We’re days away from my 32nd birthday! That’s crazy to me, I remember having the thought anything over 30 was ridiculously old. I figured I would have a kid or two and my career would all be figured out by now. I have realized that there isn’t a set timeline for having all of that figured out. I am more than happy with where I am right now and getting older isn’t something to fear, every year gets better and better. Each one brings more confidence, joy, and the occasional obstacle.

An obstacle I’ve always struggled with is my diet. I’ve always been on the skinner side, my entire life. Growing up, I could eat anything I wanted and not gain any weight (even now, I’m still like this). It’s been a blessing and a curse! A curse because I never truly learned proper dieting!

This all started about three weeks ago when I downloaded an app to start tracking what I was eating. I felt like I wasn’t eating enough and when I did eat, it wasn’t very nutritional. After about two weeks of tracking my food, I was able to see what my diet looked like and I realized I wasn’t feeling well, tired, and my body was feeling overworked. I’m a visual person and I love how the app rates my meals and gives me reports on my diet. The “Calories Intake by Category” is the reason I did this cleanse, this is what mine looked like:

Mexican - 40%

Pizza - 22%

Pasta - 20%

Sandwiches - 19%

So yeah…I was like, it's time to make a change! I thought to myself, what is the fastest way I can jump start this? Cleansing my system and starting fresh would be best, so I thought a juice cleanse would be perfect. Five days was about all I could handle. Most of the posts I read online talked about a three day cleanse but I wanted to push a little longer so I went with five days. There was to be no coffee, no food, no wine (I don’t drink but good to mention alcohol should be eliminated for a cleanse), only juice and water for FIVE days.

My secret to success is Pressed Juicery. I did not make these drinks myself, I didn’t even attempt it. It did cross my mind for a second and then I read a couple of blog posts about juice cleanses and they all ordered them. I live in LA so the store was a few blocks away but you can also order these online and they deliver, I’m sure they ship them in a way that they’ll still be in good condition when they arrive. I tried their Level 1 Cleanse (Beginner) since this is my very first time attempting something like this. The website states, “If you’re new to cleansing, this is the juice cleanse for you. Upon waking, drink your first juice, and drink your next juice in order every two hours thereafter.” - simple enough.

I drank my first juice each morning at 9 am, then another every two hours after that. In between, would be a lot of water and nothing else. The juices came with stickers on top so I always knew what order to drink them in, super fool-proof! The 6 drinks had the following ingredients;

Vanilla Almond: almonds, dates, vanilla extract, sea salt. This was a great way to start the day, the juice was very filling and I felt like it helped wake me up.
Greens 2: apple, cucumber, celery, lemon, spinach, kale, parsley. I’m already a fan of all green juices (haven’t yet met one I don’t like), this one was nice and refreshing.
Roots 2: carrot, apple, spinach, lemon, parsley, ginger, kale. Not my favorite, but it was ok. This one felt pretty thick so that helped to make it filling.
Citrus 2: apple, pineapple, lemon, mint. This was my least favorite one, but I think that is due to the pineapple, I’m not a fan of pineapple. This one felt very, very sweet.
Greens 3: apple, cucumber, celery, lemon, spinach, ginger, kale, parsley. Very similar to Greens 2 but with some added ginger which gave this one a nice afternoon kick. I developed a love/hate relationship with ginger in my juice.
Chocolate Almond: almonds, dates, vanilla extract, cacao, sea salt. A nice way to end the day, I would have this one at 7 pm so this one would be close to bedtime, it was filling enough to help the hunger going into the night for sure.

The first 2 days were tough, very tough. I would highly suggest you start this on a Saturday so you can use the weekend to adjust. I had a strong dependence on caffeine so that is mainly where I struggled. I had to fight off headaches which made everything much worse. Once I made it through the first 2 days, I felt great. Wednesday-Friday had this natural energy that lasted the whole day. My body feels like its running better and my mind is more clear.

Coming off of the cleanse and back into food wasn’t very hard for me. The first thing I had was a bowl from Chipotle. Rice, grilled veggies, very light chicken, lettuce, and cheese with chips and guac. I cut out the sour cream and tortillas and went light on the chicken. Going into the weekend, I tried to stay as close to fruits and vegetables as possible, starting to work on eliminating dairy and meat from my diet moving forward. At Jersey Mike’s I went for a veggie wrap instead of a turkey wrap…baby steps.

The images above are my groceries this week. I went to the farmers market in Hollywood in Sunday and went a little nuts. My diet has already improved, here is what I’m looking like after the cleanse:

Nuts - 38%

Rice - 23%

Fresh Fish - 23%

Juice - 16%

Much better, and it’s only the beginning. I’m starting slow and celebrating little wins. I also don’t want to over complicate things so I’m just focused on eating more fruits and veggies. Here is an example of one day’s worth of meals for this week.

Breakfast:

Green juice, strawberries, blueberries, coffee (made at home).

Lunch:

Pistachios, carrots, and celery with hummus

Sweet potato fajitas with rice, peppers, and onions

Dinner:

Salmon, rice, green beans, and broccoli.

Baked potato, zucchini, corn, and carrots

Grilled Cheese, broccoli, carrots, and green beans

I clean and prep everything as soon as I got home from the farmers market, this makes it really easy and helps me eat it throughout the week. According to healthline.com, “Plant-based diets have been linked to a number of health benefits, including reducing your risk of heart disease, certain cancers, obesity, diabetes, and cognitive decline”. I’m not saying I will fully cut out meat and dairy but I am working to replace those things with more fruits and vegetables and so far I am feeling great.

Have you ever tried a cleanse? What are your thoughts and feelings around a plant-based diet and what is can do for your overall health? I would love to hear from you below in the comments!