Every January I, like many others, have a feeling that I need to do something. Something like run a marathon, or climb a mountain. Usually this remains at a good intention as I head to the gym at the beginning of the year and go back to my usual routine. I also feel, like everyone else, very unhealthy from all the Christmas meats, cheeses, chocolates, puddings and alcohol I have consumed.
This year I felt particularly sluggish, and as I got a Nutribullet for Christmas I decided to embark on a 3 day juice detox. Friends have done them and raved about how they felt afterwards and I wanted to do something which would kick start and test my willpower so I might actually go on to achieve something more in 2015!
Now don't get me wrong - I'm not into dieting, and never have dieted. I love fruit and veg, rarely eat heavy carbs in the evening, and don't regularly snack on unhealthy foods like crisps or chocolate. Unfortunately, as you've probably noticed, I do love food and often do eat a lot when I do eat. I also don't watch what I eat too closely - if I fancy it, I eat it, healthy or unhealthy. So this detox wasn't about losing weight, it was more about clearing out the old, and starting afresh; getting rid of the sluggishness I was feeling, flushing out any leftover toxins and giving my digestive system a rest from the over indulgence. I also hoped to get more in tune with my body, recognising real hunger versus boredom hunger.
The detox I did was the Juice Master's 3 Day Detox. This was recommended by a friend who has their book.
To start with, I didn't really mentally or physically prepare for the detox. During the detox I read a lot of articles about what to expect, and how your body would be responding, but I didn't do this in advance, and probably should have. You're supposed to eat clean for three days prior to the detox so prepare your body. I did not do this. Instead I just sort of rushed about my normal life, catching up with friends and eating and drinking merrily. I then rushed into the first day with naive optimism.
I started today, on a Monday. I wanted to do it at work so I would be busy and not thinking about food.
Day 1 Programme
On waking: Hot water with lemon (I hate this so substituted lemon with lime and cucumber)
Breakfast & Lunch:
3 golden delicious apples, 1 carrot, 1 slice of lemon (with rind off unless it's unwaxed), quarter of a yellow bell pepper, 1 inch slice of cucumber, quarter of a piece of celery, 1 inch stem of broccoli, 1 inch slice of raw beetroot, 1 medium ripe avocado, ice.
Linner (between lunch and dinner): 1 inch slice of raw beetroot, half a golden delicious apple, 1 inch slice of pineapple, 1 slice of lemon, mixed after juicing with three quarters of a litre of mineral water.
Dinner: 3 golden delicious apples, 1 handful of spinach, 1 inch raw beetroot, 1 inch slice of cucumber, small amount of parsley (don't use too much or it will taste like earth), half a ripe avocado, ice.
This was breakfast and lunch:
I felt the first pang of hunger around 12pm, which is when I usually get hungry for lunch. I can usually last until half 12 - 1pm before I break for lunch and I knew I didn't have much to look forward to, so I forced myself to wait, and by the time I did break the initial pangs had subsided. I drank the lunch juice slowly to make it last and didn't feel satisfied, but didn't feel hungry afterwards.
Throughout the day I drank a lot of water and while I did feel hungry, it didn't last long. The main thing I experienced was a really foggy headache which was the withdrawal from caffeine (I have a cup of coffee every morning). This made it very hard to concentrate in the afternoon and by the time I came home I was so slow-moving and tired I fell asleep all the way home on the tube. I felt completely drained this evening and the dinner we had in store was not good at all! I overdid the parsley and really had to force it down. An early night is much needed....may tomorrow be better!