21 day juice detox - day 15

Monday Monday here again! Was really tired today from yesterday's fayre. Had my lovely tap dancing class at lunchtime and my energy levels picked up. Strange what stomping about and making a load of racket for an hour can do!

I had a delicious beetroot based juice today, I called it Beetroot Blast. I'm really loving beetroot in juices at the moment, I don't know if it's because of the blood purifying and detoxing effects, or the yummy sweet taste, or the beautiful rich purple colour. Probably all three! And purple is my favourite colour.

Beetroot blast juice recipe:
3 beetroots
1 bag (750g) carrots
5 pears
1/2 bag spinach
Chunk fresh ginger
Juice of 1 lime

Put it all through the juicer, sandwiching spinach between pears. Mix lime in the jug.

Wishing you raw health and happiness,

Natalie. x

www.rawlifestylecoach.co.uk

21 day juice detox - day 10

Yay double figures! Day ten and I'm not dead! Though I must admit I'm losing momentum a bit with all the juicing, wish someone else could make me some for a while! I think tomorrow I'll make one big batch in the morning and flask it up for the day.

I had my massage today, an hour deep tissue massage...and yes, it was deep! Just what I needed, my shoulders feel much more relaxed. I wish I could have them every week!

I made apple carrot and ginger juice this morning. An oldie but a goodie. I just love the taste of this juice so much. I put quite a big chunk of ginger in so it's quite zingy and spicy but you can put as much or as little as you want.

Carrot, apple and ginger juice recipe:

1 bag (750g) carrots

6 apples

Chunk fresh ginger, peeled

2 tbsp aloe ferox juice

Put through the juicer, mixing in the aloe afterwards in the jug.

So to follow on from re-starting my tap dancing lessons on Monday, I rekindled another old dancing passion today, belly dancing! I love this sensual, exotic art form so much. I used to have to private lessons every week when I lived in London, but then moving away from a big city it's harder to find local classes and teachers. It feels great to be back dancing again.

I've also discovered that there is a hot yoga studio in Dorking. I used to practice hot yoga in Guildford when I lived in Horsley, but since moving to Rusper (West Sussex), the closest hot studio I could find was in Hove, which is a bit far to go for a yoga class as it's a 35/40 minute drive. Dorking is about 25 minutes from me. Still a bit of a drive but we're getting closer! Perhaps someone will open a hot yoga studio in Horsham sometime?! (Anyone..?)

I had some coconut water at dance class, this is great for rebalancing the electrolye balance of the body. If you go for this delicious drink on a fast, be aware that there are several different types on the market. Some actually have bits of coconut flesh floating around it the water, you obviously don't want that kind. Also, if they are coconut water with another fruit flavour, for example, pineapple, it will be blended pineapple pulp, so not a pure liquid, or worse, artificial flavour, so you want to go for the plain version. And always check the ingredients as some are made from concentrate or have added ingredients such as preservatives and even sugar! The one I had is literally just the pure coconut water and nothing else. Mmmmmm...deeelicious!

This evening I had another liquid salad. You can really feel this type of juice nourishing you as you drink it. It's so balancing and grounding, perfect for the evening. It's best to have the juices that are higher in sugar in the morning or at lunchtime so you can use the energy, and the green vegetable juices in the evening to calm and ground you.

Liquid salad 2 recipe:

2 large tomatoes

2 apples

1/2 cucumber

2 sticks celery

1/2 head of dark green lettuce

Handful parsley

Handful dill

Chunk fresh ginger, peeled

Juice of 1 lemon

Dessert spoon of Braggs liquid amino's or tamari

Put through the juicer, sandwiching greens between apples and tomatoes. Mix lemon in the jug and brags/tamari after straining.

Wishing you raw health and happiness,

Natalie. x

www.rawlifestylecoach.co.uk

21 day juice detox - day 2

Woke up quite early this morning due to my toddler Max, and didn't get to bed as early as I wanted to last night so feeling a bit tired today. Although it's difficult to tell whether its lack of sleep or detox symptoms when you're on a programme like this! Had quite a busy day today and was out a lot so only managed to make two juices, but as I am teaching a yoga class tonight I have made double of my evening juice in case I feel the need for something when I get home later.

I forgot to mention yesterday that apart from a juicer the other equipment it's useful to have are a vegetable peeler, a veggie brush, some sort of natural fruit and vegetable wash if possible (helps to get rid of bugs and impurities), a big glass jug to catch your juice, a nut milk bag to strain your juice (only necessary if you are on a juice detox), and a good flask for juice storage and transportation.

Every morning (whether detoxing or not) I have a cup of warm water with fresh lemon. I highly recommend switching your caffeine fuelled tea or coffee for this wonderful reviving drink. Lemon purifies and freshens the body after sleep, cleanses the liver, boosts the digestive system, and improves the immune system due to its strong anti bacterial, anti fungal and anti microbial properties, thus helping to keep colds and flu at bay. Lemon helps to keep the body in an alkaline state, as it is one of the most alkalising foods we can consume (disease can only occur in an acid environment, therefore keeping the system alkaline is paramount to good health). Its great on a detox as it acts as a natural diuretic, meaning it helps to flush the system through. Other benefits to this wonderfully health giving drink are that it helps to clear skin and improve healing, (due to the high vitamin C content). It also acts as a natural pick me up and elevates your mood as lemon is well known for lifting spirits and is used to treat anxiety and depression, so perfect to start the day with!

My first juice today was a really simple one with just three ingredients; orange, carrot and ginger. So sunny and filled with energy and zing, this juice is really great to have in the morning.

Carrot, orange and ginger juice recipe:

1 bag (750g) carrots, scrubbed or peeled

10 oranges

large chunk fresh ginger, peeled

Juice oranges with a citrus juicer. I use the attachment on my food processor as it's so fast. Juice the carrots and ginger in the juicer and mix together. Strain through a nut milk bag if you are doing a juice detox to remove the pulp, otherwise, just enjoy. 

I then had a lovely tea while I was out, whilst my husband David and Max had lunch. My tea was made with fresh lemon and ginger slices, quite rare to find it made fresh like that in coffee shops/sandwich places. So I was happy about that. And the smell was divine. 

My last juice today was green pear and ginger. I took a picture of the pulp after straining through my nut milk bag just to show you how much solids there actually is when it comes out of the juicer.

And here's the juice, sorry it was quite dark when I took the photo and the flash is quite strong, it's not that bright in real life!

Green pear and ginger juice recipe:

7 pears

1 bunch celery

1 cucumber

1 romaine lettuce

1 chunk ginger, peeled

Juice together, sandwiching the lettuce between pears to get maximum juice. 

And yes, I did have some more when I got home from yoga!

Wishing you raw health and happiness,

Natalie. x

www.rawlifestylecoach.co.uk

21 day juice detox introduction

Orange and wheatgrass juice

One of the detoxification methods I teach to my clients is juice cleansing. Sometimes this is referred to as juice fasting, although that is a misnomer as the term fasting only really applies when taking just water or nothing at all. When you do a juice detox you are consuming all the nutrition your body needs, and usually much more, in the form of highly concentrated power elixirs extracted from fresh organic (biodynamic if possible) fruits, vegetables, herbs and sprouts. 

The science behind this ancient form of healing is that when you give your poor over stressed system a break from having to process food and chemicals (food additives, pesticides, hormones, medicine traces etc), it changes from its usual anabolic routine (processing and assimilating food, building cells and tissues), to a catabolic state (detoxifying, cleaning, healing, renewing). This means that it can concentrate solely on cleaning your system, getting rid of toxins, which are stored in fat cells, repairing and healing. 

You may be surprised to know but some pretty serious health conditions have been cured by simply taking a break from solid food for a while, including asthma, allergies, obesity, insomnia, high/low blood pressure, acne, psoriasis, migraines, inflammation, gall stones, arteriosclerosis, and even tumours! The body is a sophisticated machine with the amazing power to heal and regenerate itself, all it needs is to be given a break so it can do so.  Fasting and juice cleansing have been shown to increase life expectancy, health and wellbeing, these techniques put our health directly into our own hands, are free and available to us at any time we wish!

Soooo...I have decided to attempt a 21 day juice cleanse. I have done this type of detox many many times before, but never for that long. I always teach my clients about the importance of listening to your body, and a fast or juice cleanse is definitely a time when this applies, and so I will monitor my progress and see how I get on. If I feel the need to start my transition back to solid food sooner than day 21 (which incidentally is 16th June), then I will do so. Fasting is a time when the ego needs to be left at the door!

I will be posting once a day or every other day, usually in the evening, with my experiences, including the juice recipes with photos, my thoughts and how I am feeling, and I promise to be truthful! I will also include information on other detoxification techniques I am using, suppliers of produce and other products and anything else I think may be of interest. If there is anything else you'd like to know feel free to post a question in the comments box. 

Wishing you raw health and happiness,

Natalie. x

www.rawlifestylecoach.co.uk