I Did a 3 Day Juice Fast. Here’s What Happened.

I drank nothing but fresh fruit and vegetable juice for 3 days straight. Sounds crazy right?

As with many harebrained schemes with the goal to be skinny and look pretty, this experiment began with pictures of beautiful people on Instagram. Their captions swore that juicing was the key to clear skin and an amazing body. Sucked in by their aspirational photos, I dug deeper into this juice trend.

My drink is more photogenic than I am.

After reading various blog postings from people raving about how juicing changed their lives, I was lead to the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. It’s available on Netflix for anyone who wants to be similarly inspired to give up eating. The film follows an Australian as he consumes nothing but fresh juice for 60 days. The results are astounding; he loses over 80 pounds and cures himself of an autoimmune disease.

Feeling motivated to look good in my bikini on spring break, I ordered a juicer and stocked up on raw produce. Without giving it much thought, I decided to do a week long juice fast. I envisioned myself a slim epitome of health by the end of the week.

I made it 3 days.

My bartending skills prompted me to make this non-alcoholic version of a tequila sunrise. The real thing is better.

Despite not consuming anything solid, I had energy for most of the day. That is, until I didn’t. I’d feel like a million bucks all morning, but then I would have to go to sleep for hours at a time. I felt fragile and overly emotional. Maybe these were detox symptoms?

I wasn’t hungry at all but I missed chewing. The juices were delicious and obviously Insta worthy, but by the end of day 2 I started obsessing over mac and cheese (never a good sign). I made it through day 3 before caving from my original week long plan. Peanut butter has never tasted so good.

The only festive drink I partook of on St. Patty’s Day. The holiday just wasn’t the same.

In hindsight, I definitely rushed into it. Going forward, I’d like to incorporate more juices into my diet because I do believe they have health benefits. Thanks to my impulse purchase of a juicer, I totally can! (Yes, I can rationalize all shopping purchases.)

I probably should have started off with a juice every other day then gradually working up to a 1 day fast and a 3 day and so on. Obviously I didn’t because where’s the fun in that?

My impulsiveness and the 3 day cleanse taught me that:

• Juice is surprisingly filling and delicious.
• Chewing is very satisfying.
• Don’t believe everything you see on social media.
• I need to work on taking a more balanced approach to my life.

Overall, definitely worth 3 days of energy swings.