January 22, 2014

Skinny Limits Juice Cleanse-I survived!

With a snow day yesterday, I finally had some time to recap the juice cleanse I did last week! Skinny Limits is an Austin-based company that offers juice cleanses from 1-10 days in length. I was most impressed by the company because all the juices are completely natural, cold-pressed, and raw.  

This past year I've fallen in love with fresh juices and pick them up as snacks, meal supplements, or when they are on sale at Whole Foods! I see a juicer purchase in my future, but I was always skeptical of actually doing a juice cleanse. I love food and am pretty much always hungry-I'm not one of those people that sometimes just "forgets to eat". Also juice cleanses are pretty pricey, so buying one will probably make you stick to it to get your money's worth. 

Skinny Limits 3 day cleanse was actually pretty reasonable compared to other juice cleanses I've seen at $149

Now I had mentioned the juice cleanse on my blog last week but there was some issues with shipping due to the polar vortex so the cleanse arrived late, which was not good because the juices are raw and perishable so I threw that box out and the Skinny Limits people kindly set up another 3-day cleanse order for me for the next week. Actually before I threw the juice out my boyfriend and I taste tested them (checking expiration dates of course!), I mean, seriously, a box of amazing looking juices right into the dumpster? He even snagged a couple green juices that weren't supposed to expire for a couple days according to the label and drank them that day. Well the juices were amazing and my non-health-crazed, non-juicing boyfriend agreed! Here is the breakdown of how my cleanse went: 

The juicesMany juice cleanses companies claim to be raw but the juices actually have gone through pasteurization or processing like HP processing which doesn't use heat but kills the living cells in the juice.  That's why Skinny Limits isn't something you'll see stocked in a store.  I also liked how it's literally just juice, without me buying a juicer, fruits and vegetables, and doing it myself. You know it's fresh because they all have expiration dates on the labels too!

The variety juice cleanse included 6 juices (16 oz bottles) for each of the 3 days. The juices arrived in a refrigerated package and are very perishable because they are completely unprocessed so you must start the cleanse within one day of receipt. 
SkinnyLimitsJuiceCleanse1


  • Pure & Simple: Kale, Cucumber, Spinach, Apple, Parsley, Celery, Lemon.
  • Balance: Kale, Cucumber, Spinach, Apple, Parsley, Celery, Lemon, Ginger.
  • Scorpion Lemonade: Lemons, Agave Nectar, Cayenne, Filtered Water.
  • Crescent Moon: Raw cashews, Vanilla Bean, Cinnamon, Agave Nectar, Filtered Water.
  • Green Firefly: Kale, Cucumber, Spinach, Apple, Parsley, Celery, Lemon, Pineapple.
  • Lotus: Beet, Carrot, Spinach, Apple, Lemon, Ginger.

Taste:  Skinny Limits has standard, variety, tropical, and custom juice cleanse options. I chose the variety juice cleanse because I figured there's no way I'd survive without keeping it interesting! First of all the juices taste amazing. They do taste really fresh and have no particulates or gunk that needs to be shaken up.  The "greens taste" is balanced well with other ingredients such as apples and lemon.  I also particularly liked how the ginger in the Balance and Lotus juices was not overpowering or off-putting.  The Lotus beet and carrot juice tasted nice and sweet after drinking mostly green juices during the day. The Scorpion Lemonade took some getting used to with its tart lemon flavor and the spiciness from the cayenne. As with many juice cleanses, the yummy nighttime Crescent Moon was amazing. I'd tried a similar drink that I'd picked up at Whole Foods so I knew I was in for a treat. That tasted kind of like a thick and creamy chai latte due to the cashew milk, vanilla, and cinnamon flavors. 

How it Works:
Skinny Limits sends a little information pamphlet that comes with the juices. It says to start each day with a hot lemon water and then have a juice every 2 1/2-3 hours, with your last one being about 2 hours before you go to bed.  They also recommend drinking each juice within 5 minutes and not trying to stretch the time you spend drinking it. There is an approved list of foods if you get hungry too. 

How I felt overall: 
Skinny Limits says that the juice cleanse is not about losing weight but rather to heal your gut and regain some energy and clarity. I ended up losing 3 pounds on the cleanse, which I know is just water weight. It's still surprisingly to know that I was carrying around that much bloat though! I definitely was not as hungry as I thought I was going to be and loved that I was giving my body lots of greens and fruits. Every time I started to get hungry it was almost time for another juice so the timing worked out nicely. 

I didn't experience any possible detox symptoms such as headaches but did feel lightheaded when I tried to workout. Light exercise only is recommended during the cleanse. When I went to crossfit on days 2 & 3 I had to eat an apple with a couple tablespoons of almond butter or a handful of almonds.  I definitely was feeling kind of hazy and weak during my workouts so next time I'd probably just do some light stretching or rest the whole time as I did the first day of the cleanse. You are also supposed to eat lightly for a few days after the cleanse. The next day I ate an almond butter and jam sandwich for lunch along with a lettuce-wrapped burger and a couple of beers for dinner. I had some digestive issues for a couple days after the cleanse ended, probably because of the influx of solid food.  


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Sweet note and pamphlet from Skinny Limits
Recommendation: I'm quite proud that I stuck to the juice cleanse with minimal solid food and was surprised about how satisfied I felt.  I really liked how the juice cleanse reset my normal schedule of when I eat and changed up my routine meal habits.  All of the people I communicated with at Skinny Limits were very nice, even with the shipping problems I experienced. Skinny Limits recommends doing a cleanse once a month or at least 4x a year. I don't think I would do it that often, mostly because I can't afford it, but would definitely recommend trying at least a 1-day juice cleanse after the holidays or a vacation. It is definitely something to do when you have time to rest and are not training for anything or are super busy. For now I'll stick to juices as snacks and making smoothies loaded with fruits and veggies! 


You can check out Skinny Limits on Facebook and Twitter or their website for my information! 

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Skinny Limits. I was sent a juice cleanse to try but was not compensated in any other way. As always, all opinions are my own.

Have you ever done a juice cleanse? What is your favorite juice or smoothie recipe?

12 comments:

  1. Very interesting, i done some jucing before but after 3 days i gave up!!!

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  2. I've been really considering doing a cleanse. I'm not doing it for weightloss (that would sure be nice) but because I just feel gross lately. I am glad I came across your post. I was about to do the Blueprint cleanse, but I will consider this one because it's about $30 cheaper...although in the grand scheme of things, I'm not sure if that matters, they are all so expensive!

    jess | Quaintrelle

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    1. Awesome! I've bought some of the BluePrint juices from Whole Foods and they are tasty. I highly recommend Skinny Limits though!

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  3. loved reading this!! i'm so intrigued by juice cleanses. i KNOW my body would really, really, really benefit from one as i fuel it with horrible stuff but i'm scared to pull the trigger ha. and they're pricey!! i think a 3 day cleanse would be perfect.

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    1. It definitely felt good to drink a bunch of raw fruits and veggies. 3 days was definitelyyyy long enough, haha.

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  4. wait where do you crossfit?!

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  5. I totally agree I was shocked that I wasn't starving when I did this...but I did also add in a few nuts each day because man I just needed to chew something!!

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    1. I agree! It's crazy how filling the juices were!

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  6. It's interesting that the juices were filling...what's in them to make you feel full? Fiber?

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    1. I don't know if it is the volume of the juice or not that is filling.

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