It’s easy to be overwhelmed with the idea of a juice cleanse if you haven’t tried it before. Here are a few tips to help you make it through.
Pre-Cleanse
Before you begin your cleanse, there are a few things you can do to help your body make it through the cleanse. It can be quite a shock to the system if you’re unprepared! A few things you can do are:
- Hydrate well.
- Cut out dairy, sugar, and processed foods.
- Stay away from caffeine and alcohol.
- Eat fibrous, starchy vegetables.
- Start transitioning to soups.
- Supplement your diet with fatty acids.
Doing this a few weeks before you jump into your cleanse can fortify your body, immunity and digestive system to be able to take the cleanse well and make the most out of it.
Listen to Your Body
Everyone’s body will behave differently, so if someone tells you that they went on a full juice cleanse for a week and they feel amazing, that doesn’t mean it will also work for you. The number one rule on a cleanse is to listen to your body. If you’re feeling light-headed, shaky, or weak, take a bite of solid food to eat. There are also variations of juice cleanses that don’t involve just juice. You can see what works for you. For example:
- You can cleanse until dinner and then have one healthy meal in the evening.
- Do a “pre-cleanse” where you ease yourself onto juice by slowly incorporating it into your diet until you’re ready to go on a full-day cleanse.
Stay Hydrated
As important as listening to your body is staying hydrated. For any detox, you’ll have to be sure you’re consuming enough liquids. Drink at least eight cups of a water a day, stay away from caffeinated and alcoholic drinks, and switch to herbal tea and filtered water.
Extra Tips
It’s important to take care of your general wellbeing during a cleanse. Here are a few extra things to keep you going during your cleanse:
- Get your 8 hours in. Make sure you are resting!
- Pamper yourself to regular baths with bath salts.
- Don’t partake in vigorous exercise.
- Develop a light stretching routine.
- Book a massage to encourage circulation.
- Exfoliate your skin before showers to encourage skin cell rejuvenation.
- Consider taking a probiotic to help your gut.
- If you develop bowel problems – consider adding a herbal laxative to your cleanse.
- Detox at the sauna – better yet, book a whole spa day for the full treatment!
After Your Cleanse
If you’ve made it through your cleanse, well done! After your cleanse, it’s important that you stay on the right track. You don’t want to jump straight into eating everything and anything you can. Gently reintroduce solid foods into your diet and supplement that with plenty of liquids. Consult a nutritionist about what the best foods would be for you to start off with after your cleanse.
If you follow these steps, you’ll have a much easier time of completing your juice cleanse. And remember, don’t worry about it too much. You’re doing this for your health, so if you feel that something is off, take a break, take a bite to eat, then try again. You won’t regret the wonders a juice cleanse will do for your body!