21 day juice detox - days 12 & 13

I've been so busy Friday and Saturday I haven't had time to write! Friday I taught an Intro to Raw Food at The Medicine Garden in Cobham, Surrey. The event was hosted by Ruth at The Larder which is the farm shop there. We had 8 clients and they all really enjoyed the food and the evening. We made almond milk, alligator smoothie, hazelnut, olive & red pepper pate that they ate with nori sheets, alfalfa sprouts, grated carrot and shredded spinach, courgette spaghetti with tomato sauce and chocolate brownies with fudgey chocolate icing! It was a bit strange for me not being able to sample the food as we went along, and I was very tempted by the brownies as they're my favourite!

Juice wise I didn't make anything new, just orange and wheatgrass juice. I was a bit naughty actually as I didn't have much time during the day as I was preparing for the workshop, so I only had that one juice. I did have some coconut water and herbal tea though, and lots of water.

Saturday I went to a hot yoga class at Serenity Hot Yoga in Dorking. Oh how I have missed my hot yoga! It was so great to be back! I really like the way they do it there, they use infra red heaters to heat the room so it doesn't feel as harsh as the other ones that I've been to which usually use blow heaters to heat up the room. It was the perfect temperature, hot enough to heat the muscles to help you stretch and make you sweat but not so hot you feel dizzy or lightheaded. Absolutely loved it! This is great for helping detox the body, exercise to get the lymph moving and heat to raise the circulation and induce sweating.

When I got home I made pineapple, raspberry and lime juice. I don't suggest juicing berries very often as they are very expensive and you don't get much juice out of them at all. But I had some raspberries and have been really missing their beautiful flavour so I made this juice, which was delicious!

Pineapple, raspberry and lime juice recipe:
1 pineapple
1 punnet raspberries
juice 1/2 lime

Juice pineapple on high, raspberries on low and mix with lime juice in the jug.

Then in the evening we went for dinner with some of David's family at his cousins house. We had pre warned them that I am fasting so I made a couple of flasks of juice to take with me. I also made some raw chocolate truffles for everyone to have after dinner.

I made the juice I had at Wagamamas last week, celery, apple, mint and lime. It didn't taste exactly like the one I had there as I wasn't sure of the proportions but it was still refreshing and delicious. As it went straight into flasks I didn't get a photo.

Celery, apple, mint and lime juice recipe:
1 bunch celery
4 apples
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 pack of mint

Juice celery and then apples, sandwiching mint between them. Mix with lime juice in the jug.

Wishing you raw health and happiness,

Natalie. x

www.rawlifestylecoach.co.uk

21 day juice detox - day 11

Wow...over half way now. Feeling really great today. My friend Deborah and I went to a networking meeting for people in the alternative/holistic industry and there was a fascinating talk about the benefits of including flax seeds and oil in your diet by Clare of Flax Farm www.flaxfarm.co.uk
Flax seeds:

• Are very low carb and GI
• Gluten free
• Have more omega 3 than fresh mackerel 
• Have more fibre than bran flakes
• Are a rich source of hormone balancing lignans
• Are rich in powerful antioxidants

Some of the health benefits of including flax in your diet are:

• Improved digestion
• Smooth radiant skin
• Balanced cholesterol
• Supple joints
• Healthy metabolism
• Increased immune function
• Balanced hormones
• Healthier gut bacteria
• Stabilised blood sugar levels
• Reduced inflammation in the body

I was in a rush this morning to get to the meeting and I didn't have time for scrubbing and peeling so I just made a big batch of orange and watermelon juice. I had half a watermelon in the fridge that was already washed and I put that through the juicer (rind on) and mixed it with the juice from 5 oranges. Because of the rind the colour doesn't look that great, it's a little dark and muddy (you obviously don't notice this when mixing it with a green blend). If this bothers you just juice the flesh of the melon and save the rind for your next green juice. Don't let looks deceive you though, it tasted gorgeous!

Going back to the flax, I always have a little jar of ground flax in the fridge for Max to sprinkle on his food. If you do this, make sure you only make small batches as it doesn't keep fresh for long, and always store in the fridge. Clare told us that children who have omega 3 in their diet have better concentration levels at school and less occurrence of ADD/ADHD. Today I made Max a half raw meal of pasta salad consisting of gluten free pasta, peas, broccoli (all cooked) and finely diced raw red pepper and cucumber with a raw creamy tomato sauce. He absolutely loves sprinkling the flax on his food himself, and as this was a tomatoey pasta dish I mixed some of the flax meal with some nutritional yeast (a vegan health food containing B vitamins, protein, minerals and trace elements, with a savoury cheesy flavour). He ended up eating most of his sprinkle mix with his spoon!

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 9

This always happens...Max ends up gobbling down my tea or my juice or whatever it is that I have. Even if I give him exactly the same thing in his cup or bowl, guess what? He still wants mine! Cheeky monkey! Here he is downing my lemon water this morning!

I think I'm hitting a wall slightly today, feeling a bit over emotional, empty and really tired. I don't know whether this is detox symptoms or that I'm feeling like I want to eat. Probably the best thing to do is see if the feeling passes, and if it does then I'm ok to carry on.

I have a massage scheduled in for tomorrow, really looking forward to that, it's been too long! Massage is a great thing to have when you're on a detox, it helps to move the lymphatic fluid around the body and into the lymph nodes, it increases circulation under the skin, it helps release stuck lactic acid from the muscles, and it helps you to relax. It's a fact that if you are stressed it is harder for the body to cleanse and detox, which actually makes sense if you think about it, as detoxing is really a letting go process, and you can't do this effectively if you are tense,  tightly wound and holding on. So anything that helps you to relax while you detox is beneficial, you could try massage and healing therapies, meditation, yoga, chanting, taking a walk in nature, having a warm bath, getting lost in a good book or just deep mindful breathing.

Try this: sit in a comfortable seated position with your spine straight, or lay down on your back. If you are sitting, rest your hands in your lap or on your knees. Close your eyes and just scan your body for any areas that you may be holding tension or tensing your muscles. Breathe your exhalation into those areas to help them relax. Now just focus your attention on your breath, as you inhale through the nose, direct the air all the way to the bottom of your lungs so you feel your abdomen expanding. Then exhale slowly through your nose. Make the inhalation and the exhalation slow and smooth, and try to keep them the same length. Do as many rounds as you feel comfortable with, and then just come back to normal breathing again for a little while before opening your eyes. When you open your eyes, take a moment to check in with yourself to see if you feel any different.

My juice today was a simple green juice, the recipe made quite a lot, in fact I didn't notice the jug was full and it started spilling over the sides! So I kept some in a flask in the fridge to drink later on before yoga. I took a photo for you, but to be honest all these green juices look the same don't they! They may be slightly different shades bit it's hard to tell in a photo. This juice has sprouts in it to fill it with beautiful raw vitality and nutrition.

Green goddess juice recipe:
4 apples
5 pears
3 sticks celery
1/2 cucumber
1 bunch spring greens
1 lime cut into quarters with the rind on
Big chunk fresh ginger, peeled
Handful of alfalfa and broccoli sprouts

You know the drill by now, run everything through the juicer, sandwiching the greens and sprouts between the fruit. Sip and savour as the raw vitality feeds your inner goddess (or god)!

Wishing you raw health and happiness,

Natalie. x

www.rawlifestylecoach.co.uk

21 day juice detox - day 8

I rediscovered an old passion today - tap dancing! I did this as a child and loved it, and took it up again as an adult years ago but moved house away from the dance school I attended and so the lessons stopped. I found out that there is a local dance school in Horsham who provide children's and adults dance classes, and so went along for my first tap dancing lesson for years. I think I did rather well actually considering that it was the first time in ages! I really enjoyed it too. Can't wait until next week.

No new juices today, in the morning before my dance class I had the orange and wheatgrass juice from day 6, except this time I added in some grapefruit juice as well. It was delicious.

Then in the evening I had spinachade from day 1, one of my favourites. If you only try one juice from this blog, (and I sincerely hope you try out a few of the recipes), go for this one, it's delicious, you'll be really surprised.

I started a new yoga class today. Previously I was just teaching one class a week on a Tuesday evening, which was a mix between hatha and vinyasa flow yoga. Now I am doing vinyasa flow yoga on Monday evenings and classical hatha yoga on Tuesday evenings. I hope my students like the changes and get to try out both styles.

When I got back from yoga I had a miso broth, mmmm...salty and warming and grounding.

Wishing you raw health and happiness,

Natalie. x

www.rawlifestylecoach.co.uk

21 day juice detox - day 7

Just a short post tonight as it's quite late. We started our day with a delicious orange, lemon and pineapple juice. My recipe somehow managed to make the exact amount for a big glass for me, a smaller glass for my husband David and a baby cup for Max!

Orange, lemon and pineapple juice recipe:
5 large oranges

1 medium pineapple
1 lemon
4 tbsp aloe ferox juice

Put pineapple through the juicer, juice oranges and lemon in a citrus juicer and mix together in the jug with the aloe ferox.

Went shopping for some more produce earlier and couldn't find any organic celery in my local supermarket. So David went to another supermarket and managed to find some, but only came back with one bunch! That's one juice taken care of then! Probably my fault, I should have specified how many I wanted.

Then my sister in law Shakira came over and she made us a juice that she named watermelon deluxe. It was delicious!

Watermelon deluxe recipe:
1/2 watermelon, rind on
1 bag (200g) spinach
4 apples
Juice of 2 limes

Juice everything, sandwiching spinach between apples. Mix with lime juice.

Another option when juice fasting is to have an evening electrolyte broth. This is simply vegetables boiled in water with a little pink Himalayan salt added. You strain the water and this is your broth. You can swirl on a little organic olive oil and add a sprinkle of cayenne or paprika. It makes a lovely change from juices, especially if you are feeling cold or are craving something savoury and salty. This is a bit difficult to make every evening just for yourself though as you end up getting through so many vegetables. So a quick and delicious alternative is to make a simple miso broth.

Miso broth recipe:
Bowl of warm water (not too hot as the miso has friendly bacteria and you don't want to kill it)
1/2 small clove of garlic, peeled
Small chunk of ginger, peeled
1/2 tsp. onion granules
1 tbsp. miso
Tiny pinch cayenne
Small drizzle of olive oil

Pour the water into a glass jug. Finely grate the ginger and garlic in, and whisk in the miso and onion granules. Strain through a nut milk bag into a bowl. Swirl on some olive oil and sprinkle over the cayenne if desired.

Wishing you raw health and happiness,

Natalie. x

www.rawlifestylecoach.co.uk

21 day juice detox - day 6

You know how you start doing something and get so involved you end up losing track of time? That happened to me today. I started at 12.30 just looking for my tap shoes in the shed and ended up tidying, rearranging, and then back in the house unpacking (we moved house recently), tidying etc. The next time I looked at the time it was 6pm! Luckily I had made myself a juice before I started, and had a full water bottle by my side.

My morning juice was orange and wheatgrass. Wheatgrass is the richest source of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is like the blood of plants, and interestingly it has an extremely similar structure to hemin, the part of haemoglobin in the blood that carries oxygen around the body. So drinking this amazing substance is almost like having a blood transfusion, it purifies and oxygenates the blood so much. It also helps to heal, deodorise, alkalise and detoxify the body, chelates heavy metals and on a spiritual level, raises Kundalini energy. A serving of wheatgrass juice is usually 1oz or approx 30ml. It is very strong and potent, and has a very strong flavour. You can either take it straight as a shot or mix it in with other juice. I took a picture of my wheatgrass tray after juicing enough to make a 1oz serving so you can get an idea:

 And here is what 1oz looks like:

So by mixing the wheatgrass juice with other juices, the strong flavour is softened. I usually use orange juice because it has a strong flavour, but you could try grapefruit, pineapple, apple, or mix it in with your green juice recipe.

Orange and wheatgrass juice recipe:

500ml (1 pint) freshly squeezed orange juice

30ml (1oz) wheatgrass juice

Mix together and enjoy. 

I get my wheatgrass kits from Goodness Direct.

Another delicious and nutritious liquid you can enjoy whilst on a juice detox is goji berry water. This is different from blending the gojis into your juice, because then you would be consuming some solids as well. For goji water, you simply soak about 1/4 cup organic goji berries in a glass of water for 12-24 hours. Strain off the liquid (which will have turned a deep red colour) and give the berries to your kids or family. Then savour the delicious sweet nutritious liquid yourself. I give the gojis to Max, who gobbles them down in about 10 seconds flat, he loves them.

As if I hadn't had enough chlorophyll for today, I opted for a very green drink for my evening juice. I said yesterday that I was feeling a little hungry, and although today I had my psyllium drink, the feeling came back. So perhaps I have had too much fruit juice over the last few days, and if that is the case, then green juices are the way to go. The juice that follows is quite a strong green juice, it's basically a liquid salad. I added a few apples to soften the flavours slightly, but the rest of the ingredients are all green vegetables. It even has a salad dressing mixed in!

Liquid salad recipe:
1 dark green lettuce
1/2 cucumber
1/2 bunch celery
1 green pepper
Handful parsley
Handful dill
2-4 apples
Chunk fresh ginger
Juice of 2 limes
1 dessert spoon of Braggs liquid aminoes or tamari

Run everything through the juicer, sandwiching leafy greens between the apples, celery & cucumber. Mix in the lime juice and Braggs/tamari. Add a dash of cayenne or paprika if you like. Sip slowly and enjoy feeding your body with the best fuel ever!


Wishing you raw health and happiness,

Natalie. x

www.rawlifestylecoach.co.uk