Suja Fresh Start Three Day Cleanse

Almost the weekend, friends!  As promised, here is my review of the Suja Fresh Start Cleanse!  My friend Asha wanted to give cleansing a try and since she knew I had done one previously we decided to buddy up and tackle one together.  We did our research and decided on the Suja Fresh Start Three Day Cleanse since we could purchase the juices at our local Whole Foods store.  Then we picked our dates and tried (failed) to prep ourselves.  As you can see from my previous post I failed miserably at pre cleanse prep since I went a little overboard while back at Miami the weekend before.  (Eggs benedict over mac and cheese, REALLY Steph?)

Anyways, I went to Whole Foods to grab my juices and they were running a little low on some of them so I got as many as I could then decided I'd come back the next day after they restocked.  The program suggests the following juices per day:

Breakfast: Glow (apples, celery, cucumber, spinach, collard greens, kale and mint)
Mid-Morning: Fuel (carrots, orange, apple, pineapple, lemon and turmeric)
Lunch: Purify (carrots, apple, celery, cucumber, beet and lemon)
Mid-Afternoon: Fiji (apple, celery, cucumber, spinach, collard greens, kale, lemon and ginger)
Dinner: Green Supreme (apple, kale and lemon)
Dessert: Vanilla Cloud (coconut, honey, almonds, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg)

Turns out I didn't really need to go back because 1) I was sick and lazy and didn't want to leave the house and 2) I got too full after half the bottle leaving me with plenty extras.

I will say this cleanse was a little more challenging than the last one.  I'm not sure if it was because I wasn't feeling well or if the juices weren't as good.  I'm venturing to say it was a little bit of both.  I found my least favorite juices to be those with celery in them (which was most of them).  I love snacking on celery but it tends to overpower the juice making it a bit gag worthy.  I really liked the Green Supreme and I guess if I had a second favorite it would be the Vanilla Cloud.

Most of the days I skipped one of the midday snack juices because I was too full from the previous.  Additionally, since I wasn't feeling well and was taking meds I decided to play it a little safe and incorporate raw foods at dinner time (mixed green salad or broth based vegetable soup) along with half of the designated juice.  Just before bedtime after drinking the Vanilla Cloud the suggested three hours before, I tended to feel a little bloated but it subsided by the time I woke up in the morning.  

The cost breakdown came to $162 for the three days so about $54 a day.  This is actually on the cheaper side of the cold pressed juices you can buy but as to be expected it is a bit more than the DIY versions.

I forgot to measure my waist to see if I lost any inches but I did remember to get on the scale before and after.  I ended up loosing four pounds which puts me back under the holiday weight I was trying to shake. But as I did last time I did the cleanse more to reform my eating habits than loose a bunch of weight.  Cleansing really teaches you to listen to your body (one of my 2014 goals) and take your time enjoying food.  With all the hustle and bustle and stress we experience daily it takes a toll on our bodies, it's important to refuel with foods that help our bodies handle it.

I think I will definitely continue to give different cleanses a try, although I'm hoping after the wedding we'll buy a juicer so I can do the DIY versions.  I'd like to get better about scheduling them maybe three to four times a year just to give my digestive tract a little boost!

Wedding planning and preparations are in full force so my advance apologies if my blogging is lacking in the next few months.  I still have some yummy recipes to share and next weekend is the Oscars so you know I'll have a fashion recap for you!

Cheers!
Steph