When local company Juicytox contacted me saying ‘You’ll either love or hate the idea of our product’ I was intrigued, so I wrote back and asked for more information. They explained Juicytox are a Sussex based company who run a four day juice programme to rejuvenate and cleanse the body. As I am trying to get a bit healthier a loose a little weight, I thought it sounded like a fab idea. Plus if I’m honest after Pride, I owed it to my liver so I said yes and decided to give it a go!
Juicytox provide a prepared juice cleanse delivered straight to your door only using the freshest fruit and vegetables (I know this as I saw Rob posted from the fruit market at about 4am on the company Facebook!). The cleanse lasts for 4 days and consists of 4 freshly made juices spread throughout the day. At first I felt overwhelmingly daunted by this prospect, I am a girl who loves my food and whenever I’ve tried a diet or eating plan where you don’t eat “normal meals” I always worry I’ll have a binge reaction, so I really did have to have a good think about whether this would be suitable for me, I knew this would be challenging, but I wanted to do it for my body and health, so I said yes.
The juice cleanse can bring amazing benefits to both your body and mind. The juices are packed with anti-oxidants, calcium and Vitamin A, C, K, E, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, Chlorophyll and Folate. (Basically, it’s full of amazingly good stuff).
For those not sure why people detox, this is what benefits it can bring:
-A great way to give the body a break from bad toxins -Boosts energy levels -Improves the immune system
-Radiant complexion -Weight loss -Detoxing the body -Improving your digestion -Reduced bloating
The juices are set out like this during the day:
Standard Cleanse
8am Ginger shot 10am Green 1pm Orange 4pm Green 7pm Beetroot
During the cleanse you have to stay away from caffeine, so thats no tea or coffee (I was really worried about this) and drink 2-3 litres of water infused with lemon.
So, how did I do?
Day 1: Filled with excitement, I couldn’t wait to try my first juices. I wasn’t working in my normal office this day so I excitedly packed my juices into a coolbag and left for work. I had my ginger shot before I left and wow, that would wake anyone up! It’s pretty strong but I love ginger so it gave me the kickstart I needed. I had my 10am green juice on the run, it was slightly more ‘celery’ than I was hoping but I found the taste grew on me as the juice went on. By 10am I thought I would be starving but the juices are surprisingly filling. I went onto having my Orange juice for lunch, this was thicker in consistency then I imagined and strong again in ginger taste but I loved this. It was filling and flavourful. The evening came and I have to admit, this is where I struggled. With work to distract me during the day I didn’t find it too difficult, but in the evening Vee cooked her dinner, which was stir fry noodles (which smelt AMAZING) and I did feel a bit hungry, although I don’t know if this was habit as I would normally eat at this time, or real hunger. Anyway, I stuck to my Beetroot juice (which was my favourite flavour of the cleanse) and felt pleased with myself I’d stuck to day 1.
Day 2: Day two was my tough day. Rob from Juicytox did warn me that I would have a day where I would have to be mentally strong and day two was it. I slept so well the night before but getting up I immediately felt hungry and dizzy. I knew that the side effects of cleansing where light headedness and headaches so I was ready for it. This is the toxins escaping from your body so I just tried to fight on through. Rob was amazing support this day and messaged me on Facebook quite a bit to see how I was. I told him I was struggling and he told me I could eat some fruit if I really need to. As I couldn’t concentrate at work, I took myself to the shops and got some mango pieces. This really sorted me out and cleared up my headache. The evening again was a struggle and I can’t lie I was probably horrible to live with that night, but I battled on.
Day 3: Another amazing nights sleep followed. I normally struggle to sleep well but the cleanse really allowed my system to rest at night. I woke up and the light headedness and headache had cleared. I felt lighter in myself and beginning to recoup the energy I had lost! I weighed myself and at this point I had lost 4lbs – this spurred me on to continue and see the cleanse out. During the day I felt quite hungry but the juices are surprisingly filling so I just kept looking forward to my next ‘juice time’.
Day 4: The final day came and I felt better again. My skin looked clear and I noticed my clothes felt loose. I did feel hungry and longed for my first bite of food but I’d come this far so I was determined to see it out! The last day went by with a few tummy rumbles but overall I got through the day. The challenge was in the evening as it was a Friday night, we were meeting for a pizza but I had to just be disciplined and stick with my juices. I just kept thinking about weighing myself and how proud I would be when I finished and continued on.
So, overall – I enjoyed the juice cleanse, the juices themselves were tasty and refreshing. It also felt really good to fill my body with nutrients and get out all the badies! I realised a lot about my food cravings, I didn’t need to eat as much as I normally do. A lot of this is down to habit or socially eating. Another big thing I learnt is that I can cope without caffeine – I thought I’m normally a mess without my morning coffee, but turns out this was just a habit. I’m fine without it! In fact a cup of hot lemon and my ginger shot woke me up in a far more natural way as caffeine often leaves me feeling shaky too. I also slept a lot better, before the cleanse I would drink tea right up until 10pm and then have a broken nights sleep. I do still drink tea in the evenings but have switched to decaff which has worked a treat.
I also lost 6lbs in total. My clothes felt loose and I felt full of energy, I saw some of my friends the following weekend and received compliments that I was looking well and had lost weight! I was surprised people noticed the change in such a short time!
Once I went back to normal food I felt like my appetite had lowered, plus after that hard work I wanted to stick to a healthy regime. The cleanse was a challenge, don’t get me wrong – at times I could have easily given up but I’m so pleased I stuck with it as I really saw the rewards at the end. So far I’ve kept off the weight I’ve lost now I’m back eating a ‘normal’ diet as I did worry it would all pile back on.
Rob from Juicytox was lovely from start to finish, he was in touch everyday to ask how I felt and was on hand whenever I needed him. He hand delivered the juices to my door with a smile and a ‘high five’ on day two which I really needed at that point.
The 4 day cleanse is £59.99 for the four days, at the moment this is just in Sussex but soon they launch nationwide. I would highly recommend this cleanse, so give it a go!
Have you tried a juice cleanse? What did you think?
