GROUPON GUIDE TO CHICAGO

How to Do a 3-Day Juice Cleanse

BY: Groupon Editors |Jul 1, 2016

How to Do a 3-Day Juice Cleanse

These days, it seems everyone is trying to eat healthier, whether that means avoiding junk food or loading up on superfoods like kale. But while some people benefit from simply being more mindful about what they eat, others benefit from the routine-breaking power of a 3-day juice cleanse.

Sure, there are many type of detoxes to choose from, but the most popular might be the juice diet. On a juicing diet plan, you give up solid food, caffeine, and alcohol for a specified period of time, usually three days. Besides loading up your system with vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants, a 3-day juice cleanse can supposedly help jump-start metabolisms and retrain your tastebuds, so you miss junk food less.

While every juice detox plan is different, we threw together this general guide for anyone wondering how to do a juice cleanse.

Pre-Cleanse

You might be tempted to overindulge in all your favorite snack foods the night before you begin your detox cleanse. But you’re likely to have better results if you choose to ease into the cleanse instead.

To do so, try going vegetarian for three days pre-cleanse. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and overly-processed foods too. Eating light during this period can help keep cravings to a minimum and you won’t feel as deprived as you would going cold-turkey.

How to Do a 3-Day Juice Cleanse_Almond Milk

Day One

This day will likely feel the hardest from a scheduling perspective since you’ll be expected to consume your juices at specific times of day, and in a specific order.

This might seem restrictive, but it’s actually to your benefit. Spacing the juices out ensures you receive a steady flow of nutrients throughout the day (and keeps you from getting hangry), and the order has been carefully designed to give you the right nutrients at the right time of day, keeping your blood sugars steady and your energy levels up.

Once you’ve got the feeding schedule on lock though, things will probably feel easier. Especially since no cooking means no dishes, and no dishes means extra time for TiVo.

Day Two

You’ve abstained from chewing, and you’ve gotten into the schedule. But now you’re likely hitting the biggest juice cleanse roadblock: cravings. As one of our beauty editors said about her second day on a juice cleanse:

“I woke up hungry. All I could think about was cheeseburgers. I just wanted to chew something.”

You might be tempted to cheat by tossing some pizza in the blender right about now. Don’t. Instead, try to look forward to the juices you like best on the plan. Most plans include protein-packed nut-milks and their creamy consistency makes them the closest thing you’ll get to dessert. Try to savor them as much as possible instead of gulping them down.

And remember… you’re doing something good for your body... it IS a treat.

How to Do a 3-Day Juice Cleanse_Smoothie

Day Three

I worried I had forgotten how to use my teeth,” said our beauty editor on her last day on the cleanse. But by now you’re in the home stretch… don’t give up!

If you need a distraction to keep you from quitting in the final stretch, hit the gym! Exercise is an important part of any healthy cleanse—just don’t overdo it. Remember that your body is still adjusting to the lack of solid food, and scale back your workout accordingly.

Post-Cleanse

Expect to ease back into eating solid food the same way you eased into the juice diet. Solid fruits and vegetables can be added back right away, but it’s often best to wait a day or two before adding in meats, carbohydrates, and dairy products. You might even find you don’t crave as much of those other foods as you did before the cleanse!