ESSENCE Staffers Juice Detox Road Test: Day 2 Diaries

We’re celebrating the ESSENCE Body Issue this month!  In an effort to get our bodies and health in tip-top shape, we invited six ESSENCE staffers to try a 3-day juice detox.  Here’s an update from day 2!  (Be sure to read Day 1 if you missed it!)

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CLEANSES WE TRIED!

Name: Gwen
Cleanse: Organic Avenue Love Easy Cleanse
Day 2 Diary: I woke up feeling a bit sluggish. I’m missing my coffee just a wee bit more than yesterday. Again, I boil water and have my mug of hot water and lemon; it’s the new breakfast. Today, I decide to slow down a bit, move A LOT slower (this may not be by choice?). Even my colleagues take notice and point it out. I get to work and find my timely email with instructions on what foods I should expect. My bags arrive, again a nice mix of juices and salads. I tend to sip on the juices in the morning, and sneak in a salad for the afternoon. I continued to check each item off as I eat and drink along (it’s the Virgo in me!). However, towards the afternoon I wasn’t feeling so great. I had a headache and couldn’t wait to get home. By the time I reach home, I quickly get in the shower, call it an early night with my bed. Rough.

Name: Charlise
Cleanse: Urban Remedy Signature Cleanse
Day 2 Diary: Definitely more tolerable. I spend much of the afternoon shopping for an upcoming trip. One thing they don’t tell you about juicing is that you’ll have to pee. All the time. It doesn’t matter that you went to the bathroom right before you left the house to run errands. That doesn’t mean you won’t have to pee 30 minutes later when you’re stuck in the train. I always make sure I know my nearest restroom options when I’m leaving the house. Okay, so although day two starts out well, my body completely crashed by 10 p.m. I started to feel light-headed though not hungry, but empty as if there had been no food in my body. Ever. I tried to sleep it off, but it was a restless night that didn’t make for a great morning at work the next day.

Name: Yolanda
Cleanse: Ritual Wellness Seasonal Reset Cleanse
Day 2 Diary: And then came day two. I wake up with my stomach in knots and a weird headachy feeling. I say headachy because it wasn’t a full-fledged headache but my head was definitely cloudy. I took Ritual Wellness’s advice and drank a glass of warm water with lemon. This seemed to alleviate the weird stomach-in-knots feeling. Before hopping on the subway, I drank my green juice. The train lulled me to sleep (I am that girl on the train) and woke up soon after feeling a ton better. One thing I noticed is my energy levels were definitely down. Everything was smooth sailing until I downed juice #4: Cayenne, lemon and agave. Thus juice should be called “The Mean Cleaning Machine” because wowzers it caught me off guard.  I swear, it felt like I had just popped a whole pack of laxatives. TMI? Maybe, but it just felt like I was getting an internal express wash. I immediately felt pounds lighter. Hooray for juice #4!

Name: Chatel
Cleanse: Raw Cooler by Cooler Cleanse
Day 2 Diary: Today I sort of regret having my juice goodies delivered to the office rather than my apartment because I wake up craving anything ingestible. I wade through the hunger pains, reach work and happily open my second shipment (this is easily the best part of the day!). I’ve been having trouble drinking this “Essential Green” concoction. It takes me (I kid not) two hours to finish this thing. This juice has become my life’s struggle. My saving grace comes in the form of something called a young coconut ceviche. In my eyes, it has the wings of an angel. I praise my senses (and my low sugar levels) for needing food on the constant. This stuff is yummy, as is all their food preparations. I could easily LIVE off the raw foods. Gluten-Free, Vegan not to mention healthy. My body’s loving this…maybe not so much my mind?

Name: Nicole
Cleanse: The DIY approach (made my own juices at home)
Day 2 Diary: My update for today can be summed up as: #FAIL. Let me explain… The past few weeks have been crazypants for me. I work full-time and graduated with my Master’s last week after a month of intense final projects and exams, so at this point all I want to do is sit my Black tail down somewhere and not use my brain for anything other than blinking, breathing and sleeping. Being hungry?  Let’s just say that is NOT on my brain capacity list right now! Today started out well but somehow I mysteriously ended up at the frozen yogurt counter in Bloomingdale’s during an afternoon shopping run.  I actually had the nerve to rationalize my splurge by telling myself that frozen yogurt is really just a solid form of what would be a liquid at room temperature, so it’s still allowed, right? #FAIL. #FAIL. #FAIL. I inhale the yogurt and tell myself there’s always tomorrow. 

Name: Akkida
Cleanse: Juice Press Alternate Cleanse
Day 2 Diary: Deep down, am I a masochist? Usually my commute is (thankfully) aroma-free, yet this morning I swear I could acutely smell every food item within a 15-mile radius.  My nose was under attack from bread baking, eggs, Subway sandwiches and cheese fries (don’t judge me!).  I think I figured out where I went wrong yesterday.  The trick to staying on a drink schedule is to basically chug the juices. I’d been sipping each one like they were tea. Plus, since I’m actually at work doing work, I’m busy answering the phone or dashing off to a meeting, often leaving a 7/8th  juice filled bottle behind. Today I’m able to down Doctor Green with more ease than the first day. My colleagues conducted a taste test and enthusiastically labeled it delicious. It confirmed what I’ve always suspected — my co-workers are crazy. See how cleansing brings clarity! Today, when I tasted Lucky Seven (a carrot, orange, ginger, beet concoction), it took everything in me not to start belting out Rihanna. Where have you been all my li-ife-ife-ife-ife-ife? I had indeed found love in a hopeless place. Sigh. I still ended up off schedule and barely finished five of the six juices today.

Click here to read our updates from Day 1.

Check back tomorrow for an update on Day 3!