Who’s Afraid of a Juice Cleanse?

I was in the deli meat section of Whole Foods when my husband asked if I’d be interested in joining him on a three-day juice cleanse. An answer came swiftly.  “No way,” I said. “Not interested.”

He tried again by the salad bar.

“Come on. It’s just for three days,” he said. “I’ll go to the Pressed Juicery tomorrow and get all the juices we need.”

He pushed the grocery cart past the display of pre-made soups and a barricade of kombucha.

“No, thanks. Not my jam,” I said.

I slipped four of my favorite chocolate bars into our cart. I could not encourage an idea that had me going without dark chocolate and coffee for three days. Hadn’t I given up enough already?

Hans was quiet through the frozen food section. He held his tongue as we waited in line behind two chatty Asian women with a small basket of food. They stopped talking long enough to eye our grocery items. They want what we have, I thought. They think a juice cleanse was a bad idea, too.

The cashier waved us over. I unloaded kale, red quinoa, sweet potatoes, and low-fat yogurt onto the conveyor belt. My healthy choices edged towards to the glass of the bar code reader. My ego welled up and banged against fear.  I live a rather healthy life. I don’t drink alcohol or smoke. So why on earth would I need a cleanse?

My husband gave one final pitch. “You have the week off. This is a perfect time.”

I pulled a five-pound turkey breast wrapped in butcher paper from the cart. “What about this turkey,” I said, running scenarios, dates, and health code statistics through my mind. There was a lot at stake here. I had plans and recipes. I couldn’t give up eating for THREE days!

“What about the turkey?” he said.  “We’ll freeze it. Come on. It’ll be good for us.”

It was in that moment that I heard the sound. It was the kind and gentle tone my husband can get sometimes when he knows something about me that I don’t. Deep in there between the consonants and vowels was something good and important. Patience. Wisdom. Insight.

Love conquers fear

This moment was familiar. Wasn’t it just a few years ago when my husband suggested an idea so outside of my comfort zone, I automatically said no to it then, too? Wasn’t it just a few years ago when my life was upside down and needing some direction and my husband asked if I was willing to give up drinking with him for just one day at a time? Hadn’t my life been transformed by uttering the word, Yes?

I smiled as I handed the butcher’s bundle to the cashier. “Would it be okay if we didn’t get this turkey breast? I changed my mind,” I said. “Looks like I’m going to be doing a juice cleanse after all.”

There were no applause or sudden dancing. Just a grin of knowing from the man I love.

“Yes. No problem,” the cashier said. No hesitation was offered with her response.

Juice Cleanse

I’m disappointed with the negative voices in my head that told me I could never do a cleanse or that it would be too hard. Yes, there were some uncomfortable moments. Yes, there were times when I felt woozy, crampy, and headachey. But now that I’m on the other side of the three-day cleanse, the 76-hour experience was nothing short of transformative.

Thanks to The Pressed Juicery, a popular CA-based juice bar, the three-day cleanse my husband and I did was super easy to follow. Their website’s blog has a lot of great information about the whole process. I was able to find answers to what to expect, how the juicing process works, and  gave suggestions on what to expect during the fast. They even offer menu suggestions to coach you through the “re-entry” phase of eating after the cleanse is completed.

With the Pressed Juicery’s cleansing kit in my fridge, all I needed to do was consult a little chart telling me what to consume. I drank nothing but tasty juice blends–made on a hydraulic press from fresh fruits and vegetables, digestive water (with chlorophyll or aloe vera), and warm herbal tea for three days. By alternating between their drinks (greens, roots, and citrus) all day and finishing with a luxurious almond milk, the daily intake of flavorful liquids kept things interesting and appealing.

If you don’t live in California or having juices mailed to you seems out of your price range, I suggest you check out my friend Gaby’s website (What’s Gaby Cooking) for her Juice Cleanse 101. In this excellent post she gives a few tips on cleansing and offers up a handful of great juice blend recipes so you can make your own juice cleanse regime at home.

Now that I’m getting back into eating solid foods again, I can feel a dewy moisture return to my skin and my body seems lighter. I can spot food triggers and recognize how much I’ve relied on stimulants like coffee and sugar to up my energy levels after a heavy or carbohydrate heavy meal. The most surprising result after three days of juicing, I’m craving steamed veggies, tall glasses of water, and fresh fruit.

It was right to trust my husband’s intuition. I feel much better today than when I started.

The Pressed Juicery has locations in northern and southern California. Juices can be delivered to your home or picked up in one of their stores.