Jus by Julie 3 Day Cleanse Review

While on vacation a friend of mine got to talking about how she wanted to try a juice cleanse. There was one on Groupon where you could pick up 2 – 3 day cleanses for $125 (shipping included) so we figured we’d give it a shot! The cleanse was Jus by Julie an here’s the review from a late 20-something first time cleanser who is not a health or fitness nut.

Mind you this is a REALLY extensive review cause these notes are as much for myself as it is for all of you!

Pre-cleanse

The delivery schedule for Groupon orders is not as flexible as their regular orders but with a 3 day expiration we decided we would freeze our juices. They came on Thursday and we threw em in the fridge. I picked mine up from her Sunday and left day 1 in a bowl of lukewarm water overnight to thaw. Day 2&3 were in the fridge.

I’ve heard that pre-cleanse you should prep your body for it. I chose to go the other direction and continued to treat mine the the trash heap I always have.

…here’s the review from a late 20-something first time cleanser who is not a health or fitness nut

We decided to start the Monday after the super bowl. Fortunately since it was predicted to be the most boring game in the history of ever there wasn’t too much partying…but I did have Burger King for lunch, steak and potatoes for dinner and a few hard ciders. The number of hard ciders I drank on Sunday can barely hold a candle to the copious amounts of alcohol I consumed the previous day though. I’m not proud but that’s why I felt like I needed to cleanse, or as one friend put it…detox!

Colleen, you’re a pal!

When I ordered the juices I let them know I am allergic to strawberries (an allergy my mother things is completely psychosomatic, which I think she might be right on) so I didn’t get any #1 drinks, I instead had to replace #1 with the extra #3/6 drinks that were included. That was a bummer but I guess Jus by Julie only has one type of #1 drink.

Day 1

Spicy Lemonade – a hit in my book!

8:00am Drink 1 – Sweet Spin – This one wasn’t too bad. It was the first juice so I longed for a bit more sugar but the mango and pineapple were pretty sweet. This juice was still a bit frozen as I drank it on my drive into work. This is the #3/6 drink that I had to replace my #1 drinks with. I’ll be a bit more diligent to make sure this is thawed completely before having again.
I also had a medium iced coffee this morning – according to the cleanse packet I’m allowed one cup of coffee with Stevia sweetener. I’m drinking more than a cup but did go black with Stevie so I’m trying here people….
10:30am Drink 2 – Spicy Lemonade – If this is what the master cleanse is all about I’m sorry I mocked it so when people were going through that fad. I’m totally digging this spicy lemonade.
12:30pm Drink 3 – Sweet Spin – This one again today…best part of strawberry allergies…sigh, at least it’s not too bad.
My friend I’m juicing with and I are texting and both missing solids and planning to eat egg white when we get home tonight. I keep walking by the cabinet of food in the office longing for some solid foods. Gonna need a walk to the store for some sugar free gum later.
4:30pm Drink 4 – The Beet of Apples – It’s weird…cause it tastes like beets but a little sweeter, but not sweet enough to taste like the sangria the color looks like…mixed feelings…
7:00pm Drink 5 – Island Coconut – At first sip I was hesitant. I hate those coconut waters that come in adult juice boxes but both times I’ve been to the Caribbean I’ve gladly drank all that coconut water out of a fresh coconut. The last time I went I had some of the fresh coconut jelly and while that wasn’t for me (but it was fun to feed the monkeys) and this drink reminded me of that jelly with a dash of cinnamon and the sweetness and nutty flavors from the dates…heaven! I would have drank two of these if I had extras. This was also nice and filling around dinner time.
9:00pm Drink 6 – Sweet Spin – Some point today the hours slipped away from me, I’d planned on being done by this late but gotta drink up this last one. I had a different #6 planned but I left it in the car and didn’t feel like going back down to get it. It’s 30 degrees out so it’ll be plenty cool for tomorrow.

Day 1 Recap

That wasn’t too bad. I habitually drank my morning coffee but I can go without for the next 2 days I think. I got hungry around lunch time but by the time I got home and had the chance to cook up some egg whites or grab the broccoli out of the fridge I wasn’t as hungry anymore. I did pick up a pack of sugar free gum to chew mid day cause my teeth felt dirty from all the juice with no chewing.

Day 2

Sweet Spin – my favorite of the green drinks

Start – 1 cup Yogi detox tea
8:00am Drink 1 – Sweet Spin – I thawed this one out better this morning. Didn’t seem as bland as it did yesterday.
10:30am Drink 2 – Spicy Lemonade – I really dig this juice, I wish I could drink more of it. Talking with my friend seems we are both in agreement that this is the kind of drink we wouldn’t mind ordering more of and keeping around, but it’s so easy to make I’m sure we could just do that instead!
1:000pm Drink 3 – Sweet Spin – I’m starting to get a little tired of this juice, seeing as this is the 5th bottle of it I’ve had in 2 days,.. Suck it down…
3:00pm Drink 4 – The Beet of Apples – It’s still weird, I don’t like it. There’s so many other #4 drinks on their website, why couldn’t you be one of those. and this coming from a girl who likes beets.
5:30pm Drink 5 – Not So Chunky – I love banana. I dig peanut butter. I did not love this drink. Maybe it’s cause it was frozen or not freshly made but as I drank it on my ride home I wished I’d brought my blender ball jug so I could re-mix this one. I shook before every sip as I cruised down the pike but really had to push through this one. I texted my friend “Thank goodness tomorrow is another Coconut-yum!”
8:00pm Drink 6 – Xtreme Green – Not a huge fan of this one. That’s a lot of green in a juice. I didn’t have to force it but I was pretty full from the Not So Chunky and the large glass of water I drank after it.

Day 2 recap

I drank a lot more water than I did on day 1 cause I felt a bit more dehydrated. We are having a snow storm tomorrow so I had to hit the grocery store for my Thurs real food meals and it was a little painful to be at the grocery store. When I got home I spotted that I had almost a dozen eggs that were due to expire in 2 days so I hard boiled them and ate the egg whites of one of them with a hint of cayenne pepper. I didn’t even eat the egg cause I was hungry, I just wanted to chew something other than gum and that was the egg I sacrificed to test if they were hard boiled enough.

Now gross talk time: I felt like I haven’t eliminated enough solids during this cleanse. Today drinking more water there was a little bit but not as much as there ought to have been. I started looking into the master cleanse’s salt water flush and since I’m working from home cause of the snow tomorrow I think I’m gonna give that bad boy a shot.

Day 3

11:00am Drink 1 – Sweet Spin – I’m way behind today cause I did the salt water flush this morning (you can read more below). Cause of chugging all that salt water earlier this sweet spin tastes like magic.
12:30pm Drink 2 – Spicy Lemonade – I’m gonna miss this drink. There’s a few recipes floating around online, I’ll have to pick a favorite and keep this drink around more often.
1:30pm Drink 3 – Sweet Spin – I have had this one 6 times and it’s definitely my favorite of the two green drinks but I’m excited to eat lunch at lunch time tomorrow.
3:30pm Drink 4 – Pine-apple Mint – Not a huge fan of this one. I’m not a big mint fan anyways; I’ll take a cosmo over a mojito any day of the week. It was still tolerable for someone who doesn’t care for mint and I did prefer it over the beet drink I’ve had the other two days. I again just wish there were other of the #4 drinks – the Liquid Summer would have been much more interesting!
5:300pm Drink 5 – Island Coconut – Love love love love love love. While drinking it I was Googling how I could make it at home. Gotta figure out where around here I can buy coconuts, I have a feeling it’s the meat blended that gives it the rich creaminess. I don’t know if I could get that from the coconut milk alone.
7:30pm Drink 6 – Xtreme Green – Again, not a fan. Wished it was another Sweet Spin.

Day 3 Recap

Today was hard I’m not craving food any more than the other day but on the previous two days I was at work for 8 hours and in the car for 3 more so I wasn’t so close to my fridge and pantry the whole time. Also knowing I was so close to the end was a big motivator to stick with it. I did sneak in two egg whites in the evening cause being at home all day I’m used to snacking and I really needed to satisfy that urge especially after coming back in from shoveling out my car.

Day 3 Salt Water Flush

There are a number of resources on salt water flushes online: Master Cleanse salt water flush, Yogitritian salt water flush and Livestrong.com – Benefits of a salt water cleanse. I’d like to do another salt water flush again maybe do a raw diet for 2 days, flush and do a day of juices then back to raw for a day. I’ll do that in a month or two though cause I cannot wait to eat all the yummy Recipes I’ve found on Pinterest!!!!

Overall Review of the Jus by Julie 3 Day Cleanse

What I wanted out of this cleanse was a kick start to a healthier lifestyle while feeling like I was starting on the right foot.

I enjoyed this process. I liked the challenge of sticking to such a strict regimen for 3 days. Between energy level and schedule I didn’t manage to get to the gym while I was cleansing but I’ll be dancing tomorrow night and then definitely getting to the gym both days this weekend. I know I didn’t loose any weight on this cleanse but that wasn’t the point for me. What I wanted out of this cleanse was a kick start to a healthier lifestyle while feeling like I was starting on the right foot. Right now I feel like that goal was met!

Like I mentioned before I’ll definitely juice cleanse again but I’ll likely pick and choose my juices rather than be stuck to a regimen that I don’t love.

Have you juiced before? Tell us about your experience in the comments below!