Congratulations… We’ve successfully made it into the second month of the year. If your New Years resolutions haven’t dwindled into nothingness by now, I applaud you, because I’ve barely glanced at mine.
It’s actually kind of sad that everyone gives up on bettering themselves after January. Everyone vows to get that bikini body, or to write more often, or be nicer to strangers, and then by the time summer rolls around, they’ve more than tired their yearly resources and they resolve to “make next year my year”.
Personally, I’m sick of this. I want to love myself, and be constantly improving myself, year round.
So, at the end of January, right as I was getting into a health slump, I did a juice cleanse.
And let me tell you, it reset my brain.
I know that a lot of people view juice cleanses simply as a means to lose weight. Personally, I look at them like a reset button. They are a way to to cleanse your body and make way for the healthy food you’ll be putting in your body after the cleanse is finished.
In the past, whenever I’ve done a juice cleanse, I’ve *attempted* to do it myself. I have a juicer, and so I’d just stock up on vegetables and vow to drink only juice for the next three days.
Guess how often that worked out for me? If you guessed next to never, you’d be right.
Buying a pre-made juice cleanse simplifies the entire process. You don’t have to worry about waking up early before work and making 6 different juices (which is such a pain in the butt that you almost always automatically give up). You also don’t have to worry about which vegetables your body needs to get enough calories and necessary nutrients to keep your body functioning.
However, finding a good cleanse can be daunting. If you google “juice cleanse” you’ll be bombarded with too many options, and how do you know which ones actually work?
When I decided to reset my health resolutions with a juice cleanse, I did the research, so that you don’t have to.
My two favorite juice cleanses that I found that will ship nationally (which is big, a lot of companies only offer juice locally) are Garden of Flavor and Raw Generation.
If you’re looking for a local option, turn to Instagram and search for local juicing companies. I also looked around locally and found a small company here in Utah called Dvine Juice (Utah ladies, you’ll love this). I promise that Instagram will help you l find what you’re looking for, and that you’ll fall in love.
After doing a cleanse for a total of four days, here’s what I realized:
I can do basically anything.
Juice tastes hella good (most of the time).
My skin got clearer (goodbye stress acne).
My tummy got more toned.
I was happier.
I had more energy in the afternoon (you know, that 3 PM slump).
I want to do juice cleanses more often.
I think that the key to doing a juice cleanse correctly is understanding it as a healthy lifestyle choice, and not as a quick weight loss secret. Because, if you do the cleanse and then go back to eating pizza and chicken nuggets all day, you’ll gain back any weight that you’ve lost. Plus, you’ll be undoing all the wonderful benefits you gained.
Juice cleanses have their place in a healthy mindset. And, after trying it out for myself, I can say with full confidence that I am counting down the days until my next juice cleanse. Whether you’re a green smoothie gal, or a bodacious berry girl, I promise that there is a cleanse out there for you!
Featured image via auroramccausland
I absolutely love sampling all sorts of juices that I can enjoy as a quick, energy-boosting snack so I was very excited when I recently had the opportunity to sample some of the juices made by Raw Generation. Raw Generation was founded by a father and daughter that believe in the powerful health benefits of a diet that includes fresh fruit and vegetable juices, and together, these two have created some truly beautiful and delicious juice blends.