If you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you know that cleanses, especially cleanses where you don’t chew food, aren’t on my list of recommendations. I just really don’t see the need to cleanse or detox- we have vital organs to do that for us- and if we’re feeling like we need a reset, all we have to do it eat lean protein, fresh fruits and veggies, drink lots of water and get on with it.

So why did I do a cleanse? A couple reasons.

• I was curious. My sister did it and loved it and I was truly curious how it would all go down for me. Would I be able to cruise through the three days? Would I have more energy? What would being “cleansed” feel like? LOOOOOL
• It was one sale!! I got 50% off the price and free shipping sooooo why not try?

As soon as I saw the shipment sitting on my porch, my first thought was “UGH…I have to do this now.” Hah! But in a way I was kind of excited. It was new, the juices were super healthy- tons of greens like spinach and kale, chia seeds, hemp seeds, fruits, the works!- and I hadn’t exactly been getting my veggies in (a constant struggle for me) so I figured this would help!

Here’s how the cleanse was supposed to go down:

• You drink 6 juices each day and can also have a cup of black coffee or green tea, all the water you want
• If you feel the need to chew, raw green veggies and 3 egg whites at dinner time were A-OK (Dan and I had a good laugh about that because WTF is 3 egg whites?!)
• It’s recommended to drink your last juice 2 hours before bed time

So, I sat down and planned out exactly when I would have my juices. I planned 3-hour intervals between 8:30am and 9pm so I could follow the instructions to a T.

I stocked up on all the green veggies at the grocery store and made sure we had plenty (or 9) egg whites on hand because I had a feeling I’d be needing a littttle something along the journey.

Day 1 began with my first juice at 8:30am, just as planned. IT. WAS. GOOD! In fact, all the juices were really, really yummy.

I had my second juice at 11:30 and was supposed to have my third around 2/2:30, but I couldn’t wait that long. I WAS SO FREAKING HUNGRY.

Now, being practiced in mindfulness and having gotten OK with feeling hunger (feeling hungry used to freak me the H out!) I used my mindfulness techniques:

• “It’s OK to feel hungry. Just ride it out.”
• “I can have some veggies and another shake in just an hou.r”
• “It’s ok if this is uncomfortable, I’m choosing to do this, it’s not forever.”

But guys…I COULD NOT DO IT.

What was amazing to me, and the thing that I literally could not believe. is HOW FAST DOING THIS JUICE CLEANSE BROUGHT ME RIGHT BACK TO MY OLD DIETING MENTALITY.

I was thinking about food CONSTANTLY.

I was obsessing about when I could eat (or drink, in this case) next CONSTANTLY.

I was stressing out over eating my “third meal” too soon.

I was worried about running out of meals for the day and being hungry at bedtime.

I was FREAKING THE EFF OUT for 8 ½ hours before I called it quits.

Yes. My juice cleanse lasted 8 ½ hours LOLOLOLOLOL!

But here’s the thing- IT JUST WASN’T WORTH IT.

It was mentally exhausting.

I was really. Freaking. Hungry.

I was Lauren from 5 years ago in an instant.

In fact, about a half hour before I decided to stop the damn thing, I went into the kitchen and ate four date rolls.

Now before you roll your eyes, I know date rolls aren’t the worst things in the world, but if you’ve ever had them, you know they’re incredibly sweet and one is enough (and that’s me with the giant sweet tooth saying that!). The thing is, I’ve never had more than one at a time, but the thought of being so restricted sent me straight to the pantry to start a binge- and old habit of mine that I let go of a few years back. Luckily, I stopped myself before it got too far in because I recognized what was happening.

This little episode is exactly why I decided to stop the cleanse. The fact that it brought me straight back to that dieting mentality was NOT somewhere I wanted to go again and was NOT worth my time or energy.

And let me tell you, it’s not worth yours either.

I’m glad to make the mistakes so that you don’t have to.

And luckily, I’ve made A LOT of dieting mistakes! Haha!

There are two things I want you to take away from this article:

• Our mindset around food is A CONSTANT PRACTICE. A part of me honestly thought I’d have this in the bad. I’ve done the tough stuff. I’ve done the hard work. I teach this stuff to clients every single day of the week. I write about it weekly, I talk about it all the time, I live it and breathe it. But in doing this little experiment, it’s really clear to me how easily we can slip back into old habits if we let ourselves. So, if you’re currently working on improving your relationship with food and it feels really freaking hard, KEEP GOING. Because it will get easier, but you gotta keep at it, always.
• Cleanses aren’t worth your time or money and they’re just not necessary. Getting your health in line doesn’t mean suffering, feeling hungry, feeling restricted and drinking blended dates and chia seeds (like…why can’t I just chew them?). There are MUCH simpler ways to reach your goals and I have a FREE guide to show you exactly how simple getting your health in order and losing fat (if that’s your goal) can be. You can download it for free HERE.

So that’s it. That’s my story! As I said before, I’m happy to make the mistakes for you so you don’t have to make them, so please, don’t repeat this mistake.

Eat and chew your food.

Nourish and fuel your body and mind.

Like the way you eat.

Stay mindful.

Carry on.