Cleansing via Cooler
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 10:02AM A couple weeks ago, I got in touch with my inner hippie and underwent a cleanse. You know, one of those no solid food for several days cleanses. The crazy people cleanse.
I kid. I kid.
I never saw myself as someone who'd do the whole cleanse thing. I'm a pretty practical person who eats average food. And by average I mean that I eat meat, I cook, I indulge in unhealthy foods sometimes. I don't usually do fad diets - I work out regularly. To me, my thought was always... why spend exorbitant amounts of money just to be hungry all the time? And I really didn't see any concrete evidence that cleanses do anything physically helpful.
Anyway, back in January, several of my friends did the Cooler Cleanse...
...and they RAVED about it. So much so that they pretty much evangelized for the program. Now, I may be a skeptical person by nature, but I am a chump for new experiences. If I haven't done it, I want to do it ASAP. Except sky diving - I'll experience that from the ground. (!)
So, I decided to quit being a naysayer and just try it. After all, I can't dog something I've never tried, right? I judge people that criticize things they've never experienced themselves. Experience teaches you many things that Google just can't translate.
Finally, I navigated my browser on over to the Cooler Cleanse website to order. My intention had been to go big or go home and do the 5-day cleanse; however, they only start cleanses on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (due to shipping time and the juices are time-sensitive). My schedule just wouldn't allow me to accommodate a 5-day cleanse due to many weekend social engagements. I'm brave, but not brave enough to tote weird, labelled juices to my friends' birthday parties. I can freely admit that.
So, 3-day cleanse it was! The $73 in shipping kind of made me black out in shock for a moment, but... oh well. The daily charge for the juices is actually cheaper than many other cleanse programs. Once I hit "confirm", I was committed!
On a Tuesday morning in February, a big box full of chilled juices arrived at my doorstep. The juices are all raw and hard-pressed - you have to start your cleanse right away in order to preserve their nutritional value, since there are no preservatives. The juices are numbered 1-6, and you drink them in order - one juice every two hours. Daily, you are consuming less than 1,100 calories via the juices.
Here's my review of the juices:
Juices #1 and #3 (you drink this juice twice daily): ESSENTIAL GREEN
Essential Green is delicious - it's kind of like Naked's Green Monster. I was surprised to find that I really, really loved this one, in spite of the scary green color. It tastes like a lemony glass of fresh.
Juice #2 : GRAPEFRUIT AND MINT
As might be expected, this was my favorite drink, and I downed it in 5 minutes flat every day. People that are new to cleansing do better with the fruity juices - also expected. I'm a newbie, what can I say.
Juice #4: COCONUT WATER
Oh my god, coconut water is the worst. You hear coconut and you think delicious - it's a cruel practical joke, people. It took me a good 2.5 hours to drink this on the first day. Bossyboots tried a sip and immediately called me crazy for drinking it. The funny thing is that I only hated it on the first day. The second day of drinking this was easier, and on the last day, I had no problem drinking it at a normal pace. Hint: squeeze fresh lime into it (Thanks HisBirdiesNest for the tip!)
Juice #5: ESSENTIAL RED
This juice was super tangy, and I enjoyed it. The taste is similar to Essential Green, but the tang is definitely ramped up. Thumbs up.
Juice #6: ALMOND NUT MILK
The idea behind this drink seems to be "milkshake". I am a milk drinker, but this was a strange drink for me because it comes from nuts, vanilla beans, and dates. I am used to skim cow's milk, and this was just very different for me. The taste is good, but it took me a minute to get used to the odor that comes off of the milk. Again, good taste - I just had a hard time with the smell. It was by no means a coconut water experience, however.
Every day, I drank my juices, and I didn't cheat once. I stuck to the program religiously. You want to know the truly crazy thing? I loved Cooler Cleanse! I wasn't hungry once, even though I know that's hard to believe. Not once did I have tummy rumbles. I felt energetic and alert, and I lost a few pounds.
My takeaway? I was kind of surprised at the results. In the weeks after my cleanse, I am much more aware of overeating. Sugar and starches in particular don't taste so great to me anymore. While juicing, I was impressed by how CLEAR the tastes were. That grapefruit juice tasted exactly like a turbo grapefruit, unhampered by extra sugar. My experience was definitely eye-opening.
Like many people, I definitely have an emotional eating side to me. While on the cleanse, that option to eat mindlessly was taken away from me - I have to say it was kinda nice. The times that I thought "Oh I'm hungry"... after a moment I realized that I WASN'T really hungry. My stomach wasn't feeling hungry; my heart was.
Would I do this again? Heck, yes. Next time, I'd like to go for the 5-day cleanse and see how that goes. I'm actually thinking about buying myself a juicer and doing regular cleanses on my own. Consider this skeptic converted. Viva la juice!
*This is not a sponsored post; I just had a great experience and wanted to share it with you all!
Reader Comments (14)
Love it! Mrs. Canary did Blueprint Cleanse and I always meant to do it...I think if I get a little extra cash flow I might try it! The juices in Cooler seem a little more appealing than Blueprint (to me)...I will have to compare and see! :)
3 day sounds great for a first timer, and I'd love to do a 5 day after the holidays! Congrats on completing!
I was just going to say, this sounds very similar to the Blueprint cleanse that's popular in NYC. I'm glad to hear your honest review of it - I'm a bit apprehensive if I could survive on a similar cleanse (I get hungry really really easily) but I might try a 3-day one like you did!
First of all, congrats. Second, if you do make the juices yourself, please please please share the recipes with us!! I would love to try it too, but definitely can't afford to order it.
Lastly, ummm... how do I phrase this... how was the... uh.... poop?
Hmmmm... I have to admit I'm a bit skeptical when it comes to cleanses, but you & I sound like we're pretty similar in our eating styles and I respect your opinion... I just might have to try this. I think I could make is 3 days. Especially if it wasn't a weekend ;-) Thanks for the honest review!
P.S. You're welcome for the lime juice advise ;-)
Thank you SO much for this detailed run down of your cleanse experience - - I have been wanting to try this and I think this review just may have confirmed that I am gonna bight the bullet and give it a whirl :)
@Amy C - Wellllll, there were a few bathroom adventures, but nothing horrifying - in the interest of an honest review. :)
Ahhh, these reviews are always so fascinating! I need to know more about AmyC's question. Specifically, can you do something like this, "bathroom adventures" and all, with an 8-5 job? (I can't recall if I know what you do, despite months of lurkerdom. :) Any advice is much appreciated.
@sjc - The bathroom adventures shouldn't mess up your 9-5 life! If anything, that part of your life just slows down a bit, and obviously some things are different due to a diet consisting entirely of juice!
Hi Penny! Love your blog. How much weight did you lose doing this cleanse?
Ok, two questions for you. One, did you have any bad side effects like diarrhea? And two, what was wrong with the coconut water? Was this just a particularly bad type of coconut water? Please try Naked's coconut water and let me know if you also hate that, or if it is just this brand from the cleanse that is bad. I love Naked's coconut water, but maybe I'm just a weirdo and everyone else hates the stuff.
I'm suspicious of these cleanses, but you made it sound so good! I'm also curious if you had any negative side effects. I don't know if I trust the coconut water, but I think I might give this a try.
Girl - kudos to you for trying something and sharing your experience. It's nice to see the good and the bad - and I think you present it fairly for what it is. I've always thought about cleansing, but the thought of having to keep all the juicing on me all the time was always enough to prevent me from really being committed. Thanks for sharing your experience!!
Hi...
I know that you exercise regularly and I was wondering if you continued to work out during your cleanse? Did you have to be more conservative about your workouts? Were you light-headed at all?
The Cooler Cleanse does sound fascinating to me... but it seems like i am always training for one race or another and I would be nervous about continuing a training program during a cleanse...
Thanks
You made me laugh out loud while reading this!!! And I feel much better that they are unable to get coconuts and are substituting watermelon/lime juice for my cleanse tomorrow:)