Finally my review is here! If you’ve been following me along on Facebook or Instagram, you’re probably aware that I recently did a juice cleanse. I wanted to share my experience with all of you, so here it goes:

Why I did a cleanse: I had  been seeing juice cleanses all over the internet and was dying to try one. I work out nearly every day, but my eating habits certainly aren’t perfect and I had been feeling sort of off; I thought a a juice cleanse might help balance my system and get back to normal. I chose Urban Remedy and did their Signature Cleanse which consists of drinking 6 organic vegan/GF juices per day.

Preparing for the cleanse: A few days before the cleanse you’re supposed to pretty much be vegan and caffeine-free. I stopped drinking coffee and ate a lot of fresh organic veggies, salads, fruit, and squash. I will admit that I had one of my blueberry muffins and eggs too. Oops! I couldn’t help it.

Day 1:

The juices arrived around 10am, but my morning was packed with meetings so I wasn’t really thinking about breakfast. I started with my first drink, and didn’t really care for it. It tasted like cucumber and parsley and I had a hard time drinking it so I ended up sipping on it all morning.

Two hours later, I still wasn’t that hungry but decided to drink Juice #2 and it was much easier to gulp down. I spent the rest of my afternoon working, and surprisingly didn’t feel hungry. I got the chills a couple of times, which I thought was weird but other than that no detox symptoms.

Later I drank Juice 3, and definitely didn’t care for it. It wasn’t pleasant tasting and I think it took me nearly an hour to gulp it down. By this time is was around 4:30pm and I wanted to work out. Again, I was not hungry… until I started working out. I did 45 minutes of circuit training and felt a couple hunger pains in my stomach. Immediately after my workout I drank Juice #4, which tasted like sweet carrot juice with a hint of ginger; it was pretty good and easy to drink! After that I made the mistake of turning on the Food Network and I got really hungry staring at the burgers being cooked on Bobby’s Throwdown. This was the point where I started craving an english muffin or an apple, but I was pretty determined not to eat so I had a glass of water. At this point I also noticed that I was pretty tired so perhaps that was a detox symptom.

Another hour later, I reached for Juice #5 and fell in LOVE; it was sweet, delicious, and full of raspberry flavor. I think it’s my favorite! I was hungry again after another hour but I waited a bit longer and drank Juice #6 around 8pm. It was creamy, sweet and smooth, and made me VERY full because of all the healthy fats from the cashews.

Wow. This isn’t that bad!

DAY 2:

On Day #2 I woke up feeling pretty hungry and was excited to drink my juice! I knew that I was going to have to do some recipe testing, and I thought Day 2 was going to be horrible but it wasn’t at all! I spent about an hour drinking Juice #1 and working for the better part of the morning. I ventured down to the kitchen around 11am to start recipe testing, and knew it was going to be difficult to resist eating anything I was making. But I didn’t cheat! Like I said, I was excited at the idea of really cleansing my body especially since lately I’ve been feeling pretty weird.

I sipped on Juice #2 around 11:30am, and that went down within 20 minutes. About an hour later, I was hungry so I opened up Juice #3. In my opinion Juice #3 is the worst! It was extremely hard for me to drink and I couldn’t finish it all the way plus wasn’t that hungry anyway. Must have been all of the veggie juice keeping me full. I felt great!

Around 4pm I wanted to do a workout, but decided I was going to drink half of Juice #4 before I did anything crazy. I ended up doing 25 minutes of cardio/circuit training, 15 minutes of yoga, and 10 minutes of cardio again. I wasn’t hungry after, but I was extremely thirsty. After my workout I finished Juice #4 and took a shower. I had plenty of energy and felt absolutely fine. At this point, I was wishing that I could do the cleanse for a week, although I was still looking forward to a BIG salad and eggs for breakfast again.

This day I was actually excited to get to Juice #5, the raspberry chia seed shake. Mmmm my favorite! I gulped it down and got back on my computer to work for a few more hours and probably drank three more glasses of water. Around 8:30pm I got hungry again and I drank Juice #6. Again, it kept me full. Nights are always hard for me because I’m the type of person who likes to enjoy a snack before bed. Drinking lots of water seemed to help with any midnight snack cravings.

Day 3:

I stepped on the scale and was down 5 pounds. Whoa! And awesome!

This morning I didn’t want any of the green juice, but I plugged my nose and drank it down. I was starving ALL DAY. I’ve heard that the juice cleanse is supposed to get better, but for me it got worse. I had major cravings for a taco salad that just wouldn’t quit. Anyway I tried to forget about how hungry I was by drinking a lot of water — that helped a bit. I worked out right away in the morning and drank my juices accordingly to schedule.  Basically I was just ready for the day to be over so that I could enjoy a taco salad. That night I ended up drinking two cups of herbal tea and going to bed early; I couldn’t wait to wake up the next morning and eat! I think I had a dream about mashed potatoes.

After the cleanse:

I lost 7 pounds in 3 days and feel GREAT! I had zero weird side effects and my skin is glowing.

For the next 3 days after your cleanse they explain that you should eat clean, so I tried to follow that by eating salads, fruits and veggies. I stayed away from dairy and gluten. I had a vegetarian taco salad. YUM.

So, would I do it again?

Absolutely! Next time I’m doing the cleanse for 5 days. I think it’s a great to jump start your weight loss or to just experiment with self-control and eating. It’s crazy how much time I spend cooking, so it was nice to step away from that.  Also some of the juices are really delicious, and typically keep you pretty full. I worked out every day so I think that’s why I got extra hungry. Anyway I highly recommend it!

Head to Urban Remedy’s website to learn more about their juice cleanses and meals they offer!

Disclaimer: Urban Remedy sent me their juice cleanse to review and try for myself; however, my opinions are my always my own.