A week later, I’ve gotten some clarity. The short synopsis: Juice cleanse is awesome! It was hard. Sometimes really hard. But definitely worth it. It did everything it was supposed to do. I feel healthier, cleaner, and back on track. Also, it’s weirdly addicting and I kind of want to do it again.
It’s such a strange experience. After my last post, I took a turn for the worse. I did the juice cleanse from Sunday morning to Thursday afternoon and my reaction got progressively worse. I’d read more than once that the first day is the hardest, but that wasn’t my experience at all. I felt really good the first day, but pretty normal. The second day, which I’ve already written about, I went a little crazy. Felt real weird. Almost cried in public. Slept a million hours. The third day was similar to the second. I was less crazy maybe, but I felt more lightheaded. I couldn’t focus on anything at all. The fourth day, the headache arrived. It was terrible. Also, I slept a million hours again. I barely even got out of bed that fourth day. I ended up eating a modified version of my clean southwest salad because I was feeling so weak. The fifth day was a half day, which was my intention. And, it was for the best because I was legitimately sick by that point. Maybe the sickness meant that I should have kept going to get past the detoxing, but it was time to stop. I was so nauseous and my headache was even worse.
So, my description probably makes it sound really terrible. But somehow, it really seriously wasn’t. Like, the bad parts were bad. But overall I could tell it was working, which is what’s important.
And all weekend, after the cleanse was over, I felt amazing. I still do! I’ve been having a 16 ounce of green juice everyday for breakfast, which is good for two reasons. First, it’s really the best way to consume as many greens as possible, and it’s a nice way to ease your metabolism into the day. Second, it’s a really good way to remind me to keep up the clean eating for the day. If I have kale-pear juice for breakfast and feel really fresh after, I don’t want to ruin it later.
So for anyone who might be interested, I thought I’d post my juicing schedule. 
A few of the recipes are on the last couple of blog posts I’ve made. It would take a long time to post the full recipes of every single juice, so I’m not gonna do that unless I get some requests. But in the meantime I have some basic rules for how much to use of each ingredient.
- Kale: 6-8 leaves. (If you buy Cal-Organic, it’s one bunch.)
- Spinach: 1 cup.
- Romaine: 4-6 leaves.
- Cucumber: 1 cuke.
- Celery: 5 stalks
- Carrots: 4-5 carrots
- Beet: 1 large beet or 2 small
- Apple: 1-2, depending on taste preference or how many other ingredients are involved
- Lemon: 1 fruit.
- Ginger: 1 inch chunk.
- Grapefruit: 1 or 2 depending on how many additional ingredients you have.
- Mint: Handful of leaves
- Parsley: 1/4 cup
- Pineapple: 1 cup
Obviously, I just included the first three days, because that is how long I prepped. The fourth day I recommend taking your favorites of each category and having those. You can also experiment with combos that use these basic ingredients. I made choices partially based on what I had left from my big shopping trip. For the fifth day, do one green, one citrus, and one root, then eat produce and seeds/nuts for dinner. Avoid animal products and sugar especially. You should also stick with vegan for a couple of days after, too.
Hopefully if you try it out you find it as rewarding as I did. Please let me know if you have questions!
-lj
Building a Better Lydia 
Pretty nice post. I simply stumbled upon your blog and wished to
mention that I’ve truly loved surfing around your blog posts. In any case I will be subscribing for your rss feed and I am hoping you write once more soon!
I dont have a juicer, can you do the cleanse as smoothies instead?
Yes! Smoothies are a tad harder to digest than juice, but still a great way to give your body all those fresh nutrients in an easily digestible package.
For things like beets and apples, I recommend chopping them very fine before blending them. And, if you are going to do green smoothies, one thing I’ve learned is to break up the kale and then freeze it the night before, it adds some iciness to the smoothie and isn’t as “leafy” in texture. Really cool.
how much of the coconut milk, almond milk and agave nectar do you use?
A cup for the milk, two teaspoons for agave. But you can use as much as you like I think!
I’m gone to inform my little brother, that he should also go to see this
webpage on regular basis to obtain updated from hottest news update.
I would love to try this! Do you follow a time schedule with these? Is there a specific way to do this? Also, after the three days, do you have to start eating a certain way or can you just jump back in to regular meals/eating routines?
As far as time goes, just drink in place of meals, plus in between here snacks would fall. Basically every 2-3 hours. There’s not a specific way to do it, the most important thing is to listen to your body. But it’s not a good idea to jump right back into your normal routine, if its not already pretty strict. For two or three days before and after you should avoid sugar, simple carbs, a lot of saturated fats like heavy dairy and most red meat, and processed foods. Basically keep your diet extra clean immediately before and after. Hope this helps! (Sorry for delay)
I would love all the recipes for the juices on your juice cleanse list. I will be starting this tomorrow, Monday. đ
Me too!!
If you are using a blender instead of a juicer should you add ice and water to the ingredients? Or will they produce enough liquid on their own?
It depends on which juice you’re doing. Generally if you have really dense ingredients like beets or apples it might be a good idea to add some water. I’d start with a 1/2 cup and see how that goes. Hope this helps!
What kind of vanilla are you supposed to use? Is it vanilla extract? This is my first time juicing so I’m still trying to get this all straight. Thanks!
Just basic vanilla extract, but make sure it is pure vanilla and organic.
The way the days are set up, is that the juice you make at that time? Ex Day 1 Green would you do that juice say for Breakfast, and then just move down day one?
I usually make all of one day’s juice in the morning of that day. Yes, the first juice would be breakfast and then every few (3ish) hours I’d have the next one. Hope this helps, months later!
How much of the cinnamon and vanilla should we use?
Just to taste, I probably used a teaspoon of vanilla and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.
Hey! What kind of vanilla do you use? Also agave nectar? And how much? đ
I am loving your juice menu! I am making them in the Nutrabullet and just eyeballing the ingredients on the list. So far, day 1 juices have been very tasty. Thank you!
[…] Juice Cleanse. Switching this to “NutriBlast” cleanse, instead. Much more filling, but still get the nutrients you need. Read More […]
[…] Lots of juice recipes from a cleanse. Don’t think I’d try the cleanse, but some of the recipes look yummy! Read More […]
I started your cleanse today but now that I am going through and doing it I notice how much info is left out. Like measurements for vanilla and cinnamon and how much milk or coconut water to use. Also I made the last citrus juice on day 1 and there was maybe 1/4 cup total. Is that right?
I just wanted to clear something up đ On the days when you were juicing you didn’t intake anything else just juices ? I am a nutritionist, and I am planing to make a healthy many which includes juices but some other food too ( so it’s not too difficult ) đ Best regards Jovana