I chose to do a 3 day juice cleanse with bodyfirst nutrition and bubblicity. The program costs €75 and was delivered to my front door just one day after making the call!
I received 12 juices altogether (4 juices per day) and I was told to try and have one every 3-4 hours to keep my hunger pangs at bay!
The weirdest part for me was, of course, the not eating. For anyone who knows me I’m a monster eater and tend to snack at least every two hours, if not more frequently, so the habitual part of eating and snacking suddenly gone from my day was very strange at first.
I wasn’t exactly starving hungry at all really. On night #2 I struggled as my boyfriend decided it would be a great idea to cook some sausages, so it was the smell that killed me! I felt like a vampire not allowed my allocation of blood haha! NOT pleasant.
The juices themselves were really tasty, especially the carrot, lemon and ginger one called ginger tonic and the one called ‘enerjuice.’ I actually craved it when I had finished my 3 days! I’m not a huge celery fan though so I found the one with celery, brocolli and courgette quite hard to palate, but a few friends who have since done the same plan actually really like it. I think celery is one of those love hate foods.
The juices themselves are actually quite filling too and it’s suprising how quickly your body gets used to eating smaller amounts and how ‘full’ you feel after the juices. They are full of vegetables as opposed to your typical smoothie which is usually full of fruit. Now don’t get me wrong, you are hungry before each juice, but I found that my last juice of the day I didn’t even feel I really needed until quite late at night. However, the later I had the juices at night, the less I slept so that’s something to be mindful of!
I didn’t get any headaches or big mad side effects either, which some people have mentioned they find happens, but I do eat quite healthily and don’t drink a huge amount or eat huge quantities of carbs so that may be why!
When I woke up on day 4 it was Sunday morning and I hadn’t eaten anything since Wednesday at 9pm so it was a bit of a shock to the system to be able to eat again.
My first breakfast was two poached eggs, half an avocado, one sausage, some black pudding and some fennel bread toasted with natural butter, and of course a big mug of green tea.
I felt great straight after the meal and still hungry but when I got home a while later I had quite a sore stomach so it might be best to start small once you are done. I’m a greedy pig when I’m hungry though!
I didn’t have any dinner that night either as was still quite full after lunch on Sunday (steak with steamed vegetables and a little peppercorn sauce) so I had a hot chocolate as a treat and had some green tea before bed.
If you are thinking of doing the detox, I would definitely recommend it – I feel lighter, brighter and leaner after doing it, which is the perfect way to kick start a new year’s diet or exercise program.
The following are a few recommendations I would have for anyone thinking of doing the juice diet:
Do it do it do it – you will feel better afterwards!
- Before you do it, say 3-5 days before, cut down on your carb and sugar intake and ease off the coffee too.
- When you start, you will be thinking of food all of the time, as is normal, so keep yourself busy and drink lots of water and green tea in between your juices.
- Try to go to bed early each night- your energy will be lower than normal – I went for lunch with the girls and found it hard to follow all of the conversations – I felt a little tired and groggy but after my mid-afternoon juice I was back on track
- Stick to it- even if you feel hungry, tell yourself it’s just three little days and your body will get a nice rest from all it’s hard work for a few hours, and will be ready to bounce back again!
As a final word, our bodies are well capable of detoxing themselves but with the amount of chemicals we consume – makeup, perfume, food, antibiotics, contraceptive pill etc. our bodies are constantly in a state of inflammation. We are eating more sugar than ever before so it’s nice every once in a while to take a break and let your body rejuvenate itself and clean out any nasties!
Equally it’s very important to enjoy life and give yourself a break too from time to time and eat whatever makes you happy.
If you are interested in doing the juice diet, email info@bodyfirst.ie or call (01) 537 9394 and ask to speak to Ray- oh and tell him Gym Bunny says Hi!
p.s If you have any personal questions for me while you are doing the detox, give me a quick mail to hello@gym-bunny.ie
Good Luck
Orla
xx
