Last Tuesday at this time, I was embarking on my two day juice cleanse. I didn’t love doing it because I prefer getting to eat big (healthy) meals, but I have to admit that the Protein Bar juices that I tried were pretty delicious! Plus, I was excited to get the chance to try a juice cleanse for a short period of time, since I’ve always been curious about what it would be like. (My friend Adam keeps telling me about his friend who is doing a sixty day juice cleanse and… no. Just no, thank you.)
One of my readers shared a great video, though, about the effects of juice cleansing that I wanted to bring your attention to it so it wouldn’t get missed in the comments. (Thank you, anonymous!) Short version: you can only really “detox” by getting things out of your system (i.e., via going to the bathroom or sweating); doing a juice cleanse doesn’t really have long-term effects. While I had been psyched to try the juice cleanse, that video fit pretty squarely with what I believed about juice cleanses. In general with health and fitness, there is no easy quick fix! Eating healthy foods is going to do the same thing for your body as going on a strict juice cleanse… and personally, I would rather cook some healthy stuff for myself.
However, there are times I can’t cook healthy foods – like when I’m traveling. I have long lamented how hard it is to eat healthy when I’m traveling, and I have once again proven that point by dropping more than ten pounds since I stopped traveling to Dallas every week. Yes, I love Dallas, but I find that the food there is best enjoyed in moderation rather than three meals a day, four days a week. In fact, moderation seems to suit me well – despite having lots of my favorite dishes while I was there, like Capital Grille’s lobster mac & cheese, I returned home not any heavier or more bloated than before. Hooray for short business trips!
But one way in which I think juices can be useful is for situations like travel – when you just need a quick, healthy meal and aren’t able to cook it yourself. That’s why I was excited when Evolution Fresh reached out to me to promote their new campaign along with a great giveaway for all of you. As the New Year begins, Evolution Fresh is challenging Americans to rev up their green engines and get into the green routine by drinking one green juice a day for three days, as part of Evolution Fresh’s “3 Days to Green” movement. To me, one green juice a day sounds perfect – it helps to ensure that you’re painlessly (and deliciously) getting in your vegetables but still getting to enjoy healthy food the rest of the day. I like that kind of balance! Plus, it’s easy for me to grab a juice from my fridge on my way to the bus, or stop by Starbucks to pick one up on my way into the office.
I’ve written about Evolution Fresh before, and I really do enjoy their products. Now that I’ve tried the Protein Bar juices and noted that they were a bit sugary for my taste, I will also add that Evolution Fresh has four varieties of cold-pressed, high pressure processed (HPP) green juice that are made from more than a pound of green vegetables, have 10 grams of sugar or less per eight once serving, and have no added flavors or sweeteners. One of those flavors, the Organic Sweet Greens and Ginger, was actually my favorite of the ones I got to try last time, and the Sweet Greens is my Starbucks go-to! Evolution Fresh is one of the most widely available cold-pressed green juice in the U.S., available at more than 6,000 grocery retailers and 7,200 Starbucks stores, and I also really appreciate that they try to sell their products at an accessible price.
Finally, while I have a 50by25 exclusive giveaway below, I also wanted to let you know that Evolution Fresh is rewarding those who take #3DaystoGreen pledge via the 3 Days to Green Sweepstakes, featuring prizes that give a helping hand toward healthy habits – like one month of free Evolution Fresh cold-pressed juice, workout wear, and fitness trackers. That giveaway is open till the end of February, and it’s a great chance to vie for some really nice prizes to help you get a fresh start to the new year! (Hmm, I guess we are already nearly two weeks in and I really should write about my resolutions soon… but rest assured that I am keeping them even though I haven’t shared them with you yet. Hope your resolutions are going well, and that perhaps this juice will help if any of yours are health-related!)
The 50by25-specific (read: much greater chance of winning!) giveaway below is for a $40 Evolution Fresh gift card, which is valid at any Starbucks location, as well as a coupon for one additional juice of your choice. This giveaway will be open for one week, and all residents of the lower 48 United States are eligible; you may enter using the Rafflecopter below. (If you are reading this via email or RSS feed, you will need to click through to my website to see the widget.)
Disclaimer: I received an Evolution Fresh gift card and coupon, just like the winner of this giveaway will be receiving, along with a little lime green alarm clock to remind me when it’s time to drink my greens (cute, right?). However, I received no other compensation for this post – I decided to accept the sponsored opportunity because I really do like Evolution Fresh products, and wanted to give one of my readers a chance to try Evolution Fresh for themselves!
I’m in your boat! It is SO TEMPTING to resort to a “cleanse” or “detox” to try and make ourselves feel better after over-indulging (sometimes it’s more mental than physical even!). However, I find that any time I try a juice cleanse, I end up irritable and less refreshed…I think my body is also very sensitive to sugar so many juices taste too sweet to me. Not to mention, I want to CHEW my food! However, I think incorporating a juice once in awhile for convenience or to add nutrients is a great idea. I view it a supplement, rather than a staple. 🙂
That said, I LOVE Evolution juices and would love the opportunity to drink more of them!
Thanks for offering the giveaway! My fingers are crossed. 🙂
I’m also a fan of Evolution juices. Thanks for linking to actual science regarding juicing. I feel like there’s a sad lack of science in healthy living discussions…
I’d love to try a short juice cleanse. I’ve been curious for a while!
I love these juices!! So delicious.
i’m not sure I could do a full cleanse, but having green juice for three days sounds like something I could look forward to doing!
I would love to try one of the green juices. I have been curious about those and they look delicious!
I’d like to try a juice cleanse but I haven’t because of the cost.
I wouldn’t do a juice cleanse because of all the reasons you mentioned, plus juice-cleansing and high-mileage marathon training would not go together well. But I LOVE Evolution juices, so I’d do a happy dance if I win. 🙂
I think I’d try the three day cleanse. I’m not sure if I could commit to a much longer one.
These juices are great! Hoping to win this!
would LOVE to try it! I love the idea of a ‘restart’ 🙂
The terms cleanse and detox definitely irk me since our bodies are naturally made to do that – that being said I loooooove juices. I have done juice during the day/dinner at night but with activity level really never wanted to go full on juice. I was slightly tempted when injured but it was the holidays and what fun is that? I like food way too much.
I would love to try the juice!
I don’t think I would do a complete juice cleanse but definitely make it the majority of my diet and try it out.
I don’t think a cleanse is my style. Between teaching fitness classes and taking, I’d be extremely concerned about the lack of caloric intake. I could probably survive 1 day, but I believe moderation is a much better tool.
I’d love to try a several day juice cleanse, if only just to hit the “reset” button on my system. Unfortunately they seem so expensive! I’d love a gift card to give it a shot.
Very cool! I’d probably never try something like this on my own, but it would be cool to break out of my comfort zone!
I’m not really interested in trying a full juice cleanse because I don’t think I could follow it and be as active as I like to be, but a partial juice cleanse or just a clean eating challenge is something I’d try.
I have never tried a juice cleanse but I have a friend who will whip me up some homemade juices that are so delicious.
Evolution juices are my favorite!
I’d try it! I clicked your link and it didn’t seem to be the right page.
Thanks for the heads up! It looks like capitalization matters in the URL and I got it wrong – the correct link is http://www.evolutionfresh.com/3DaysToGreen/. I’ve fixed it now in the post too!
I’m very interested in trying a full-on juice cleanse, taking the #3DaysToGreen pledge, I like to challenge myself and have always loved green smoothie.
I love evolution juices! I like that they are sweet without added sugar, unlike some of the veggie juices that taste bitter or too much like biting into an old celery stick.
I am definitely interested in taking the #3DaystoGreen pledge!! I am a huge fan of Evolution Fresh Juices, I get a few at least once a week from my local Starbucks! I think the pledge would be a great way to recharge my body!
I have done a cleanse before and it can do amazing things for your body and health. I will love to try this brand.
I could definitely use a cleanse, thanks to working at the brewery!
I’ve always been interested in trying a full on cleanse just to see what it’s like!
I would do a modified cleanse – need to eat balanced since im breastfeeding 🙂
I’d love to try a juice cleanse, thanks for the giveaway!
I don’t have the willpower to do a fill on juice cleanse but I’d love to try these.
I definitely would love to win this and try a cleanse.
As a big fan of juice cleanses, I’d love to participate. Thanks for the giveaway!
This sounds like a fun challenge and I would totally be interested in doing it!
i want to give it a try for sure!!
I would really love to try the juices and doing a cleanse.
I’m not sure I would want to go so far as doing the full juice cleanse — maybe the 3 day one sort of as a trial to see how it went!
Im interested in doing it, but since Im still in college and stuff can get stressful I may cheat a little:)
A full on juice cleanse might be a little much for me….possibly I could try the 3day pledge?
I am interested in taking the #3DaysToGreen pledge because I am currently pregnant and I am attempting to keep my nutrition in check.
I have never done a juice cleanse so doing the 3 day pledge would be a good starting point, I believe.
I’ve done the blueprint juice cleanse before and found it pretty effective at resetting cravings and feeling better. I haven’t tried the Evolution juices and I would love to win this and get the opportunity to try them out!!!