converting

 Spa at Cavallo Point.

Last weekend, I had the best weekend of wellness. First, I crossed the bridge to indulge in a facial at Cavallo Point's Spa. I was previously a Nob Hill Spa purist, but I'm definitely converted now. Leaving the city makes it feel like you're escaping so it's that much more relaxing and Cavallo's grounds are obviously stunning. This day was fueled with plenty of tequila and champagne so I suppose the wellness aspect is debatable, but to me, a spa day with out a buzz is like an angel with out wings. I was feeling well after definitely. 

Juice Shop beginner cleanse 

I am a huge fan of juicing and it's something I'm really passionate about (random), but I've always resisted a full blown juice cleanse because, simply put, I like eating. I'm also lucky enough to be provided food at work and have a juicer myself so it never seemed like a practical purchase (and you know me, my purchases are always so practical!). The stars, however, aligned with the last three day weekend. I had my fun Saturday per above, then purposely had no plans Sunday & Monday. No food in the house either. Suddenly, $50 for a full day's nourishment wasn't so bad. Still, I was skeptical and was anticipating wanting to hurt someone hours into the cleanse. 

Well, I was wrong and I can't speak highly enough about my experience! I did 3 days of the Juice Shop cleanse, which is by far my favorite juice option in SF. I resisted my temptation to go straight to pro and compromised with myself by doing 1 day of beginner (I hate being a beginner), I skipped intermediate and went to advanced for day 2, then pro for day 3 and not to sound like an asshole, but I found it to be surprisingly easy!

I started at 10am so I had a juice every 2 hours until 8pm so really it felt like I was "eating" more than I normally do. All the juices taste great, especially day 1 when you still are getting plenty of fruit juice. The almond drink is my favorite and was like liquid heaven at the end of day 1 and 2. I still worked out everyday. I woke up literally bursting with energy-it was really bizarre. Granted the first two days, I mostly read and took it easy. The third day was the hardest day relatively because the juices were purely green with no fruit and I went to the office, but had sustained energy throughout the day. I also slept better than I pretty much ever have. I'm serious. 

Full disclosure, the only downside was a dull headache at the end of day 2 which I will go ahead and diagnose as sugar withdrawal given the advanced cleanse has very little fruit compared to day 1. When my apartment smelled like garlic shrimp and polenta as my roommate made dinner  that was also mildly annoying on day 3. The "liver green" was my least favorite juice, which was not surprising because anything with the word liver in it is probably not going to taste that great. The only craving I had was for a cashew and then barbecue sauce (wtf?), but I really had no problem completely sticking to the cleanse. 

I actually woke up yesterday in a panic that the cleanse was over because I felt so good. I was going to do another day, but I had a martini date last night and my friends told me I really shouldn't cleanse all day then end it with a martini. Fine. I definitely crashed in the afternoon yesterday (I think it was after I drank coffee because I still ate naturally). I'm confident I could cleanse with out issues for 5-7 days. 

So in closing, I highly recommend trying a juice cleanse if you have been skeptical or curious and are able. There isn't really any hard medical data to reinforce the benefits of juice cleansing, only anecdotes like mine. I'm a big fan of common sense when it comes to health and nutrition choices though. Drinking down all the vitamins of fresh organic vegetables makes a lot of sense to me compared to say eating a bacon cheeseburger sans bun, not so much. 

Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments about my experience and I'll happily answer and encourage everyone to slate themselves a weekend of wellness- it felt amazing.