The Road Less Eaten - Juice Cleanse (86 Cold Press)
“You really are a glutton for punishment, aren’t you?” - Emily Hahn upon learning about my impending juice cleanse.
If you have never tried a juice cleanse, whether it be a 1-day, 3-day, or *gasp* even longer - this blog will do its best at describing how it can be a very rewarding experience and not nearly as difficult as you might think. Juice cleanses are designed to “detoxify and provide the body with vitamin and nutrient dense juice that decreases inflammation thats caused by processed foods in our modern diet.” A note as we head into this blog: I am not a juice cleanse expert, I am not a licensed nutritionist, and all of my opinions are just that - opinions. Always seek medical advice from qualified practitioners, and consult your doctor before making major diet changes. The great part about trying a juice cleanse is that you can get everything you need at a local Wichita juice shop - 86 Cold Press. Go talk with the great people over at 86 Cold Press if you have any questions regarding a juice cleanse. 86 Cold Press is located at 600 E Douglas Ave and is open Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm.
I like to do my juicing during the season of Lent. As an Orthodox Christian, I follow the tradition of fasting from meat, dairy, and alcohol for forty days, so juicing fits right in. It was also a goal of mine to eat more raw vegan during this Lent in particular, and a juice cleanse seemed like a great way to kick off the fast.
This was not my first rodeo with a juice cleanse. I have done a few 3-day cleanses in the past using either an online service or 86 Cold Press. The online service is nice because it is less expensive, but the juices come frozen and are not as fresh as using a local company. Although it might be economically more sensible, it is my belief that the fresher option is likely better for your body. And you are doing this for your body, after all, not to save a few dollars. I once did a 10-day cleanse which was a very rewarding experience, and not nearly as torturous as one might assume. After day 3, your body adjusts, and you start cruising to the finish line. I actually found out I passed the Kansas Bar amid my 10-day cleanse, so celebrating the good news with just juice and no food or alcohol was quite the experience. If you do want to try your hand at a juice cleanse, I suggest checking out the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead to really get your juices (get it?) flowing and excited to do the cleanse. AS Maness, my friend and co-host, knows that I love to eat a single green apple after completing a juice cleanse because that is what the host in Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead did after his. He also did the cleanse with me, which was very nice of him!
I once tried my hand at juicing, I had a juicer and everything! It was a lot of fun, but going through so many fruits and vegetables creates a lot of waste, which makes cleanup time consuming and difficult. My dad once took all the pulp that was left over from a juice I made, put it in a casserole dish with bread crumbs and an egg, and attempted to bake it. It was just as gross as you might imagine. The great thing about 86 Cold Press is you do not have to do any of the cleanup! They reuse their leftover pulp as compost which goes back into the earth. Definitely a win win win, we all win (Michael Scott reference).
Juice #1 - Renew: pineapple, apple, kale, spinach. This juice has an earthy smell which, to me, is the usual raw juice smell. It is very sweet, apple and pineapple win the day. But you can also tell there are some greens in there.
The process of ordering your juice cleanse with 86 Cold Press is easy and straight forward. You go to their website and click on [JUICE CLEANSE] which takes you to an order form. After filling that out and deciding what day you would like to pick up your juices (either a Monday or Thursday after 12pm) you are all set to go. After tax, my total came to $150.50 for 3 days and it comes with 18 juices (6 each day). That works out to be a little over $50 a day but if you are eating out for every meal you would probably come close to that anyway. For what it is, it is fairly reasonably priced. Each juice is tailored to a specific time of day to promote a healthy balance within your body. You can find each juice’s ingredients and my feelings of smell and flavors in the pictures on this blog.
I picked my juices up on a Monday (juicing on the weekend is difficult) and prepared myself for what the next 3 days would bring. That evening my sister-in-law Anna (who did our theme music for the (3YUM6) podcast) made a delicious vegan curry for the family. How nice of her (but stay tuned for later when the tides turned with her niceness)! That night, I had several “nightmares” and stress dreams about accidentally eating something or forgetting to drink a juice at the right time, but I woke up the next morning at 5:50 feeling not too hungry, and ready to attack the cleanse.
Juice #2 - Doctor’s Orders: orange, carrot, apple, lemon, ginger, cayenne. It has a fruity smell but with a little extra kick. And it tastes the same - very tangy but with a bite that sits in the aftertaste. This gives you a great kick to push you through the morning and into the afternoon. I believe this is the one they recommend when you are under the weather.
86 Cold Press suggests you follow this drink schedule: 8am, 10am, 12pm, 2pm, 4pm, and 6pm. I personally like to spread it out a little so I went with: 8am, 10:30am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm. I find it is not too hard to spread it out early in the morning, but that might be just me. It is much easier (I think) to do the cleanse during the week when you have work to help keep your mind off of your hunger. And honestly, all a juice cleanse is a mind game. If you can stay positive and focused on why you are doing this cleanse, it is not that difficult to complete. The hunger will set in eventually, and you will question why you are doing this (probably several times), but if you have the right mind set going in I truly believe anyone can complete it.
Day 1 was not so bad. I found, probably unsurprisingly, that I was hungriest around the times I normally would eat. The lulls in between were not unmanageable, but I really felt it when I would usually be sitting down for a meal. One thing I like to do in general is drink a gallon of water per day. I try to continue that routine even during the juice cleanse. Yes, you head to the bathroom more often than you normally would (more steps though!) but the water helps you fill up throughout the day and flush out the toxins your body has stored.
By the end of Day 1 I realized that, although I had been hungry for most of the day, I had never been ravenous - it had been manageable. I definitely have had moments in my life where my entire body felt under the control of my hunger, but Day 1 was not one of those days.
Juice #3 - Greener: cucumber, kale, spinach, celery, fennel, ginger, lime. It smells incredibly earthy and not at all sweet. This is THE juice when you think of juicing. This is most likely the hardest to drink from a taste perspective, but I still like it. It does taste like you put every veggie you could think of into a juicer. Kind of bitter but has a nice aftertaste - probably not for the faint of heart.
Day 2 is, as any juice cleanser will tell you, the most difficult of the 3-day cleanse. It was even the most difficult day of my previous 10-day cleanse. After day 2 your body starts to adapt to the new routine, and although you are hungry, you are able to live your life with energy and confidence. The word that keeps coming to mind (and I have used already often) is manageable. But day 2 is a whole beast of its own. I signed up to receive texts from Austin, the owner of 86 Cold Press, throughout my cleanse. On my cleanse day 1, I received a text from him that he was on cleanse day 2 and it was the hardest day for him too. And this guy does juice cleanses for a literal living!
Thankfully for me, most of my cleanse day 2 was fairly busy at work and I was able to keep my mind off of my hunger. I was much more ravenous by the end of day 2, and definitely interested in eating something. I did not break the cleanse (even though 86 Cold Press does encourage eating a raw vegetable if need be) but I was in for an unexpected evening that I never could have predicted.
Juice #4 - Root Down: carrot, apple, celery, lemon, ginger, turmeric. It has a very carroty smell and is sweet. It reminds me of Doctor’s Orders but less tangy and more sweet. It even possible feels more substantial? But it goes down smoothly and is much needed at this point in the day.
I mentioned earlier that my wonderful and talented sister-in-law Anna, who currently lives in England, was staying with us for a few weeks. It was so very nice of her to cook us a vegan meal on Monday evening before I started my cleanse, but things took a turn for the worse on Wednesday (cleanse day 2) as she was expecting a friend of hers to arrive from out of town for a visit just in time for dinner. At 6:12pm (when I had already consumed 5 of my 6 juices for the day) she began ordering pizzas from Dominos. My very pregnant wife, Emily, jumped way too quickly at the promise of pepperoni and cheese. Things got even worse as the two of them could not come to an agreement as to what pizzas they wanted, so they continued to go back and forth discussing all of their options right in front of me. I definitely was not ready for the pizza to arrive.
By 7:15pm, our daughter was down for the night, and I did a few of my evening chores. My reward at this point was my final juice for the day, and the thought of slumber being incredibly near was ever so enticing. At 7:40pm, the pizzas arrived and I found myself hiding in the living room editing a podcast and doing my best to ignore the smells coming from the kitchen. The tempting sounds of their laughter and munching echoed through my noise cancelling headphones, but I knew my goal to finish this 3 day cleanse strong was bigger than myself.
Juice #5 - Feel The Beet: carrot, apple, beet, celery. This smells sweetly like beets and is definitely beety in taste. You really do not taste much more than beets but, if you know me, I am HERE FOR THAT. This one is my favorite of the six and always is a great way to start bringing my day to a close.
I made it through the night, and the next day I woke up hungry and empty feeling, but not in a dire way. I no longer felt like I was suffering or ravenous even though I definitely could tell I was hungry. I found myself getting sudden bursts of energy throughout the morning, possibly even feeling a little jittery from time to time. It was a welcome feeling after the day before. I did have a few stumbles in my resolve that afternoon as Anna and her friend warmed up their Dominos leftovers in the oven, but I prevailed and was even able to play basketball that night. I made it through basketball decently well and only felt the real hunger pains (and actual pain and fatigue) by the last game of the night. I went to bed very hungry, but knew the next morning would bring a green apple (and a banana).
Juice #6 - Activated Lemon: lemon, activated charcoal, purified H20, agave. This one smells like lemonade and tastes somewhere between lemonade and lemon water, but strong lemon water. It is not overly sweet or artificial by any means - all you can really taste is lemon. It is the thinnest of all the juices and is fairly sour.
All in all, this cleanse was a little more difficult than others I have done in the past, but it felt good to get the body restarted and ready to take on Lent. I lost 8.4 pounds in those 3 days and have been able to keep it off since completing the cleanse. If you have questions about the process or need someone to help talk you through a cleanse, I am always happy to talk about my experiences and be a coach and fan from the sidelines. And I am sure 86 Cold Press has plenty of literature and coaches to get you through, too. It really is a worthwhile experience and I hope everyone that wants to try one can do so one day.
And if juice cleanses are not really your style, there are plenty of other ways to enjoy juices from 86 Cold Press. You can buy individual juices by the glass bottle to enjoy with other food or supplement a meal altogether if you wish. 86 Cold Press will also take back your used, washed out bottles and give you stamps toward new bottles. For every 12 bottles returned, you get a free new bottle of juice on them. And the best part? You get double the stamps on Saturdays which means I turned my 18 bottles into 36 stamps aka 3 free juices in the future! They definitely have a great system going over there so go check them out!