Juicing

So I’ve had a break from blogging this past week to try out Juicing. I have wanted to try a full juicing program for a while now and after an indulgent weekend away it seemed like the perfect time.

Juicing for a few days is a great way to cleanse and give your digestive organs a break. It means that your body is spending less energy breaking down food and so can use this energy elsewhere. When you drink fruit and vegetable juice, highly concentrated vitamins, minerals and enzymes rapidly enter the bloodstream which absorb all of the nutritional benefits.

The first three days are however a genuine detox. I didn’t feel great at all. I had headaches and little energy. I’m used to having coffee everyday and caffeine takes 72 hours to exit the system. However by the fourth day I was waking up feeling very energetic and really enjoying my flat stomach!

I did the ‘7lbs in 7 days’ Juice Master program by buying the app for my IPhone, which contains all the recipes and a day-by-day schedule. As I already own a juicer and am studying at home I made all the juices myself. This is a lot of work though and I think next time I will order the juices pre-made. They are delivered to you frozen so that they retain all the nutrients and you can just leave them in the freezer until needed.

What I also found tough was doing this week during mainstream life. You do not have a lot of energy so I found the days when I was out and about in London very hard – added to the fact that I had to make the juices at home so if I wasn’t at home I had to be prepared or wait until I could get juicing. There were a few irritable and frustrating moments! However if followed properly this program will ensure you are never hungry. Five juices and two hot drinks each day was totally manageable. The hardest part had to be being around food in the kitchen and not being able to eat anything.

After 7 days I really do feel amazing (and 2 kilos lighter) and am super inspired to incorporate more juicing into my diet. I don’t want this to be a quick fix so to ensure I don’t undo all the good I am going to slowly incorporate food back into my days. Starting with smoothies for breakfast and then mainly raw salads and vegetables before I get on to cooked food. After juicing for a long period of time your metabolism slows down and will not cope with big cooked unhealthy meals so it is best to ease your way back to normal food.

What I like about Jason Vale’s program is the emphasis he puts on making this healthy kick start a lifestyle choice rather than a quick fix. I believe in eating healthy food, which leaves you feeling energetic and satisfied. And on the juicing program you really get to experience what true vitality feels like and you won’t want to spoil it.

I thought I’d share my two favorite green drinks from the program. Each juice was really delicious and I loved trying them all!

Super Juice

Ingredients:

2 apples

¼ pineapple

¼ cucumber

½ lime (peeled)

¼ avocado (ripe)

1 teaspoon wheatgrass powder

1 small handful of ice

Juice the apple, pineapple, cucumber and lime. Pour the juice into a blender and add the avocado flesh, wheatgrass and ice. Blend until smooth. Pour and enjoy!

Passion 4 Juice Master

1 apple

¼ pineapple

¼ banana

200g yoghurt (I used coconut/soya yoghurt)

1 teaspoon of spirulina powder (I prefer wheatgrass)

Juice the apple and pineapple. Pour the juice into the blender along with the banana, yoghurt and spirulina. Blend until smooth. This one is like a dessert!