Basic Cleanse at a cost of $198 for x18 500ml juices. I know you’ve just gasped in horror, but if you calculate the cost of all the ingredients you’d need to buy to create your own juice, it truly would cost just as much (if not more!). Fruit and veggies are expensive, and not all the ingredients offered in the PHD juices are easily available.
The PHD juices are no ordinary juices, the juices produced using a cold-press method which means your bog standard juicer at home is up to the task. At home juicers are generally centrifugal. Confused? The below clip explains the difference.
Undertaking a juice cleanse taught me several important lessons, some might seem as common sense… but it never hurts to share some friendly advice.
1. Ease into it!
You can’t just go from zero to one hundred… you’ll feel sh*t house! You really will. You need to do as the PHD Cleanse Guide suggests and build up to it If you’re a regular coffee drinker, you probably know all too well the headaches that come from skipping your regular fix so imagine that but you’ve also suddenly cut out refined sugar and other regular aspects of your diet.
I started my 3 Day Juice Cleanse on a Saturday, so the Monday to Friday prior I made a conscience effort to ease off the coffee and eat light, healthy meals.
2. Be prepared!
Make sure you’re fully prepared to feel a tad under the weather during your cleanse, don’t plan any epic adventures or major roadies. Just relax. Use the time to potter around the house, meditate, curl up with a good book or nana nap if you need to.
I felt pretty good during my cleanse, I managed to hire wedding suits, hit the garden centre, plant my plants, visit near by friends for a BBQ and clean out the kitchen cupboards. However, I have had friends who said they felt a little sick.
- Have plenty of chilled water in the fridge, and carry a bottle of water with you.
- Have some of the approved snacks on handy if you do feel you must eat something.
- If you’re a habitual coffee drinker, you may need to have replacement on hand to fill the void…. GREEN TEA!
- If you’ve never had a green juice, the Pure Green juice may at first be a shock. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.
- Ensure you have adequate supplies of toilet paper and toilet freshener (just in case!)
3. Be real!
While the PHD website says “we highly recommend that you maintain your regular fitness routine throughout the cleanse process.” I would say be sensible about it, I definitely couldn’t have attempted my standard exercise routine while on the cleanse, and certainly would’t want to head off on a massive walk, ride or run and conk out.
Be real and be sensible and rather than your regular gut busting gym routine and intense cardio opt for something a little lighter like a short walk, light Yoga or Pilates.
- Drink plenty of water between juices.
- Expect a slight headache and hunger pains, but check your Cleanse Guide for tips on dealing with these.
4. Don’t trust your farts!
This is a juice cleanse, for Christ sake remember this. Things aren’t as they normally are. I didn’t have any “accidents” but things were a little “fast moving” at times, hence it was a good plan just to have a fairly unplanned weekend.
Expect more regular visits to the bathroom, you are after all consuming a larger than normal quantity of fluids… it has to go somewhere! This is also your body’s natural way of purging itself of toxins.
5. Ease off it!
Just like you can’t rocket from zero to one hundred, you can’t plummet from one hundred back to zero! Again, follow the PHD Cleanse Guide and ease off things. Eat light for 3-4 days following the cleanse, use it as an opportunity to readjust your diet/lifestyle overall.
Initially you’ll feel like only a huge feed will satisfy, but in reality something light the following morning at breakfast time as per usual is exactly what you need… and you’ll feel totally satisfied afterwards too.
I’ve continued to start the day with apple cider vinegar and water as I did before the cleanse, it’s been recommended to me time and time again as a good way to “activate” my gut and promote healthy digestion and the growth of healthy bacteria in the body. Magically, apple cider vinegar also helps promote cellular cleansing… and it doesn’t taste as bad as you think it will. I found mixing it with sparkling water rather than still made it much more palatable
Want to find out more about the wonders of Apple Cider Vinegar?
Check out…
Anyway…
At the end of my Pure Health Delivered, 3 Day Basic Juice Cleanse I was 2.5kgs lighter (although that wasn’t my goal) and to be fair not eating will do that to you. But the cleanse helped launch me into my new found healthy lifestyle… whether or not the weight stays off remains to be seen.
Think carefully about what days your do your cleanse, and what it overlaps with. I found it a little hard to focus at work on Day 3 but was warned I’d feel worse on days 1 and 2… these no hard and fast rule around this but just be mindful of what else you need to achieve.
