DIY 3-Day Suja Juice Cleanse

Juice cleanses seem to be really trendy right now. I’m seeing them all over blogs and instagram, and I keep getting Groupon types of emails for one, three, and seven-day programs. I've tried the 3-Day Original Suja Juice Classic Fresh Start Program (purchased at Whole Foods on sale for $128.00, normally priced at $165.00) and I absolutely loved the results. What I didn't love is the abundance of celery used in a couple of the juices... primarily because I really hate the taste of celery... and the price tag. But I felt healthy and strong. I gained clarity, more productivity and better sleep at night. I decided that I would definitely make this a regular part of my health regime by doing a juice cleanse quarterly.

My last juice cleanse was just after the 4th of July so it was time to do it again. I considered switching to another juice program and even tried a semi-juice cleanse at the end of August using a few Evolution Fresh juices (purchased at my local grocery store, Vons). They were delicious but I didn't get the same result I got from Suja. So my quest continued.

I soon learned that some of the cleanse programs seem to be kind of high in sugar. And, of course, all of them are pricey at about $60-70 per day. That said, the amount of organic produce it takes to make five organic juices plus one nut milk (which seems to be the standard) isn't exactly economical either, so I understand why they're priced so high, especially when you factor in manufacturing and branding and bottling and shipping. Plus, who wants to clean their juicer five times a day? NOT ME! But if I can save a significant amount of money and still create delicious juices, I am down for the sacrifice of cleaning the juicer.

So here I am. Although, I’m not really looking forward to prepping and cleaning produce and scrubbing my juicer regularly, I do actually own a perfectly good juicer. Not to mention that I work from home, so…I don’t have a good excuse as to why I can't attempt a homemade juice cleanse. Fortunately, I saved my Suja Juice Cleanse box and a quick Google search led me to the exact number of ingredients in each juice. I opted to toss out the ones I didn't like much and replace with a couple of other recipes I sourced on Pinterest. I’m sure there isn't any one correct way to do a cleanse so I am praying that I will get good results. I like the idea of following somewhat of a program rather than throwing a bunch of random ingredients in my juicer and hoping for the best, so I am taking a few cues from Suja on structuring my daily juice intake similar to the instructions they provide:

*On the morning of your first day, alkalize your body and prepare it for your first juice with a warm glass of water with a lemon and/or a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. When your body feels the need for something more, begin with your juices for the day as indicated. Each bottle should be consumed in it's entirety, however you can consume them in several servings, if you need to. 

And the order of juicing as listed by Suja is as follows:

1. BREAKFAST: Glow
2. MID-MORNING: Fuel
3. LUNCH: Purify
4. MID-AFTERNOON: Fiji
5. DINNER: Green Supreme
6. DESSERT: Vanilla Cloud (consume a minimum of 3 hours before bed to ensure full digestion)

I opted to swap out the Fiji and the Vanilla Cloud. The Fiji was simply too overpowering in the celery department for my tastebuds and the Vanilla Cloud wasn't as creamy or fulfilling as I had hoped. Instead I will drink a Lemon Love (Suja substitute), which is more or less a spicy lemonade in place of the Fiji and a Cashew Milk (Blueprint juice substitute) in place of the Vanilla Cloud.

To summarize, I’ll be drinking one juice every couple of hours, starting around 8:30am and ending around 7 or 8pm. On occasion, I noticed mid-afternoon my stomach grumbles a little. This is easily satisfied by eating 1/2 an avocado. I find that this is the only additional nourishment that I needed last time.

Here are my supplies, with most coming from Trader Joe’s to keep costs down, and the rest purchased from Vons and Whole Foods:

Grocery List (organic whenever available):

24 hearts celery
3 large cucumbers
18 green apples
4 big bunches kale
2 bunches spinach
11 lemons
1 pineapple
1 bunch mint
5 beets (including stems)
48 carrots
3 bananas
1 quart organic cashew milk
1 bunch collard greens
freshly ground turmeric root

And there were three items that I already had in my kitchen:
Cayenne
Agave Nectar
3 oranges

Total cost for 3 days: $64.79

The coolest thing about buying this much produce at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, is that everyone that works there totally understands your purchase. Oftentimes, they strike up conversation with me as I buy my healthy and organic grocery items, which just pumps me up even more to make it happen. Nothing like having supporters, even when they are virtual strangers.

Soooo....What am I hoping to gain from all of this? Reduction in water weight. Energy. Clarity. Feeling stronger and healthier. Better sleep. I’m also hoping that the awesomeness I feel after juicing is magnified since these will be fresher than fresh every day. My goal isn't to lose weight (which is always nice), but my main goal is to get some of my regular bloating down.

I’m opting for three days of juicing because I enjoy the challenge of seeing if I can stick it out for that long, but it’s also just long enough to where I feel like I’ll be able to get a good sense of whether I can kick start my body back into health.

Here are the recipes I am using:

Wish me luck and I’ll report back with an update soon! In the meantime, have you ever tried DIY'ing a juice cleanse or been interested in trying one? Share your thoughts! I would love to hear how well it worked for you.