We just completed a 24-day raw juice cleanse and we were AMAZED by the results.
But we also learned some tough lessons and we want to share them openly so you know what to expect before you juice.
Here’s what you can expect during the process:
You’re Not as Hungry as You Think You Are
During your raw juice cleanse you’ll undoubtably experience hunger (especially in the early days).
But…after the first 4-5 days, we learned that feelings of hunger were often because we were dehydrated.
Often a tall glass of water takes away the hunger completely.
Juice Cleanses Suck, But its Worth it
You’re going to suffer at times, you’ll hate yourself for doing it and you’ll feel like giving up.
This happens most after the first week.
The joy of the initial weight loss is gone and you feel you’re not making progress (even though you are) and you’ll want to give up.
Trust us, keep going. The body doesn’t lose weight in a straight line, there’s ups and downs so be patient and wait for your next “whoosh”.
Don’t Water Fast While on the Juice
During our 24 day juice cleanse we had two days of water fasting, they were unplanned and almost disastrous.
Having to order juices every 3 days while our brains weren’t working meant we screwed up the timings of our deliveries and had two days without juices.
Those days we were so weak. At night Skye felt like his heart was collapsing and he’d be dead by morning and Miriam was at an all time low. We couldn’t function by morning and were literally waiting by the door for our juices like dogs waiting for our owner to come home and feed us.
Seriously, don’t do it.
Plan Ahead To Avoid Extra Stress
Juicing is like living with your battery on 20%.
That means your patience and energy is running low and the smallest things can derail your day and ruin your mood.
Don’t listen to the juice sellers who tell you its all sunshine and light. There are dark days along the way so you need to plan ahead to make sure everything is handled BEFORE you start.
Don’t try to do complex work or anything that needs a lot of brain power. It’ll probably be littered with mistakes.
Whatever causes you stress, avoid it as much as possible until the juicing is over.
The Bedroom is For Sleeping Only
Passion takes a backseat during a raw juice cleanse.
Your body is trying to get through it, the detox is taking its toll and your hormones are all over the place.
You’ll be so tired that the best you’ll be able to manage is conversation and hugs.
And sleep, because it feels like it makes the juicing go faster.
Cleanse Alone or With A Juicing Partner
Feel like you’d give up if you juiced alone? Get a partner.
Sometimes when you’d give up on yourself, you won’t because you’re doing it with someone else. We’ll suffer for the people we care about and most people don’t want to look like a failure.
Feel like you need to be alone when you do it? Accept that’s what you need and set up your environment to make it happen.
Whatever you do, avoid anyone like the husband in Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead (check it out below) who not only lets his wife juice alone, he takes her to a restaurant an eats a huge meal in front of her!
You’ll Want To Give Up, Don’t
Some days you’ll look in the mirror, see your bloated body staring back at you and feel like you’ve made zero progress.
You’ll want to quit and grab a bag of chips and go to town – but don’t quit!
Sometimes you’ll be bloated as your body adapts to different stages of the detox. At other times its because you drank the juice to fast (and the excess sugar caused the bloating).
Accept its part of the process and focus on the end result, not how you get there or what happens along the way.
Fights Don’t Count
Miriam is a smart woman.
Before our raw juice cleanse started (while eating our last meal – a vegan pizza and Beyond Burger) she told me “Fights don’t count during juicing, OK?”
That agreement saved us multiple times. Things that would usually be nothing get amplified during juicing when emotions are running high.
Instead of letting things get out of control, we both knew a) its not us, its the emotions and b) whatever happens, it doesn’t count.
That mindset allowed us to stay on the same team and help us pull the other person through the hard times.
Avoid Juice Cleanses During High Stress Periods
Choosing when you juice makes a difference.
Try to do it at a time when you have a peaceful environment, a light schedule and the right people around you.
Avoid stressful periods like exams, family gatherings, excessive travel and whatever triggers you personally.
Juicing creates stress because you’re detoxing so the rest of your life needs to be peaceful.
Juice Cleanses Can Make You Cray Cray
Your emotions and hormones will be all over the place.
You’ll wake up feeling sensitive, teary and agitated. Things that don’t usually bother you will make you angry.
Ladies your period might be late causing you to worry and guys your lack of morning wood (and its limpness) can make you feel like age is getting the better of you.
Don’t worry, its all normal and when the juicing ends you’ll feel normal again and be enjoying your hot new body.
Expect Breakouts
As you detox, toxins leave your body in your poop, breath, urine, sweat and your pores.
That means you’ll get spots during the raw juice cleanse. With emotions running high, you’ll look in the mirror and see your tired, lifeless (and now spotty self) and want to cry.
Just remember, you don’t have to go out (more on that later) and your skin will be GLOWING at the end of your juice fast.
Stay with the process.
You’re already suffering so you may as well continue to at least guarantee you get the result you wanted when you started.
Start With 7 Days
Don’t be obsessed with the length of your juice fast.
You’ll find YouTube videos with people juicing for 30, 60 and even 1 year!
While the transformations are inspiring, don’t try to go for too long. If you’ve never run before, don’t try to run a marathon.
Start with 7 days. You’ll enjoy fast weight loss, feel good and you won’t have to feel like the end is far away.
If you get through that successfully you’ll find it easier to go for a longer period in future.
No Food In, But Stuff Still Comes Out 💩
The most intriguing part of juicing is that you won’t eat any food, or drink anything with fibre yet you’ll still be pooping weeks later!
Apparently there’s backed up meals stuck in the digestive system which never made it out.
By juicing (instead of blending) there’s no fibre being consumed. That mean anything you’re pooping was already inside you. Many times, the bloating you’ve experienced is not because you were fat, but because you had some old stuff blocked inside you.
Toilet Frequency Will Be Wild
Some days you’ll go to the toilet six times, the next day you won’t go for almost a week.
There’s no logic to it, but we found we felt better on the days when we could go. It just felt like we were making “progress” when we could go.
Once its over everything will return to normal.
It’s Not as Expensive as You Think
We paid $936 for 24 days of juices for 2 people. That worked out to $468 each, almost $20 a day.
We got 280 juices which equates to $1.67 per juice.
It might seem expensive, but when you consider how much you spend on groceries usually, it seems a lot more reasonable. We spend around $100 a week if we eat at home so its almost the same, but with juicing our bodies are getting way more vitamins and nutrients.
And remember, if you think health is expensive, try sickness!
Taste Comes Second
If you’re juicing for fat loss, then you’re going to have to sacrifice taste for a while.
The juices are actually tasty, but drinking the same juices daily for so long gets boring.
We realised that satisfying our taste buds all the time is what made us fat, so we had to pay the price for a while to fix things.
The bonus is that once you’re done, EVERYTHING tastes amazing! Even a simple raw blueberry!
See our first bite of food after 24 days here to see what we mean.
More Vegetables = Better Results
Don’t try to juice with fruits only.
A good juice fast is 80% vegetables and 20% fruits for the best results. Fruits make your blood sugar shoot up which is not what you want, vegetables maintain a stable blood sugar (the key to long term weight loss success).
Dark green vegetables are especially good (spinach, kale, dark leafy greens) as these have a ton of vitamins (A, C, K, B-vitamin folate) plus iron and calcium.
By doing this you’ll enjoy faster results and better long term health.
Want To Do a Raw Juice Cleanse?
If you’re ready to start your raw juice cleanse, we hope this post has prepared you for what’s ahead.
If you want to hear more from us about our experience read Our Amazing 30 Day Juice Fast Results (Before & After Photos) and How To Juice Cleanse For Beginners (Every Question Answered) which covers every question our friends, families and followers asked once they saw our results.
