I got a little JUICY! Time for a Juice Cleanse & Detox

You look pale. You’re not sleeping well. You get headaches if you don’t have your steady caffeine intake. You feel bloated. You feel a little bitchy. But you feel like you’re in control of your life. Sure thing. That’s how I feel all the time. I’m totally running at warp speed from the moment I wake up to the second I put my head on my pillow. And I thought I was invincible. That I’m ok running on 3 to 4 hours of sleep each night (apologies to those who get emails from me in the middle of the night). 

Then I met Eliane, the RAW JUICE GURU. She’s a wealth of health knowledge and precisely who I needed to set me straight. I’m not into people who shame you into doing things. Eliane is the opposite. She gives you the goods. The straight up facts and doesn’t hide or candy coat the reality of not only what our body needs but why our bodies deserve only the best. 

Eliane was always a health and fitness nut since she started training at 16 years old. Now 20 years later, and 12 years of being a personal trainer and holistic nutritionist under her belt, she decided to open what she wanted to do for 4 years and is now known as the RAW JUICE GURU. She preaches to all her clients the importance of detoxing 3 to 4 times a year. She always jokes about the look she would get 10 years ago when drinking her raw juices at gyms. 

In 2011, RAW JUICE GURU was born, completely different for any other Juice Cleansing/Detoxing company out there. “Every juice cleans with us is customized and tailored for each person according to their health, concerns and goals,” says Eliane. With over 800 raw juices in their vault, they choose and plan your detox, changing juices daily. Juices are made from certified organic produce, cold-pressed and hand-made with the highest standards and delivered daily fresh to your door. 

“What got me into juicing was me being diagnosed with fibroids when I was 19,” said Eliane. “I was a dairy addict, huge one! I controlled them with juicing daily. When I got pregnant 4 years ago my tummy was huge, I looked like I was having triplets. Fibroids grew, and the doctor’s solution after birth was to have a hysterectomy once I was finished having children. I told him where to go (in a polite way) and that I was going to shrink those fibroids myself naturally- after I finished breastfeeding. My journey began with juice cleanses and raw food. I shrunk them!”

Now, what you really want to know…

I just completed a 3 day cleanse with RAW JUICE GURU.

When I decided that I wanted to do this I knew I had to clear 3 days on my schedule to do this. You gotta be committed. My concerns were…

a) what if I get hungry? or a craving? will I be able to control myself?

b) what if I am constantly in the bathroom?

c) what if its gross? like that cayenne pepper/lemon cleanse that was all the rage a few years ago? bleh.

Day 1:

The juices came with an ingredient list. I was surprised to find 6 large (500 ml) bottles of juice plus two elixir shots – which I just threw into the larger bottles. I thought it was a lot of juice for me to drink in a day but I remembered that I will not be eating food. After the first bottle I started to sweat. I was hot and it was darn cold outdoors. I quickly emailed Eliane and asked if this was normal. Yes. The detox had kickstarted. At the end of the day, I actually managed to drink 7 out of the 8 and the juices. Like drinking smoothies all day long –  I figured this was going to be easy.  I emailed Eliane  about the left over bottle and she said I could drink it in the morning. Whew! Also, By mid-afternoon I started to feel cold – I’m use to drinking warm drinks all day, plus it was FREEZING out that day. Luckily, they threw in a detox tea that you can have anytime of the day. When I had mentioned to Eliane that I was freezing in the afternoon…she and  her staff joked around about putting in some cayenne pepper to warm me up! I told them to BRING IT ON! I have no fear with cayenne. As for the bathroom, yes I went a lot but only one BM. I was kinda surprised – only one! TMI? And that “juicy” title to this post does not refer to an uncontrollable bladder! Everything was totally manageable. TMI, again?    BTW..I made pulled pork in the slow cooker for my family this day and did not have any urge to eat it. 

Day 2: 

The bottles arrived with the ingredient list again. I was managing fine. No problem actually and no cravings. Slight headache in the afternoon but no cravings for food or caffeine. As a matter of fact I sat at the local coffee shop with a friend. She with her latte, me with my juice. Still easy. And I think they added in the cayenne to warm me up. And for the first time in a looonggg time, I slept a full 8 hours. My husband was in shock. He’s use to me getting up and shuffling downstairs for a couple hours every night. He also noticed that my skin looked healthier – glowing he said. Still going to the bathroom frequently and only one BM. Sorry, I know you want to know. And today, my friends started teasing me with food temptations. Thanks Tracey but it didn’t work! 

Day 3:

Home stretch. My body is use to this juice. I find myself guzzling down the juices with ease. I do feel stretches of low energy but Eliane tells me that it’s the ebbs and flows of the detoxing my body is going through. It’s common and to let my body go with it. It’s also good to relax in a sauna or do yoga while you’re on a cleanse too. Helps the body rid of toxins more efficiently. Eliane is also cheering me on at the side lines giving me morale support like “you’re the queen of the juice cleanse” and checking in once in a while to see how I’m doing. But honestly, it’s not as difficult as I thought it would be. My washroom routine was the same. 

Day 4:

Yes, I’m done the cleanse but Eliane told me that I needed to gradually work my body back into foods. On this day I’m not hungry but fruits & vegetables is what should be eaten. The only thing I craved was tofu. ..and more juice. I felt groggy all day and that’s normal too. The body is still detoxing. 

My juice plan included celery, apple, cucumber, beets and carrots in various combos and added other nutrients like coconut water were added in once in a while. They had a system and order in which juices should be consumed and the bottles are clearly marked.  I never felt the need to eat. No cravings and no hunger pains. Maybe I was pre-occupied with work but instead of reaching for a bag of popcorn, I just had the juice by my side at all times. Even when I took the kids to their programs. Adjusting back to food was the most difficult as I know I have to ease
in slowly. After all, why would you want to screw it all up over a cheeseburger or fois gras, right?

Why did I do it? I felt like it was a good time to just do an overall cleaning. I’ve done a different kind of cleanse before and it wasn’t fun. This one is much easier to incorporate into my daily life.

So, my friends have been asking me if it was worth it? Honestly, yes. Once in a while when you feel like you need to just do a thorough clean – it feels like that. I’m less bloated, my skin has more colour to it and I’m sleeping well. Did I lose weight? I’m not sure. I don’t generally weigh myself so I wouldn’t know. But the end result is I feel great! Really great! 

I’m someone who generally doesn’t like following routine and I definitely do not like being told what to do. But in this case, if you’re like me, you must remember that you are doing this for you…cause you’re worth it. 

There are many great reasons why people choose to do a detox or juice cleanse and the benefits are great. You can visit the website to learn more at rawjuiceguru.com