Food Porn Nation

As you would have seen from previous post, I decided to embark on a 5 day juice detox, to recharge, reboot and hit the reset button. The experience has been quite incredible and has left me feeling absolutely amazing. I highly recommend it.

If this something that you have reservations about, I would encourage you to keep an open mind and watch the documentary film, Fat, Sick and  Nearly Dead. This is what sealed the deal for me. Even this interview with Joe Cross in the Philippnes is thought provoking enough!

I’ve been doing daily updates on  Instagram, Facebook or Twitter where you have asked me several questions about the cleanse and I will answer them right here!

I have completed a DIY juice detox before but this time round I decided to outsource the whole project to Lucky You Cleanse. Their juice is cold pressed, raw and organic. This is largely the reason why I chose them. This sounds tough but it is actually quite easy. You actually feel so full throughout the entire process and even require less and less juice. Sure there’s the challenge of watching others eat but once you get on a roll and feel the way you feel, you are empowered to keep going and even motivated to kick on.

The whole process was relatively easy, I went online and ordered it based on how many days I planned on doing the cleanse. All I had to do was drink them.

On the menu we have…

7.15am Warm water with lemon
7.30am Aloe Vera “Elixir”
8am Green Smoothie (alkaline water, kale/spinach, mango/berry, banana)
10am Green B Juice (green apple, cucumber, celery, spinach/kale, silverbeet, cos lettuce, parsley & lemon)
Midday Spicy Lemonade (alkaline water, lemon, green apple, stevia, cayenne pepper, celtic sea salt)
2pm Orange B Juice (carrot, apple & lemon)
4pm Green A Juice (cucumber, celery, spinach/kale, silverbeet, cos lettuce, parsley & lemon)
6pm Cashew Nut “Mylk” (alkaline water, raw cashew kernels, medjool dates)

This is how it all went down…

Day 1: So far I’ve experienced intermittent headaches but its nothing I can’t handle. At the 4th juice was happy to call it a day but forged on and now I’m on my 5th juice. It’s so filling that I am forcing it down!! I still have another one to go! I notice on a couple of the juices I find that they taste quite bitter. It’s almost 7pm and I am really tired and ready to get some sleep. Could be the jet lag at play but I always get really sleepy on my first couple of days on a detox. Feeling pretty pleased with myself that I didn’t cave and I’m one day down.

Day 2: Thanks to jet lag I’ve only has 5.5 hrs sleep but I still felt amazing this morning. Was really excited for day 2 but I’m more excited about day 3. Skin is looking better & I’m less bloated (so I was told). I feel lighter too & this did show up on the scales. Juices are tasting better than yesterday too and less bitter. All signs that my body is becoming more alkaline! I had 2 little headaches which soon past & today I am struggling to finish juice 3, not juice 4 like yesterday. I’ve had to skip one today. I’m just too full!! My proudest moment today?? Watching a gf of mine eat her way through some fried chicken while I sat and watched. Haha I just thought of my yummy juice back at home. I am feeling good. Even though I was tired from jet lag. I still had the energy to walk all the way home from work (7km).

Day 3: TGIF! I made it past the half way mark! Today was the hardest day as there were plenty of temptations, I felt tired, had mind fog and headaches. Temptations included birthday cake (cheesecake my fav!), friday night drinks/nibbles and a girly catch up. Hardest part is watching others eat, I catch myself staring at people longer than I should. And the SMELL. UGGHH. The smell of food is incredibly intoxicating! The smell is so delicious I even find myself taking big gulps of air so I can internalise it. Someone was eating sour cream and chives grain waves today and all I wanted to do was kiss them. Just so I could just taste it. OMG, the thought literally raced through my mind! Despite all the naughty temptations, the first thing I want to eat is a salad. What I would GIVE for a salad? I was looking at some broccoli and I just wanted to cheat on @luckyoucleanse and steam it! I remain committed though and I am going to see this to the finish. Even though, my biggest challenge was food today. My hunger was satiated and I only managed half the amount of juices today.

Day 4:  Today I was in a foul mood. I woke up feeling ok, went for a ocean swim and I was really irritable. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, was grouchy (unlike me, I know!) and I literally crashed during the day. Slept for 2-3 hours even though I finally had a full 8 hours sleep! My body must be so toxic. Partly my own fault, as I went straight from London (eating naughty, loads of coffee & drinking) to clean raw juices. Last couple of times, I’ve eased my way into it by eating clean and cutting out coffee. It’s been a complete shock to my body but I knew this would be tough by going cold turkey. My body just wants to rest today and I will let it. Bring on Day 5!! I’m starting to think I need to do this for much longer!!

Day 5: I have finally made the breakthrough! It feels AMAZING! I can’t believe how long it took. I must have been pretty toxic. I am feeling absolutely on top of the world. Loads of energy, so positive and I am itching to move, move, move! I just can’t sit still! I have to say, weekend is much harder than the weekday as there are loads more opportunities to reach breaking point. But I’m glad to say I’ve made it!!

Day 6: was yesterday and again, I felt like I was on a high. The cashew nut mylk is by far my favourite out of the range. You will look forward to it every night! I could easily have this every day!! Will def miss this!! I’m also nervous about eating again I just feel so good!

Results?

Weight loss is an obvious one. You are consuming raw unprocessed fruit and vegetables. You are also flushing your system out from all the gunk in your body. You will naturally crave healthy foods because  you have rid your body of salts, sugar and caffeine addiction. Healthy foods actually taste better too as opposed to, processed fatty foods. Funnily enough, it’s the first thing you will actually want to eat when you’re done and dusted! You also notice that your body will actually reject it. I remember I was invited to Mexican right after my first cleanse. As soon as I ate it, I had to leave because I became sick! In fact, I often still get sick when I go out and eat if it is too heavy.

Your skin and eyes will be brighter and clear up. This is because the last place your body to receive nutrients is in your face. My hair also became noticeably less oiler. Not that it was but the time required between washes was much less. Your sense of smell also becomes really in tune which is really unfortunate because the smell of food really becomes delicious. Ha! But the smell of oils and fats really start to grate on you and put you off.

Most of you don’t know this but I actually suffer from chronic back pain. I am talking to the point where I couldn’t sleep. This would effect my mood, my work and I would take pills to get me through the night and day. This went away within days of juicing. This is because of all the magnesium that I was feeding into my body. I was once told that I am likely to be magnesium deficient which is attributing to my back pain. So it made sense to get juicing. Magnesium can be found in all thing green and I’m sure all the nutrients going in helped a bunch.

You will sleep like a baby.

I can be a bit of an insomniac, depending on stress levels, caffeine intake etc and this helps me to no end. In fact, you will sleep less yet more deeply.

And after you have fought through your bodily addictions, you end up feeling amazing. Euphoric even. You will leap out of bed, your mind will be clear and focused. This was what I noticed the most. How alert I became. Sounds weird, but you feel more alive than you have ever felt before. I was really happy, positive, light and calm. I was Zen baby. Everything seemed possible and things that would normally aggravate me, just didn’t.

This is all because each glass of juice contains an incredible amount of fruit and veg. An amount you couldn’t possibly consume in a day let alone one sitting. When I DIY’d my first juice cleanse I couldn’t believe how much fruit and veg I was powering through.  E.g. each 500ml LYC container contains 1.5 kilos of fruit of veg. It is a potent way of injecting your body with nutrients, enzymes and antioxidants. Because liquid it is more rapidly absorbed into your system and you will also gain the benefits of fasting without feeling hungry.

Challenges?

The biggest challenge is getting past the mental barrier of not having food. Even though you are feeding yourself what it needs it the emotional attachment and social interaction that we all have with food. It’s a life long habit we have built up so it’s going to be hard! But once you are resolved to the fact you won’t be eating, it’s easy. There are moments that take you to breaking point. Mine was Friday and weekends. The temptation of Friday night drinks, nibbles, great weather and eating out was the toughest for me as I didn’t have work to keep me occupied. I generally prefer weekdays to detox but some would prefer starting on the weekend as the symptoms can be quite strong.

Some experience vomiting and severe migraines. This was my girlfriend on her first day! Whilst others will have very mild symptoms. My symptoms were mild but mine lasted 4 days until my breakthrough on day 5.

How are your energy levels and can you work out?

This depends on how toxic you are. I would let your body be your guide. Initially, you should let you body rest as you will want to hit the sack nice and early. But then you should get moving to help release those toxins. Yoga is especially recommended for releasing toxins and if you’re getting a massage. Make sure you advise your masseuse so they can help work the toxins out of you. Otherwise, some good light exercise is A, OK.

You will also feel very energetic. This is because your body would have kicked into famine mode. Our bodies are wired to be either feast or famine. Which means when we feast, our bodies stores energy for a rainy day and when famine mode is on, your body kicks into survival and becomes more alert and energetic to prepare you for the kill, (so to speak) and then eat!

Do you feel hungry?

Not one bit. In fact, you will struggle to finish all the juices. This is because you are feeding your cells the micronutrients that you need. We are so nutrient deficient that this is the reason why we are constantly hungry and overeating.

Is there anything else you would like to know more about the cleanse? Please let me know in your comments below and I’ll promise to get back to you!

Even if you don’t embark on something like this, even having a glass juice a day will make the difference. Happy Juicing!! xx