So, we did it!! A turbo juice fasting detox program in the comfort of our own office!

Detox is a hot trend, and we regularly hear these questions from our clients: What will a detox program do for me? How will I feel? Is it hard? So we decided to put it to the test and find out for ourselves!

We decided to rely on the experience of our good friends from Real Life Healthy Living retreat for a balanced three day juice fasting diet. At Real Life Healthy Living retreat they believe that shocks to the system every now and then are a great way to kick-start the natural bodily functions and give the digestive system a break. It´s not a ´quick fix, magical cure´. Juicing is about not only giving your body what it needs, but also about enjoying what you put into your body.

So if you haven´t tried juicing, give it a go! They say that after three days people who have never juiced before feel all its benefits. Read our BLOG about how you can do it yourself, and find all the recipes here >>

And this is what it did for us!

CHRISTIAN

Alongside Neel´s Health Plan for 2019 a 3 day juice detox was also discussed, why don´t we all do one, here in the office? Whilst I regularly enjoy a juice or a smoothie, particularly in the summer months when it´s hot in Mallorca and you don´t really fancy a meal, I had never really considered a full on Liquid detox. With February in Mallorca being the coldest and dampest month of the year, the idea of an intense vitamin injection and finding out for myself what a digestion cleanse was really like, count me in!

As we started day 1, I thought this is going to be easy, the first 2 juices were delicious and opened my eyes to being a lot more adventurous with my smoothies, however by early afternoon I was ravenous and the lunch juice didn´t seem to touch the sides. I had the mid afternoon snack early, which was a filling lentil and veggie soup, it was that or start eating my children, and fortunately that saw me through til the evening juice. My family wisely all gave me a wide berth as I will confess I felt tired and was definitely super grumpy. Preparing the kids dinner and resisting my regular evening glass of wine and salty snacks, which were both within reach, was certainly a test. Day 2 was much easier, again I really enjoyed the juices and I didn´t experience the hunger I had done on the first day, your body seems to adapt quickly to the meals and calorie intake. On Day 3 I felt lighter, my clothes felt looser, I had a lot more energy and my tummy certainly felt rested if that makes sense.

People do get confused and seem to see a Detox as a quick way to lose some weight, and whilst it´s not the main goal it is a plus for many. I lost almost 2 kg in 3 days but when I returned to eating normally, including wine, snacks and desserts, I have put most of it back on again over the space of a week. However it you were to use it as a kickstart and continue with a diet and exercise health plan, just think what you could lose over a couple of weeks or months!

I´m really happy that we decided to do it as a team, there were no distractions or temptations, we all went through the experience together which was very motivating and miraculously I managed to dodge the bullet of most of the preparation, and preparation there certainly was, along with continuously washing up apparatus. With 5 juices a day, you´ve just finished one process before you have to start thinking of the next.

If you are considering a liquid detox I would absolutely recommend going to a retreat or somewhere with a group environment, where it is all prepared for you, so all you need to think about is resting, feeling the benefits and planning how you are going to implement your new health plan once you return home.

NEEL:

A juice detox. They say it´s healthy, it gives your digestion system a rest, you will feel energised and renewed afterwards. I was quite excited and felt really motivated, curious to see how I would get along with this experiment. Got a juicer, got the fridge stocked up with fruit and veg, all ready to go! I often make smoothies myself, just to replace a meal and I like that, it makes me fell less bloated, but 5 juices a day, that´s a whole different level! The recipes were amazing. My smoothie recipe is always more or less the same, but the idea of adding beetroot, avocado or celery to my juice was new to me. It was delicious! On the whole, I didn´t feel very hungry, just a bit, but it was easy to cope with.

On the first day I had a headache, but fortunately that went after a good night´s sleep. I liked the 3 days of juicing, but cannot say I felt totally transformed afterwards, probably because I already have quite a healthy lifestyle. However I would not do it again at home. There is soooooooo much work involved, shopping, cutting, juicing, cleaning, my god I´ve never done so much washing up!!! No, next time I would do it at a retreat where they prepare all the juices for me, where I can rest, go for a walk or do some sports. I would not recommend doing it at home. It is pretty tough as it is, so don´t torture yourself anymore by having to do all the preparation alongside your normal job, and having to prepare for and watch the rest of your family members tucking into their ¨normal¨ meals!

What I enjoyed most out of the experience is proving to myself that I can do it, that I can resist temptation and focus just on the juices. Next time I´ll treat myself to a detox program at a hotel or retreat in a nice location away from home and may be a bit longer than 3 days, to truly be able to experience the effect of a juice detox.

FEMKE P:

For me it was the very first time that I did a detox, and I went in to it with a lot of positive expectations. It is said that a detox provides more energy, a radiant skin, a ´light´ feeling and better concentration so I was certainly curious about what this would do for me. I love good food and I was a bit nervous that I would experience severe hunger during these 3 days, however, except for the first day, the feeling of hunger was not too bad. As the detox consisted only of juices and 1 hot soup a day I did miss the action of chewing a bit during the experience. Despite the fact that a detox should provide more energy, it took me until the third day, it was then that I can say that I felt good and with a lot of energy. In the future I would not do a detox during a working week in winter, I am sure I would enjoy one a lot more during a relaxing weekend without any obligations!

MARTA:

I was really looking forward to this detox and felt that my body certainly needed it, maybe that’s why it was easy for me to follow. In general I did not feel hungry over the three days, more than anything I felt really satisfied during the whole process, the juices were delicious and filling, my digestion and stomach felt soft and ¨quiet¨, and comfortably full.
I lost about 2 kilos of weight, I imagine mostly liquids, which I have already put back on (I have a lot of fluid retention).
During and after the three days I felt very comfortable and ´light´ although there were a few moments in the afternoon where I felt a lack of energy. A regular day for me, with two kids, working inside and outside the home, is usually intense, so I would have appreciated a little something that would have given me that extra bit of energy.

So in general it was a very positive experience and I would definitely do it again, that is, if it were at a retreat or venue, out of my daily routine, where I could rest and in particular, where someone else would make the juices! I found that making the juices, despite it being a relatively simple task, is a bit cumbersome when cutting and processing all the fruits and vegetables, which barely fit in my kitchen, and cleaning everything afterwards and five times a day! So Detox YES but in a place where they will take care of me😉

FEMKE S:

Me being the only coffee addict in the office feared the side effects of this detox most…. Also I was not sure I was going to survive these three days without my daily coffee shots. But since the whole team was joining in it left me no choice. And I will be honest, I am glad I did it! On the first evening I suffered badly with a terrible headache and I really asked myself why I had agreed to do this. In general I´m not a huge eater, so luckily for me the feeling of hunger was very slight and certainly manageable. I was really happy that besides the juices there was one hearty soup included daily. It was spicy and delicious, a real treat and something to look forward to during the day. The second morning after a good night sleep I had recovered from my headache and I felt really rested. I felt strong and energetic, so if this was thanks to the detox, this was a good sign! That night I slept really well and that energised feeling remained throughout the entire detox, my head felt really clear too. Also, although I was mentally missing my coffee, my body got rid of this craving in no time! After the three days I was happy to return to my coffee, although now I take it decaf ;-)….

I agree with my colleagues that the making of the juices is quite a hassle and I fully agree with them, that doing a detox outside the ´comfort´ of your own home where you can have someone else prepare the juices for you is a far better option! So all in all I am happy I did it, I was happy it was over after three days (but this was mainly to do with the amount of work spent on preparing and cleaning) and I am definitely curious what the effects would be if I were to do it for 7 days! Maybe something for next year …