Start of Juice Detox and Allergy & FreeFrom Show
Hey lovies,
Warning: this post is long and picture heavy!
I hope you’ve all had a good weekend, I certainly have! Mine has involved lots of shopping yesterday, going out for drinks with some friends and a chilled out Sunday today; monster lie in (what weekends are made for, duh!) then off to the Allergy & FreeFrom show and a visit to the Barbican to see the Bauhaus exhibition.
After a bit of crappy start to the week, the week has definitely improved. To follow on from my binging I decided to do a juice detox. My stomach has blown up hugely from overeating, not to mention further weight gain and an upset stomach. I must admit, the thought of juice detox did and still does terrify me. During my ED days, drink calories were big no nos..they were seen as a ‘waste’ of calories, ones that didn’t fill me up and admittedly, this still lives with me today a lot of the time. However, being stronger now, I can see past the unknown calories of just about anything, it was more the ‘no food’ aspect that scared me because I’ve always liked filling food with lots of volume wherever possible. Crunchy or stodgy food works well too. Which is why I don’t tend to have soups either.
My first juice delivery came yesterday. In fact it woke me up at 8.30 which I was not best pleased about given I like my giant lie-ins until lunchtime at the weekend these days! The courier had it all packed in a giant cooler bag for me and handed it over. Well, I guess I was up now so I’d better make a start. I wasn’t hungry but this is the problem with my current eating pattern, I don’t eat enough during the day so I’m over hungry at night so I forced down my first juice over half an hour whilst working on my laptop.
The ‘Morning Alkaline Boost Shake’ which I was pleased to see that the juices were at least a good size and not some tiny bottle, with some kelp and nettle tablets that are provided as supplements for each day.
I was instructed to mix it with some ‘alka-greens’ powder that came in a pot which was made of grasses and seeds which gave the juice a more nutty taste which was quite nice. The juice was yummy given that I love apples and pears but I wasn’t so keen on the grapefruit addition..I’m not a huge fan of citrus fruits and grapefruit in particular is not my favorite and makes me even thirstier afterwards for some reason!
But anyway, after getting ready a little while later, I went out and hit the shops in need of some serious retail therapy. I started to get hungry around 2pm but I’d left my next juice in the fridge at home so finished shopping and got home for 3pm to meet my next juice.
The ‘Green Machine’.
Um yeah, let’s not go there with this one. Given that I was hungry, this was not what I wanted. Now of course I eat plenty of greens and I’ve made green smoothies before, but there was celery in this one. Raw celery is just absolutely disgusting and given that this was the main ingredient, it was unbearable. I chugged half of it and after feeling like I was going to throw up, left the other half of the bottle.
So I was still hungry. Feeling a little miserable. Fortunately I got a text from my best friend asking me to go out for some drinks. At first I was reluctant and explained what I was doing and that I was craving Pepsi Max like crazy but couldn’t have that never mind alcohol. After a little persuasion, I gave in and agreed to go as I needed a little cheering up, deciding to stick to the diet coke which I shouldn’t have been doing really but sometimes your mental health is more important.
Before going out I had the ‘detox vegan broth’ that was on the diet plan at around 6.30. I hadn’t expected anything hot on the plan but I definitely wasn’t saying no given I was hungry and hoping that something hot, despite being little, could fill me up a bit more than the horrible celery juice!
Mmmm appetising, I know. Is it sad that I actually really enjoyed the little tiny chunks of vegetables because it was food?! The broth itself was um…dirty water.
But anyway, I got ready to go out and had lots of fun with some friends and had some cheeky diet cokes. I was starting to feel hungry by 10pm though but ignored it for the time being given that this is the time that I normally over-eat. I was still due a juice for when I got back but when I did get back home at around half past midnight, I was all drinked out on diet coke and wasn’t thirsty for my last juice so I had a banana, a small punnet of strawberries, a persimmon and a handful of roasted chickpeas to make up for the last juice and half of the other one I didn’t have. So I kind of cheated on the whole juice thing. But they were a healthy alternative and ooooh being able to eat felt so good! God, I’m not doing very well given that this was only day 1 but I’m hoping it will get easier!
Today I woke up first at 8.30 to go to the loo! I was a little hungry but still tired so I got back in bed after my bathroom trip and slept until 11 which is more my normal time for weekends! 
I did genuinely feel a little better though. My stomach seemed a tiny bit less bloated and I felt okay. However, this time I wasn’t hungry again. Despite this, I forced myself to face my first juice in order to try and overcome this ‘no hunger’ feeling I get in the morning.
‘Carrot Mix’ with kelp and nettle tablet supplements.
Now don’t get me wrong. I love carrots. Anything carroty and I’ll love it. But carrot juice…mmmm not so much. Kind of a disappointment to have for breakfast as I prefer my breakfasts a little sweeter. But I soldiered on and drank this as I got ready to head out to the Allergy and FreeFrom show. I hear you ask, why go to a food show when you can’t have food? Well it was probably a good idea in reality. If I’d have gone on normal circumstances, I would have probably bought too much, and stuffed my face with it all this evening and been miserable about it. I did want to go and learn about new products though so off I went.
My favorite vegan cheese comapny, Vegusto, was there. If you’ve not tried their cheese, I definitely recommend their melty one – it’s like a cheese spread but I just lick it straight from the packet it’s so good!
And my favorite ever chocolate truffles from Booja-Booja <;;3
Of course Nakd bars had to be there!
Ms Cupcake’s vegan goodies too. It was so hard to resist buying one of these after wanting to try one of her goodies for so long…
Amy’s Kitchen had quite a big stand and seemed very popular!
Obviously with a lot of coeliac stands around, there was SO much frickin bread!!! Loved that they had spread it all with soya spread though but unfortunately most of the breads with made with egg/dairy so don’t cater for gluten free vegans like myself..
I went and declared my love to the inSpiral people haha 
I don’t think there’s anything of their’s I’m not in love with.
I also declared my love to Nature’s Path for still allowing me to feed my cereal addiction despite a gluten/wheat intolerance
And also to Alpro because they just makes a vegan’s life so much better!
There was so much good food there and I discovered a couple of new brands including gluten free oatie biscuits for the future! I was too tempted by this new brand though and made one purchase:
Perkier – a brand new company who mostly do brownies and cakey things but they do a gluten free porridge range – including gingerbread which I’m so excited to try as I did really love the Dorset Cereal’s Gingerbread Porridge before! These ones are all natural with nothing added to them whatsoever as well as being gluten free so I’m really excited to try them. I got all three flavors – apple, cinnamon and raisin, berry and gingerbread.
I then went to the Bauhaus exhibition at the Barbican for a bit which was really good if you like that kind of thing! However I could feel my blood sugar starting to drop and I found that after an hour I couldn’t concentrate anymore so I made my way back home for 3pm to get my next juice.
‘Slimliner’
I was so incredibly happy to see that this was a very sweet fruity one because I felt like I really needed it. This was absolutely perfect and all of my favorite kind of tropical fruits! Yum!!
However I did still kind of hungry and I started to get a headache. I held it out until 6.30, dinner-ish, time to have the next drink…
Following on the tropical theme with a pineapple coconut water and probably a good reason why it had been prescribed given my headache. Maybe that’s to be expected? Better than the broth in terms of taste, but no exciting bits of veg to look forward to haha! Still kind of hungry but my headache is subsiding. And now it is just past 8.30 and I’m looking at my last juice of the day, longingly hoping it will help make a dent in my hunger. Probably not.
Sorry for the long post but I guess I wanted to see for my own benefit how this whole juice detox goes!
Have you ever done a juice detox? How did you find it?</
Hey you
I am really glad you’re starting to feel better but I can’t pretend I don’t have massive alarm bells ringing around your juice detox. I’m sure you can come up with some very reasonable arguments for it but I’d find it very hard to believe your ED doesn’t have in on this whether consciously or not. That’s not to criticise you but to acknowledge that I’m worried about you doing this. I guess if you hadn’t been struggling with your ED for a very long time and this was under medical supervision I would be wary but maybe less so. However given the distress youve been experiencing recently it seems really risky. I hope this comes across with a tone of concern as intended and not as patronising or critical. I care about you and EDs are cunning little fuckers which can have the most reasonable voices sometimes. Do take care hon x
I agree with the comment above, I totally understand how you are feeling right now regarding your body, and I think that we are right to worry, as we care, ALOT.
I’m not going to say anything else, because you probably know what I will say, one thing i will say is, i’m here for you Nicky. and please take care of yourself lovely.
Big big love to you XX
I think I’ve commented a grand total of twice but massive alarm bells were ringing as I read through this. I completely agree with the first posts. Please take care, I’m worried about you, especially thinking about your recent distress. Just…take care, please.
Xx
To be honest, this sounds kind of miserable! If you’re getting excited about a couple of chunks of carrots floating around in that “dirty water” broth… that doesn’t sound good at all
Do you think you’re really getting enough nutrients and protein in those juices?
There are things that concern me as well about this post, but it does sound like you are pretty happy. It’s good that you are able to drink juice, even through a detox (which I don’t agree with, but that’s my opinion). I still have issues with it. I tell people I hate juice just so I don’t have to drink it. I hope you are well, though. Make sure you’re getting enough nutrition!
I have to be honest here nicky…this juice fast sounds HORRIBLE. I know you’re feeling down at the moment but turning to something like this could be really dangerous in regards to your eating disorder. Plus, doing juice detox’s actually slooows your metabolism because your body isn’t getting enough nutrients and thus goes into a sort of starvation mode. I really hope you’re okay girl…you are a wonderful person who deserves to enjoy everyday.
To be honest,I am not so stoked in the face of that juice detox-thingie… I would never do it myself,really,because I would be too afraid of getting so hungry that it would end up in a massive binge-attack in the end. I mean,it’s nice that you feel better regarding your bloatings and everything,but still… Just think about it once more,okay? I’m worried,that’s all…
I can totally see where the other commenters are coming from, that juice fast sounds horrid! I’ve came in for a lot of stick when I’ve defended ‘detoxing’ in the past so I’m certainly not going to criticise you here. I actually love having periods of detoxing when I feel like I’ve been over doing it with sugar and caffeine in particular. However this looks like torture and given that you’re prone to binging I’m worried that the restriction will just push you into the binge / restrict cycle even more. I think having a couple of days of just smoothies, juices, nuts and seeds etc is fine if your in the right frame of mind and if you don’t restrict. I like my healthy feast approach. Hope you’re ok though chick xxx
I have done a juice fast before and to be honest I think it’s a nice way to restart your eating patterns, if done correctly. It is a very nice experience because you learn to appreciate food for what it is, nourishment for your body, and you become more conscious of what you put on your body. You have to get prepared for it though, you can’t be eating big amounts of food and the next day give it only juice. You have to eat very light and clean, fruits and veggies, whole grains and legumes, a week before your juice fast, and break the fast the same way. Also, since digestion is the one thing that requires more energy from your body, juice fasting gives your digestive system a nice break and your body is able to use that energy for other things. Of course, it is not recommended for everyone and you should always be careful.
I have never done a juice detox. If I did I think I would have to include lots of green smoothies too. I bet it is wonderful to clear out the system after a long period of indulgences.
MAYBE IF I BOLD THIS YOU WILL READ IT!
Haha, but seriously, I’ve recommended to you before that if you STOP DRINKING POP you will probably eliminate some of your bloating and upset stomach. I know it tastes good and whatever, but if you stop drinking it, you will stop craving it! Diet soda is worse, since your body doesn’t actually digest artificial sweetener, even though it tries. That effort causes gas. Colas raise the acidity in your digestive tract and (supposedly) in your bloodstream. You know what counteracts acidity in your body? Calcium. And I don’t have to tell you where that calcium is going to come from.
PLEASE STOP DRINKING POP! I feel so bad every time I read your posts saying you still have digestive issues. Personally, I gave up caffeine before pop to help eliminate migraines (it did help tremendously) but still had bloating and a sort of sour feeling in my gut while I was still drinking clear sodas. When I stopped drinking them altogether, I no longer had ANY sour stomach, and never get bloating unless I’ve eaten a TON. So please consider giving up your vanilla coke/pepsi max/etc.!!
agreed! This whole juice fast is scary in itself but I am not telling you what you should do there, since I have a feeling you know that this juice fast is supposed to prompt weight loss and you are still so in your ED. But the pop/soda thing is so true… what good is it doing? NOTHING, and in all likelihood it is making things TONS worse… I mean, carbonation = bloating and the leaching calcium from bones is scary scary stuff! It is not worth it to get a fake “full”, I really hope you can get better!
Im also pretty concerned about you juice fasting. I know how strong the ED voices are and im hoping its not those that are pushing you to go this way. Still, I hope you find some comfort from your digestive issues (as I know how horrible these are too)….reminding you how beautiful you are, how much your worth, how much you inspire me (and the entire blogging community), and how much fight I see in you to carry on kicking ED’s arse! SO much love! x
Hey lovely, just catching up on some of your older posts. Your decision to do a juice fast is your own so no judgement here. I understand wanting to do it to sort out digestive issues as that’s why I did mine. Just wanted to say in terms of bringing back your apetite, a juice fast is actually the worst thing. It pretty much slows your metabolism down to a halt – it took me a couple of days to start feeling properly hungry again which wasn’t fun! Also I’m not sure if you did this or not, but it’s very beneficial to have a colonic (not as scary as it sounds, I promise) after a juice fast to clear out the toxins released, otherwise they just get reabsorbed back into the body.