GO GREEN: An All Green Juice Cleanse

A few weeks ago, Organic Avenue (remember, one of my favorite juice places in NYC) sent out an email advertising a sale on their ALL GREEN juice cleanse.  Without thinking much, I hopped on this opportunity!  I was going to be traveling again for work for an extended period of time (Memphis again, four weeks) and thought a juice cleanse would be a great break from the restaurant and hotel food.  I did a juice cleanse the last time I was in Memphis and it was a great experience.

I conned a co-worker into doing the cleanse with me.  We decided to do it during the week, starting on October 29th and ending the day after Halloween. Trick, or treat?


I'm not going to go into all the details of the cleanse, but will summarize my thoughts on this cleanse briefly:

1. There is such a thing as "too much of a good thing" - I love me a green juice (hey, even two green juices), but 6 green juices a day plus a green booster shot?  It is a little much.  I enjoyed most of the juices; however, drinking six 14 oz green juices a day was hard!  Most were completely savory (very little to no fruit).  Savory is great, but it would have been nice to have at least one or two sweet juices in the mix.  Disclaimer:  Two of the juices I considered semi-sweet, but not fruity enough to mask that they were still mostly veggies.

2.  Juice feast, don't juice fast - Due to the low fruit content of this cleanse, an entire day of juices only added up to around 500 calories.  From my research, your body goes into starvation mode with anything less than 1,200.  While it's totally fine to have such a reduced calorie intake for a few days, I didn't like the idea of draining my body.  I needed to work and wanted to work out during this cleanse.  Looking back, this extreme option probably wasn't the best choice based on my situation.

Finally I realized that you need to be fully committed in order to have a successful cleanse (duh, Emily).  As I mentioned, I sort of hopped on this juice cleanse on a whim, and didn't really take the time to think if this was something my body and life could handle at the time.  I don't think that I went into the cleanse fully committed, which is pretty important considering the cost and effort required to do any cleanse.

All this being said, I "supplemented" my cleanse.  Some would call this "cheating," but I knew I wasn't going to get anything out of the cleanse if I starved myself for 3 days and wasn't productive in my professional or personal life.  I listened to what my body needed.  I added some fresh fruit and veggies, and raw nuts.  And guess what?  I still saw great results - my senses sharper, my digestion improved, and, for the most part, I was able to do regular work outs. 

So while I don't recommend this "Go Green" juice cleanse to anyone except the most experienced, hard core juicers, I also do not have any regrets about trying this cleanse.  Next time though (yes there will be a next time), I'll stick with the less intense version.  Drinking all juice all day is enough intensity for me. =)

Organic Avenue Juice Cleanse

While I was in New York City, I fell in love with Organic Avenue.  I fell so in love that I wanted to try more of their juices.  The only problem was that their food and juices were in NYC, and I was not.  Good news is that Organic Avenue ships their all juice cleanse (LOVE deep), so the decision was made to try one.  As I mentioned previously, I am traveling a lot for work right now, so I planned my juice cleanse for one weekend when I would be staying in Memphis between work weeks.  This would be the perfect opportunity for a cleanse as 1) I would not be able to cook my own food anyways 2) I would not have friends or family around to hang out with (or distract me with their food!) and 3)  I wanted to do lots of yoga studying.

I chose a 3-day cleanse (Friday - Sunday), and the juices were sent to me in two shipments (they don't do weekend shipping, so I got a package on Thursday with one day of juice and a package on Friday with the remaining juices).  There were six juices for each day (one of which was a "mylk") plus a booster shot for first thing in the morning.  Each day there were different shots and different juices, which I liked becuase it kept things interesting!  If there are certain ingredients or juices you don't like (or if you have any allergies), Organic Avenue will take those into consideration when planning your cleanse.

Day One - Wheatgrass shot, Royal Red, Green Coco, Turmeric Tonic, Veggie Vibe, Splendid Sweet Green, Cashew Hemp Mylk -The first day was definitely the hardest for me. All the juices were delicious but I found myself hungry and drank a few juices before their scheduled time.  I also had some mild headaches throughout the afternoon. The most surprisingly tasty juices for me were the Royal Red and Veggie Vibe.  I'm not a huge fan of straight beet juice, but both of these juices contained other yummy ingredients to balance out the strong flavor and texture beet usually adds to a juice.  The Turmeric Tonic, while not a "juice" per se, was awesome and very satisfying.  The only problem with this day's juices was the Cashew Hemp Mylk - mine had definitely gone bad.  I don't know if this was a result of the shipping, or the fact that my juices did not get refridgerated immediately upon delivery, or a problem with that batch of mylk, but it was super sour and I knew something wasn't right upon first sip.  I had another Cashew Hemp Mylk that was supposed to be for Day Three, so I drank that and decided I would have to find something to replace it later.  The (not-spoiled) Cashew Hemp Mylk was satisfying, but the flavor was a bit bland - it could have used some cinnamon and/or nutmeg to kick it up! 

First juice of the cleanse- Royal Red

Turmeric Tonic and reading outside

Splendid Sweet Greens before yoga

Day Two - Aloe Vera shot, Cucumber Mint, Mellow Love, Ginger Lemonade, Veggie Vibe, Green Love, Coconut Mylk - As I have learned previously, juice cleansing equal awesome sleep.  Even after napping on Friday, I slept for a full 10 hours Friday night!  I woke up on Saturday morning a little hungry, but not as bad as the day before.  I had lots of energy and was easily able to get through a moderate yoga class and some low impact cardio.  No headaches at all.  As far as the juices,  the Aloe Vera shot didn't taste like much, which I guess is a good thing, but it is supposed to help the digestive track during cleansing.  The highlights of this day were Ginger Lemonade, which reminded me of the iced ginger tea I drank so much of in Thailand, and the Coconut Mylk.  I did not think the Coconut Mylk (young coconut meat blended with young coconut water) would be substantial or fulfilling enough, but it was absolutely lovely.  Naturally sweet and rich, I ate it with a spoon and felt like I was having dessert!

Ginger Lemonade and more studying

Sweet Coconut Mylk = Perfect end to Day Two

Day Three - E3 Live shot, Watermelon, Green Coco, Master Tonic, Virgin Mary, Splendid Sweet Green, Cashew Hemp Mylk - After another solid night of sleep, I woke up ready to take on the last day of my cleanse.  The day started with an E3 Live shot.  E3 Live is a blue-green algae that contains tons of healthy vitamins, minerals, and enzymes.  It is said to boost immunity, cleanse your digestive tract, and increase your energy, among other things.  I had never tried it before, and was a little nervous for the ominous looking shot.  It actually didn't have a strong taste at all (nothing like wheatgrass), score!  My energy was high again all day, no headaches or other "detox" side effects.  This day's juices were a perfect mix of sweet and savory - the sweet Watermelon juice was yummy for first thing in the morning, while the Master Tonic and Virgin Mary were great as spicy midday  pick me ups.  I had to improvise for my final juice (since I drank this Cashew Hemp Mylk on Day One).  I searched the local Whole Foods for a replacement drink and the closest thing I found was Suja's Coconut Almond juice.  This juice was pretty tasty (coconut, almond and cinnamon, with honey and cherries for sweetness), but my stomach was a little unhappy afterwards (which was the first upset of any kind the whole cleanse).

Nervous for the E3 Live shot!

Beautiful day for a run

Catching some rays with the spicy Master Tonic

What does one do (besides drink juice) during a juice cleanse?  Well, good question. Most programs suggest that you rest as much as possible (go to bed early, sleep until you naturally wake up) and do light exercise (such as walking and yoga) to increase circulation.  Some other suggested activities: meditation, journaling, spending time in nature, activities that promote detox (massage, dry brushing, colon hydrotherapy, sauna time).  Me?  I definitely did the sleeping thing and treated myself to a massage.  I did a lot of yoga and some running, but only because my body told me to.  The rest of my time was spent reading, studying yoga stuffs, and watching meaningful documentaries (both of which I highly recommend - Hungry for Change and Happy).  My intention for the cleanse was to focus on studying, but each person and each cleanse is different. 

Overall, this was by far the easiest and most delicious juice cleanse I have done.  I had very few detox signs (headaches, breakouts, etc).  My energy was high throughout the cleanse and I was able to stay on track with my normal workouts, and get some studying done.   The first day after my cleanse ended I was actually sad not to have yummy juice to drink that day!  If that is not a sign of juice success, I don't know what is!


Have you ever done a juice cleanse?  How was your experience?

Spring Cleaning - Part 2

This post continues my juice cleanse journey through the last two days of my Urban Remedy cleanse.

Day two:  I woke up a little groggy but my head cleared as soon as I had my first juice. Energy was decent throughout the morning and early afternoon - I went to a yoga class and did some cleaning around my apartment.  During yoga I was slightly tired, but I also felt very light.  I made the mistake of going to the farmer's market (I needed to get some produce for the rest of the week).  After that, all I wanted to do was toss my greens in some olive oil and dig in with a fork!

 "Young Love" chia juice with a spoon!

Later in the afternoon I had a light headache, but it did not last long.  I met up with some friends early in the evening.  I think I was pretty out of it.  By the time I got home at 8PM I was ready for bed.  I had my last juice and read for a bit, but passed out very early.

Day three:  Slept for 11 hours but woke up feeling energized.  I had to go to work so I packed all my juices and set off into the rainy weather.  I had some coconut water along with my first (all green) juice.  Felt good all day, but was a little anxious to be done with the cleanse and eat already!  No headaches today - does this mean I have kicked my coffee addiction?

Post cleanse:  As it is recommended to ease into a cleanse, it is also suggested to gradually make your way back to eating again.  Although I wanted to devour all the foods I had been missing immediately, I knew I should take things slowly so that my body would be able to adjust and continue to detox.   On the few days following the cleanse, I had smoothies with banana and homemade almond milk for breakfast.  I made a huge salad with raw veggies and hemp seeds for lunch and dinner, and snacked on green juices and raw nuts.  I did have a cup of coffee on the second day following the cleanse, and did not feel any ill effects.

Post cleanse salad

I definitely felt lighter after the cleanse, and my digestion seems to be improved as well.  I also feel like my mind is clearer and more focused.  My energy levels have been pretty high post-cleanse, despite the lack of caffeine.  As I mentioned above, I did drink coffee a few days after the cleanse (and I probably will continue to), so I will be interested to see if this has any effect on my energy, focus, etc.  While the cleanse itself was both a physical and mental challenge, I'm glad I took the time to do this and will for sure do another in the future.


Would I do this cleanse again?  While I liked most of the Urban Remedy juice blends, there were a few that were not so palatable to me.  The "After Party," which contained beet, carrot, apple, and ginger, was good but I could not drink the whole juice at once.  Same thing with the "Beam," which was carrots, jewel yams, burdock root, and dandelion greens and I ended up throwing out most of one of these.   But overall I really appreciated the complexity and unique-ness of the juices.  For example, the juices with chia seeds were more like smoothies and made the cleanse a lot easier.  I am working on re-creating these recipes because I enjoyed these so much.  Finally, I loved that the juices were based off of Traditional Chinese Medicine principals.  Each juice had a "factoid" on the juice bottle telling you something about the healing properties of the ingredients.  Although the price of a purchased juice cleanse is pretty high, the ease and convenience of it is awesome.  All things considered, I can confidently say that I would choose Urban Remedy again in the future.

Have you ever done a juice cleanse or other detox?  What was your experience like? 

Spring Cleaning - Part 1

The next few months are going to be a whirlwind of activity and travel.  This weekend being my last "calm" weekend at home, I decided to take the time to do some spring cleaning.  While I do also plan to clean out my apartment, my main effort is to detox my mind and body, so I am doing a three day juice cleanse.

I own a juicer and have done juice cleanses before, but this time I chose to do a delivered cleanse.  There are tons of options out there!  After some research, I decided on the Urban Remedy cleanse for the main reason that their juices are very low in sugar.  An added bonus that all the blends looked absolutely delicious.

Urban Remedy offers three different levels of cleanses: Signature, Purify, and Super Green.  I will be doing one day of the Signature cleanse and two days of the Purify cleanse.  The Urban Remedy site offers guidance on choosing a cleanse length and level, but in the end you can pick any combination and duration you like.

Prepping for the cleanse:  The Urban Remedy website provides a detailed list of foods you should limit in preparing for your cleanse. I normally eat a pretty clean diet (no meat, dairy, eggs, or other animal products, and limited processed foods), but in the days before the cleanse I made an effort to drink less coffee and more green juices and smoothies.   The one item I did eat from the "limit" list was bananas.  As this was the only fruit on the list, I would be interested to know why it was included.

I should also note that in deciding when to start the cleanse, I considered when I would be able to make the time to really relax and reflect, and enjoy the full benefits of the cleanse.  As I mentioned, the next few months of my schedule are jam-packed so this weekend seemed like the perfect time to take a break.

Day one:  The down side of selecting the Urban Remedy cleanse is that it is based in California, and therefore the juices had a long way to travel before arriving on my doorstep in DC.  I wake up very early naturally, so I had some blueberries and tea to tide me over until my juices arrived at around 10:45AM.  I also did some gentle yoga.  My energy was very low until I got the first two juices in me, and then I felt fine.  I went for a walk outside and did notice that my senses seemed a bit more heightened than normal.  I also will admit that I went for an easy jog - most cleanses do not recommend vigorous exercise while cleansing, but I the runner in me could not let such a beautiful day pass without at least a short jog.  I definitely felt heavier in my legs and slower than usual, which is probably due to the complete lack of coffee and caffeine in my system.   Later in the afternoon and evening I had a bit of headache, which is to be expected and some say is a sign of detox.  I enjoyed the last two juices of the day while relaxing at home.

Overall, the juices were very tasty.  The first juice was the greenest (the "Brainiac") as it contained no fruit)and I preferred this over the other green juice ("Flush") which contained apple.  For some reason, my taste buds dislike the combination of apple and ginger in green juices, although Urban Remedy's blend also contained mint which made this juice more palatable to me.  The "Time Machine" with acai, lemon, and cayenne was very refreshing, although it was not very substantial.  Since I received my juices late and was behind the suggested schedule, I decided to skip the fourth juice (the "After Party").  Okay, reality check, I skipped the fourth juice because my body was craving something sweet and the next juice ("Warrior" with raspberries and chia seeds) sounded amazing.  This juice was fantastic and was more like a smoothie due to the chia seeds.  My only criticism is that it contained stevia, which I did not think was completely necessary.  The final juice of the day ("Relax") was a cashew nut milk with cinnamon.  Again, this juice was more like a smoothie and was a great end to the day.  I was surprised to see that this juice did not contain any sugar or stevia (the "nut milk" juice of most juice cleanses is usually sweetened).

After my final juice I had some hot tea and was ready for bed.  Sleep was glorious.  I woke up a bunch of times to go to the bathroom (all that juice and tea!) but I slept for almost 12 hours which is crazy abnormal for me!  Guess my body needed it.  Well this was a longer post than I intended, but I hope it will be helpful for anyone interested in doing a cleanse.  I will post more thoughts and feedback after days 2 and 3.