Juice Cleanse Review!

Sound the Trumpets! We made it through our 3-day juice cleanse!

I've got a multimedia review for you today, words, pictures and VIDEOS! I know you are dying to get all the deets so let's get right into it!

We got our juice from a local Arden's Garden location. For information about ordering the Love Your Liver cleanse for yourself, check out their website: http://www.ardensgarden.com/. Or if you live in the Atlanta area, just stop in your local store.

Included with the juices were instructions on what to drink when. We also made ourselves a countdown for the fridge for motivation. And of course nothing feels better than crossing things of a list!

How's it Taste??

This is probably the MOST important thing to consider when choosing to do a cleanse. You won't feel any of the benefits if you can't stomach the juice. And how did our juices taste? To find out, watch us try them for the first time:

How Do Ya' Feel??

Hopefully if you're able to stick with the cleanse, you'll be feeling pretty good, but with all detox-y type things there can be some bumps along the way. Some detox symptoms can include: headaches, nausea, or fatigue. All are signs that you body is kicking out the bad stuff, but that can be hard to remember while your in the midst of it. So how were we feeling during the cleanse? Check out our Day 1 & 2 Recaps to find out:

To see how we were feeling at the end of Day 3, check out the video below:

Results??

We are on Day 2 post-cleanse and are feeling pretty good. I'm feeling lighter and have got an extra pep in my step. I've lost my holiday food feasting blah feeling and am energized to make healthy decisions.Though it wasn't our goal, Mike and I are both down a few pounds. Of course, it's probably not anything permanent, as cleanse weight-loss can often be attributed to water weight.

More important than the physical results were the mental. The cleanse acted as a great re-set for us. We realized how much of a role food plays in our daily "entertainment". Instead of thinking "what's for dinner" we are trying to think about "what can we do for fun tonight" and hopefully joining the climbing gym will help with that. 

Another exciting result of the cleanse came on Monday morning when Mike and I found ourselves in the kitchen tossing out anything with sugar in it. I've talked about trying to kick my sugar habit for a long time, and I think 3 days without the white stuff was just the kick in the butt I needed. Now before you freak out, know that we still have natural sweeteners in the house like maple syrup, brown rice syrup, dates, and agave. 

Tips for First Time Juice Cleansers:

1.) Find a Juice Buddy. It was a million times better having Mike in on this with me. Misery loves company, right?!  Anyone you can convince to try this out with you will help, but convincing the person you spend most of your meals with will be best. Think outside the box. Maybe your co-worker would want to try it out too.

2.) Try to Find a Local Juice Bar: To maximize nutrient content and detox effectiveness, juice cleanse juice is not pasteurized and does not contain preservatives. In addition, 17-18 bottles of juice per person can be pretty heavy. All that can add up to some pretty hefty shipping costs. If you can find a local juice bar, you can save some money. Bonus: you might find a cool new alternative to the coffee shop!

3.) Consider Taking Time Off: This one depends on your specific situation. If you have busy days with lots of activity and excitement, you might be better off keeping your normal routine. If you are like me and sit at a desk all day, it might be nice to do the cleanse on non-work/school days so you can go out and do something fun...like rock climbing for example :) We used the MLK holiday to take a 3 day weekend without dipping into my PTO.

4.) Do Some Pre-work: I think my MUCH improved cleanse experience might be due to my cleaned up diet. Dairy, meat, processed food, caffeine, sugar, and alcohol are all contributors to the toxins in your body. Taking a breaking from these foods in the days leading up the cleanse might help to reduce the negative detox-y feelings.

Would Ya Do it Again??

Totally! I can definitely see this being an annual post-holiday thing for us. I know people who do week-long cleanses every 3 months. After having such a positive experience, I'm definitely open to doing juice cleanses on a more regular basis.

Let me know what you think about juice cleanses in the comments section below. Would you give try? Happy Slurping!

Climb and Climb Again!

Welcome back to the work week! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend regardless of it's length!

Mike and I had a super awesome amazing weekend. AND it ended up being a 3-day weekend as I had hoped! Woot Woot!

Arden's Garden 3-Day  Love Your Liver Cleanse

First things first, the juice cleanse went GREAT! I'm seriously a little shocked by how well it went. I'll be doing a full review later this week so stay tuned. Also, I want to note that as of my writing this post, I'm still kind of on the cleanse. We ended up with some extra juice, so I'm still enjoying the lemon wake-up and the breakfast Carrot-MultiMax mix. Nom nom nom..or maybe that should be Slurp slurp slurp :)

The other exciting activity of the weekend was climbing...and then climbing again. We might be addicted. 

Repping the Sconie teams...didn't even plan that.

On Saturday we met up with our buddies Kayla and Kyler at Stone Summit for a belay lesson (cheaper than a day pass and you get open climbing after the class is done). This gym is amazing! They say it's the nation's largest indoor gym, and I believe it. They have some seriously gnarly walls. Watching the experienced climbers scurry up to the ceiling like lizards was pretty inspiring...and a wee bit intimidating.

Look at those lizards! Totally jeals.

No sore muscles the next day meant that we were both itching to go back, and we did on Monday. The gym was less packed, but still bumping. 

After climbing we made our way to Atlantic Station. We got Mike some fancy new shoes to go with his fancy new suit for his big deal interviews on Friday. Positive thoughts are welcomed :) 

After a quick car nap in the Target parking lot (juice cleanse + climbing = exhaustion), we popped into the movie theater to check out Anchorman 2.

My Hero!

It was meh. I was mostly excited to pick out all the ATL locales that were used for filming. Other than that, it was a pretty standard sequel. I say wait for it to make it's way to Netflix. You won't be missing anything.

I've got carrots and hummus ready for lunch, and for dinner Mike and I will be resisting the urge to seriously chow down at Moe's. We've already agreed to skip the chips and salsa, and I'll be getting a Jr. burrito for sure.

Happy Monday Tuesday! Wow this week is flying by ;)

Friday Forecast: Juicing, Belaying, and a 3-day Weekend??

Woot woot! Friday is here. Work is quieting down. Life is good.

This weekend is shaping up to be a fun one. Though I haven't gotten the official ok to not come in on Monday, I've got a good feeling about it. And hopefully it does work out because one of our plans was made with the long weekend in mind....

3 Day Juice Cleanse!

What better way to bring in the new year and repent for our holiday food transgressions than by doing a juice cleanse?? That's what I keep telling myself at least.

Tomorrow marks day one of our Love Your Liver Cleanse from our local juice bar, Arden's Garden. I've tried juice cleanses in the past and have never been able to make it to the end. Looking back I think there were two major factors leading to my demise: 1) I was going it alone, and 2) The juices didn't taste good at all.

Well this time I did some research on different cleanses and even got the hubby on board. To learn more about the Love Your Liver Cleanse check out the info sheet here. Make sure to check in next week to find out how we do.

Belay Lessons

You may remember back in my resolution post that I mentioned cultivating hobbies, and we'll be doing just that this weekend. In addition to chuggin' down the juice tomorrow, Mike and I will also be meeting up with our newly married buddies, Kayla and Kyler, for belay lessons at Stone Summit Climbing Center. 

Mike and I both have some limited experience with indoor climbing. I even took a belay class a loooong time ago. We've gone climbing together a few times and always walk away from the day thinking, "Why don't we do this more often?" 

Last October we cancelled our gym membership because we had started running outside and because we were looking for places to save some money. When it comes to exercising, I think it needs to be something that above all else you LOVE to do. I hate when working-out feels like work, and I'd much rather just try to stay active throughout the day than to spend an hour or two killing myself in the gym.

After making some big changes to how we spend our money, I'm starting to see areas where we can afford to spend a little more, and I think rock-climbing could be a great investment: it's active, we can do it together, there's room for growth and development of new skills, and it's such a bad-ass hobby! Bonus: we can totally justify having a rice bucket for the living room.

Looking forward to giving you the update on Monday! HOLD tight til then! (hahaha, hehehe)