5 days with the amazing Greene Street Juice

Corner Commercial Road and Cato St, Prahran VIC 3181

+++++++++++++++++++++

If you have ever met me before or know anything about me, you know that food is one of my greatest loves. While many say my build belies my insatiable bottomless-pit appetite, I (and my friends/family) can assure you I eat more than a socially acceptable amount (including more than Nic) and structure my whole life around eating (capitalising on my Asian metabolism while it lasts!) I also get quite hypoglycaemic and flaky when I haven’t eaten – I’m definitely not one of those people who can forget to eat. Nic even packs snacks when we travel to avoid the disaster of an about-to-faint-as-well-super-hangry Sarah that he’s encountered a few times before. I not only eat a lot but I also eat all throughout the day otherwise I simply can’t concentrate or function properly. Long story short – food is my life.

It makes sense then that I have never even considered a juice cleanse, accepting that they may have incredible benefits for others but simply aren’t for me. That was until recently when Nic undertook his very first cleanse and I became quite fascinated with the process. While Nic isn’t a devout foodie like I am (and is one of those people who forgets to eat), 7 days on liquids only and another 7 days of very light meals is no mean feat for anyone. He (along with several other legends) completed the new 14-day Healthy Man cleanse created by Nat and Steve, the gorgeous founders of Greene Street Juice. Despite a few tougher patches, all of them experienced wonderful boosts of energy, drops in body fat, better skin, focus, and overall wellbeing. I was so interested to watch each stage unfold and suddenly wanted to experience that deep cleansing for myself.

I decided to do a one-day cleanse while Nic was cleansing, so he could guide me through and so I couldn’t complain. As we run multiple businesses together including a very new one, we’ve not been eating well, exercising enough and have been trashing our bodies so there was no better time to give my insides a hug. I am a HUGE fan of the Greene Street range, so while I was terrified it wasn’t actually difficult to make it through one day. Each day has 8 juices/smoothies and by the time you start to struggle, it’s time for the next one. It was quite a novelty to enjoy a full day of flavour without any bloating (which I am prone to) – even a day was great to give the digestive system a break. Plus since each blend is full of everything your body needs, I didn’t even really get hungry (!!!!!) This taught me a huge lesson – most of our eating is out of habit. I started to recognise actual hunger rather than eating for the sake, which is HUGE for this big happy grazing cow. Then came Easter and a crazy period at Matcha Mylkbar… but I was committed to trying again a few weeks later, this time for THREE days (!!!)

Screen-Shot-2016-04-25-at-6.18.39-pm

The perfect chance arose when my body inevitably crashed last week and I was forced to take some down time. I was again TERRIFIED but there is no more nurturing soul in the world than Nat who guided me through it all. I not only had a cleanse menu tailored to my specific needs based on when I exercise, my workload, my low blood sugar flakiness, the cold I had at the start of it etc I also had a wealth of information about how to prepare, extra things to add during the process (i.e. oil pulling) and what to expect on each day (including the tougher symptoms) so you don’t get caught unawares. Nat checked in every few hours the WHOLE time to see how I was going and if I had questions. Having done a one day cleanse first definitely helped ease me in to the longer one, so I was used to the structure of the day and consuming so much liquid. I have included a blow-by-blow for anyone who is curious below, but summary is that I felt it doing so much good that I EXTENDED IT TO FIVE DAYS at the end of day 3!!!!

Five days later, I am feeling lighter, brighter and hugely re-energised! My usually bloated tummy is basically full of rainbows. The eye-bags have disappeared, my skin is brighter, my head is clearer and I’m sleeping better. I lost 2kg probably mostly in water retention (but had put on a few since opening a cafe so yay!) There were harder parts of course, but overall I was so surprised how easy it was when you have strong support and beautiful juices. If you prepare and stay away from cafes etc, it’s not nearly as hard as you’d think. I feel I have given my body a gift and am so grateful to Nat and Steve for the chance to learn more about getting the right nutrients, nourishing my body, and cleaning out the nasties! I am VERY excited to get back into food and we eat well generally, but sometimes you need that extra deep cleanse – I know this will be a more regular part of our health regime when the body needs a boost. It’s one thing to eat well but it’s another thing to actually rest your digestive system and take quiet time to rejuvenate.

I highly recommend a Greene St cleanse to anyone – they have so many different lengths and options based on your level of activity, goals etc! Have a little peek here. If they weren’t already incredible enough, they have recently added a new Fructose Friendly range. You can, of course, just visit the stunning (award-winning) store and pick up a few of the juices to enjoy on their own too. For more info, visit www.greenestreetjuice.com

+++++++++++++++++++++

MY CLEANSE MENU

To see all the juices/smoothies I had, click here.

Days 4 and 5 were added spontaneously, so were slightly different.

DAY 1 – very quiet day in bed (10 minutes light exercise)
Started off with a cold (and a UTI – sorry for the overshare)
9am Gotham City (the charcoal based detox juice)
9:30am 500ML water
10:30am Central Park – a thicker green smoothie so quite satisfying
11am Started to get a little hungry mentally out of habit, but had an interesting revelation that physically I was quite satisfied
12:30pm The Bronx (beetroot based juice)
1pm Feeling a little hungry, worked gently from bed
2pm New Yorker – very thick and filling smoothie (my favourite)
Small nap. Woke at 4pm not hungry – what???
4pm Greene Spice (very fresh cleansing green juice with matcha and turmeric)
Clocked over 2L water at this point. Feeling good – very light
5:30 5th avenue (a strawberry pink light smoothie)
6pm so full of liquid not even hungry for the next juice
7pm still not hungry! Sipped Greene St Classic juice very slowly
By this point I had almost had so much liquid I didn’t need any more
So surprised to not have any feelings of hunger!
8:30pm warmed up City of Dreams, beautiful when warm.
Had 3L of water today total. Slept very well.

DAY 2 – another quiet day in bed (10 minutes light exercise)
Woke up with more energy than I have in a long time at 7am
Feeling very light – it’s the only way to describe how you feel. Not bloated or heavy from eating big meals late at night. Just pleasantly satisfied
Did oil pulling in the morning (swished coconut oil around in my mouth to pull the toxins out of the mouth), brushed teeth with coconut oil (having a bit of natural revolution – that’s for another post)
7am Gotham City
Still feeling quite light but a little hungry this morning
9am Central Park, a bit thicker so this smoothie eased the hunger off
Restful morning, worked gently from bed again
11:30am The Bronx
Chamomile tea + 1 fresh coconut
Had an hour or so nap
1:30pm The New Yorker
Got told to expect lunchtime on day 2 to be the start of the hardest part, but I didn’t really experience strong symptoms on day 2
A wave of lethargy came over me but no headache but just a heavy head
Needed another nap, felt very tired by this time (probably related to the cold as well and weeks of an increasing sleep deficit)
Hit 2L water intake
3pm Greene Spice
4pm Massage (recommended to work some pampering into the process and massage is also good to help flush the toxins out of the body)
5:30pm 5th Avenue pink smoothie
6:30pm Greene Street Classic
Body feels very light, head a little cloudy. Quite tired after the massage and a bit tingly from everything being flushed around the system
Surprisingly no cravings or hunger pains, less need to eat than day 1.
Had 3L of water today total.

DAY 3 – another quiet day in bed (10 minutes light exercise)
Slept in until 9:30 this time. Oil pulling again in the morning
9:30am Gotham City
Restful morning, worked gently from bed
10:30am Central Park. Started to get the first feelings of hunger today, possibly because it was coming to an end.
Tired this morning too – skipped day 2 lull but was a bit tired on day 3
11:30 The Bronx
Had a rock salt bath + 1 young coconut as was quite dehydrated after the bath.
Even though started late today, I squished the start of the day’s juices in quickly as I was feeling quite hungry. Starting to recognise actual hunger not just mental hunger out of habit. Bit headache-y today, but resting again.
12:30 hit 2L water
1pm Wanted the Wall Street straight away – not as thick as New Yorker but still filling and delicious. Love the cacao undertones.
3pm Greene Spice
Hit a noticeable change around this time (which we were told to expect on Day 3 – ketosis kicking in when your body goes from burning sugars to fat). Tiredness was wearing off and I started to feel very clear and light. Suddenly quite energetic and focused.
Feeling so good and felt I’d gotten over the mental cravings for food that decided to EXTEND FOR TWO DAYS!!!! Interesting how I couldn’t have committed to 5 days at the start but once you get going it’s actually quite breezy.
5pm 5th Avenue – nice to have a thicker one here.
6pm Greene Street Classic. A bit hungry again now. Full of energy.
8pm City of dreams. Such a beautiful blend to go to sleep too.
Early night. Another 3L of water today.

Screen-Shot-2016-04-25-at-6.25.13-pm

DAY 4
Slept really well again, woke up early naturally. Oil pulling again.
7:45am Gotham City
Feeling really energised in the morning
9am Reformer Pilates – first proper exercise during the cleanse.
9:30-10am New Yorker during Pilates
Mint tea during my first venture to a café – didn’t crave food (!!!)
Started to feel a bit tired after exercise though.
11am The Bronx
Quite hungry by 12pm had a young coconut and lots of water
1:30pm New Yorker #2 – had extra smoothies on Day 4 and 5 as I wasn’t going to be at home as much and had to work so Nat tailored it to this.
Started to feel quite tired (and a little hungry but probably because of being tired) despite waking up so energetic. Probably felt the effects the most I have so far today (even including day 2) – this is to be expected for day 4.
Still not a bad headache but just a dull heavy head and very sleepy
Lay down from 2pm, restful day again
3pm 5th Avenue
3-5pm nap again – was feeling really tired by now.
5pm Greene Spice
Detox symptoms in full swing – heavy head, bit tingly, very tired.
5:30pm quite hungry now, again probably because of feeling tired.
6pm Central Park
7pm City of Dreams
8pm an extra New Yorker (took from Day 5) as felt quite hungry and wanted to get a good night’s sleep but was distracted by hunger for the first time.
Rest and early night by 8:30pm. 3L of water again.

DAY 5
Woke up free of the headaches from day before – quite energetic
Little bit hungry this morning, but totally ready for another full day (I would have extended to 7 days at this point if I could have!)
8am Gotham City
Did a few Skype calls and worked gently from home
9am Wall Street – light smoothie, not as thick but still satisfying
11:30am Park Avenue – a lighter green juice.
Juices not very thick so far this morning, so was quite hungry by now.
1:30-2pm New Yorker – my favourite! Always look forward to this one.
Just worked gently in the afternoon. Lots of water.
3:30pm 5th Avenue – light pink smoothie
Bit light headed and hungry on Day 5, so had 1 fresh coconut
Worked all afternoon but still from home. Really made an effort to set aside time to let the juices do their work over this five days.
6pm West Village – another thick delicious cacao tasting one
Continued to work all evening, light walk with the dog.
7:30pm 95 Greene – light green juice. I was meant to have a thicker New Yorker here but I had an extra one yesterday. Instead, I bumped this one up earlier and then eased myself onto my first light vegetable soup at 8pm. I usually make them myself but as cooking is a bit difficult when you’re on juices only, I picked some up from the wonderful Organica who have beautiful home-made super clean soups and broths. I had pumpkin – so good!
Cannot believe I made it! Feeling SUPER light and cleansed! Had an early night and slept really well, feeling so excited about life post-cleanse and the new standards I have set for my health.

DAY 1-3 POST CLEANSE

There is a whole new load of information on offer to you as part of Greene Street’s incredible cleanse program to ease you back onto solids in the best way for your body. Day 1-3 is still quite focused on liquids and then Day 4-7 also has some very helpful guidelines, a load of recipe ideas and lots of ongoing support. This was not just a 5 day cleanse, but the start of a new relationship between me and my body! So excited for the next few weeks! I’ve continued quite a few things like dry brushing and oil pulling – will put all these extra natural remedies in another post coming soon!

+++++++++++++++++++++

Follow Greene Street Juice – @greenestreetjuice

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This