Traditionally, the beginning of the year is a healthy antidote to
the indulgent Christmas festivities and those new found resolutions are still going
strong come spring season. However, the party never stops in HK and there are
limited windows to detox in the city that celebrates New Year twice! Hello
hangovers. After feeling heavy and
lethargic for one Monday morning too many, I decided to get involved with the
latest health trend: juicing. As a long
term devotee of the gorgeous goddesses at Genie Juicery, this was my first and
only choice for three days’ worth of green goodness to flush out those toxins
and give my body a chance to recuperate and rejuvenate.
Typically, I am not a fan of fad diets or restrictive eating habits,
as I am convinced that they are unsustainable in the long-term. There was no
denying that I was in a food rut and my choices had become motivated by
convenience and compulsion, rather than consideration for my body’s needs. I
seriously needed to check myself, regroup and revaluate my lifestyle choices. A
juice cleanse appealed to me, particularly because I looked upon the process as
the perfect opportunity to kick start a healthier eating pattern and inspire a
more mindful attitude towards food preparation and consumption. Before my cleansing
crusade began, I had tried a wide variety of Genie goodies, so I knew that I
wasn’t going to be faced with bottles of bizarre brews. I can wholeheartedly
say that every juice I consumed was fresh, tasty and actually, quite a pleasure
to drink.
I must admit that I wasn’t entirely schooled up on exactly why it is more beneficial to drink
fruits and veggies. I turned to the Genie Bible (a comprehensive breakdown on
the benefits of nature) and I learned that fruits and veggies, in their raw
form, are super sources of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. The hype is real,
folks and I have heard that people who consistently drink raw, enzyme-rich
juices feel more energetic, have clearer skin, healthier hair and nails and
stronger resilience to infection. Sounds like all round #winning. And now, for
the sciencey bit: drunk in their juice form, these valuable nutrients pass
rapidly through the blood stream and are 100% absorbed by the body, because
there is no solid food ingested to get in the way of this process. I was
intrigued to try this myself and hopefully reap some of the rewards.
The week before Mission Detox, I had an extensive consultation with
the Genie gurus who analysed my lifestyle, schedule, work commitments and
personal taste buds. It was recommended that I try their newly released Wedding
Cleanse; a custom designed raw, vegan, gluten free and cold pressed blend of nourishing
delights. Although this cleanse is targeted at brides-to-be, the promise of
dewy skin, silky smooth hair, boosted metabolism and a flatter tummy is
something that all of us ladies covet and are striving to achieve.
The Juices
The Genie Wedding Cleanse consists of drinking eight juices per day,
for three consecutive days. Each morning, I received a cooler pack that
contained The Master, Bo Yo, Green Dream, Life Blood, Watermelon Chia Cooler,
Vitamin Sea, Crazy for Coconut and Sweet Dreams. I chose to swap out Watermelon
Chia Cooler for Garden Gnome, simply because of my own personal preference. My
request was absolutely no issue and I was thoroughly impressed by the
flexibility of the Genie gals and their paramount concern for the comfort and
care of the client.
Each bottle was conveniently labelled with a number, so it was clear
when to drink each juice. Totally hassle free. The Master was the perfect
replacement for my usual cup of steaming espresso and was just tart enough to
wake me up in the a.m. with a zing, before indulging in the luscious smoothie,
Bo Yo. Green Dream was the ideal pallet cleanser to make way for the most
surprisingly enjoyable addition of the lot: Life Blood. I say this because I
was foolishly prejudiced and decided that beetroot was not to my taste and therefore,
I would dislike this juice. Well, let’s just say that Genie showed me! It was
the perfect blend of sweet and sour, with a consistency just thick enough to
fill me up, yet still very easy to digest. The ultimate star of the show for me
was Sweet Dreams - a delectable vanilla almond milk to savour before bed time.
I genuinely looked forward to this all day long and tried extremely hard not to
gulp it down in one go!
Day One
We’re all friends here so I’m not afraid to admit that I woke
feeling rather intimidated by the prospect of surviving on juice alone for the
next three days. An even more challenging Monday lay before me without the
comfort of my usual frothy coffee and refined sugar fix to ease the pain. As I
am clearly a sharer, I will also let you in on the day that I lost my psyllium
husk virginity, which was predictably awkward, embarrassing and messy. I didn’t add enough water to the husks (completely my own fault) and started off
my first ever detox with what felt like a throat full of sawdust. #epicjuicingfail
Otherwise, the morning went without a hitch and I was revelling in the
novelty of the juice varieties and excited to sample those that I hadn’t tried
before. As the afternoon approached, I felt slightly shaky and began to suffer
with a headache - due to the lack of coffee in my life. I knew that the
caffeine withdrawals would be brutal but, as I am prone to headaches in
general, this was the hardest part of the detox for me to deal with. To take my
mind off my pounding temples, I packed my lunch time juice and went for a
manicure. Any excuse, eh?!
Despite the amount of liquid I consumed, I still felt thirsty enough
to down two litres of water, hot lemon water and a peppermint tea, throughout
the day. I reflected on the amount of times that I eat when I am actually not
hungry at all or, just because it is a certain time of day. It was enlightening
to consider food in a different context and it was incredible how much I
started to appreciate the food that I usually take for granted.
That night, I tucked up early with Sweet Dreams and slept soundly.
Day Two
I woke up before my alarm went off (which rarely happens!) and felt
alert and full of energy. I did some light yoga stretching before tucking into
The Master and pin pointed the juices that I was looking forward to later in
the day.
I felt fantastic and bright-eyed until late afternoon when the dreaded headache took over. I avoided taking my usual dose of paracetamol, as I
thought it would interfere with the cleansing process and found alternative
ways to rid myself of the discomfort. This was such a useful exercise and I
will definitely be taking those techniques forward…step away from the medicine
cabinet and the grande latte.
During the detox, I never felt hungry as Genie has devised a genius
menu to cover all of our nutritional bases. Interestingly, I craved healthy
food and dreamt about a plate full of salmon and colourful veggies. One of my
favourite results of this detox was the increase in my confidence to try new
foods and I finally felt equipped to implement a real change in my dietary
choices.
Day Three
I literally sprang out of bed and felt like I could run the world,
Beyonce style. I decided that I was certainly going to incorporate juicing into
my routine - most likely as a healthy breakfast option.
My skin broke out a little, which is completely normal and due to
all of those nasty toxins leaving the body. Thankfully, it was nothing a decent
concealer couldn’t fix, so I covered those bad boys up and skipped out to take
on the day.
One of the most thought provoking aspects of my juicing journey was
the realisation of just how much my eating patterns are determined by my
psychology. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I sit down to two burgers and six
beers a night, but I often eat and drink far more than I ever need to out of
greed, boredom and lack of preparation. I resolved to listen to my body more
carefully and fuel it with more organic and natural produce. The ability to
endure a lengthy cleanse is often a case of “mind over matter” and the fact
that I completed a successful detox has boosted my morale and given me the
drive to attempt other challenges in the future.
This was the easiest day for me, perhaps partly because I knew the
end was nigh! I met a friend for a catch up and although I was momentarily
distracted by the syrupy coffees on offer, I stuck to a green tea and discussed
my experience with my pal, who happens to be an expert cleanser herself.
Conclusion
In my case, this experiment was absolutely not about losing weight
but I did track my lbs for the purposes of this diary. Over the course of three
days, I lost three pounds but - much more importantly - I felt light and
springy in that sickeningly smug and annoying way. Sorry! Everyone from my
husband, to friends, to colleagues complimented the positive shift in my
appearance which was just a lovely added bonus. I am totally converted to
juicing and I think it is a very healthy practice to do, periodically. At the
moment, I am planning to do this once every quarter, as I firmly believe in the
detoxifying benefits of cleansing. Just
think about all of the alcohol, salt, sugar, caffeine and processed foods that
we expect our liver, kidneys and intestines to deal with every darn day. It’s the least we can do.
To learn more about the Wedding
Cleanse, stop by one of the Genie
stores in IFC, or on Hollywood Road and read all about it at http://geniejuicery.com/
All images courtesy of Genie Juicery
