Last week I have done a 5 day juice cleanse, 5 cold pressed juices a day. This was not the first time I was doing a fasting. This time I decided to write down my experience and provide you with some tips to enjoy your juice cleanse best.

Preparation is key

Depending on how many days you are going to do a fasting, preparation is key. A few days before you start the fasting it is best to eat vegetables and fruits and lower down the calories you are taking in.

The second time I have done a juice cleanse, I did it without any preparation and my stomach definitely felt it during the juice cleanse (lots of pains). When you are thinking of doing some sort of fasting may it be a fruit fasting, juice cleanse, water cleanse or a fasting without any food and water, make sure that you choose an amount of time that is reasonable for the state of your physical body.

When you are a beginner it is best to start just with 1 or 2 days, to get used to the feeling of not eating a whole day. After that you can take some time and build it up per day, as fasting does take some form of concentration and perseverance.

5 day juice cleanse 2017 vs 2018

Before doing the 5 day juice cleanse I have done 1, 2 and 3 days before. When I felt I was ready last year I started doing a 5 day juice cleanse plus 2 day smoothie cleanse.

There are many effects that you may have during the cleanse. In the first day, it is a very strange experience to not chew on anything. You feel like you just want to move your jaw and eat something. However, the first day is not the most difficult day, it is the day when it is just starting.

Hunger is kicking in especially the second day. You feel like something is missing and even though I was enjoying the fresh juices very much, it was strange to have so much time at hand not preparing any food.

I ordered the juices prepared from a juice cleanse restaurant here in Malta. I only had to pick the juices up for the day and that’s it. When I was at work, I did have a lunch break, but just with a juice.

Emotional outbursts due to fasting

This years’ juice cleanse definitely was a lot easier for me than last year. One of the effects I had in 2017 was an emotional breakout. When you are doing a juice cleanse, it is as if the layers that you have been hiding below the eating patterns are coming out. bursts of emotions could arise especially on day 2 or 3.

When this has passed there is an enormous clarity of mind. You know the next steps in life and you feel as if you are a glowing light bulb with bright ideas. However, do not confuse this with intellectual clarity, as I found that capacity certainly a lot less with the juices. Concentrating at work was a true hassle. It took me 3 times to read the same sentence and get an understanding of it. Therefore, I would recommend you to do it when you are off work, if you have a very demanding intellectual job. Same for strong physical jobs, you won’t take in enough calories. Choose a time when you are off, when you can meditate and when you would like to have some more clarity about yourself and your life. It can be a true life changer.

Start fasting, give your organs a break

Our organs run over hours. We eat so much that it is digesting all day long. When we used to have a more primitive life, we would take much more time before we got our meal. Therefore, sometimes we ate only once a day. The rest of the day your organs had a break before it could run again on the created meal straight from nature.

We create diseases and we eat unhealthy food. The energy levels of our food today is very weak. The intake of vitamins that we had on just one meal from nature could provide us with enough energy for hours. Right now we eat and the energy levels that the food brings is very low and does not last long.

Body absorbs vitamins quickly and no more hunger

When you take your juices, from a respectable place or created by yourself with natural products, your body absorbs all these vitamins directly. After a few days of the cleanse I noticed that my skin looked extremely healthy, felt very soft and was glowing.

My body hasn’t been this happy from vitamins in a long time. It is not easy nowadays to eat healthy, but that is why I try to convince you how important it is to do so. You do not necessarily have to be a vegan or vegetarian, but make sure the intake of vegetables is high. You want to be as strong as a gorilla, eat plants it is clear that they are very well build.

On day 3 of the juice cleanse I also felt that my hunger completely left. All this time spending on food was gone and I suddenly saw how much time I spend on eating while sometimes I could use that time on other things. Eating is a social thing and I will always continue doing so, but some days some productivity is necessary and without this hunger it was fantastic.

Meditate during the process

In order to aid the whole process of the juice cleanse, try to meditate. It elevates your overall mood, but also provides you with some cosmic energy that can only be absorbed from source. Why are all these yogi’s able to do fasting without food and drinks? Because they are able to obtain energy straight from source.

However, this can only be done when you have reached a certain level of understanding, preparations and meditation. Certainly there are stages of meditation processes you can go through. It is not up to me to define, it is up to you if you see progress and how far your discipline goes. I did notice that meditation was much easier during the juice cleanse so go for it!

Just in the process of the juices, try to sit down in nature, meditate on a chair or in bed and relax. When you do a juice cleanse, do not try to do very hard workouts, this is not meant to be done while doing a juice cleanse. Soft workouts as walking, swimming or yoga are fine. Just feel how your body responds to the situation.

Weight loss during fasting process

One of the benefits is that your body will lose weight. However, partly of it is water weight and will come back after the juice cleanse. However, if you want to change your diet a juice cleanse before can be perfect, whereafter you can start with your healthy diet.

Your body has been used to the vitamins and definitely wants some more to keep the energy levels high. Weight loss should be the last reason why a juice cleanse should be done as it could bring back your weight fast as well. Do it for clarity, the health of your body and treat your digestion system with some well deserved rest.

When you are done with the process usually it is a happy time, depending on how you have experienced it. Last year I wanted to continue as I felt insanely great. This year, I did it while working and that was less of a recommendation as my concentration and capability went a bit backwards. If you have any questions towards a juice cleanse please do not hesitate to contact me.

Once more an overview of the advantages and disadvantages according to my experience:

Advantages of doing a juice cleanse

– Glowing skin
– Clear (spiritual) mind
– Organs get a rest from digesting
– Emotional release
– Weight loss
– Absorption of vitamins
– More “me” time
– Better concentration while meditating
– Hunger leaves after day 2

Difficulties of doing a juice cleanse

– Constant perseverance necessary
– Hunger
– Emotional moods
– Nothing to chew

I hope this was helpful for you and I hope to see you soon again. Much love to you as always.

Michelle
The Mindful Magazine