Juice Cleanse: Days 4-6 and Final Thoughts

Day 4- This morning I made a quick smoothie before I left the house- I definitely feel if I was to do the cleanse again, I would make it a "Juices, Smoothies and Soups" week, to include more substance and healthy proteins and fats. Although you do get protein from the spinach, broccoli, kale etc in the juices I don't know if it's really enough. Today's smoothie was:

 250ml Almond milk, 1 banana, 1 Chia shot and a handful of peanuts

I then had Juice No.1 at 9am, and Juice No. 2 at 10:30am. I actually didn't feel hungry for either of them, but went ahead and drank them anyway. I felt pretty awake and alert for most of the morning, although still a bit cold (that may be in part due to the deteriorating British Summer weather and the over zealous office aircon...). One of my friends mentioned cheese toasties and I immediately wanted one!

12pm- I had a small bowl of soup I'd brought from home. Then the remaining juices spaced throughout the afternoon- Juice No. 3 at 2pm, when I felt pretty hungry (and was craving jacket potatoes!) and Juice No. 4 at 4pm. The afternoon is always tougher, but I actually felt pretty normal aside from having a really sensitive sense of smell- certain scents definitely made me feel a little sick, when I'm sure I wouldn't normally notice them. I may have also eaten a Jacobs cracker because I needed something crunchy!

Juice 5 with added banana (because otherwise it tastes pretty yuck!)

The final juice (No.5) was had once I got home at 6pm (again with added banana), before I headed off to Body Balance at the gym. I took it easy and listened to my body, as intense exercise on a Juice Cleanse is not advised, but the class is mostly pretty relaxing (a mixture of Yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates).

I loved it and felt great afterwards (apart from super hungry) - that post workout glow, a happy fit strong feeling really brought home to me how much love exercising, and how much I've hated feeling so tired and lethargic. It was basically at this point that I decided I wouldn't do this again- I want to run and lift and stretch and feel amazing!

When I got home I couldn't face more soup or juice- I love variety and never normally eat the same thing two days in a row, so drinking the same thing for 3/4 days I felt so totally bored! I made some sweet potato mash and peas instead 🙂

Day 5- Friday! I always feel better on Fridays anyway 🙂 But I felt pretty good this morning- I repeated the Banana and Almond Milk smoothie before I left the house, and had Juice No. 1 at 9am.

I've decided to gradually reintroduce some more whole veggies alongside the juices today, as I'm going to visit my family this weekend and don't want to be the anti-social one sitting in the corner with a juice! If I was actually committed and serious about this, then I wouldn't have a problem accommodating my social plans around my current eating habits- I don't think that a different diet should exclude you from having fun! But in this case, I don't feel I'm going to get anything more out of this by abstaining, and I want to enjoy my Mum's home cooked food and the buffet spread at the big family gathering on Sunday (in moderation of course)!
I also want to introduce "real food" again gradually so my stomach doesn't have a breakdown from eating a proper meal.

Layers of broccoli, carrots, peas and sweetcorn

Juice No. 2- 11am, and then some steamed veggies (a pot from Waitrose) for lunch. I couldn't finish the whole tub, so saved half for later. I felt absolutely stuffed afterwards!

Juice No. 3 at 2pm. I actually really like this one, and am tempted to try and make some sort of cinammon/apple beverage myself after the cleanse. If you wish really hard it's almost like drinking apple crumble... (almost)...

I ate the rest of my veggies at 3pm, by which time I really had that "Friday afternoon feeling" and am seriously counting down the juices until this thing is done! I'm really not craving sweet things so I don't have any fear of immediately binging on cookies and cake, as the juices themselves are so sweet. It's more bread and potatoes and meat! Haha.

I had a bit of a stomach ache in the afternoon, and got called into a long meeting at work which meant I didn't leave until 7pm!  I had Juice No. 4 while waiting for the train home, which I think I drank too fast because I was hungry and ended up feeling a bit sick. I had a small bowl of the soup I made the other day and laid on the sofa for a while when I got home, and felt much better. I couldn't face Juice No. 5 as well- it's my least favourite flavour and I felt pretty full...

I also had to make cookies this evening, which was pretty mentally tortuous! Everyone is bringing a dish to the family party, and I figured cookies travel well and are universally loved 🙂 I may have caved and "tested" one...along with a regular cup of English Breakfast tea which was probably a mistake- the small hit of caffeine found me cleaning the kitchen at quarter to midnight because I was too awake!

Day 6- So because I started late on Day 1 due to issues with my delivery, I still have 4 juices left for today (Saturday). I'm going to drink them, but intend to add a meal of roasted veggies and couscous for lunch, and will then be eating a small portion of whatever my Mum cooks for dinner- which I'm sure will taste amazing after so much damn juice!

My Roundup of the Juices

1- Carrot, Apple and Ginger
Nice and zingy, a good way to start the day

2- Cucumber, Kale, Broccoli, Celery, Lime, Lemon, Pear, Spinach & Avocado
Creamy because of the avocado but urrgh, celery!

3- Lemon, Cinnamon, Chilli & Ginger
This was my favourite! The cinnamon makes it taste like baked apples (even though there aren't actually any apples in it), mmm...

4- Blueberry, Blackberry, Raspberry, Beetroot, Lemon, Red Currant, Kiwi & Orange
Tastes like raspberries, quite tart but definitely nice and fruity

5- Cucumber, Kale, Broccoli, Celery, Lime, Lemon, Pear, Spinach & Mint
Quite nice and refreshing although the mint was a bit overpowering, and combined with the celery this was definitely my least favourite. I mixed it with a banana in my blender from Days 2-5.

Exercise
Day 2 (Tues)- 20min run/walk
Day 4 (Thurs)- 1 hour Body Balance class
Day 6 (Sat)- 30min run/walk

My Summary

Honestly I feel like this was somewhat of an expensive mistake, but one that has taught me a lot.

• It has proven the existence of my willpower! I don't have to eat things just because they're in front of me, and I am stronger than I think. That can be related to other aspects of my life too...
• If you take something away, you automatically want it, so it's definitely refreshed my interest in food. I was getting to that point where I was having to eat more and more biscuits and chocolate to get that same "happy" feeling, whereas now I'm excited about a simple plate of salmon and broccoli!
• If I'm going to have a "treat" then make it something I really want - some homemade cake, an awesome chocolate brownie, rather than just every generic shop bought biscuit and cake item that appears at work. (see Charlie's and Anne's blog posts along this theme of indulgence)
• I've noticed I work much better in the mornings and quite often need a "pick-me-up" in the afternoon, so I should be prepared for this and stock up on healthier snack alternatives (cocoa nakd bars, mmm). 
• I drank so much more water on the juice cleanse! And I do really want to keep up with this great habit.
• I had no problem with the juices themselves (apart from the celery), and I applaud the idea of adding more fresh fruit and vegetables to your diet- I think this is just an extreme method. If I was to do a "Juice Feast/Cleanse" again, I would make it a Juice/Smoothie/Soup Week- where I try and get in as much fruit and veg as a I can, but make the whole experience more enjoyable!
• This is has been a week of such self-examination- "how do I feel now? how about now?" - but it has definitely provided some interesting and thought-provoking blog posts.

I would like to finish by saying that I honestly can't recommend the Soulmatefood Perfect Cleanse to anybody. To me, the daily caloric intake is too low to be healthy, and as Lucy put it, "a 'cleanse' of 338cals/day is a starvation diet! In principle there is absolutely no reason why a juice cleanse has to have such low calories - that is not the point."

As has been mentioned to me, it seems that this product is targeted at those people who want a "quick fix" to lose weight, but actually restricting your diet so much can have the opposite effect. If your body thinks it's starving it will cling onto any calories you do give it, and will slow down your metabolism to burn them off slower, therefore reducing your weight loss and possibly ruining your metabolism for the future. (I'm not even going to mention my weight loss because that's really not important, as it's going to be water weight and probably some muscle mass).

There is also huge debate on what a "body cleanse" actually is- the scientific evidence for the body not being able to detox itself is highly suspect, seeing as the purpose of the liver and kidneys is to filter the byproducts of our metabolism. Our complex organs have developed over millions of years with the specific role of detoxing our bodies, and while sometimes it can be good to have a break if you've been eating a lot of junk food, your body is smart enough to get rid of harmful substances itself!

Soulmatefood's justification that the cleanse has been carefully designed by a nutritionist means very little. We should be reminded that a Nutritionist is not a statutorily regulated term, and requires no qualifications in order for someone to claim that title. While I am sure there are many honest and reputable nutritionists, someone who is actually registered and properly qualified to give advice is a Dietician, This title is protected by law and means you are not allowed to call yourself one unless you are properly qualified and registered with the HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council).

I know these are extreme words, and I do appreciate that the topic of Juice Cleansing/Fasting is highly controversial and difficult to blog about, and it's not my intention to offend anybody, but I wanted to be honest with my experience. I'm hugely supportive of people who undertake sensible and healthy eating plans that work for their body. And I think that the principle of a "Juice Feast" as a mental reset and refresh is great. As I've said, adding more fruit and veg to your diet can only be a good thing!

However, while restriction/elimination may bring about a feeling of control, that ultimately leads to an unhealthy relationship with food.

Life is too short to be miserable. I love food - maybe this worked in a way as it did offer me a new appreciation of the simple meals, how amazing healthy flavours can be. But I don't think it's really "for me". I would rather exercise more days a week to create a fit and healthy body, than extreme diet - which makes you lose all your muscle mass anyway, and means you're too tired to do any of the fitness activities I love!

Any thoughts on my Juice Cleanse experience? Do you think it's irresponsible marketing to convince people to pay £250 for a diet that is so restrictive and unhealthy? Do you have any good recipes I can add to my new "post-cleanse" menu? I have a massive mental list at the moment of all the things I want to cook!

Beki x