Day 3 on a Juice Cleanse

It’s amazing what a difference a day makes! Yesterday I felt drugged, like I ought not to be operating heavy machinery, but today I feel... perfectly normal and alert and great.

My coworkers tell me I’m glowing but I’m dubious because I gave up wearing make-up (and lotion and deodorant, shhh don’t tell!) as part of my personal detoxification regimen. I figured I wasn’t exactly sure how these alleged toxins planned to escape my body so I didn’t want to impede them in any way by plugging up my pores.

Day 3 of the BluePrintCleanse was the best of the whole program. I’m not sure if that’s because I know it’s all over soon, or if I really do feel rejuvenated. I don’t feel hungry, I don’t have a headache, I went to the gym in the morning, AND the juice drinking seems like less of a burden. Green Juice after my workout felt way simpler than making eggs or oatmeal or my other, non-cleanse breakfasts.

Also, I’m down 5 lbs. This is unheard of for me. I assume this is mostly due to water weight but even so, I haven’t seen this number on my scale in months. My stomach also looks much flatter. I took “before pictures” which showed a little belly pooch but this morning when I woke up I had almost an entirely flat midsection. So, from a vanity perspective, the cleanse works…

Two major factors kept me going: 1. the cost of the cleanse (why waste $200 on juices you don’t drink?) and 2. accountability (the very public blogging each day forced me to complete the three-day detox cycle – even when I really wanted to cave). Both of these were crucial for my personal success. I would recommend anyone curious about cleansing to commit to it this way. Tell your friends/family/coworkers/etc what you’re about to do (let them call you crazy – it will inevitably happen) and it will be much harder for you to back out.

A few notable things: My lips didn’t feel chapped at all during the three days (even without my usual chap stick application) which makes me think I was perfectly hydrated throughout. My skin was clear, which is a good sign, but my circulation felt inadequate. My fingers got freezing and turned white after holding a cup filled with ice for just a few minutes.

Overall, I like how very black and white the cleanse is. I never worried “can I eat this?”, “should I eat that?” I just followed directions and drank juices. Not that complicated. Also, there was no prep required on my part (in terms of purchasing fruits and veggies or juicing things myself). I placed an order online and the cleanse arrived on my chosen delivery date. So simple. 

And now that I’m in the home stretch, I’m feeling pretty proud of myself. I can be kind of a Type B, occasional underachiever so the fact that I successfully stuck with this for 3 days is something of a personal triumph.