The Lazy Girl’s Cleanse
By Shannon Farrell, Daily Makeover
It's January; time for a fresh start. After weeks spent celebrating the holidays, our bodies are finally feeling the repercussions-tiredness, bloating, the occasional nausea. Apparently eating nothing but sugar cookies and pinot will do that to you.
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To get your body back on track, you need to flush out the toxins-the sugar, the gluten, the overload of carbs-and the easiest way to do it is with a prepackaged juice cleanse. The bottles are packed with nutrients ready to consume, because, let's be honest, the lazy girl does not cook. And if you're like me and the thought of foregoing solid food for days sounds like an impossible feat, a one-day cleanse is your best option. I recently tried BluePrint's Renovation Cleanse ($65, blueprintcleanse.com), which is comprised of six juices over the span of 24 hours.
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The Juices
The cleanse includes six juices that are numbered in order of when to consume. (If I wasn't such a carb lover, this would be the life-having my meals all ready for the day without having to lift a finger.) I love a good juice, but really green sugar-free concoctions freak me out. The set only includes one green juice, and it's sweeter than expected. The other juices have a fruit or milk base, so they also went down super easy.
The Cleanse
Ranging from 110-300 calories, I wasn't getting my normal 1,600 calories a day, but surprisingly, I wasn't too hungry. Most mornings I wake up with a life or death need for coffee and stock up on a fruit and milk smoothie. Swapping it with a juice didn't make much difference. In the afternoon is when my stomach starts to grumble. Spreading the juices two to three hours apart was just enough time before the hunger to set in. The one problem I encountered was preventing hunger at bedtime. With my last juice at 7, I slid under the covers at 9:30.
The Results
After weeks of indulging on alcohol, sweets and junk food, my body felt more energized after just 24 hours of juicing. And my stomach felt clean-if that's possible. It was just what my body needed to kickstart a healthy routine. But if you're looking to lose weight, this isn't the cleanse for you. After one day I lost about a pound. Because it's essentially water weight, I gained it right back within a week.
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