Juicing: 3 Day Juice Cleanse

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After my boyfriend spent about a month drinking whiskey every night, he decided it was time for a cleanse. He signed us both up for a local juice cleanse deal. It would be three days of juice. No problem, right?

My problems began before the cleanse began. I struggled with an eating disorder three years ago, and I was getting worried in anticipation of not eating for three days. Would I relapse? Was this a good idea?

Day one of the cleanse came. I had jogged into work that morning, and breakfast on this cleanse was 32 oz. of coconut water. It was okay. Lunch #1 and #2 are green juices every day. Dinner #1 and #2 are fruit juices. All of these juices were very watery, not very thick, and the bitter collard apple one was definitely my least favorite. I didn't like the taste of any of the juices. By lunch time, I was dizzy. I had to walk half of the way home before jogging the rest. I went climbing that night, and my body was begging me for food. The juices were not cutting it. My brain was in panic mode because a lot of ED thoughts and behaviors were resurfacing.

That night, we had a friend's birthday dinner. I confided in my boyfriend my ED fears. He was fine with me eating, but he was sticking to the cleanse. I felt like a failure as I ate my burger and had a slice of cake. I wanted to puke up dinner and start over again on the cleanse.

The next day, I tried again with the cleanse, but I had a banana at lunch time. We went for a hike and met up with friends for another birthday party. The food was healthy--salmon, quinoa, vegetables--and I was dizzy/sick again, so I ate dinner and drank water. My boyfriend drank his juices.

The final day of the cleanse came. I had still dropped down to double digits after having breakfast of eggs and a slice of toast. I took a nap and woke up weak and dizzy. I was meeting a friend for his birthday run, so I ate a zone bar. Good thing--I was fading quickly after 5 miles. We ran 9.5 miles total, and I was dying. I had pho for dinner (and chocolate chips, a ginger ale, and a lemonade). I really didn't care for the juices right now or being a success or feeling like I was slipping into ED behavior/mindset. I wanted to just eat food and be healthy.

I would do a juice cleanse again if I liked the juices and if they were thicker/had fiber...and if I didn't have strong ED tendencies.

I would never do the Khepra juice cleanse again. Right now, I'm not mentally ready for just drinking for three days/no food. That's a fast, not a cleanse. I think my body cleanses itself just fine.

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