Healthy Hollywood: Try It Out Tuesday – Spring Cleansing!

Healthy Hollywood debuts a new weekly topic “Try It Out Tuesday.” Every Tuesday, we will have the lowdown on the most buzzworthy fitness gadgets/exercises, hottest treatments for skin & body, and whether the latest diet trend is worth giving a go. Plus, if you’re interested in a particular wellness matter or item – let us know!

Since spring is less than a week away (Can you believe it?) – why not give your body a tune-up from the inside out with a juice detox? Celebs, like Gwyneth Paltrow, Olivia Wilde, and Anne Hathaway have all publicly hailed cleansing as the secret to their fabulous skin & body. Reason enough to try, right?

I have always wanted to do a juice cleanse, but for one reason or another, failed miserably – by either eating a big meal mid-cleanse or just thinking, “I could really use a detox,” but never committing. You know the deal!

So, I decided to give it another shot and went with Cooler Cleanse, a juicing regimen created by Salma Hayek and her juice guru, Eric Helms. Salma swears a five-day all-juice cleanse before an awards show is all she needs to be red carpet ready.

Since I am a newbie, Eric suggested I start off the cleanse with a day of juices and raw food, then a 3-day juice-only diet, and transition out of it with a final day of raw food & juices. Also, one should plan ahead by eating a wholesome, plant-based diet a few days prior to detox. “Cut out anything heavy, creamy fatty, or rich. Eliminate all the starchy breads and anything packaged or enhanced,” advised Eric. That also meant no caffeine or alcohol – and that was my first cheat – I just can’t give up my morning coffee.

On the first morning, I got the goods. I was very excited to not have to think about cooking or meal-planning for the next five days. Day one’s menu included 3 juices, a coconut ceviche snack, and a filling cashew cheese ravioli dinner and a fruit tart (that I’m still fantasizing about). I totally made it – wasn’t starving and revved up for my 3-days of full-on juicing.

Day two kicked off the major detox – 3 days of having 6 juices every two hours – AND the juices are seriously delicious. Most of them are either all greens, fruit & veggie combo, and the final drink is almond or Brazil nut milk. This drink is definitely a sweet ending to a day of major wellness. The most common cleanse complaint is feeling light-headed or flu-like symptoms. I do admit to getting dizzy my first day. I had to breakdown and get a salad to feel better.

While, I missed chewing my meals, day two and three were a breeze. I loved the feeling of flooding my body with healthy nutrients. I’m not going to say, “I was super energized,” but I did make it to the gym. Plus, I was looking forward to my last day of raw food, which included an Asian chopped salad snack, and collard-wrapped enchiladas dinner. I had tried the enchiladas before and knew they were out-of-this world yummy!

All in all, I didn’t lose any weight, but I do feel like I gave my body a chance to reset and just felt better knowing I was fueling it with lots of vitamins and nutrients. I would totally do another again, but I might be better with a five-day raw food diet. I just think for me, personally, I need more of a “chewing” meal during the day – but I love all the juices, healthy veggies and didn’t miss meat or my standard 3 meals a day. The biggest bonus, I reaped the added benefit of simply making it and that feels good!

To check out cooler cleanse, head to www.coolercleanse.com.