Day 5: The 7 Day Juice Cleanse

Hi everyone,

Today I am feeling good but no where near as good as yesterday. I think this is because I am back at work and because of the intense training I did last night. Currently, I am looking a little pale and have lost a lot of weight and I will often times feel light-headed. As I have discussed with Darcie, we find ourselves alternating between feeling energized and feeling really drowsy. 

 Ever since I started this detox I have dreamt about eating food every night. First night was about cake, second night about pastry and last night I dreamt that I ate fish and chips! I'm seriously craving junk food at the moment which is why I have altered the course for the final day of the cleanse.

The plan is to progressively ease our way into eating food on Sunday. ideally, we would be doing this on Monday but due to work commitments this is the only day Darcie and I have together and we want to share this culinary experience.

I would recommend that everyone who is doing a juice cleanse spend at least 1 day easing into solid food consumption to reduce the amount of stress you are putting on your digestive system. I completely understand the urges to eat junk and go all out when your cleanse period is over, but I would recommend finishing the cleanse a day earlier if it means that you can spend one day progressively eating food. This reduce the cravings for junk food as well as allow your body to become accustomed to digesting food again.

Darcie's Favourite

2 Apples

1 Beetroot

3 Carrots

5 Leaves of Kale

3cm of Ginger

Last night, after BJJ, I drank a juice packed full of kale, apples, carrots, celery, beetroot and broccoli. After drinking the juice, besides still craving more protein, I noticed that my body responded very well to getting these nutrients with the 20min period after exercising.

I am going to use this knowledge for when I am eating again to pack my post-workout drink with far more nutrients. I used to just drink hemp protein mixed with rice/almond milk, and on the odd occasion a scoop of pea protein. Sometimes I would also get a take-away black bean burrito or something of the like when I was low on money or behind schedule.

Now, I am going to drink a big smoothie after each work-out. It's going to include high protein sources (combination of rice, pea and hemp) along with lots of nutrient dense fruit/vegetables as well as some ground flaxseeds. I think this combination will help my recovery and aid in my ability to gain muscle and strength.

I would recommend a similar approach for everyone that wants to improve their athletic performance. When I was part of the globo-gym environment and even when I was training to be a Personal Trainer, I saw far too many people not understanding the needs of their body post-workout (I was one of them). Simply combining whey protein and milk is not an effective way to maximise performance. I keep going back to this but I think it is hugely important to increase the range of nutrients your body is consuming. I think this is of even more importance post-workout when your body is in repair mode and crying out for fuel!

For anyone interested, this helps me AND you!
Team Nemesis 

To finish up I want to talk a bit about my training methods.

I am drawn to exercise that I believe the human body was made for. Most people accept the "fight or flight" principle as a physical response to stress. Consequently, I train a lot in running and fighting as I believe by doing so I am getting back to my basic physical construction as a human being.

On top of that, I train in functional strength to compliment my endeavors in running and fighting. This is one of the main reasons I have been attracted to CrossFit and Kettlebell training as the training protocol is one devised to assist in everyday movement.

I believe we should all be masters of our own body and one of the ways to do this is follow a training method which enables you to iron out any bodily weaknesses and approach exercise holisitcally.

 Thanks again to anyone still reading this, I hope that in some way the information I am putting out their is helpful and I would love it if you guys shared this or got in contact with me with anything that interests you and any questions. 

Peace out,

Matt

Day 4: The 7 Day Juice Cleanse

I don't want to sound like a hypocrite but today I felt fantastic. I am beginning to understand just what my body needs to function on this detox.

I've added a snack juice to my day that I sip on between meals and added an extra juice in the morning. This has helped to increase my energy levels and I would say I'm feeling about 90% compared to before I started the cleanse.

F.Y.I.

Today I was moving around the city a lot so I had to plan my juices accordingly. I took two juices with me and also had two store bought juices. 

I was also able to train BJJ today at a relatively high level. Due to my endurance training I have always been able to grapple without gassing out and today was no exception. I was expecting to feel more tired but I felt completely comfortable grappling, although during the last minute I started to feel slightly more tired. 

My body seems to be coping a lot better with the cleanse. I still crave calorie dense food and bout Darcie and myself often get drawn to the smell and sight of junk food. The reason this is happening is because our body's are not getting the necessary amount of calories in them per day so they are craving high calorie dense food (often times this is junk food).

Watermelon!!!!

1/4 Watermelon

4 Stick Celery

4 Carrots

2 Apples

Getting ready for tomorrow

For all those interested in how to thrive on a vegan diet, today I'm going to introduce the elusive Vitamin B12. This is something that does not exist in the plant kingdom and can only be obtained through supplementation or eating fortified cereals. 

It is essential that vegans get their daily intake of b13 because with out it you can start to look like one of those wimpy vegans. Symptoms include fatigue, pale skin, easy bruising and bleeding, stomach upset and weight loss. The best suppliment I have found for this can be found on Rich Roll's website and is part of his Jai Lifestyle range. I believe the best way to consume Vitamin B12 as a vegan is to spray it orally (tablets and capsules can work too but I believe this method to be the most effective).

The Temper Trap

Last night, at the "Temper Trap" concert, I was thinking about energy and how we, as human beings, produce it. I noticed that when I was in a high energy environment, such as a live music concert, that my energy levels were high too. During this process I learnt that I can prevent feeling lethargic if I try to gain energy from a a mental and spiritual source.

The energy we gain from food is not the only energy our body relies on. There are yogis and saddhus out there that survive purely by breathing while sitting in a cross-legged position on a mountain top. Breathitarians? What is the source of their energy?

I've found that when I am stressed out, whether it be due to time commitments or relationships, I feel the negative effects of this detox more. However, when I am in a happy, relaxed state of mind I am able to thrive and forget about the fact that I haven't eaten in 4 days. 

I thought I understood this principle before, but this cleanse has really made the idea of finding alternate sources of energy stick out. I think we can all learn from this principle and apply it to our lives. As passionate as I am about health and nutrition, I don't believe that we can truly understand the power and potential we possess as individuals unless we find balance in all facets of our lives. This means that we can't purely rely on living a healthy lifestyle on just the physical plane, I believe we should strive to be healthy on all levels of existence.

As a result of this cleanse I am beginning to understand the need to place equal importance on all levels of being - physical, mental and spiritual.

Again, thanks to everyone for their support and for visiting this blog. I hope that in some way my thought can help you!

Peace out

Matt