Post Summer Detox | Juice Cleanse

If you are a friend of mine on Facebook then you may have been aware that I have been burning the candle at both ends. After a break up of a relationship I think that is normal. Saying yes to everything has meant I was drinking and eating out almost every night of the week and going on crazy party holidays. Yes I have had amazing fun over the last 6 months but my body has not thanked me. After last week's four night drink-a-thon with one of my best friends I decided I needed a detox. I needed to give back to the body that had kept me going to all of those events and up until the early hours. 

My house mate suggested a juice detox. I am not one to believe in substituting all food for blended veggies, I can't see how this could be healthy. When I was researching the Juice Diet it was suggested that one should have six juices a day. There was no way I could do that. So we decided to swap two meals a day for a juice and have a light health meal in the evenings. I also knew I wouldn't want to do it for too long, four days was long enough and I really didn't want to be starving.

I finished the diet last week and I have to admit I do feel better. So I thought I would go through my routine and give you the ingredients to my pretty yummy juice. 

I start the day with a hot water and lemon, this apparently starts the cleanse. If you like lemon flavoured things then you may like it. For me it reminds me of Lemisp and I instantly feel like I am sick. At about 9:30 I have my first 400ml green juice, I can make this last me a good hour so I am not really hungry until 12:30. During this period I can have as much peppermint tea and cups of water as I like. But by 1pm I can feel myself feeling a bit tired and my stomach starts to protest. So I go for a little 10min walk and come back to drink my lunchtime 400ml green juice. This is the same as the breakfast one. 

I have admit that after that the afternoons were difficult. I was really hungry by about 3:30 so I caved in and had a banana, which I don't really think is cheating! Again, I drink lost of water and peppermint tea and that gets me right round to home time. This has become my favourite part, I actually look forward to making my dinner. I wanted to be as healthy as possible so I stuck to steamed or baked fish with lots of green veggies on the side. Then before bed another cup of hot water and lemon. 

All in all this hasn't been as hard as I was expecting, but then I did only do two juices a day. I would not recommend this for a long period of time, your body needs fat, fibre and protein. But the short burst I did made me feel less bloated and I saw a difference in the definition of my stomach. It wasn't really about weight loss but I did lose 4pounds over the week. 

Here are my ingredients to make 800ml of juice. It cost me roughly £6.50 a day (2 juices) to make but this is cheaper than buying them from a shop where they cost £4.00 each! You will need.

1 large handful of spinach

1/2 avocado

1/2 small lemon

1/2 pineapple

1 inch of ginger

1/2 cucumber

1/2 or whole large orange

3 Gala apples

Make sure you remove the skin of the orange, pineapple, avocado and lemon. Stick it all in a juicer or blender and then decant into your bottles.  

I am also starting a diet and exercise plan in a couple of weeks which has been personally created for me as a 6 week programme. So I will let you know how that goes with before and after photos. 

Has anyone else done a juice cleanse and can recommend any to me? Leave a comment!

Stay beautiful 

xoxo

p.s don't forget to follow me on Blogloving

#5LondonLoves | Five Guys in Covent Garden Review

God I love a good burger! Any excuse to stuff a beef patty in my mouth, I ill take it. So in true Pixi Picks spirit and the never ending quest for the perfect burger I headed down to Five Guys in Covent Garden, London. 

Now I don't like to go to places just because of the hype. I often waked past, seeing a long queue to get in and scoffed at those silly enough to wait. Yesterday luck was on our side and there wasn't much of a line, so we took our place at the front and waited to be let in by the miserable looking girl on the door. 

The principle is very similar to a fast food joint. Cashiers take your orders and you can watch the manic chefs whipping burgers in the background. The atmosphere was pretty electric and the sounds of the kitchens were almost deafening but it got me quite hyped up. I went for a Little Cheese Burger, Fries and a fountain drink. The drink fountain has so many flavour options that it took me a while to choose; Peach Sprite if you were wondering. 

Don't let the look of the meal fool you! It was pretty god damn yummy! I have to say the chips were the best part. Fried in peanut oil and left in their skins they are a sumptuous, salty mouthful that I couldn't stop munching on. My burger was a little cold, but I loved that I could choose as many extras as I liked, I may have gone a bit OTT. Also, the actual burger part was meaty and very tasty. 

My big question was, is it better then Shake Shack? And I am honestly not sure. Can I have the Five Guys fries with a Shake Shack burger? Hmmm! If you want to read what I thought of Shake Shack it's (here)

Have you been to either or both? Which was your favourite? Let me know in the comments.

Stay beautiful

xoxo

p.s don't forget to follow me on Blogloving

#5London Loves | Shake Shack, Covent Garden Review

New York is one of my favourite cities and it was whilst I was there that I fell in love with a burger joint. I love burgers, especially ones with cheese on them. So when I got home I was pretty upset that I wouldn't be tasting that bap for a while. The the gods smiled on me and open up a Shake Shack in Covent Garden, someone up there loves my taste buds and I was quick to jump on the tube to refresh my love affair.

Shake Shack was originally a hot dog cart in New York and you know something is good when it is good enough to get its own stores. You order in the same way you would at a fast food place and then go to your table with a buzzer. The burgers are 100% natural beef slapped in between the best bap I have ever tasted, I recommend getting a side of crinkly chips and one of their famous frozen custard milkshakes. The burger isn't the biggest I have ever had, but the beef patty is a pretty decent size Once your tray of deliciousness is ready the buzzer goes off and you skip with excitement to collect it. The longest I have ever waited was 15 minutes! 

Have you been here? Let me know your favourite burger joints?

Stay Beautiful

xoxo

#4London Loves | Zucca Bermondsey Street

Zucca sits right in the heart of the up and coming Bermondsey Street, a place that is buzzing with activity and quirky bars. I am pretty lucky to work on this street and one lunch time myself and some colleagues thought we would give Zucca a go. The food here is based on traditional Italian, with delicious fish, pasta and vegetable dishes!

I am not joking, it was the best food I have had in a while. The restaurant is airy and really trendy and the kitchen is open plan, so you can see the chefs cooking up a storm. I am not going to lie, the food isn't cheap at around £17.00 a dish and the portions are an average size, but the flavours are incredible! I had the fried sweet potato to start, smoked hake for my main and some crazy yummy chocolate with hot sauce thing for desert. I am sorry about not being able to tell you what they are actually called but I can't find any information on their website. 

Have you been to Zucca? What did you think?

Stay beautiful

xoxo