A lot of my girlfriends in San Francisco have been doing juice cleanses lately and I wanted to get in on this healthy and invigorating trend.  I’ve been an advocate for the paleo diet for the past year (all natural, animal products, veggies, no wheat, etc.) and I was interested in seeing what an all-vegan diet would do for my body, my skin, my energy levels, and my mood.  Would a juice cleanse be something I start doing regularly?

I weighed my options between building my own cleanse from scratch but wasn’t interested in investing in a juicer machine given that this was my first time doing a cleanse and I didn’t exactly know if I would love it…or completely hate it.  I decided to go with a three-day cleanse from a local bay area company called the CAN CAN Cleanse.  I chose the CAN CAN Cleanse because it was simply so easy.  Three days, eight jars a day, and everything is numbered and on a schedule.  I simply enjoy the juice / tea / soup and all of the guesswork is already taken care of.

Top: Walter Baker, similar here // Skirt: JCrew, similar here // Heels: Sergio Rossi // Bracelets: Urban Outfitters, Joe Fresh, similar here // Rings: Claire’s // Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs // Sunglasses: Electric Visual

There are multiple different juices in the CAN CAN Cleanse but a few of them really stuck in my mind:

The Green Juice: At first glance I’ll admit that the green juice looked a little…green.  Chock full of cucumber, celery, parsley, kale, cabbage, broccoli, fennel, spinach, romaine, apple, ginger, and lettuce, the juice is a powerhouse of antioxidents and nutrients…exactly what I wanted to bring into my body as a spa retreat for my insides!  After mustering up the courage I took my first sip and I was pleasantly surprised!  The green color makes you think it will taste like “lawn in a bowl” as Samantha said on Sex and the City, however I actually think it tastes like kiwis!  The green juice was one of my favorites in the entire cleanse and I’m actually looking to introduce a green juice into my overall standard diet…it was THAT delicious!

The Zucchini Basil soup: I was very happy to see that the cleanse included a thicker, heartier soup.  The juices are great but what I noticed on this cleanse–sometimes you just want that mouth-feel of solid food.  The zucchini basil soup was absolutely divine!  I heated it up in the microwave for two minutes and enjoyed every spoonful of it (I may have tried to lick the inside of the jar…).  This soup is definitely something I would love to have as a workday lunch–cleanse or no cleanse!

The Watermelon juice: OMG, wow!  So sweet, so flavorful.  I was shocked to see that this was just natural juiced watermelon!  It tasted sweet enough to be a Slurpee but all natural of course.  I actually split mine in half and added water to it to thin it out.  I liked it more with the toned down sweetness and it was a great way to drink another couple glasses of water.

The Vanilla Almond Milk: And I saved the best for last!  I have never had almond milk before because I’m not really a fan of milk in the first place and figured they tasted the same–NOT TRUE!  The creaminess of the almond milk paired with vanilla bean and dates tasted incredibly decadent and this frothy goodness was by far the best part of my juice-cleansing day!  It kind of reminded me of horchata, the Latin beverage that you find in Mexican taquerias or Spanish restaurants…but all natural and healthy!  This was a great beverage during the cleanse when you want something sweet but substantial and was just as good as a scoop of ice cream (if not better)!

So clearly I loved the juices…but how did it all go? Well…I’ll admit it was pretty hard.  You really start to notice how much nibbling goes on throughout the day, and when you don’t have something to munch on, it feels a little strange.  There are some ‘permissible eats’ on the CAN CAN Cleanse but I wanted to do it 100% or not at all.

Did I get hungry? I wouldn’t say I was hungry… but more that I just wanted something other than juice.  The thought of an In ‘N Out burger definitely crossed my mind, but I told myself that this would be three days to test my willpower while bathing my body in fresh, organic nutrients that more often than not…we aren’t getting enough of.

In the end, it was worth it.  After three days, I felt energized, I was sleeping better, and I could see a visible glow in my skin.  I’m really glad that I decided to take my first foray into juice cleansing with the CAN CAN Cleanse because it was so easy and fresh!  They have quarterly cleanses throughout the year so I will definitely be back for more in a few months!  If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I highly recommend you check out the CAN CAN Cleanse!  Thank you to the lovely ladies at CAN CAN for developing such a wonderful cleanse!

Have you ever juice cleansed before?  How was your experience?

Photos by Mallory Mitchell