Why YOU Should Do A Juice Cleanse

I’ve never really watched my weight per se. I have always been able to eat clean, with a treat now and then, and maintain my size. The past few months I haven’t been eating as I should. In fact, my sister and I laugh at the number of tasty drinks we’ve consumed recently from Starbucks. I’ve not restricted myself as of late, cupcakes, cookies you name it lol! Now my clothes fit the same, but I was feeling kinda sluggish. I wanted to make some changes and decided to kick things off with a juice cleanse. As a native of the Chicagoland area, I love supporting local businesses so I was thrilled to partner with Fruvé xPress Juicery for a 3 day juice cleanse. The company, whose name is a combination of FRUit and VEgetables, has locations in the west and south loop neighborhoods. The organic juice bar is taking the city by storm!

Although a juice bar, they also feature smoothies, wellness shots and açaí bowls on their menu. I visited the West Loop location to pick up my cleanse with my friend Ebony, of Brown Skin Beautiful. The space is fresh, with friendly staff and an oversized chalkboard wall as its menu, perfect for some photo ops! The owner, Dominique Dunn, also a mom, understands the importance of having space for the littles so there is a children’s table with books for the youngest juicers!

During pickup, Ebony and I enjoyed a BALANCE açaí bowl that was delicious!! If you like smoothies, you would love these; I wanted to keep eating!!

Back to the cleanse, for some, half the battle of making healthy eating choices is the lack of time. Our society is inundated with fast food restaurants, processed and packaged foods. Many see eating real food as time consuming and difficult. With chronic, yet often preventable, medical conditions such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol on the rise it’s refreshing to see a brand like Fruvé xPress creating tangible options for those looking to improve or maintain their health.

You may be wondering, why do a juice cleanse?

If you feel sluggish, fatigued, have lost your natural glow, get bloated after eating, or just feel like your body is not functioning at its optimum health, then you can benefit from a cleanse. Today we live in a society that is overfed, overworked, undernourished and we are always in a hurry. We consume enormous amounts of processed, fatty, and sugary foods that lack the necessary nutrients our bodies desperately crave. We can all benefit from recharging our systems by eliminating toxins and flooding our bodies with living nutrients.

Bottom line, ANYONE can benefit from a juice cleanse. I’ve done juice and smoothie cleanses before but typically have made my own. Cleansing with Fruvé xPress was so convenient! We picked up our bottles and were set to go. The 3 day cleanse consisted of six 16 oz juices, labeled 1-6, with instructions to drink them in order. I brought them home and lined them up in the fridge so I could grab and go!

If you’ve never done a cleanse before, the biggest challenge to conquer is YOUR mind. You will not die without solid food for three days, I repeat you will not die! Quite honestly, you will consume so many quality nutrients packed into the juices in just three days that you may start to wonder how you survived without them! Fortunately, I wasn’t really hungry and didn’t have cravings so that helped. If I did feel a twinge of hunger, I would just take a few sips of juice. I felt great throughout the cleanse. I didn’t feel weak or fatigued. I was able to work and go about my daily activities without incident. I had an insulated cooler with ice packs to keep my juices cold on the one day I wouldn’t have access to refrigeration. Keep in mind, at Fruvé express, your cleanse can be customized to your personal needs. So, there is literally no excuse not to try; it’s all mind over matter and good preparation.

Juices are meant to be drunk about every 2-2.5 hours, so you end up drinking for most of your waking hours. Throughout the cleanse, you should drink plenty of water to aid in flushing your system and keep you feeling full. Now, be prepared to diurese, that’s urinate/pee/void, A LOT; you’ll want to make sure you have access to a bathroom because you WILL go often. Click here for other tips on how to prep for a cleanse.

I’ve never liked the taste of raw beets but surprisingly Heart Beet was my favorite juice!! It didn’t have the earthy taste that I was expecting. It will be a must grab whenever I pop in for an açaí bowl. By the end of my cleanse I noticed changes in my skin (less dry) and felt lighter. I promise a layer of fat melted away lol! I didn’t weigh myself before and after, which probably would’ve been a good idea. Depending on what your diet and lifestyle were like before a cleanse you may notice some pretty dramatic changes. After the cleanse is just as important as during. You will want to continue to eat fresh fruits and veggies and consume lots of water the first few days out. Immediately consuming fried or processed foods might upset your intestinal tract.

I’m really glad I took the leap and did this cleanse. I literally drank to my health!! Although we often use it to comfort us, if we allow it to be, food IS medicine! What changes can you make to ensure that you optimize your health?!!I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my 3 day juice cleanse journey! Please feel free to comment with any questions you may have and make sure to follow Fruvé xPress Juicery on Instagram!!