I’m really looking forward to my juice cleanse this time. It seems to get easier each time I do it. One of my secrets is proper preparation. It makes the world of difference if you prep, otherwise you will have some nasty withdrawl headaches. Take it from me – start slow and work your way up to the cleanse.
Here is my prep schedule:
Wednesday: Replace one meal with a juice. Avoid sugar and breads.
Thursday: Replace one meal with juice. Avoid sugar, breads and dairy.
Friday: Replace two meals with juice. Avoid sugar, breads, and dairy.
Saturday: Replace two meals with juice. Avoid sugar, breads, dairy and meat.
Sunday: Replace two meals with juice. Avoid sugar, breads, dairy and meat.
Monday: Start 5 Day Juice Cleanse with 5 juices a day. 3 meals and 2 snacks.
Helpful Tips to Remember:
- 80/20 – I mentioned this in my previous post, but this is really important. You want 80% veggies and 20% fruits. I always juice with apples and lemon to make the juice a little sweeter.
- Lots of greens – This is the key to juicing because greens give you the most nutrients. Some of my favorite greens to juice are kale, collards, swiss chard, spinach, and kohlrabi greens. Make sure to juice all the green tops from carrots and celery leaves too.
- The secret of butternut squash – Most people wouldn’t think about juicing squash, but a butternut squash goes great with juicing. It’s my special secret because it is loaded with vitamin A and C, potassium and magnesium and makes your juice sweeter.
- Source locally – Local veggies are at their peak of freshness and will produce more juice because they haven’t been sitting in a grocery store for weeks. So hit up your local farmers market this weekend. If you can’t do this, make sure you purchase organic ingredients.
- Leave it on – If you buy organic, wash your items but leave the skins on. This goes for apples, butternut squash, lemons, cucumbers, ginger, beets, etc.
- Strain – Most juicers will leave quite a bit of pulp in the juice, as well as foam (which can be unpleasant). You will want to strain that using a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth.
- Serve over ice – Serving fresh juice straight from the juicer is better when served over ice. If you store it in the fridge for a couple hours, you won’t need to do this.
- Use a straw – Just another element that makes the juice more enjoyable, and leaves you free of a green mustache.
- Variety – Don’t just drink one kind of juice. Make sure to get some citrus juices in there, some with beets (if you like them) and even just plain carrot juice. You want to give your body plenty of nutrients to absorb, so keep it interesting.
- Purist? If you aren’t a purist, it’s a good idea to add in some raw avocado and raw nuts like almonds and cashews to keep your fat content up. That was a lesson from my last fast that I learned, that I will now make sure to incorporate into this fast.
Favorite Recipes:
The Kitchen Sink: (makes 2-3 drinks)
1 lemon (if organic juice with rind, if not peel)
2 apples
1 small butternut squash
1 handful of spinach
1/2 bunch of kale
1/2 bunch of collards or other greens
5-7 carrots
Metabolism Booster: (makes 1 small drink, great for a snack)
1 apple
1 grapefruit
2 celery sticks
6 mint leaves
Time to Clear Out (makes 1 drink) **stay close to the bathroom for this one
1 large or 2 medium beets
1/2 lemon without rind
2-4 carrots
1 apple
1″ piece of ginger root
Favorite Combinations:
Carrot, Apple, Ginger
Kale, Carrot, Apple, Lemon, Ginger
Spinach, Cucumber, Green Apple, Celery, Lemon
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Don’t have a juicer? Check out the Juice Bar in Brentwood or Juice. Nashville if you are local – or search for a local juicer in the town you live in. Both offer cleansing kits and programs to help you start out. I am working with a few juice people in Nashville to provide all my juices while I’m cleansing. This is just not the season of my life to do it myself. However, if you can that is incredible and extremely rewarding!
Also don’t be afraid to go “out” to eat at a juice bar. If you live near a Whole Foods, make that a special outing and treat yourself to a juice made by someone else.
Most importantly, you will want to experiment this weekend before you start your fast on Monday. It takes a few tries to get the hang of it and find out what flavor combinations you like.
Do you have any tried and true favorite recipes?