I’ve always been quite fascinated with the idea of trying a juice detox, even before the huge hype they’re now associated with took off, I was a fan. Five years ago I actually worked in a smoothie bar and can honestly say it was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had, and no doubt probably the healthiest I’ve ever been, Kickstart Cleansers and Mexican Coolers soon became my life – the perfect perk if you ask me.
Why do people detox?
Juice cleanses are like a deep facial regime, think exfoliating, various face masks, cleansing, toning and moisturizing, but for the body. Some people may say that’s what the gym’s for, which I agree with to an extent, drawing a line at the fact the gym can’t completley cleanse and flush out harmful toxins in the body. If you suffer from any of the following, these are all signs of bad toxins: Lack of energy, fatigue, weakness, aches and pains, headaches, overweight, inability to lose weight, feeling emotional, constipation, acid reflux, bloating, indigestion, sinus problems, cellulite, insomnia, stress, feeling dizzy, visual imbalances, skin problems, arthritis, hormonal imbalances and premature aging. I could easily circle five and knew it was time to try a cleanse.
Who are Juice To U?
Juice To U are a family run business set up by founder Germaine Smith. I recently met Germaine at a press launch where she told me she’d set up Juice To U after frequently detoxing herself for many years. After making fresh juices for her friends and family to try, when they came back to her with raving reviews and further requests, Germaine realised she could have a potential business in her hands. Three years on Juice To U is now a nationwide phenomenon, Germaine has over 11k followers on Instagram and 33k followers on Twitter, and regularly caters to celebrities pre photoshoots and before red carpet events.
Germaine and I spoke on the phone prior to me trialing Juice To U where she advised me of the nutritional content, side effects and what else I’d be able to drink whilst detoxing. At least 2 litres of water a day, unlimited amounts of fruit tea and strictly no caffeine were strongly recommended, I’m a massive fan of Mint Tea and the Pukka Herbal Tea range, so that aspect went down pretty well. Whilst the thought of not eating for three days did slightly terrify me, when I heard Germaine say: “If I could bottle the feeling you get when you’ve completed the detox, I’d be multi-millionaire.” I knew I had to give this a go! Two days later I received 12 shiny bottles which each came with their own allocated time to drink, along with two lemons to slice into hot water and a note of encouragement. I got an early night and braced myself for my first appointment with Clean Green (spinach, cucumber, celery, apple and lime) at 9am.
Day 1
I’m a little embarrassed to say I’d never tried hot water with lemon before, but I’d heard good things about the benefits of drinking it first thing in the morning, so I decided to kick off with that at 8am. Cracking open a bottle of Clean Green an hour later I was surprised at how thick the juices were, I originally assumed they’d be of a thin consistency, but the fact they were more of a smoothie texture reassured me they would keep me feeling full. I’m not really a massive fan of spinach but I knew I had to finish it as Clean Green has all the nutrients the body requires for one day and therefore is the most important juice. At 12pm I opened Lets Glow (orange, apple, kiwi, grape and strawberry) which was yummy, this is my kind of juice down to a T, I loved the zingyness to it and was already excited for tomorrow’s lunch. On the side effects side I felt completely fine, I’m not a huge breakfast person and so didn’t have any real feelings of hunger, my water intake was doing pretty well two, I’d brought 1.5 litres of water to work and had drank just over half of it, slightly annoying when you need to keep running to the toilet every 20 minutes, but all for a good cause! At 3pm I drank my second Clean Green followed by three cups of cranberry tea, the spinach taste in Clean Green was now beginning to grate on me, it’s quite a prominent taste and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to manage it again, let alone twice a day for the remainder of the detox. By the time I got home I was feeling tired and had a headache, I remembered Germaine mentioning this was to do with toxins releasing, it was bearable but at the same time I wondered if it was going to be like this continually for two more days, I attempted to block it out by drinking more water to hit my 2 litre challenge. My Dad by this point thought it was crazy I hadn’t eaten all day, even though I had explained the detox process to him several times previously! My mum on the other hand was slightly concerned but understood and vowed to cook every meal I disliked for the next two nights so as not to tempt me too much – bless her! I had my last juice of the day Berry Good (pineapple, blueberry, strawberry, apple and raspberry) at 6pm which was lovely, packed with loads of antioxidants it totally lived up to its name and became my second favourite juice.
Day 2
Today I woke up feeling really lethargic, and by mid morning most of my concentration had gone, conversations were hard to focus on and pay attention to, I forgot what I was doing at work several times and by 5pm I was starving! To make matters worse, I added some cinnamon into my 3pm Clean Green to try and mask the spinach taste, but stupidly I put too much in and struggled to drink it, in the end I resulted to pouring the green juice over some ice and attempted to drink it through a straw hoping the coldness would taken the taste away, it helped slightly but it still wasnt great. When I got home from work I could smell my Mum had cooked a steak dinner, and as much as I can’t stand beef, I literally was so hungry I could have ate anything. I drank about 4 cups of Mint Tea to surpass my hunger which helped, however by 7pm my headache from yesterday returned in full force. I thought numerous times about giving up and whipping up a bowl of my speciality, pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, but thankfully I settled for slicing up a cheeky apple instead whilst reminding myself I’d done well to come this far and there was only one full day left to complete. One hour later I was in my room, trying to distract myself by watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians and wondering just how many juice cleanses Kim, Khloe and Kourtney had encountered, my eyes caught my scales at the bottom of my wardrobe. As much as Germaine had previously warned me not to weigh myself until I had completed the detox, the temptation became too much to resist, I stepped on them and closed my eyes and after a little hesitation, I looked down and opened my eyes where I was delighted to see I’d already lost 4lbs! Even though this probably wasnt the best thing to do as water retention can vary from day-to-day, knowing I’d lost 4lbs instantly cheered me up and felt like the boost I needed.
Day 3
Thankfully I woke up in a much better mood than the previous morning and began my morning with a lemon water again. I have to say I felt a definate spring in my step, my hunger and headache from last night were nowhere to be seen and most importantly I was ready to give day 3 my best shot. Overall today was by far the most easiest to get through, I’m proud of myself for feeling on top form and if I’m honest I was a little sad when I realised there would be no more Lets Glow or Berry Good to look forward to tomorrow. The berries must be working their magic as I still felt on top form with no side effects for rest of the day. By the evening I’m a little hungry but havent got a huge desire to eat, I think I just miss chewing – is that weird?
Results Day
I woke up this morning at 7am which is unheard of without my alarm and I have to say I felt buzzing, very energetic, extremely positive and super excited to have completed my first juice detox. I jumped straight out of bed a straight onto my scales, where I was thrilled to see I’d lost 6lb all together! Fantastic results, my stomach appears to be less bloated and my thighs look slightly more tonned, I’m a very happy girlie overall, I’ve managed 3 days without food, been converted to lemon water and certainly feel the hard work has paid off. 6lbs in three days is amazing and definitely more than I expected. In terms of undertaking the 3 day cleanse again, I’m not so sure I’d be in an immediate rush to do it, it takes an extremely high amount of willpower and can also disrupt social plans slightly. Saying that though I definitely wouldn’t rule out another detox in the future and would 100% recommended it for improving mind clarity, bloating and helping to shift a few pounds from certain stubborn areas on the body – perfect for a last-minute results guaranteed bikini body boost! Thank you Juice To U!
10/10
Juice To U retails at £59 for a 3 day detox / £79 for 5 days.
For more information visit: http://www.JuiceToU.com
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