Juice cleanses are EXTREMELY popular these days.  In general, I try to shy away from fad diets (oh yeah remember, Paleo? No thanks!), but I decided to give a juice cleanse a try for one reason: I don’t really see it as a fad diet, because you don’t generally do it for more than a few days.

I see juice cleanses as more of a reset button.  A way to get you back on track.  A lot of people concentrate on the healthy eating reset aspect of a juice cleanse, but I was reading The Juice Cleanse Reset Diet and one of the authors mentioned how she was over-worked, stressed and not feeling great and juicing really helped her.

That really spoke to me.  I usually try to avoid talking about work on my blog, but recently, it’s been really stressful.  I haven’t been sleeping well, I’ve had terrible headaches for days on end, and it’s been affecting my mood and energy level.  This morning when I woke up (after yet again sleeping through Crossfit, something that makes me really angry at myself), I knew I needed to change something.

Now before I go any further, I should tell you, I work at Ritual Wellness on the weekends.  So I’m very familiar with their cleanses and their juices.  All their juices are cold-pressed and certified organic, which in my opinion is important.  Why bother to do a juice cleanse if you’re going to concentrate pesticides along with your nutrients?

Ritual is a pretty awesome company owned and operated by two inspiring women.  I’ve been working there for a few months, not really wanting to do a juice cleanse, but enjoying the positive healthy environment.  But then yesterday, I decided I needed something to reset myself.

Just as a full disclaimer: I am an employee of Ritual Wellness, but I purchased this cleanse on my own and the opinions are my own.

1 Day Cleanse

That morning I woke up with big dark bags under my eyes and I knew something had to change.  So I drove over to the Ritual JuiceBox at the CAMP on my way to work (job #1, NOT at Ritual) and picked up a one-day Seasonal Reset Cleanse.  If you’re in the OC area, you can stop by any one of the 3 locations and pick up a cleanse (if not you can order online and have it delivered to your door).  It’s super easy.  At the store, you can sample all the flavors to make sure you like them and go home with a cleanse you’ll like.  I picked up the Season Reset Cleanse, but instead of the seasonal flavor, which is Cranberry Orange right now, I chose Red Energy because I like it better.   So here it goes…

8:30am: Juice #1: Green Lemon: Lemon, Spinach, Romaine, Kale, Celery, Cucumber, Green Apple

I started drinking this in the car right after picking it up.  I really like this juice, but I’ll be honest, you might not.  That’s true for all the juices, not just this one.  Green juices are an acquired taste, because they don’t taste like the boxed crap from concentrate that we’re used to.

The good thing is, the more you drink them, the more you love them.  If you rarely eat vegetables and are a little picky, you probably won’t think they taste amazing, but really that’s the whole point of the cleanse for many: to reset your palate so you learn to like fruits and vegetables.

I also had a cup of black coffee when I got to work, because I’m addicted. I already had a headache when I woke up, so I didn’t want to make it worse.

10:30am: Juice #2: Red Energy: Beet, Apple, Carrot, Pear, Celery

I love Red Energy.  It’s just plain tasty (in my opinion). It was a welcome treat mid-morning.  I realized it takes me about 30-45 minutes to get through a bottle, so I constantly feel like I’m consuming something.  I’m generally not hungry in the mornings so this was no problem for me.

1:00pm: Juice #3: Spicy Greens: Romaine, Ginger, Pineapple, Turmeric, Cucumber, Celery, Lime, Parsley

Probably my least favorite of the juices, but still tasty.  Started to feel mildly hungry around this hour (or maybe it just feels like lunch time?), the juice and water helped.

Note: by this point I’ve had about 30 ounces of water in addition to the juice.  I’ve peed probably 10 times… TMI?

3:30pm: Juice #4: Spicy Lemonade: Alkaline Water, Raw Agave, Lemon, Cayenne

I meant to have this one at 3:00pm, but I had a meeting from 3-:330, so I held off until after.  I think since I was busy I haven’t had a chance to think about hunger at all.  But surprisingly I’m not that hungry and I definitely don’t feel sluggish.  So that’s a plus!

5:30pm: Juice #5: Sweet Greens: Kale, Romaine, Cucumber, Spinach, Celery, Green Apple

I had this one a little bit after I got home.  I do this thing where I walk in the door and set the timer for 10-15 minutes.  In those 10-15 minutes I pick up or clean something.  Then after those things are done, I can relax.

The first sip I had of sweet greens was amazing.  I love that you can taste the apple (although you might not notice it at first).  I had been looking forward to sweet greens all day, because I know I like it.

7:30pm: Juice #6: Cashew Crunch: Cashews, Vanilla, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Raw Agave

The last one of the day.  I was totally ready to have this and be set for the night.  Then Jesse came over and ate a burrito in front of me.  #FML

The smell made my stomach growl, but the cashew crunch was very satisfying so I resisted the burrito.  I’ve had Cashew Crunch a lot for breakfast.  It usually does a good job of keeping me satisfied through lunch.  So as the last juice on the cleanse it was great to have something so satisfying.

I slept well and the next morning I woke up feeling like I could do another day.  For me the decision to only do a 1-day cleanse was largely a cost factor.  I’m currently in money-saving mode, but otherwise I would have liked to try another day or two.  If we’re being honest, yes the juices are expensive, but what do you expect with 3lb of organic produce in each bottle?

I’m sure to get the full benefits of a reset palate and more detoxing, 3-5 days is more the ideal cleanse length, but I still think I benefitted from a 1 day cleanse.  I got the feeling of reseting my body (as cheesy as that sounds) and de-stress for a day.  I think the fact that I didn’t have to think about meals or anything was great, the juices were packed and ready to consume.

I was surprised that I wasn’t hungrier throughout the day (and I didn’t crave anything).  But I suppose that makes sense, you’re consuming something every few hours.

Overall, I’d love to try this again.  And maybe I’ll decided to do a longer cleanse in the future, but right now my budget is keeping me at a 1-day cleanse.

What about you? Have you ever tried a juice cleanse or wanted to try one?