Living by myself has definitely caused me to be careless with my health and nutrition – microwave meals and take outs have become all to familiar to me this year. I knew I needed to do something to kick start my body back into health drive and restore some nutrients that my constant devouring of ‘fake food’ has taken away. So this week I tried out my first ever juice cleanse. I went with The Juice Kitchen’s 3 day beautifier detox. Juicing is not a foreign concept to the women of the 21st century that’s for sure. The trend has become so commercialised and cliche, you are all probably wondering how I haven’t done a juice cleanse as of yet. But trendy or not; juicing is said to have amazing results. It eliminates food sensitivities; increases energy and brain function, gives you true hydration and nourishment, as well as calming your nervous system. With all this hype and speculation I was eager to see how the cleanse would pan out for me.
Day 1
More than anything I was just anxious as 7am loomed in on me that Monday morning. I am not as adventurous as I would like to be when it comes to food; flavours and different combinations are not appealing to me at all. I like my food as bland as possible (really making myself sound very exciting over here), so analysing my fridge full of fruit and veg in liquid form made my stomach turn. However, I promised myself I would go through with this and so there is no turning back now.
My first juice of the day is what appears to be a green vegetable concoction, it’s called Green Goddess. I must be very superficial because for whatever reason the name of the juice did help the process along for me. I mean it was 7am, I would have looked for anything to help. After blocking my nose (I’m dramatic) and chugging it down in 3 minutes flat, my grumpy exterior, almost automatically did a turn around. I felt so proud of myself that I even got through my first drink! I don’t know why I was so worried in the first place, I can totally do this!
By lunchtime I am 3 drinks down and drifting off to a coffee shop for a milkshake and toasted cheese… in my mind. The juices don’t taste bad, some of them are actually quite tasty and refreshing, but they taste healthy. Healthy means no added sugar, preservatives, colourants etc. Basically all the stuff that’s bad for you but makes everything taste delicious. So juice without any of those things has a slightly bitter aftertaste, which surprisingly enough is what’s keeping me going. I remind myself how badly I want and need a health kick, I have to stay focused.
9pm I’m in bed and ready for this day to end. The sooner the day is over, the sooner my juice detox is over. Although it hasn’t been too difficult today and I haven’t really been that hungry, it’s more so breaking the habit of snacking at night and feeling full so to speak. 6 juices down I feel really stoked that I stuck to the plan today and didn’t cheat – 2 days to go!
Day 2
I decided to do a juice cleanse because I feel that overall, I don’t really take care of body from the inside out. I don’t get nearly enough nutrients on a day to day basis; so WHY after probably the healthiest day of my existence thus far do I wake up with a sore throat and fighting off a fever? I was in perfect condition before the cleanse? I can only assume that my body is adjusting to the change of diet, and hopefully my condition will improve as the day goes on. In an extremely bad mood I gulp down my AM juice and pack the rest of my juices for work.
The rest of the day that followed went in pretty much the same direction as the morning. I had a ‘colon cleanser’ for lunch that tasted as good as it sounds :/ Followed by agonising cravings from 3pm onwards. I still don’t know how I didn’t make a pitstop at Burger King on the way home from work. To put it plainly – the struggle was SO real that afternoon. When I did get home I ran a hot bath and smothered myself in every different face mask, hair mask and body butter I could get my hands on. I needed something to take my mind off my hunger and nothing could do the trick like a little pampering session.
Regardless of all of the above, I went to bed that night having had nothing but lots of water and my juices all day, and for me, that was a victory! I didn’t have the best night’s sleep as I was very aware of how long it had been since my last proper meal but I showed myself just how strong I can be when I put my mind to something. This cleanse was definitely giving me a lot of time for self reflection.
Day 3
The morning of the last day of my cleanse I woke up super excited and proud of myself. Now that I had made it this far I knew I had to stick it out until the end. It might not make much sense but when I started the cleanse I knew I was going to stick to it, but to actually stick to it was such an achievement! My morning juice was called ‘Weight Watcher’ (another green juice) but it hadn’t fully defrosted from the night before so that resulted in having a slushy rather than a juice. Some people might prefer this if they try out the detox but it just caused me to drink my juice slower. In case I hadn’t mentioned it already, I chugged back my juices each day otherwise I never would have been able to drink them at all. I’m seriously fussy, remember?
Luckily I was relatively busy at work that day so I didn’t have too much time to think about food. By 12pm I was 3 juices down and feeling relieved the day was half way done. Drinking the same thing for three days had started to feel monotonous now and apart from being hungry I was getting bored. I had my afternoon juice quite late as I was held up in meetings, and even then I had just more than a quarter before I flushed it out. It was the first time on the cleanse I felt like I didn’t do everything exactly the way I was supposed to, but it was called ‘hot and spicy’; I mean c’mon this was pushing it too far. I don’t like vegetables, I don’t like fruit, and now I must also consume what tasted like chilly? Nope I’m done.
As a result of my little tantrum earlier in the day, I was at breaking point with 2 juices still to go. I think I messed up the cycle of the cleanse because now not only did I not have any solid food in my system but I had no nutrients or energy sustaining me from my juice. Somehow I made it through the rest of the evening without any sneak away trips to the kitchen cupboard and I went to sleep with the biggest smile on my face. I could feel I had lost a bit of weight, my skin looked clearer and overall I felt rejuvenated. In my last post I wrote about how I love to have pamper sessions every so often and really take care of myself; well that night it occurred to me that I had finally given my body a pampering session from the inside out that it so desperately needed.
Post Detox
Nothing like scrambled eggs on toast to celebrate eating solid foods again! I had a skip in my step that morning knowing I was free to eat delicious treats again, and because I had seen the detox in for the whole 3 days. It is very tempting to stop at the shops and K.O on all the food I have been frothing for since the weekend, but I wouldn’t want to undo all the good that the cleanse has done. I will gradually go back to my normal eating routine but this time hopefully throw in a few healthier and organic options. Going forward I would definitely want to do another detox in the near future. Yes it is extremely draining mentally and physically, but I know how good it is for my body and I feel so much better once I have completed it.
For those of you wanting to try out a juice cleanse with The Juice Kitchen, or even just try one or two of their juices, you can check them out online or pop into their store in Hillcrest. Here’s to a happy, healthy October!
Website – The Juice Kitchen
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