When I got the invitation for my high school reunion last spring, I started planning ahead. The last gathering I’d gone to, my fellow female alums looked incredible – even better than they had as teenagers. As a former cheerleader and runner-up for homecoming queen, I had a standard to uphold.
But I definitely do not look better than I did in high school. I decided to lose 10 pounds by eating healthy, walking a mile by the river three (maybe four!) times a week, and getting back to doing yoga.
Flash forward to last week, and three days before my reunion the only thing I could cross off my list was yoga. And I’d only gone once.
It was time for a juice cleanse.
The first thing I did was arrange delivery for a supply of organic, cold-pressed Living Juice (no water or sugar added). The next thing I did was tape a “DO NOT DRINK THIS, IT IS MINE” sign on the bag of juice so my kids wouldn’t steal it. The third thing I did was tell my daughter, “Yes, I meant it,” when she asked for some anyway.
Given the short time frame, I went heavy on Green Vitality. There are myriad benefits to green juice – it’s packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants – but my goal was simple: I wanted to look 15 years younger. By Saturday. Preventing disease would have to wait for another cleanse.
This was not the first time I’ve done a 3-day juice cleanse, and once again it left me feeling refreshed. My skin looked better, I had more energy – I just felt lighter. Not 10 pounds lighter, and I didn’t look 15 years younger, but I felt revitalized.
I was ready for the reunion.
And it was so much fun. The last time I’d seen most of these people our whole lives were ahead of us. Now, among us, we’re raising children, have made and lost millions, lost siblings and spouses and survived addiction. One is doing incredible things to save the ocean. The high school sweethearts who married right after college, and we figured would be together forever, have each been married three times.
Life happened.
And even though some of those women still looked better than they did in high school, it didn’t matter - we all told each other we looked wonderful. I suppose what we really meant was it was wonderful to see each other, and that was good enough.
Now I’ll stick with my Living Juice Green Vitality so I can make it to my next reunion. At least this time I have 5 years to lose those 10 pounds.