Suja Juice Cleanse Review + Health and Fitness Friday!

I made it through the juice cleanse!  I really loved it and am sort of eating my words (or drinking them?)  because I was totally skeptical of it!  I supplemented my Suja juice with a couple from Blue Print Cleanse yesterday because Whole Foods didn't have enough Suja for me.

I really did not care for the red juice.  That is the one of the Suja that I didn't like much either, I guess red juice just isn't my thing.  The Lime ginger lemon agave was super tasty though!

This one was really really fabulously delicious!  I could drink this all summer long!

Ok, so I know you are all dying to know how I felt doing this and what changes I've noticed!  Here you go:

PROS:

- I felt great, nota HUGE burst of energy or anything, but I felt like me energy was coming from a natural source, not at all like a caffeine high.

- I actually think my skin looks better, more glory.

- I don't think my stomach has ever been to un-bloated.  Due to my GI stuff, I'm pretty much bloated 24/7.  

- This did seem to help my digestion too, probably because it was all liquid, but I think it gave my body a much needed break from the amount of work it usually has to do to digest stuff (which is a big problem for me/people with my diagnosis.)

- I lost 4 pounds.  Again, I didn't do this for weight loss.  I don't think it was 4 real pounds of fat, probably mostly water weight and getting rid of excess waste/toxins in my body.

- Mostly I was just surprised that I really didn't crave anything, I never once thought about that box of wheat thins and bag of jellybeans in the pantry.  That is totally uncharacteristic of me and definitely a reason to do this again!

CONS:

- I had a bad headache on day 2.

- I was freezing the whole time....but then again I'm in Minnesota and theres still ice/snow on the ground.

- Working out was pretty tough.  I ran once, used the elliptical once, and walked my dog twice.  I had energy for the day, but maybe not enough for a good workout too.

I really hope to do this a few times per year.  Does anyone out there have thoughts about buying a juicer?  Or about the cost of a juicer + produce vs. bottled juices?  Is it realistic to find the time to make your own juice for a 3 day cleanse?  I am a newbie to this, so any advice is very appreciated!

Now, lets talk about fitness.  As I just mentioned, my workouts haven't been great.  I usually do my long run on Friday morning, since I don't work Fridays right now.  I doubt I have enough energy in me for my scheduled 9 milers this morning, so I am shooting for 5.  Hopefully I'll get the 9 miles in on Sunday.

This weekend is going to be PACKED full of yoga.  Seriously, I have 17 hours of scheduled yoga between now and Sunday night.  The reason is because I am getting certified as a Yin Yoga instructor this weekend, so we have an intensive 3 day course.  This is on top of my normal teacher training this afternoon and a 3.5 hour mentorship tomorrow morning.  I don't have to be there until 1 on Sunday though, so I am hoping to get my long run in then- but I am not going to beat myself up about it if I don't make it...I might just need to rest.  

As always, linking up with Jen for Health and Fitness Friday!

Suja Juice Cleanse: Day 3

Yesterday went well, and I am on track to finish this juice cleanse tonight!  I was again very surprised that I didn't get hungry yesterday.  I had a little bit of hunger in the afternoon, but after having my afternoon snack juice, I wasn't even hungry for dinner!  I had some friend over to teach them a yoga class, and I was positive I would be starving by the time they left, but I wasn't.  Not that it stopped me from drinking all of my juice though, especially that Vanilla Cloud- holy yum.  My favorites remain the same, Vanilla Cloud and Fuel.

The only side effect I felt yesterday was a headache. And I was freezing all day.  Both of those are normal for me though, so who knows if it was related.  I can't say that I am experiencing this crazy burst of energy that other people talk about, but I do feel good.

I still agree with thought from yesterday that the flavor varies from bottle to bottle.  I did notice slight differences in a few of them.

When I went to buy these at Whole Foods, they didn't have enough of a few of the juices to last me for 3 days.  However, they also carry the Blue Print Cleanse line of juices, so I bought a few of those to have in place of the Suja juices I couldn't get.  Today I will be dipping into those and I am excited to see the difference!

Come back tomorrow for a full review!

Suja Juice Cleanse: Day 2

So far so good on the juice cleanse! I made it through day 1 just fine and I was really surprised that I wasn't too hungry.  I started to get a little hungry in the afternoon, but that all went away after I had my "afternoon snack" juice.  The only difficult part of the day was when my husband heated up leftovers for dinner and I could smell the food, but he was kind enough to not eat it in front of me. I pretty much have only good things to say about the flavors:

Glow (breakfast):  Made from apple, cucumber, celery, mint, kale, spinach, and collards.  I LOVED this!  There are several green juices, and this might be my favorite!  I really loved the mint in it, so refreshing!  Mint is the only herb in there, but to me it was like an herb party in my mouth!

Fuel (mid-morning snack): Made from carrot, orange, apple, pineapple, lemon, and turmeric.  This was seriously SO GOOD!!  This was hands down my favorite juice, other than the "dessert" drink.  The flavor was amazing, it was like spring in a bottle!  I got the orange flavor the most, but I've heard people that the carrot flavor is the strongest.  I am wondering if the flavor changes a little bottle to bottle.

Purify (lunch):  Made from carrot, apple, celery, cucumber, beet, and lemon.  This wasn't bad, but it was my least favorite.  I thought the beet flavor was a little too strong, and I like beets.  I did not find this to be very sweet, which was actually a good thing because I'd get tired of drinking sweet stuff all day, so it was a nice break.

Fiji (afternoon snack):  Made from fuji apple, cucumber, celery, kale, spinach, collards, and lemon-ginger.  Another yummy one! I loved the ginger in this and actually wish it had been a little stronger!  This tasted a lot like Glow, but I could still tell the difference.

Green Supreme (dinner): Made from apple, kale, and lemon.  I liked it, to me it tasted like a granny smith apple.  However, my mom had one of these and hated it.  She said all she could taste was kale.  Another reason I am wondering if the flavor doesn't change from bottle to bottle.  I guess I will find out today!

Vanilla Cloud (dessert):  Made from coconut, almond, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.  YOU GUYS.  This was sooooo good!  I wanted it to last forever!  The flavor is amazing, to me it tasted mostly of almond and cinnamon.  It was just the right level of sweetness and SO satisfying!  I plan on buying these in the future for when I want dessert- which is every night.  I could definitely have one of these every night!!

I am excited to see how today goes!  I really haven't had any bad side effects yet, but I can't say I feel a whole lot different either.  The only thing going on is a headache, but I get headaches all the time so I can't say for sure if its connected to the juice cleanse.  Come back tomorrow to see how day 2 went!

And I am carrying this over from yesterday: On another note, I need your help!!  I will be on vacation April 20-30 and am looking for volunteers to guest post about their favorite vacations!!  Comment on this if you want to write a guest post for me!

Suja Juice Cleanse: Day 1

I've said before that I am not really a believer in juice cleanses,  but I guess it isn't really fair for me to have an opinion on it though, since I've never tried it.   I am not quite sure what inspired me to try this, other than I've been consuming an obscene amount of sugar lately and am feeling a little blah about it.  Seriously, I recently set out on a quest to find the most perfect jellybean brand, and I have no shame.

I've heard amazing things about juicing, and I noticed Suja juice at Whole Foods a few weeks ago and thought that this would be a good test to see if buying a juicer is worth it for me.  The juice is expensive at 8.99$ per bottle, but not as expensive as buying a juicer + ingredients for only a 3 day cleanse (which is what I'm doing.)  If I decide I want to keep doing this, I am sure having a juicer would be cost effective, I'm just not ready for that commitment yet.

Disclosure: I am not expecting weight loss results from this, but I knew some of you who read this might be interested, so I bit the bullet and weighed myself this morning for the first time in probably 6 months.  I don't want to promote anything that exclusively has to do with weight loss.  I would not feel right about it since I work with eating disorder patients and have developed a much deeper understanding about those illnesses. Mostly, I am interested to see how this makes me feel and how my sugar & carb cravings change.  I'm not sure how it will affect sugar since there is quite a bit of natural sugar in these drinks, but maybe something will change since it is all from either fruit or honey!

Tomorrow I will write a post about each of the flavors after having tried them all.  I can tell you that the 2 I've had so far have been delicious!

Has anyone else ever tried a juice cleanse?  What was your experience with it?

On another note, I need your help!!  I will be on vacation April 20-30 and am looking for volunteers to guest post about their favorite vacations!!  Comment on this if you want to write a guest post for me!