Never was I ever… a Juicer. Surprised? Not as a kid, adult or even now as Nutritionist. I didn’t like the taste or appeal. So why on earth a juice cleanse? Well Nectar is not your average juicer and so that had something to do with joining forces. But here ya go…
You may have heard me talk about cleansing in the past, and if you have, you may have noted that my opinion of any Cleansing is skeptical at best. Why you ask? Well, I have a few ideas around it.
PS. NOT A SPONSORED POST just MY opinions that hopefully will help you .
my thoughts around cleansing…
- The body does know how to “clean” itself regularly. This still remains true.
- The diet I personally follow and professionally suggests, encourages daily detoxification. Also true
- Guess what, I don’t like extremes. It’s restrictive and that kinda goes against some of my feels. Absolutely.
- My purpose is to help women find BALANCE! and well, the sounds of juicing is a bit extreme for this.
But….
But, and here’s the but. I was willing to give it a try based upon Nectar Juicery’s format which pairs their cleanse in alignment with Archetype (a thoughtful and integrative holistic look at cleansing, I mean that is pretty cool no?) My dosha, Vata, was what it was created around. Side note: If you want to learn more about doshas, you can do so here. Being a Vata means I am more prone to feeling cold, depleted and dry in skin and hair. Check mark on all of those! So for this reason, Vata’s like myself, are encouraged to only follow a one day cleanse such as Nectars or other brands for that matter, so as to be gentle with the body. I also want to add that something I also found important, was the quality of this cleanse. If we are absorbing vitamins and minerals straight through cold pressed juicing, it best be organic people. This is basically an open invitation to get the best of the best, or the worst, into your bod. Your choice. I digress. So why a cleanse? Well everybody is doing it. No seriously, if the people that come to see me are going through this I wanna experience it, I wanna find my true opinion, and heck, give juice a shot and maybe reap some benefits in the process! I like to know about things I don’t know about. You feel me.
Anyways, so the “cleanse” was Vata as suggested by Nectar’s guru, Tori . Meaning for one day I had a reset. 6 juices, that included some fats, some root veg and greens. Necessary for someone like myself who runs more cold, needs more nourishment and requires a little more substance to endure. A long day? nah. But there were some twists and turns that may have made me change part of my tune. So shall we. My thoughts…
what really worked
- Starting the day with dark, deep, greens was amazing!!! I adored how alert, efficient and strong I felt. Perhaps more so than a buzz of coffee! Completely serious. The Courage, was the one without apple and made me feel alive! Remember folk, food should behave in your body as it does in nature, and this was so true of this point for me.
- Routine and scheduling! Its a beautiful thing to have guess work taken away from you. Having some parameters felt great. Structure around food is important so that we ensure we are eating enough, balancing blood sugars and make time for ourselves.
- Resetting digestion by being gentle with my body. Taking a step back from food that requires heavy digestive powers that allows potent mineral and vitamin infusion is such a necessary part for any stressed out body. And lets face it, we all have a little stress. And worked perfectly with me starting to up my gut health with a new probiotic protocol. It created a blank slate to move forwars.
what was really hard
- Rules and restrictions. You guessed it. That’s one thing that I find challenging and I know so many… but here’s the greatest revelation you are your own boss!!! And this is where I changed things up FOR ME! oh ya, and you can too.
I decided to not let the juice cleanse be strict and confining, and not that Nectar suggests that, but the word cleanse does bring with it the idea of rules. Instead, I let the juices guide me into making some best decisions for myself. So I ate! Yes, I ate! on a juice cleanse. 2 juices in and I knew I needed more. Not ashamed or feeling weak around this, I simply decided to get the most out of the cleanse by supporting my body with an abundance of vitamins and minerals alongside some beautiful single ingredient foods that help support MY health physically and mentally. SO this actually became empowering. I saw that “cleansing” was not strict if I found my right way, but rather a road map to some healthier choices ultimately. SO a win win. I could have either muscled through, or said F&*k it, but finding middle ground empowered me to look differently and seems as though having the support of these juices made me a healthier Kate. I was told us Vata’s will often feel this very similar experience, and perhaps if you are really struggling to reset digestion, sticking through to the end may be the perfect option, but for me, this made the most therapeutically
The bottom line… the word “cleanse” is a dirty one and perhaps doing a disservice to a service that CAN really be health enhancing and flexible! So my view is a little different, it still remains not something I necessarily think is crucial, but I think is a powerful way to incorporate more minerals, vitamins, and life enhancing nourishment. This is something I am trying for my clients anyways, so this is good and will have me calling on more of Nectars potent elixirs as part of mine and my clients life.
Build it how you want people and reap the benefits. For those needing a bit more and what to fully plunge into it, good for you. If that works even better. It can be powerful at resetting, resting the digestive system, and reintegrating healthier patters….oh and Flexibility IS a thing. Just because it says 6 times a day does not mean that’s for you. Maybe more, less or a bit of both. Yes I sometimes had two juice going at once… you know, just to mix it up a bit 😉
Some Hacks on making juicing part of your diet, and what i’ll do to keep it a part of mine
Stay with simple and add in mostly single ingredients foods to help you along.
- add chia seeds to your juices. This not only adds fibre but slows down the release of sugars into your bloodstream so you have more constant energy.
- snack on some nuts. If not eating has you ravenous, eat beautiful quality single ingredient foods.
- eat some dates for a quick boost of energy between. Maybe you workout a ton, or just need that boost, dates are a quick carbohydrate energy boost.
- eat plants and of them and chew well. There is nothing wrong with eating some plants, ever. like at all. So if you are looking for something in your tum,, just chew and chew well. The idea is to give your digestion a break so that you have lots of energy for your body to do some repair work.
Lastly, if you are looking to clean up your gut health, and lets be honest we could all use a dose of that, starting a regimen of probiotics after a period of cleansing can be a great way to jump start that microbiome! Do that after one of these trials and it will be so beneficial.
ONE MORE IMPORTANT NOTE – So many of you seek my advice, counsel and expertise around eating disorders. I want to say that if you are or have struggled with an eating disorder, a cleanse is something that would most likely not be helpful. Incorporating Juices into your diet and healing, yes. I feel this is so important for me to speak of and acknowledge and if any of you want assistance in chatting with that, please feel free to be in touch.
Be gentle with yourself, eat real food, juiced or not. Try something different. And maybe you’ll change your mindset or not. But at least you tried.
For me, I have been drinking Courage from Nectar every day to start the day since the cleanse. A habit I am happy and empowered to keep up.
Kate, out. Juice, In
