Three-Day High-Raw Cleanse & Juice Fast

On my recent trip to Austin for Vida Vegan Con, I ate SO. MUCH. FOOD. Omg. We ate meals followed by big snacks followed by dessert followed by more meals with only a couple hours in between. And I didn't stop when I was full. No, I cleaned my plate. Wasting vegan bac'n cheezeburgers or breakfast tacos is a sin.

But when I returned home, I was feeling pretty gross. I need a whole foods detox right away! So I decided to do a three-day cleanse with one day of high-raw food, a one-day juice fast, and another day of high-raw meals. This plan of solids-liquids-solids seems to work best for me. I'm not cut out for a 3- or 7-day juice fast. I like to chew, and one day of only liquids is enough for me. But I like to buffer my juice day with days of mostly raw/some cooked whole foods goodness.

On the first day, here's what I ate.

I started the morning with a Green Smoothie (banana, pineapple, coconut water, vanilla hemp protein powder, kale). And I had a Big Ass Salad for lunch (radish, mushroom, cucumber, pepper, olive, peppadew, roasted garlic, dried cranberries, sprouts, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, whole grain bacony bits, baby carrots, and ginger-miso dressing). Dinner was a Baked Sweet Potato topped with Brown Rice, Black Beans, Baby Spinach, Avocado, and Hot Sauce.

It was a solid day of whole solid food. And god, it felt good to eat something green. Lots of green!

The next day was juice fast day. I started the morning with a giant glass of lemon-cayenne water, while I prepared five veggie-fruit juices and one raw cashew milk (for dinner). They say it's best to juice as you go, but I'm a busy girl. So it was easier for me to bottle them up all at once.

Breakfast was Green Day Juice (apple, celery, cucumber, ginger root, kale, lemon), which I drank around 8 a.m. And that kept me satisfied until about 9:30 a.m. But I had lunchtime yoga class in the park at 11:30 a.m., so I made myself wait until 11 for my morning snack juice. I didn't want to get hungry again during yoga, so I took my juice with me. It was Beet It Juice (apple, beet, carrot, cucumber).

Wow! It felt so lovely to do yoga in the park on a nice spring day with a tall jar of beet juice! And then after yoga, I went back to the office and drank Salad In a Glass (tomato, sprouts, red bell pepper, carrot, celery, cucumber, jalapeno, romaine, parsley, garlic) for lunch. That was my favorite juice! Love the savory veggie juices! And garlic!

I was pretty satisfied after lunch, but I started to get a tad hungry around 3-ish. I had an afternoon snack juice ready to go, but for some reason, I wanted tea. I'd brought a few herbal teas to work with me. So I opted for Peach Detox.

And then just before I was ready to leave the office, I grabbed my Orange You Glad I Said Carrot Juice (carrot, orange, cucumber, kale) from the breakroom fridge. I walked to the car and cracked it open, took a few sips, and then I got soooo nauseous. I was nauseous all the way home, and a few times, I considered pulling over to vomit. But I made it home and threw up in the driveaway. Then I went in and laid down for awhile. I'm not sure what happened, maybe it was the detox tea and juice detoxing me. That doesn't sound very scientific, but I believe in some weird new age-y stuff, so I'm going with that.

Anyway, I thought I was gonna have to throw in the towel and stop fasting. But I went ahead and took a few sips of my dinner — Raw Cashew Horchata (1/2 cup raw cashews soaked overnight, 2 cups water, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp. cinnamon). It was creamy and dreamy and delicious and just what the doctor ordered. Suddenly, I felt great! On top of the world even. No hunger. And I had amazing mental clarity all of a sudden. I reached a zen-like state! I've done juice fasts before, but I've never experienced that.

So the night went on, and I never stopped feeling great. Never even got hungry again. That's a first on a juice fast for me. But I had my Bedtime Greens Juice (cucumber, kale, romaine, lemon, ginger) anyway.

The next day, I woke up feeling pretty awesome. I wasn't starving, but I had a workout planned. So I had some Two Moms in the Raw Granola, did my workout, and then followed that with a Raspberry Avocado Smoothie (raspberries, avocado, banana).

Lunch was another Big Ass Salad (same stuff as before but with added chickpeas for protein). And dinner was the Temple Rice Bowl from Thrive Foods (brown rice, hummus, stewed bok choy & tomatoes, sprouts, hemp seeds, red onion, and lemon juice). Very good!

After my cleanse, I'm back to eating what I want. But I've still been doing mostly whole foods. There has been a cupcake in my life since then and some vegan gummies. It's all about balance!

Note: I'll be at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Fest on Thursday through the weekend. So I'll be back on Monday night (or maybe Tuesday) with a recap of Roo's vegan offerings!