A huge thanks to People StyleWatch Magazine and Jus by Julie for providing me 5 jus bottles and 6 booster shots for free for review purposes. When StyleWatch first approached me, I thought I was only going to get 3 just bottles, so I was pretty excited to see I was delivered enough to pretty much do a whole 1-day cleanse (6 jus bottles). They were beautifully delivered to my home in a pretty large cardboard box that contained a really cute insulated cooler tote inside with an ice pack to keep the juices cool.
I've never done a cleanse before so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Overall it sounds like a great way to refresh your body and to ultimately feel more energized, focused, and balanced. I was surprised to see that you can eat or drink a few extra things during the cleanse. You're allowed as much water as you want, up to two cups of coffee, green tea, two egg whites, a moderate amount of raw or steamed vegetables (cucumber, celery, green leafy veggies, broccoli, & cauliflower), and sugar free gum.
Here's a step-by-step diary of my 1 day cleanse with Jus by Julie:
Since the 1-day cleanse is 6 bottles and I was given 5, I had to start with Jus #2. Just as well, since I woke up a little late this morning - #becausesaturday. Admittedly, I did cheat and have a small 70 calorie pack of Mozzarella snacking cheese earlier in the morning - fair enough, since I was one Jus bottle short.
11:30am: Jus #2 "Spicy Pomegranate" had a distinct sour lemonade taste with strong cayenne pepper aftertaste in each sip. To be honest, I didn't really taste the pomegranate element at all. It did take me a while to drink this one because of the spicy and sour components. However, I drink a lot of light lemonades and love ordering cocktails with habanero and other peppers, so these flavors weren't really foreign to me. This was a really light drink. It didn't seem to have any pulp to it at all, more of a "Crystal Light" consistency.
3:15pm: I got a little tired before 2:30pm and took a nap, so I had this one a little bit later than I thought I would. Jus #3 "Sweet Spin" tasted a lot like the typical smoothie I would buy in a store like Jamba Juice, Odwalla, or Naked. I've also made similar ones with my Magic Bullet blender. It's got a nice sweet taste because of the pineapple, mango, and banana. I would say the banana taste is a little stronger than the other two fruits. The kale and spinach don't have an overwhelming taste either, which is probably a good thing. The rice milk was subtle but added a nice taste. That's something I don't typically add in my own smoothies, but now I think it's a great idea! This one definitely did have a thick texture with some pulp.
4:15pm: Got a little hungry. Admittedly I don't have a lot of veggies in the fridge right now because I wasn't prepared for the cleanse. The box kind of showed up as a surprise Friday afternoon. The instructions said that all the juices are made fresh and should either be consumed within three days or frozen for later. I figured it would be better to taste them while they're fresh so I opted to try it today, since I had dinner plans yesterday and Sunday. So, I may have cheated a bit again...I had a 90 calorie bag of steamed edamame. It's not a "leafy" green but still unclear whether or not it's something to avoid. Hopefully it won't affect anything!
I also tried half of the Aloe booster shot. It didn't taste as bad as I thought it might. It was actually pretty pleasant. Since I thought I might be getting dehydrated though all this, the Aloe one seemed like a good one to try.
5:30pm: Getting hungry again. Had some steamed spinach!
6:30pm: Jus #4 "Chia Berry" is a bit sour like Jus #2 but the pomegranate and strawberry even out the taste nicely. The chia seeds add a nice thicker texture too. This one also tastes really sweet to me and again I see it has a very high sugar content (28g).
7:50pm: Couldn't stop thinking about all the food in my house. Oh no! Managed to find some sugarfree gum I bought a couple weeks ago. That did the trick!
9:15pm: I was looking forward to Jus #5 "Island Coconut" all day because the ingredients sounds so good - coconut meat, coconut milk, dates, and cinnamon. It tastes just like Horchata or rice pudding. Definitely the best one so far. It has chunks of coconut that tickle your throat a little, so you may want to have some water with this one. It definitely tastes more like a dessert which is odd since this is the one you're supposed to have at dinner time. It feels like the sweet one should be the last one of the day. Regardless, I'm not complaining. I drank this one pretty quickly because it tasted so good. I wonder if I could buy this one individually sometime and have it as a substitute for dessert?
11:30pm: Jus #6 "X-Treme Greens" tasted a lot like Jus #3 "Sweet Spin", as you would imagine. This one was a little more sour than sweet because lemon was the dominate flavor. The consistency was also significantly thinner, as the only real texture to this one was from the hemp seeds. This was was actually a little hard to finish because, believe it or not, at this point my stomach actually felt pretty full!
In the couple weeks immediately following my cleanse I definitely noticed that my appetite was significantly smaller. Over that same span of time I also noticed that I'd lost at least five pounds. I felt considerably more energetic for a few days too. Doing a cleanse was really tough - and I know most people do them for more than one day. However, I think I would be open to trying this one again if I felt like I was going through a period of low energy and consuming a lot of unhealthy food.
Interested in trying Jus by Julie yourself? Groupon is currently offering the 1 and 3 day cleanses at a discount. Click here to purchase the 1 day cleanse for just $33 (RRP $50) or the 3 day cleanse for just $125 (RRP $180).
What's your take on juice cleanses? Let me know in the comments below!
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