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Written by Monica Ng

It’s January and wintertime in Canada

You get it. That’s all I have to say, right?

Around this time of year, I often feel out of sorts (ugh, crappy) – sluggish, unmotivated and my clothes feel a bit on the tight side. I just finished my third Freshii 3-day juice cleanse and now ready to share my experience. I guess juice cleansing has become an annual thing for me. The juice for the 3 days cost me about $115.00 including the tax.

I wanted to infuse my body with additional vitamins and reset my brain to cut my junk food cravings – which effectively helps with weight loss. A bonus, is feeling a bit lighter at the end.

BTW – Freshii also has a 5-day cleanse, but that’s too much mental power for me!

Juice cleanse #1

The first time I did the cleanse, there were four juices and a salad for dinner. Honestly, it was nice to have a generous size salad with dressing to look forward to at the end of the day. I was suffering by day 2 and still thinking about food. Because I was drinking so much liquid, it made me feel like vomiting. I didn’t even want to drink anymore. I survived the 3 days and lost 3.5 lbs (most likely just water). It was a great experience to overcome the emotional and mental challenge of not really eating for 3 days.

Juice cleanse #2

The second time I did the cleanse, I decided to customize it. I drank three juices (breakfast, snack and lunch) but ate my regular dinner – although made a lighter dinner. At that time, Walmart sold Freshii juices, so I grabbed the juices that I needed. The second time around was much easier mentally than the first cleanse. Felt good after the 3 days.

Juice cleanse #3

Sadly, Freshii modified their 3-day cleanse since and cut out the dinner salad! Now it’s all juice and elixirs.

On their website they show 7 drinks and your day at a glance:

1 Green Genius (green apple, kale, spinach, celery, lemon and ginger)
2 Renew (carrot, orange, lemon and tumeric)
3 Immune Elixir (lemon, ginger and honey)
4 Charcoal Lemonade (juice is no longer available anymore from what I understand)
5 Green Genius (same as number 1)
6 Reset (apple, pineapple, cucumber and mint)
7 Recharge (carrot, apple, beet, lemon and ginger)

I was told that they don’t have Charcoal Lemonade anymore – but they have a new second elixir (a small bottle called Antioxidant Elixir). It’s not clear, but I guess that replaces the Charcoal Lemonade drink.

The usual disclaimers – Freshii recommends that you consult a doctor before beginning any type of cleanse and not to overexert yourself during the cleanse as you are taking in less calories (you might pass out). They also recommend that you drink 8-10 cups of water in addition to the juices.

The Immune Elixir contains honey, so as a vegan, I did not take that one and replaced it with the Antioxidant Elixir. So, I had a total of 6 juices instead of 7.

What you need to begin:

Go to your local Freshii restaurant and pick up all the juices that you need. Although the bottles are on the shelf, you may want to call ahead to make sure they have the full supply.

Freshii doesn’t provide an exact schedule for the timing, but suggests drinking a bottle every 1.5 -2 hours. Here’s how I broke down each of my days. You can modify according to your schedule.

My schedule

8am: Squeeze the juice of one lemon and add 1 cup of hot water. Drink it. You’ll feel your stomach activating!

8:30am: Drink Green Genius. Nice boost from the greens. I might drink this one regularly.

10am: Drink Renew. This drink took me about an hour to drink because I don’t like it and then it was almost lunch.

12pm: Drink Green Genius.

2pm: Drink Antioxidant Elixir. A bitter little concoction with some Moringa powder!

3pm: Drink Reset. Absolutely my favourite juice. I buy this one occasionally just to get an energy boost.

6 – 6:30pm: Drink Recharge. Happy it’s the last drink of the day. That means one less day of the cleanse.

According to Freshii, if you’re hungry at any point, listen to your body. You can eat some raw vegetables.

So how do I feel now that it’s finished?

Good. More hydrated. Lighter (lost 3.5 lbs of liquid). Still lots of energy.

For myself, because I’m pretty active out on the trails and exercise regularly, I felt that I needed to supplement my cleanse with some salad (at dinnertime) on days 2 and 3. I even threw in 1/2 an avocado. So if you’re feeling too hungry, don’t worry about eating something healthy.

Do I recommend the 3-day cleanse?

Yes. As I mentioned, I did the cleanse partly to break my junk food cravings – and it totally works. I didn’t grab any chips for 3 days. The cleanse is very easy and convenient because you can buy the full 3-day supply at once and store in your fridge. Also, Freshii’s juices actually taste very good and texturally not too thick. I’m not big on juices generally, but I enjoyed all of them except the carrot one.

I lost 3.5 lbs and my clothes were definitely not as tight-fitting. Losing a bit of weight is always a great mental push if you are trying to lose weight.

Cheers to your health!