My First Time Post Baby 3 Day Juice Cleanse: 7 Day Detox

My First Time Post-Baby 
3 Day Juice Cleanse: 

7 Day Detox

Pre-Babies, I was super health conscious. I have taken the psyllium husk cleanses, supplement detoxes for the liver/colon/kidney cleanses. I have never done a total juice cleanse, but always have wanted to. I received the OMEGA 8400 JUICER as a gift from my mom for Christmas a few years back, when I was pregnant with Stella.  After relentlessly researching juicers, I chose this one.. It seemed to be the best bang for your buck, since a masticating juicer gives the most JUICE and keeps the highest level of NUTRIENTS possible. I juice occasionally, but never did a cleanse.

Well post two babies + 2 years of breastfeeding, here I am ready for a detox. One of my favorite "go-to" books for nutritional health is Prescription Nutritional Healing. In the back there is a section all about "fasting". It recommends to start with 2 days of fruit and veggies only, then 3 days detox fresh juice only, then 2 days of fruit and veggies only to ease yourself back into food. This is a starter cleanse that purifies the blood and detoxes the digestive system. I decided late one night, why the heck not? With no preparation except a few pages I read from that book and the will power to start, I started the next day. 

I started on a Friday, fortunately my husband was working from home, since my body randomly decided to give me a torturous migraine. It made it a little more easy to deal with the fact I wasn't going to have my coffee or any food whatsoever except fruit and vegetables. The migraine was common for me and since I started the fast that morning and the migraine came within 2 hours, it had nothing to do with the fast. I typically don't eat until around 1-2 pm anyhow since my mornings are always extremely busy with our two little monkeys. 

Saturday and Sunday I was working long, busy days. It was hard and easy -at the same time. Easy because I was booked solid at work so I didn't have time to sit down, even for a minute. This helped with the diet because I would squeeze a second to go into the back room to grab a drink of juice or water.  My second day was hard, even though I was eating fruit and vegetables all day. I didn't think it would be that difficult because I could eat as much as I wanted,  but it was. I was foggy all day, probably because of the migraine "hangover", but I was extra "off" all day. I was starving and just wanted some carbs and some coffee, but I stayed strong. We went to a party that evening and it was easy to stay on the fast because I was not at home sitting and staring in my refrigerator. I was feeling so horrible by the time the night was over, the worst part was that my legs were throbbing. They are usually sore since I work on my feet, but this was insane pain. They felt like someone beat them up with a hammer. I was reading online that night that a lot of toxins build up in your legs and I had to exercise or soak my feet in epsom salts to relieve the toxins. Also, that I was not drinking enough water to help flush them out. My husband massaged them, which felt so much better and next thing you know I crashed to sleep.

 Sunday I woke up NOT feeling good. I was ready to start the juice cleanse, but had no idea how the day would go since I was not going to be eating anything for the next three days. Sunday was the hardest day. At work I felt foggy, fatigued, sick. I felt like I was on the verge of fainting all day. It was miserable. Not only physically, but emotionally I was a wreck. When I got home I was a mean psycho too. I was angry, hungry, sick, and couldn't think straight... I was researching everything I could about the way I felt and if it was okay. I started doubting this fast and wondering why I didn't consult my doctor before. I literally felt like I should either go to the hospital or eat. I decided after much researching and having my husband research too, that I would just fall asleep and tomorrow wake up and eat. Screw this fasting crap, who knows what is really going on with my body. Was I killing brain cells? Was my body starving so bad that I am messing up all of my vitamin levels and neurotransmitters? I can't do this anymore. I hate fasting and I will never do this again.

I woke up Monday morning and I felt..... incredible. Holy Crap, I felt high on life. My mind was clear as day, I can't explain it any better than I felt incredibly sharp and refreshed. My energy level was high and I felt amazing. I apologized to my husband for how miserable I have been the past two days and couldn't believe how good I was feeling. Day 4 of the detox, I was going to continue on STRONG. I felt great all day. I juiced in the morning to prepare of the day and in between each juice I drank 16 OZ of water. I was using the restroom about 10 times more than I normally do. Water went through me quickly. I was feeling amazing until night time then I started crashing. I knew I was tired and I started to get super hungry. I had some carrots and went to bed. I messed with the fast, I know, but I didn't feel that bad considering I was day 4 in and going strong. 

Day 5 (last day of juicing) was the same. I woke up feeling great. I juiced that morning and was prepared for the day. Same thing, the day went well...  As I write this it is late evening of Day 5 and I am done with the TOTAL JUICE CLEANSE and have my last two days tomorrow and the next where I need to eat fruit and veggies to ease my way back into food. Depending on how I feel after I eat some tomorrow, will judge if I am going to partake in some sushi when I go out with the girls tomorrow night. I made it this far, I do not care if I eat some normal food while adjusting.. Whats the worst that can happen? A stomach ache?

Overall, I am glad that I did this. I am glad that I stuck with it through the hard times because my body DID adjust and when I turned that corner and I felt wonderful. I will most definitely do this again. Juicing is powerful. It breaks down fruit and vegetables into micronutrients that our body can absorb so much better than we do by chewing them. I am going to continue to juice as a part of my regular diet maybe substituting juice for meals here and there. I want to cut down tremendously on meat and also anything processed. We eat very low processed foods at home anyhow, but I want to eat even less. Nutrition is very important to me. It is key in order to feel well and perform even better! I am so happy  that I was able to rejuvenate my body and blood through this fast.