Health & Fitness: Juice Cleanse
By Ashley Aragona on December 15, 2012 from Health & Fitness
A couple of months ago I did something I’ve never done before, no, I didn’t sky dive, fly a plane or perform on Broadway, I did a three day juice cleanse. Now, I know what you’re thinking.
- Why?
- How?
I’m going to include the Why straight from Paleta’s site; then I’ll explain my Why.
WHY DO A JUICE DETOX?
The standard American diet contains countless toxins. The more toxins in your body, the more you suppress your immune system, making you more prone to disease and sickness. Your body uses a lot of energy to digest food. By juice cleansing, you give your system a break from digestion and allow it to focus on detoxification and healing. The rest you give your body allows you to recharge and repair your system, giving a boost to your metabolism and lead
Now, my Why. I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a cleanse for sometime now. I’m not going to lie; life gets hectic and even a fitness professional can find it hard to eat the right things. While I may be eating clean, it’s hard to rid your whole diet of foods that contain preservatives and additives. In addition, sometimes you can’t fight genes and unfortunately my genes include a rowdy gallbladder and an ulcer for good luck.
While I was considering a cleanse, and wanted to try a different approach to healing myself, I wasn’t actively pursuing a product but lo and behold the right one fell into my lap via a tweet I saw. The company’s name was Paleta, and honestly, I can’t say enough good things about them.
To sum it up Paleta was founded by Kelly Boyer who is a survivor of late state terminal cancer. The thing that really sold me on Paleta was the way they produce their juices. It’s not just a juice; each juice you drink is specifically for a certain part or your body and body functions to really give you a full body cleanse. In addition, all of Paleta’s juices are COLD pressed, as opposed to using heat, which takes out most of the fruits and veggies nutrients. Again, straight from their site:
WHY COLD PRESSED JUICES?
By pressing the produce, instead of grinding, we avoid oxidizing the fruit and vegetables and help keep nutrients and enzymes intact. Blending and chopping in a blender can remove many of the vitamins, enzymes, proteins, and minerals that fruits and vegetables provide. More so, the blender heats up, thus exposing the fruits and vegetables to higher temperatures and further sapping them of their nutritional value.
So, lets’ get to the HOW
Let me start by saying I started at the WORST possible time, a Friday. While this shouldn’t have been that bad; it happened to be the Friday that my family got together for a large pasta dinner. Imagine, homemade meatballs, pasta, sauce, salad, fresh oven baked bread, and MY dinner, a Vanilla Bean Almond Shake.
But, before we get to my dinner, let’s start my morning. I had six juices to drink a day and two boxes of water each day as well.
The juices started out very green, and got sweeter as the day went on, finishing off with one of my favorites, the Colada Cooler, which was Pineapple, Lime juice and Coconut Water. This one was to keep you hydrated and ready for bed. My other favorite was my second drink of the day; which was a mixture of kale, pineapple juice, and serrano peppers and yes, you got the heat and I loved it!!! (I actually find myself craving these two even now)
So, let’s get to the juicy part (pun intended) for those who have asked me about my cleanse. Here’s a quick rundown:
First day
Honest Feeling: ROUGH- No coffee, (ouch, my head) No pasta (MAJOR will power needed here) Went to bed feeling a mild headache but not really hungry.
(My head felt like this poor doggy)
Day Two
Woke up feeling great.No headache, no hunger pains. First drink of the day tasted pretty good, not as good as a yogurt, but pretty stinking good. Felt full throughout the day, had energy to boot and slept like a baby that night.
Day Three
Felt AMAZING.Felt lighter, more energized, more mentally alert PLUS was able for the first time in a long time to go to bed without taking any Tums!
First day off the cleanse-Woke up CRAVING (and no I am not exaggerating) my morning drink. Hated that I had no more juices to drink or add in with my daily meals.
Now, the lightning round:
1. Was it worth it?
Absolutely!
2. Would I do it again?
Plan to do it once a year
3. Was it expensive?
It was, but for what you got, I couldn’t have made it that well or that tasty! Plus it was super convenient and you got a really nice lunch bag to go with it!
To sum this up, I can’t tell you how much I recommend this. It wasn’t near as hard as I thought it would be, and I believe that is all because of the Paleta formula. Her juices are not only good for you, but taste VERY good, and keep you full throughout the day. I wasn’t even hungry come Monday morning. I had more energy and slept better at night than I have in a long time.
If you want to check it out, the site is Paleta.com and feel free to email me with any questions! I’d be glad to answer them!
Until Next Time!
Yours in Health and Fitness,
Ashley
