Juice-toxing. Pretty sure I made that word up. but it's defintely a thing as I know you are already thinking about the crazy kale people out there who last for DAYS on just juice. All in the name of... shredding weight fast and cleansing and purifying your insides? Everyone is free to live and eat how they please - my motto is all in the balance, LOTS of the good stuff (green, protein and superfoods), medium of the meduim stuff (I'd throw a potato in here) and mini amounts of the crap (you know what this is!). Anyhow this isn't about me. Introducing Debbie Lemon, our very first Fit Birds blog contributor, yipee!
Debbie is one super hot Pilates guru, she has dipped her fingers in with Womens Health Magazine crew and is mum of the world's cutest baby! Here Debbie shares her insights on her recent experience with the juice-toxing. "I've never really bought into the whole detoxing thing. I love juicing and I totally agree that we should give our system a break from time to time, but to me a 7 day juice 'cleanse' is tantamount to a week's crash diet. Anyhow, I found myself a little desperate this January. My 9 month postnantal body combined with a sever lack of time to exercise and a looming holiday in Thailand meant action was required! I decided I would try to get maximum results from the 7 days I had before we flew off on holiday. I downloaded to Green Juice Detox app from iTunes and bought everything on the shopping list. I found myself quite excited by the idea of surviving purely on green juice with small snacks of nuts and seeds. I would shed my baby belly in mere days, surely, and I'd feel fabulous. The week went by pretty slowly. Planning was essential, especially on office days where my juices would be packed first thing as well as my extremely specific snacks (9 cashew nuts no more no less). I struggled to stop myself stealing mouthfuls of my 9 month olds dinner on several occasions, but overall I made it through the week without breaking. However, I felt pretty lacking in energy as the week went on and also pretty BORED. As all parents of young babies know, sharing an evening meal is pretty important, and I struggled not having that to look forward to with my husband. I took before and after photos which, sorry guys, I can't share here as they are FAR too upetting. Let's just say post breastfeeding boobs are like half stuffed envelopes and a flat breastfeeding bum (yes, apparently it's a THING) can only be improved to a certain degree! But I can tell you that I did lose 6lbs, 2 inches from my waist, and inch from my hips and an inch from my bust (humf frankly that inch could've stayed) so I guess I did get the results. I can't say I felt sparkly eyed and cleasned; perhaps I was too distracted by my rumbling tummy! So would I do it again? Probably not... Surviving on so few calories made it impossible to exercise and I found myself constantly thinking about food. I also had a slightly odd taste in my mouth all week. And the green juice definitely loses it glossy green shine after a day or two. Most improtantly though, you don't get any endorphins from a low calorie juice diet and endorphins are what I need to feel good. If I had spent the week ensuring I exercised daily with Pilates and running and KNOWI would have felt more toned, confident and overall more attractive and happy than I did by drinking sludge for a week. In future I'll be bolstering my balanced diet with green juice which I actually enjoy, and I'll be getting back into my exercise groove to say hello to my muscles once again. Would I recommnd a juice cleanse? Just because it wasn't for me doesn't mean others wont feel great after a cleanse. Feelng cleaner and lights is always a good thing, but I can't help but think for most people the main motiviation would be weight loss. I'd personally recommend a more holistic approach balancing plenty of exercise with healthy real food. Oh god, I've glimpsed at that photo of my breastfeeding bum again - bring on the squats - boot camp with Shani anybody?!"