I have seen and heard of others adopting a raw vegan diet or doing a juice cleanse and I decided I wanted to do something similar. For one week I made daily juices from fresh fruits and vegetables. When not drinking juice I was adhering to a raw vegan diet, this meant I was only eating fruits, vegetables and other uncooked vegan foods. This past week 90% of what I ate (or drank) was fruits and vegetables. It almost surprised me how vibrant and colorful my meals and juices were.
I already eat mostly healthy plant based vegan foods with the occasional processed, fried or dessert variety of vegan food thrown in. With that being said a juice cleanse or reboot was not as dramatic for me as it may be for others who, well are not me, as we all have different diets. The main reasons I wanted to do this Juice Reboot week were to refocus my healthy eating, challenge myself, and learn something new. I don’t usually juice so it was fun to wake up every morning an create a new juice combination. I also had to get creative in the kitchen as I am use to having a hot dinner; although not cooking food saved me quite a bit of time.
I encourage you to try a juice or even juice for a week. It might seem extreme but in my mind it is a positive challenge that can help to reboot or start up a healthy eating lifestyle.
Juicing Tips:
Listen to your body. If you are hungry grab a piece of fruit or munch on some carrots.
Drink plenty of water.
Prep & Plan ahead. Decide on some juice recipes so you can buy enough groceries. Make it easy and make a big batch of salad that you can eat throughout the week.
Try a new recipe. Get out of your comfort zone and try something new.
Add fruit or ginger to your veggie heavy juices to make them sweeter.
Check out the documentary on Netflix Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead and Joe Cross’s tips for juicing here.
Juice Cleanse Benefits:
Give your digestive system a break and flood it with antioxidants, vitamins & nutrients.
Detox & eliminate harmful foods.
Lose weight & improve energy
How I felt/ Results:
The first couple day your body will be getting rid of toxins, so you might frequently visit the bathroom and not feel 100%. I was a bit hungry the first day but just ate some more fruit and felt better. The rest of the week I felt pretty normal with my usual energy.
I continued to workout this week however I did skip a day and did more yoga as to take it a little easy.
My goal was not to lose weight however I did lose about 7 lbs. Some of it was bloat and I gained a few pounds back after returning to my normal diet. For me it wasn’t about trying to lose weight.
After not having processed food, bread or sugary food I have had less cravings for unhealthy food. As of 5 days after the cleanse I have stuck with eating healthy and so far the only “junk” I have eaten was an ice cream cone.
What I ate day to day:
Here is what I ate for my raw vegan diet included are my daily juice fast recipes and raw vegan meals.
Day 1–
Mean Green Juice From Joe Cross
Leftover pepper salad – chopped green & yellow bell pepper, red onion, jalapeno, ½ cubed avocado with cold pressed olive oil, lime juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder
Raw lasagna with Tofu Ricotta – layers of sliced zucchini, spinach, crushed tomatoes & tofu ricotta
Strawberries
Day 2–
Carrot sticks
Cherry tomatoes
Raw lasagna
Smoothie bowl- Raw vegan protein, frozen banana, almond milk, 1 tsp chlorella, vanilla extract Topped with Shredded coconut, chia seeds, hemp seeds, sliced banana
Day 3– 
Sweet Green Juice – cucumber, celery, pear, orange, apple
Carrot Green Juice – carrot, celery, spinach, lemon, ginger
Romaine lettuce & tomato with a little Italian dressing
Fruit salad
Raw lasagna
Carrots
Cherry tomatoes
Smoothie- banana, spirulina, raw vegan protein, almond milk, evaporated organic sugar, vanilla extract
Day 4– 
Green Juice – spinach, celery, carrot, cucumber, apple, lemon, ginger
Salad- brocoli, red cabbage, cherry tomato, edamame, red onion, red pepper, avocado with raw apple cider vinegar, cold pressed olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper
Watermelon
Smoothie Bowl – Green Juice Plus Powder, frozen banana, frozen pineapple, frozen mango, almond milk, Raw Vegan Protein Topped with agave, chia seeds, hemp seeds, shredded coconut
Day 5– 
Finish the Veggies Juice- kale, cucumber, carrots, celery, apple, ginger, lemon
Watermelon
Cherry Tomatoes
Red Juice from Loop Juice in Chicago – Pomegranate, Beet, Carrot, Apple, Ginger
Raw Sushi from Chicago Raw
Raw Brownie from Chicago Raw
More watermelon
Day 6– 
Bottled juice drink – Daily Greens Jicama-Blue Majik Greenade
Finish the Veggies Green Juice
Watermelon Juice from a festival
Salad – broccoli, red cabbage, red bell pepper, jalapeno, red onion, grape tomatoes, cold pressed olive oil, lime juice, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper
Day 7–
Carrot Juice – carrots, apple, ginger
Cherry tomatoes
Salad from day 6
Juice Springsteen from Real Good Juice Co. in Chicago- celery, apple, kale, swiss chard, dandelion greens, parsley, ginger, lemon
Raw brownie with strawberries and blueberries
When you think of juicing you might think green juice which sounds kinda gross. I tried to include lots of greens in my juice but included fruit & ginger as well. Overall the juice tasted way better than I had expected and the perks of juicing at home is you can customize to your own taste. Ginger will help to give your juice a nice kick. Carrot juice doesn’t really need anything to sweeten it up. Apples & pineapple help to sweeten juices with leafy greens.
A week of a raw vegan diet & fresh juicing was a great way to do a little detox and get refocused on clean eating. This week challenged me to be creative and opened my eyes to the beauty of fruits & veggies. There are so many fruits and veggies and so much you can do with them, it just takes a bit of research and planning to get started. I will now be making a more conscious effort to include raw vegan goods into my diet. Also it saved me time preparing dinner as I did not have to wait on any cook times, win! But really it lead me to create raw brownies, I mean let’s be honest I had to have a little treat.
