How to Detox in Winter: Prodjuice Cleanse Review

DAY ONE

I pluck my first ‘meal’ of the day from the cardboard carton – a cute Immune Booster shot with supercharged cold-fighting goodies including lemon, ginger, garlic, oregano oil and honey. Don’t let its diminuitive size fool you. This stuff is potent. I take a tiny sip and nearly gag – the raw garlic is pretty strong and the oregano oil makes my tongue feel a bit numb. On the back it says you can have it with warm water, which I decide to try, but after a few sips of that I think next time I’ll try shooting it back instead. I know it’s doing me good though – these are all antibacterial ingredients and my trainer Ricardo Riskalla swears by Oil of Oregano for flu-fighting so I persevere through the warm mug full, fighting back waves of nausea.

Desperate to get the taste of raw garlic out of my mouth I go straight to meal number two – a coconut and raspberry chia pudding. I’m working at my laptop, so I eat it straight from the jar, without realizing you’re meant to heat it gently. It tastes good and I finish it fast and feel sated.

At 11am I pop the top on my green juice. It’s the perfect balance of kale, spinach, celery, cucumber, parsley, lemon and ginger, light and fresh and delicious.

At 4pm I hit the fridge again for my Turmeric Tonic. I’m not super hungry and I’m feeling good, and maybe even a little smug, I can do this cleanse thing!  But then an alert comes up on my laptop from my diary – I’ve completely forgotten I have a work dinner at Sake tonight. Quelle horreur! It’s too late to cancel, I will just have to wing it.

When I arrive I mention quietly to the waitress that I’m on a cleanse and she assures me they can tweak the menu to avoid any gluten, carbs and red meat. I eat some tasty tuna sashimi, salad, steamed fish and – in a moment of weakness – a couple of prawns which someone tells me is only lightly fried (whatever that means). I can really taste the oil and regret it instantly. I also find the dressing on the salad quite sweet – it’s amazing how just a day of eating clean food makes you so sensitive to sugar and oils.  Oh well, no point feeling guilty about it, instead I concentrate chewing really well and eating mindfully, to try and stay in the cleanse zone. The hardest part is lasting until 10pm without a single sip of wine as everyone around the table gets more raucous. Word of advice: avoid all social events like the plague when you’re cleansing.

When I get home I heat “dessert” up – Golden Ashwagandha Almond Milk. It contains turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, brown rice malt syrup and ashwagandha (an Ayurvedic herb great for minimising stress). It’s really soothing and quite delicious.

I get back from a morning running errands and I’m starving, so I heat the chicken stock up and wolf it down, followed by the Turmeric Tonic. It’s pretty tart with the lemon and has a kick with cayenne pepper but I feel refreshed afterwards. I have to remove myself from the office when the girls bring back burgers and eat them, but once there’s no food around I’m okay again. The afternoon whizzes by so I barely notice my hunger until I stop to pick up Max from daycare.

Even though it’s only 5.45 I’m famished, so I eat dinner with Max.  He’s getting spag bol, which I try not to inhale as I tuck into my Vedic Mung Dahl & Kale Soup. It’s pretty yummy considering how healthy it is. It fills one of my big bowls, so it’s quite substantial, too.

After dinner I heat the Golden Milk on the stove. You’re supposed to heat it gently but I got distracted and it boils over – it tastes a bit funny after that, I think I’ve destroyed the composition. It’s a nice treat to finish the day and helps me wind down for bed.