Welcome to my article/experiment about what happened when a 32-year-old bachelor and extreme party animal met ’Bliss’ — a juice cleansing detox diet. Would this prove to be a life changing experience for the wayward man or would his body actually implode due to the shock of such a healthy intake? Enjoy my journey….
My lifestyle is one of over indulgence in many ways — I have an unhealthy diet of whatever takes my fancy at any given time (often pizza, chips and snacks), drink at least six cups of coffee per day at work (each with three sugars), smoke about 10 cigarettes per day (more at weekends) and enjoy a lavish life of excessive alcohol drinking from Friday to Sunday. Whether this is primarily down to modern society, good old-fashioned lack of self discipline or simply the lack of a good woman is unclear however what is obvious is that something must change as I get ill far more than most!
I had heard mixed views about juice cleansing and became intrigued as to what effect this intensive diet would have on a self-destructive rebel such as I. I had heard of how juice diets can eliminate toxins from your system and bring about vitality but I had also heard the opinions that they are merely placebos and in fact go against the body’s natural functions. There was only one way to find out the truth and this was to take a detox myself — no solid food for three days, only a course of cold pressed juices containing ‘superfoods‘.
With the choice of online retailers proving to be a minefield I opted for a local company to provide me with this cleansing diet. Bliss is a new brand created by Louise Disley and Thomas Muir and their aim is for it to deliver natural fruit and vegetable juices that taste refreshing and improve people’s health. The range consists of five juices (one of each per day for a cleansing diet), all of which contain different ingredients for different purposes and contain below 5g of natural sugar per 100ml products. Having arranged home delivery of a three day cleanse there was no going back and my body was soon to be subject to an experience it had never encountered before.
My week or so leading up to the cleanse was particularly unhealthy. I had developed a weakness for the local kebab house’s chips with chilli sauce and had consumed them most evenings. My Easter weekend was one big fiesta involving two heavy techno raves and as the beginning of my three day course edged closer I was slightly nervous about how my body would react to such a contradiction. I felt ill following the frivolities of the weekend and if there ever was a time to test out a juice detox this was it!
I started the juices on the Tuesday, carefully reading the guide before consuming the first one. It stated that this was the UK’s first nutritionally tested range and that the juices were 100% natural, low calorie, low sugar and great tasting. I don’t usually eat breakfast so the first morning was easy — I followed the instructions by having ‘PEARfect’ as the first juice of the day which was a green concoction consisting of cucumber, pear, broccoli, spinach, pineapple, lime and chlorella. It was refreshingly nice and I felt that this was a really positive start to my day. The mid morning drink was ORANGinal, orange in colour as you would expect, which contained orange, carrot, butternut squash, pineapple and camu camu. Once again, this was very nice and hunger was not an issue at this stage. For lunch it was to be UnBEETable and this was my favourite of the range — with beet, carrot, raspberries, blackberries, distilled water and acai berry, it tasted amazing! Mid afternoon I had UpsKALE with cucumber, apple, romaine lettuce, lime, kale and spirulina and finally my early evening juice was MELONade which consisted of honeydew melon, cantaloupe, cucumber, pineapple, lemon and flax seeds. After my first day it was so far so good as regards hunger although I was still feeling the effects of a heavy Bank Holiday weekend!
Day Two was when the hunger started to kick in and my resolve was truly tested. Once again, I had a refreshing PEARfect for breakfast (laced with chlorella and designed to be energising) and I was handling the lack of food quite well — until I got to work and discovered that we all had donuts, cake etc. for someone‘s last day. I was subject to jokes and teasing as my colleagues stuffed their smug faces with all kinds of treats however I stuck to my fast despite salivating like Pavlov’s dog. Instead I had another ORANGinal mid morning for immune system health and then my favourite, UnBEETable, at lunch for heart and skin health (whilst secretly itching for Pound Bakery or Greggs). My stomach rumbled throughout the afternoon and I felt empty but continued to resist temptations of coffee and treats as I had another UpsKALE to enhance muscle function. I found myself urinating more than usual due to the juices and drinking lots of water and I found my the other type of going to the toilet to be quite similar to urinating (if you know what I mean). On the train journey home I heard conversations about food and I have never felt so inclined to swing by the kebab house on my way home as I did then — once again I remained strong and trusted in my evening MELONade, designed for mental clarity.
As one would expect, Day Three was the most difficult as regards hunger and temptation however as I went through the same juice routine I felt a real buzz and energy about myself as the day went on. This experience was bringing about a whole new appreciation for food and I thought deeply about my favourite types of food on many occasions — that said I truly felt better about myself, not only for my self discipline but also health wise. As I neared completion of the juice detox I vowed to maintain a healthier diet following this cleanse. In the evening, following my final bottle of juice, I had two very important pool matches in the league — two matches that were to be epic 12 frame battles and that would be key to my success in the league. I had a lot of walking around the table to do all evening and needed intense concentration as well as unwavering nerve. One would think that after three days of no solid food I would be shaky and on poor form — instead I played very well and felt a real glow and energy about myself. I lost narrowly 7-5 to the best player in the league and then won 8-4 but I played very well and even after a full evening of pool I still felt a vibrant vitality emanating from within me. I still felt a real hunger and was itching to eat all sorts of food but I felt good and had learnt how to subdue my brain’s demands.
I guess you must be wondering whether I carried this health revelation forward following my detox. On the third night I had dreams of pizza, chips and all my favourite vices. It is recommended that you ease your body back into food when you have finished the cleanse and I started with a ham baguette for lunch on the Friday. Despite this good start, the evening was a different matter as I had been invited for dinner by two different friends and I accepted both offers — consuming a large pizza at Gusto with Laura before a Caribbean banquet later that night at Adam’s family home. My weekend was not as heavy as the previous one and I did think more about adopting a healthier diet going forward. Since the detox I have been eating somewhat healthier and am certainly more conscious about what I consume — I guess it is all about choices, habits and self discipline. I would certainly recommend a juice cleanse and would choose Bliss for taste and content as the range was refreshing, tasty and had an array of different ingredients to benefit one’s health in different ways. I think a detox such as this is a great way of bringing attention to diet and health for those who live like me but I think ultimately it should be done occasionally to compliment an already healthy lifestyle. I think Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or a good woman to feed me healthy meals are the only real ways to combat my insatiable desire for all things bad for me but I can definitely see myself turning to Bliss again in the future as a three day detox and a crucial reminder of how I should be living.
Give Bliss a try……. http://www.blissjuicecleanse.co.uk/
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