Three day juice cleanse and full body detoxification: My results and experience
From December 24th to December 27th, I decided to commit myself to a three day juice cleanse, as well as a thorough full body detoxification plan. The reason I decided to do this was because I was feeling quite lethargic, run-down, and not my best from the stress of completing all of my final exams. I wanted to do something that would help reset not only my body, but my mind as well.
I want to state right away that I did not do this cleanse to lose weight. One reason many people decide to complete juice cleanses is to lose 5 or so pounds quickly, but as I’ve mentioned before, this is not a sustainable method to lose weight. The reason why I decided to do this cleanse was because I wanted to feel better, not because I’m looking to drop weight. The weight you lose during a juice cleanse will come from water weight, and unfortunately, after you stop the juice cleanse and revert back to your regular diet, the weight will simply come back on. In order to lose weight in a sustainable fashion, you will need to find a diet and exercise regimen that you can adhere to.
This cleanse also contained substantial calories. I did not only drink juice, but the cleanse I chose also contained nut milks which are much higher than calories than an ordinary green juice. I also included the soup recipe from the Leo Galland’s Allergy Solution manual.
These pictures show how my body looked before and after the three days, and keep in mind these results are not just from the diet, but from the other methods of detoxification and lifestyle choices I will explain.
Body Pre-cleanse (morning, no food) 12/24:
Body Post-cleanse (morning, no food) 12/27:
As you can probably see from the above photos, my abs look more defined and my stomach definitely appears flatter. In general, I felt like my body looked more tight and toned.
Cocobeet Cleanse Schedule
The reason why I chose to do a Cocobeet cleanse is because I trust Cocobeet’s ingredients, the mechanism they use to create their products, as well as their high standards. I chose the intermediate cleanse. In the morning, you drink warm water with lemon juice upon waking. Next, you have the coco chlorella juice which contains coconut water and chlorella. This juice is intended to rehydrate all your cells after sleeping for 8 hours. The rest of the day includes drinking 4 juices and 2 power mylks (for the intermediate cleanse). To learn more about cocobeet cleanses for beginners, intermediate and advanced cleansers, please click here to visit their website.
One thing I really liked about the Cocobeet cleanse is that all the juices are labeled with the times you are supposed to drink them, and this helped keep me on track.
On top of this cleanse, I also included the anti-inflammatory soup cleanse, which comes from Leo Galland’s Allergy Solution diet. I had this soup for dinner each night. I completed this “power flush” cleanse two years ago, when I was dealing with problems with my skin and found it super effective. To read more about my experience, click here. The recipes are all incredibly clean; created to boost the immune system, and heal inflammation.
During this time, I was consuming very healing and high quality foods. I decided to also encourage detoxification in other ways with these easy, and practicable methods.
Additional methods to encourage detoxification
Dry Brushing
Dry brushing exfoliates dead skin and detoxifies by increasing blood circulation. It helps unclog pores, and promotes lymph drainage. It also stimulates the nervous system, making you feel so good and invigorated. It is fabulous for helping get rid of cellulite. I like using the Beecause Lemongrass sage scrub on the brush. It smells amazing and uses only natural ingredients like sugar, chia seed, jojoba oil.
Ayurvedic tongue scraping
The tongue scraper I use is by Dr. Tung’s. Tongue scraping ipart of an ancient Ayurvedic practice. In Ayurveda, the oral cavity is considered to be the main passage way between your inner body and the world around you. Maintaining oral hygiene the, is critical for overall wellness. The tongue is also a popular area for bacteria to thrive in, especially towards the back of your mouth. Tongue scraping rids your mouth of toxins and bacteria, eliminates bad breath, cleans the tastes buds, and more. All you do is place the scraper as far back as it will go and gently pull it across the entire surface of your tongue and repeat until the surface of your tongue is completely clean. Remember to be gentle when doing this!
Oil Pulling
Oil pulling, sticking with the Ayurvedic theme, is where you swish a tablespoon of coconut oil around in your mouth for 15-20 minutes. This pulls the toxins and bacteria from your teeth and gum area.It also helps reduce plaque, whiten your teeth and prevent bad breath. I use a drop of hemp peppermint oil to increase the freshness.
Yoga
You guys know how much I love yoga, and doing yoga can actually help your body detox. Certain poses assist with detoxification more than others. For example, revolved poses (Revolved chair) or twists (High lunge twist) are very cleansing and beneficial. I also recommend shoulder stand, forearm stand, eagle, and wheel for detoxification purposes.
Sauna and steaming
Sweating is the body’s number one way of detoxification. Steaming and saunas encourage us to sweat, and this leads to the release of toxic substances through our pores. I’ve also been trying to switch between a hot sauna/steam room to a cold shower to reap the benefits of hot/cold therapy (such as relief of joint pain, minimize inflammation, encourage muscle relaxation).
Sleep
Who doesn’t love to sleep? During the three days, I made it a point to be in bed by 10:30. I probably fell asleep by 11pm, and slept until 7 or 8. This gave me at least 8 to 9 hours of quality sleep. Sleep helps your brain detox over night. There is a system in the brain called the glymphatic system, which acts as a lymphatic system that clears away toxins and waste products responsible for neurological disorders. To read more about this fascinating research, click here.
BENEFITS I’VE NOTICED
1) Clear skin.
It has been a while since my skin has been this clear and glowing. There are no edits on the below pictures, and they were taken on the third day of my cleanse. In terms of detoxification, one of the most important organs in our body is the skin. Your skin is a window into your overall health. If your system is blocked up, run-down and not functioning properly, this will reflect on your face (unless you are just incredibly genetically blessed then, lucky you). Be sure to only use natural products if you decide to detox (think oils like jojoba, rosehip, coconut) and pay attention to all products that could contain chemicals-from toothpaste to bodywash to shampoo to laundry detergent.
2) Increased energy.
Even though I was not consuming as many calories as normal, I had a ton of energy throughout the day, from the moment I got out of bed. This surge of energy has allowed me to continue to do yoga, complete errands, and not be moody due to hunger. Many people do not realize that it is not just the sheer amount of food you consume that contributes to satiation levels. It depends on the quality of the food you consume, and how many micro-nutrients/minerals/antioxidants/nutrients the food contains. If you are consuming items that do not contain any micro-nutrients, but just fulfill the basic macro-nutrients, it is likely you will not feel satiated-causing you to feel hungry all of the time.
3) Better sleep.
I’ve found I have been falling asleep faster than normal and sleeping throughout the night. I’ve also been taking this homepathic medicine to help my sleep quality, and it has been really helpful. I will link it right here. As I mentioned, it is crucial to prioritize sleep when detoxing to make sure that not only the body is resetting, but the mind is as well. Particularly following a stressful period where normal sleep patterns may have been ignored, it is important to make sleep a priority.
4) Loss of water weight.
My stomach looks flatter and more toned although I have barely been doing any ab exercises besides plank and updogs in yoga. As you can see from the photos at the beginning of this post, my stomach looks noticeably flatter. I mentioned however, that losing water weight does not necessarily mean the weight will stay off. To ensure that my results are long-lasting, I am still sticking to my normal, paleo-based and nutrient filled diet. I am drinking tons of lemon water, working out, and incorporating the detoxification methods I mentioned above.
Overall, I am very pleased with my results from this cleanse. I would follow this exact plan if I ever felt like I needed another “reset” perhaps following a stressful or unhealthy period of my life. The only thing I didn’t do perfectly on this cleanse was avoid caffeine. I still had my bulletproof coffee every morning, but it makes me feel so energized and alert that I didn’t see a reason to cut it out. If you do decide to try out a cleanse or detox of any sort, remember to listen to your body, and take it easy. Do not participate in hard, intense exercise if you are cleansing.
I hope you all get some ideas and inspiration from this post, that will encourage you to start 2019 in the right direction. My mindset is that I want to live my best, healthiest, and most accomplished life every day, not just on January 1st of the new year. In fact, most research shows that people tend to fall off the “resolution” bandwagon- 22% of resolutions fail after a week, 40% after a month, and 50% after 3 months (Source). To avoid this, don’t wait to start your healthier lifestyle. It will be so, so worth it…I promise you.
Let me know what you think!