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Can a Juice Cleanse Reset Healthy Habits?

All the Juicy Details

I’ll share my day-by-day experience on the next page — and if you’re considering trying a juice cleanse yourself, I definitely recommend reading the whole thing! — but if you’re just wondering whether I dug it or not, the answer is …

Yep. I actually liked it a lot.

There were parts that were somewhat challenging (and would’ve been more so if I’d been constantly surrounded by people eating my favorite foods, but I planned ahead so that wouldn’t be the case), and there were a few slightly unpleasant side effects (fuzzy teeth, for one, plus a short-lived gastro event as well as having to pee … a lot), but overall, I felt really good during and after the juice cleanse. My skin showed marked improvement, my energy levels were high, and my mood? I was a delight. Honestly.

I loved not having to worry about what and when I was going to eat — every two hours, I had a fresh, tasty juice to sip on, and that if I got hungry (like, truly hungry — not just bored and wanting to chew on something), I was entirely allowed to munch on something healthful, like fresh veggies or raw nuts. It really forced me to check in with myself — how much of my cravings were due to habits, and how many of my habits were due to the foods I had ready and available on a normal day? A lot, as it turned out.

However, I said it at the beginning and I’ll say it again, but I would never, ever recommend this as a direct route to weight-loss. Did I lose weight over three days? Yes, I did — about four pounds — but I pretty much gained it back after the cleanse ended. However, if you are looking to lose weight by cleaning up your diet and are looking for a regimented way to kick off your healthy habits? Then yeah, this could be part of a good plan.

Oh, and in case you don’t know what a typical day on a juice cleanse looks like, let me tell you how the Ritual Wellness Reset Cleanse went. It’s six different 14.5-oz. juices, and they’re clearly labeled with what they are and in what order they should be consumed each day. Every day had the same six juices: Green Lemon, Pomegranate Orange, Green Lemon Ginger, Spicy Lemonade, Sweet Greens and Cashew Mylk, and close to 20 pounds of seasonal, organic produce is pressed into each day’s allotment. Every flavor except for the Spicy Lemonade was 100 percent juice, and every bottle had the ingredients and nutrition information really clearly labeled.

juice cleanse

Pre-Cleanse

I took their advice on preparation to heart, for the most part, eliminating caffeine and alcohol and cleaning up my diet in general (although I forgot about cutting back on sugar and dairy and had a really delicious bowl of ice cream the night before I started — whoops!) for a few days leading up to my first day, which I would strongly recommend doing. But, hell, I should probably do more of that anyway, right?

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Comments

5 Comments
  1. This was a cool post, it was interesting to read about your detailed account trying the juice plan….I have always stayed away, because I’d rather eat whole, healthy food instead! But it does sound like there are lots of pros to it, so I can better understand why some people love to do it.

    Jill
    Latest Post: Hurdles to Eating Clean: 3 Easy Ways to Beat Them for Good

  2. Cat says:

    Great article! I’ve always enjoyed juicing as a nice “restart” to my system. I would typically drink my juices during the day, but still eat clean, plant based solid dinners at night. The only reason why I haven’t done it lately is because I would juice everything myself, and just haven’t felt like buying all of my produce in bulk (and dealing with all of the clean up).

  3. Hi Kristen –

    Thanks for trying out the Reset Cleanse and for the detailed account. I loved reading your day by day. It is wonderful to hear that you enjoyed the experience and that post cleanse – you were not tempted by fro yo!! I love that most 🙂

    If you have any questions come up post cleanse, please feel free to reach out!

    Be Well,
    Marra St,Clair
    Co-founder, Ritual Wellness

  4. Good post. I’m facing a few of these issues as well..

  5. kyley says:

    This is an interesting post and a thoughtful discussion about juice cleanses. I really appreciate that, because it’s hard to find thoughtful voices you can trust in all the DIET DIET DIET noise.

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