reviews – Rachel MacDonald

Books You’ll Love: 30 Riveting Reads (Part 1)

13 August, 2012

I’m feeling a bit ‘Oprah’s Book Club’ today with this bumper post full of all my favourite reads!

I’ve had a few requests for book recommendations of late, and as you’ll see below, I love nothing more than reading – and talking about – great books. I’ve broken my recommended reading list into two parts because it was getting a bit ridiculous, so today’s bulging post is Part 1, covering the areas of self empowerment, memoir, entrepreneurship and creativity, and Part 2 will be all about music/ celebrity, drugs, health + sport and coffee table books.

I’ve left literature and classics off (Nabokov, Tolstoy, Harper Lee, Kerouac and Thompson are my picks to stretch the edges of your brain every which way) and as you’ll soon discover, the majority of the books I read reside in the non-fiction category.

That said, though, the aim is that these posts will become a fantastic resource to refer back to time and time again let’s load up the comments with YOUR suggestions (fiction is definitely encouraged, I need to spread my wings!) so we can all circle back here next time we’re in need of a good read.

Enjoy!

SPIRIT + SELF EMPOWERMENT

1 // ‘You Can Heal Your Life’ by Louise L. Hay (click to buy)
From the grandmama of self-empowerment herself, the starting point for a journey into healing and transformation. Every bookshelf deserves a dog-earred copy of this timeless tome.

2 // ‘You Can Create an Exceptional Life’ by Cheryl Richardson and Louise L. Hay (click to buy)
Loaded with gentle wisdom, this book plays out like a series of conversations between two of the preeminent thought leaders in the self-growth sphere.

3 // ‘Spirit Junkie: A Radical Road to Self-Love & Miracles’ by Gabrielle Bernstein (click to buy)
A radically honest walk through the life and lessons learned by spirituality’s coolest new-gen teacher Gabby Bernstein. Plenty o’ goodness on manifesting + magic + miracles + fine-tuning your intuition.

4 // ‘The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be & Embrace Who You Are’ by Brene Brown (click to buy)
Watch this first, then read Brene Brown’s book on courage, compassion, connection – and the often swept-under-the-rug emotion, shame. A brilliant combo of scientific research, storytelling and real life examples.

5 // ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle (click to buy)
Powerful teachings on presence and recognising ourselves as the creators of our own pain and joy.

6 // ‘Dying to be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing’ by Anita Moorjani (click to buy)
The incredible back-from-the-dead story of a cancer patient riddled with disease – and the epiphanies her near-death experience brought about. Eye-opening.

7 // ‘Creative Visualization‘ by Shakti Gawain (click to buy)
Affirmations and meditations to help you actively direct the course of your life.

8 // ‘The Magic of Thinking Big’ by David J. Schwartz (click to buy)
Regarded as one of the best classic books on motivation, this book uncovers the ‘secrets’ to success, happiness and relationships.

9 // ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coehlo (click to buy)
A dazzling and simple story with shiny-diamond wisdom woven through its pages. Lush, evocative. One for the ages.

10 // ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change’ by Stephen R. Covey (click to buy)
A principle-centred approach to problem-solving and bettering your life.

MEMOIR + NOVEL

1 // ‘Eat Pray Love’ by Elizabeth Gilbert (click to buy)
Doesn’t really need an introduction but in case you’ve been meditating in a cave in Nepal for the past six years, Eat Pray Love is the at once criticised and widely celebrated story of a woman on a journey – via Italy, India and Indonesia – back to herself.

2 // ‘Tiny, Beautiful Things: Advice on Life & Love from Dear Sugar’ by Cheryl Strayed (click to buy)
A compilation of the best (left-of-centre) advice columns from Sugar, the once-anonymous online columnist at The Rumpus, who has now been revealed to be bestselling author Cheryl Strayed. Dynamite stuff.

3 // ‘This I Know: Notes on Unraveling the Heart’ by Susannah Conway (click to buy)
A tender and moving book about grief and self-discovery by online writer and photographer Susannah Conway, and her subsequent unfurling through connection and creativity.

4 // ‘The Bride Stripped Bare’ by Nikki Gemmell (click to buy)
This book was doing the sex + titillation thing way before Fifty Shades of Grey (and the writing is approximately 500, 000 times better). Intoxicating.

5 // ‘Gone Girl’ by Gillian Flynn (click to buy)
A can’t-put-it-down, super dark thriller that will suck you in and leave you thinking. The current popularity of this one is off the charts… for good reason.

6 // ‘Mama Mia: A Memoir of Mistakes, Motherhood & Magazines’ by Mia Freedman (click to buy)
Mia Freedman was my career idol when she was editor of Cosmo magazine (back when I had no clue just how huge a score that was at age 24). Pretty sure I tore through this open and honest insight into her life in a day, if memory serves me correctly.

7 // ‘Sold’ by Patricia McCormick (click to buy)
An evocative novel about child prostitution. It’ll get you. Right there.

8 // ‘Wild: Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail’ by Cheryl Strayed (click to buy)
Blazingly honest, superbly written, awe-inspiring. A story about grief, healing and revelation, woven into an even bigger story about the author’s backbreaking solo hike from the Mojave Desert to Washington State in the U.S. A total page-turner.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

1// ‘The Firestarter Sessions: A Soulful + Practical Guide to Creating Success on Your Own Terms’ by Danielle LaPorte (click to buy)
THE guide to making your purpose a reality. Juicy, deep, energetically-charged truth wrapped up in one delicious, white-hot package.

2 // ‘The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles’ by Steven Pressfield (click to buy)
I read this fascinating book in an hour-forty five last night (it’s THAT good) and if you need a swift kick up the butt to get sh*t done, look no further. Punchy wisdom, straight to your grey matter. It’ll give you tingles.

3 // ‘Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love’ by Jonathan Fields (click to buy)
Turn your passion into a goldmine, make the leap, take back your life. Jonathan Fields will tell you how to do just that in this practical, detailed and super inspirational book.

4 // ‘The 4 Hour Work Week: Escape the 9 – 5, Live Anywhere & Join the New Rich’ by Timothy Ferriss (click to buy)
Cutting-edge and revolutionary ideas about escaping the rat race and claiming your life back.

5 // ‘Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepeneur’ by Pamela Slim (click to buy)
How great is that title? Pleased to tell you the book is just as wonderful – extremely useful, no BS advice on transitioning from employee to entrepreneur with aplomb.

6 // ‘Now, Discover Your Strengths: How to Develop Your Talents & Those of the People You Manage’ by Marcus Buckingham (click to buy)
Discover where you shine, what your natural gifts and strengths are and how that translates to your business/ career/ life as a whole.

Side note: don’t you love how Danielle LaPorte has obviously done a spot of competitive analysis in her field and gone for ‘striking + totally different’ for her cover, in a sea of red, black and gold? Love that trailblazin’ woman!

WRITING + CREATIVITY

1 // ‘Bird by Bird’ by Anne Lamott (click to buy)
If you’re a writer, or want to be, do yourself a favour and read this book. Immediately.

2 // ‘Writing Down the Bones’ by Natalie Goldberg (click to buy)
Refer to the above.

3 // ‘Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper: Gifting the World with Your Words & Stories and Creating the Time & Energy to Actually Do It’ by SARK (click to buy)
SARK is a moonbeam, a rainbow-hued explosion, a larger-than-life bundle o’ fun. She’s also whip-smart and chock full of creative wisdom and how-to’s. This book is a gift.

4 // ‘On Writing’ by Stephen King (click to buy)
Part memoir, part instructional book on the craft of writing, totally awesome.

5 // ‘The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it For Life’ by Twyla Tharp (click to buy)
Tharp waxes lyrical on creativity being the product of preparation and effort – something available to us all, if we work at it.

6 // ‘The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path’ by Julia Cameron (click to buy)
I haven’t actually read this one yet (it’s on the way to me in the mail) but by all accounts it’s a must-read. If you’ve ever heard a creative friend doing their ‘Morning Pages,’ this is where the idea was born.

OVER TO YOU:

+ What are your favourite books? Have you read (and loved) any of the above? Share away in the comments below.

Everyone loves a good book rec, so I’d be mega-grateful if you could tweet or share this post on Facebook using the buttons below. Merci, my little book-lovahs!

{PS: this post is in no way sponsored, but I’m seriously beginning to think I need a good friend at The Book Depository. Or PayPal.}

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A QT Weekend

8 July, 2012

What an awesome weekend!

A week or so ago, I was asked by QT Hotel Gold Coast to come along and test out the new spaQ, which is rather funny considering I’ve spent the past few years on the other side of the fence organising visits just like these for media.

I’ve been to QT’s Stingray Lounge on a few occasions (you might remember I had my birthday there last year and we hosted the Gold Coast/ Brisbane bloggers meet-up there in January) and have ~~gorged myself silly~~ dined at their ridiculously awesome restaurant Bazaar, but hadn’t yet checked out the refurbed rooms or the new spa – both of which I spent some time in over the past two days.

Let’s talk through the visuals, shall we?

After we checked in last night (homemade lemonade delivered to our room + welcome macarons = major boxes being ticked already!) we ducked down to Stingray for a quick drink before heading next door for dinner at the property’s Japanese restaurant, Yamagen.

Hello cute husband, how do you do?

Yamagen is one of those restaurants that has been around forever, but for some reason, I always seem to forget about when planning a night out so it was a no brainer that while we were staying just upstairs, we’d be checking it out. Japanese is ALWAYS a winner in my books.

Yamagen’s a la carte menu had all the usual favourites like agedashi tofu (to-die-for!), edamame, teriyaki beef skewers, tempura vegetables, sashimi, sushi and hearty mains like Wagyu beef. For those wanting something a bit more interactive, you can sit at the Teppanyaki bar and have your meal cooked in front of you, but since it was just the two of us and we were keen to chill out and be pretty inconspicuous, we ordered most of what I’ve mentioned above (except the sashimi/ sushi/ Wagyu) straight from the menu.

Seriously delicious. In fact – and I almost feel bad saying this – we have a little favourite Japanese restaurant down the road from our house that does an amazing agedashi tofu, and we both looked at each other last night and said “This one’s better, isn’t it?”

Shhh.

After dinner, we headed back in to Stingray for a sneaky mojito and a spot of people-watching, before heading back to the room because OF COURSE, THE FOOTBALL WAS ON.

Say hello to our Saturday nights during the AFL season. Yes, really.

(amazing stripes everywhere)

TODAY

As usual, we woke up early this morning and were greeted with a stunning – if not blinding – view out to the beach. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – winter is one of the best times to be on the GC.

I’ve thought what I’m about to say through and I realise it’s a huge call, but the bed at QT was the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in. Hands down. And I don’t say that lightly – I’ve stayed at several Sofitel hotels in my time and they are renowned for their comfy beds, but the one I woke up in this morning was far superior… and of course, I now have a severe case of bed-envy.

Note to self: find out where to get our very own cloud of awesomeness, asap!

Before our breakfast at Bazaar, I went a bit nuts taking photos of all the rad decor and graphic elements in the room for future decorating projects.

View from the lift area.

As far as breakfast goes, I’ll let the photos do the talking (just know that there was more food. So much more).

And what did I eat? Nutella on toast, this incredible potato bake, creamy mushrooms, aaaaand…. one of pretty much everything in the place. Yep.

STOP. PAMPER TIME!

Later today the really fun part arrived – a visit to spaQ, where I was booked in for a oh-my-god-how-divine-was-that?! facial. Not sure if that’s the official name of the package, but that’s certainly what I was thinking when I floated out the door in my robe and slippers an hour later!

The bathroom. If you can’t already tell, yellow features heavily at QT. Fresh, sunny, happy. GLORIOUS.

The procedure:

After filling out my details on arrival, I was shown around the spa and taken to the bathroom to get changed into my robe and slippers, before heading to the ‘chill-out’ room shown in the last image above.

The chill out room is designed with just that in mind, so you’re encouraged to grab a cup of tea or a glass of water and lay back and read a mag (I judge venues on the quality of the stash, and can assure you it was top shelf).

Not long after, my lovely therapist Lily came and collected me and it was time for a peppermint foot soak/ exfoliation so we could chat about what treatment I wanted and what I hoped to get out of it. All sounding amazing by this point, as you can tell. I’ve got super tight muscles all through my back and shoulders at the moment and was keen to relax and unwind so I went for a hydrating facial. What ensued was an hour of pure, unadulterated bliss, and for the first time ever, I almost fell asleep during my treatment.

What I loved:

+ All the products are natural and custom-blended for your individual requirements – for example, Lily used a deeper exfoliating product on a small patch on my forehead and around my chin to really “get right in there.” The products are all also made with active plant extracts, which means they smell absolutely beautiful and do what they need to do, gently.

+ The rooms are really light and airy – a nice alternative to your standard spa – and if the overdone “trickling waterfall sounds” CD drives you a bit bonkers like it does me, you’ll be pleased to know the tunes are as funky and fresh as the decor. Hooray!

So that was our “mini-cation” – a genuinely fun and relaxing weekend, just up the road from home.

Have you ever been to QT?

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Invisalign: A Review

22 June, 2012

I was asked ever-so-nicely by a few readers on Instagram to recount all the juicy details of my experience with Invisalign, so hold onto your dental floss, we’re about to talk teeth!

Invisalign are essentially clear, plastic mouthguards that move/ straighten/ work wonders on your teeth in the same way that traditional metal braces do.

They’re not for everyone for a number of reasons (cost, the fact some people need metal braces to correct other issues such as severe overbites, for example) so let me start by saying that if you’re interested, it’s best to chat to both your regular dentist and book an appointment with an orthodontist to see if these extraordinary pieces of plastic will do what they need to do for you.

* Just on that, my dentist told me they wouldn’t work for me and I think he’s still full from eating a big ol’ piece of humble pie yesterday when I went for my 6 monthly clean!

Why I Got Them

Shown: wearing my Invisalign, one month after getting them.

I didn’t have braces as a teen as I was lucky to have straight teeth… that is, until my wisdom teeth came down about 5 years ago in my mid-twenties and things started really moving. Overcrowding became a big issue, and I noticed that one of my front teeth was starting to cross over the other, along with some noticeable movement with the teeth on each side and my middle bottom teeth. I’d also started pushing (“thrusting” is apparently the technical term but… wow) my tongue up against my front teeth quite aggressively when I was sleeping. See what I mean? Aggressive thrusting, and… OKAY THEN.

Where were we?

Anyway, when I mentioned my toothy predicament to friends or Ramai, they’d laugh and say “Your teeth are fine” but then I’d show them a photo and they’d say “Oh, yep, I get it now” and with a wedding on the cards – ergo, photos a-plenty – it was decided that off I would trot to get fitted for what became affectionately referred to as my “Vizzy’s.”

The Process*

Shown: wearing Invisalign, 2 months in.

+ Impressions, X-rays and photos are taken of your teeth and are then turned into a 3-D image so you can see the kind of results you’ll get. At this point, you pay a deposit, which for me was around $3000. The Invisalign cost me $8000 in total which I paid in montly installments.

+ At your first fitting, you’ll be shown how to get the trays in and out of your mouth as you take them off to eat and drink hot drinks. If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably think THERE’S NO FREAKING WAY I’M GETTING THESE BAD BOYS ON AND OFF BY MYSELF, but then after playing in the mirror at home, you’ll get the hang of it quick sticks. Promise.

+ You’re then given a batch of trays that need to be changed every fortnight, and for the first day or so, you’ll feel some pain and sensitivity as they start to whip your teeth into line. I had mine on for 12 months all up and I found for the first 6 months I really noticed a dull ache for the first day of a new set (sometimes randomly, mostly after I’d put them back in after having them out to eat), but later on in the process, when my teeth were more mobile, I’d whip them in and out like nobody’s bizness with very little pain at all.

My hot tip here is to put your new ones on at night so the movement begins while you’re sleeping.

* may vary depending where you get them done. I got mine at Gullotta Orthodontics on the Gold Coast (very professional, highly recommend).

The Rules + Other Stuff

+ You need to wear your Invisalign for 20 – 22 hours a day, which means popping them out to eat, rinsing your mouth out and then getting them straight back in. Because I’m a nerd and did just that, if I had a party or a work dinner where I couldn’t pull them in and out repeatedly without looking disgusting (Oh, don’t mind me just fishing around in my mouth at the table, guys!) I’d just keep them out for a block of a few hours. Which is OK sometimes, but should not be “the norm” if you want them to actually do what you hope.

+ To clean: you’re given a special coarse brush and told to clean the aligners every morning and night with mouthwash, but I found that towards the end of the 2 weeks before I was about to pop in the new set, they would get rather UGH, so I soaked them in Steradent denture tablets which worked an absolute treat.*

+ Attachments: or as we called them, “shark fins.” These are small and tooth-coloured and applied to any teeth that need extra assistance to move (they create more friction/ tightness between the aligner and your teeth). They do make it harder to get the trays in and out of your mouth at first, but you get used to them. They also make your Invisalign slightly less “invisible” but remember, no one notices them as much as you – in fact, lots of people never even knew I had them on.

+ Elastics: like the sharkeys, I wasn’t the hugest fan of the elastics and thankfully they were only on for a short period of time. These are to encourage faster movement, and honestly, once you’re into the process, you just want to do everything you can to help achieve an amazing result.

How these work: small buttons are attached to your back teeth (bottom ones) and slits are made in the top aligners towards the back. The tiny elastics then slide into the slits and are wrapped around the buttons to create more tension.

* Not recommended in the manual, but I found this to work well if used occasionally.

A.I (After Invisalign)

Taken straight after my last orthodontist appointment!

I finished my 12 month treatment 2 weeks ago and part of ensuring my teeth stay as straight as they now are means I have a bar stuck behind my upper and lower teeth, and I have to wear a plastic mouthguard (retainer) to bed every night for the first 6 months, and eventually once a week (forever). Of course, that’s up to me, but after doling out the cash and being super vigilant for the past year, you can bet I’ll doing everything I can to keep them in line, so to speak.

Why I Loved Them

Straight teeth on our wedding day = hooray!

Don’t laugh, but I actually grew quite fond of my Vizzy’s. I think it was the psychological aspect of knowing that when they were on they were working their magic, but I think most importantly, I loved that I could see them moving and straightening as I went along.

I love food and was stoked that I didn’t have to cut anything out of my diet like you do with regular braces (well except chewing gum, but it’s no good for you anyway). I also have to admit that the fact I could pretend I wasn’t in the middle of a teeth straightening adventure if I needed to (like at my birthday soiree, for instance) was a pretty big win, and something that you can’t say about our friend Mr Metal.

So that’s it, a totally unsponsored, completely honest account of my experience with Invisalign. I hope that answers a few questions!

+ What about you – have you ever had braces? What did you think of them? Have you ever thought about Invisalign?

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In Spaces Between Review: Urban Remedy Juice Cleanse

26 September, 2011

Good morning lovelies! It’s Week Two of the Life Reset (how are we all feeling?!) and I want to kick things off with a bang by reviewing the Urban Remedy juice cleanse I did for three days last week.

Urban Remedy is a no-fuss healthy juice cleansing program designed to detox and renew your body and tailored to suit your lifestyle and diet. In the interest of full disclosure, I was sent this cleanse to review by the lovely Laura from Urban Remedy (thanks Laura!) but all opinions are completely my own. I know there are a few of you that are curious and looking to do the cleanse yourself so I hope this answers all your questions, but if not, feel free to ask away in the comments.

The ‘Juicy’ Bits

Type of cleanse: Level 2, three day Winter Warmer cleanse. The juices come in Level 1, 2 and 3 and you can either go for one, three or five days.
Delivery: Straight to the door! Or in my case, straight to my office.
Schedule: I drank the juices at 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm – sipping each slowly for an hour, with water in between.
Exercise: I maintained my normal schedule but something gentle like walking or light stretching is fabulous.

Day One

It’s the first day of the cleanse and after waking up and going for a run, knocking back 500mls or so of water, I was excited to try my first juice of the day (that’s actually a smoothie if we’re going to get technical). I’ve done the Urban Remedy cleanse before and this one wasn’t part of the range but looking at the ingredients – banana, spinach, cos lettuce, lime and spirulina – I knew it was going to be tasty. I wasn’t wrong! The smoothie had a thickish consistency and I would have been happy to drink several more of these throughout the day. YUM! I also found it to be really filling, even though I’d exercised and been awake for 3.5 hours by that stage. Winner.

Next up on the menu was coconut water which I can either take or leave – I don’t find it particularly offensive but it’s also not my favourite beverage. Not hard to sip on throughout the morning though, and before I knew it 1pm was approaching and it was time to tuck into my lunch soup (asparagus, broccoli, green pea, cashews, leek, vege stock, cumin, sea salt and pepper) which was delicious and really creamy! It was nice to have something warm to mix things up as well.

I was still chugging back water in between (I’m a big water drinker as it is so don’t really need to remind myself to do this) and I found I was still quite thirsty despite all the liquids I was consuming. Just on that, I remember last time I was peeing like a demon but this time I wasn’t at all. Nothing too out of the ordinary anyway.

3pm-ish: Oh hello hunger monster, there you are! I’m an afternoon snacker, so I had expected an attack of the munchies mid-afternoon, and because I have a massive, ridiculous aversion to juiced celery (too overpowering!) and cucumber, I couldn’t face the afternoon juice. Instead, I ate five blueberries. Whoops. Felt bad (for 2.5 minutes) but figured it was better than a Mars Bar. Right?

The rest of the afternoon can be neatly organised into the Serious Daydreams About Food category. Surprisingly, the last thing on my mind was sugary treats – I was salivating over bowls of brown rice with tamari, or a juicy steak. Yes, steak! Strange, to say the least – especially as I hardly eat red meat. To add to the hilarity, on my way home from work I saw a bus shelter ad for Pizza Hut BBQ ribs and immediately started wondering what they’d taste like, picturing myself licking off that sticky BBQ sauce… YUCK! Ribs are SO not my bag usually!

You could say my mind was playing tricks on me by then, so I quickly filled that emptyish feeling in my stomach with (one of my fave) juices, which contains lemon, cayenne, agave nectar and water. So good, this one tastes like homemade lemonade with a little heat. I guess it’s technically dinner, and what followed was “dessert” – a milky juice with raw cacao, agave nectar, rice milk and cashews which I slammed back pretty quickly because I’d already been off dairy (on the Clean program) prior to the Urban Remedy cleanse, so I was acutely aware of the rice milk taste.

Mood-wise I felt fine all day – pretty energetic actually – but was exhausted by 8pm and asleep by 9pm. Clearly the detoxing and rejuvenating was underway!

Day Two

Wowsers, woke up from the craziest nightmare on Day Two. It was our wedding day and I’d forgotten to buy a dress, book the caterer and send the invitations – but somehow everyone knew anyway and were at the venue waiting for me. When I did arrive, I was wearing one shoe and handed my old boss a microphone and told him to entertain the crowd… and well, I could go on but it was just BI-ZARRE. Note to self: DO NOT talk about wedding stuff before bed, especially without food in one’s (flat) stomach!

I trotted off to a 7am pilates class and did a pretty intense workout for a hour, with a beautiful meditation at the end. I felt really clear-headed and almost like I was floating during the meditation, it was such an amazing feeling. I’d also noticed when I was getting ready that my skin was looking noticeably brighter and definitely more hydrated. We all know it’s true but it’s worth saying again – beauty really does start from within. The laugh lines under my eyes weren’t as pronounced, my skin felt super soft and I was a kilo lighter on the scales. Sweet!

Energy-wise, Day Two was a bit of a slower day for me. I felt a bit sleepy and coupled with a busy lunch hour doing wedding stuff and no down time, I was a bit foggy by late afternoon. For some reason, everyone at work decided to engage in deep and meaningful food conversations BESIDE MY DESK (this is out of the ordinary – a friend at work even picked up on it) so either they were being jerks or my lack of food brought out their survival instincts and they thought it was time to ruminate on the beauty of a good Nando’s burger or debate whether Tim Tams or Mint Slices were more superior. Big thanks to one male colleague who spent the day offering me the aforementioned biscuits (both varieties), Smith chips and sherbet lollies. My glowing skin and my juice and I just sat there being all pious and muttering “Type 2 Diabetes” a lot.

I also donated my afternoon green juice to a colleague at work who LOVED it, so just goes to show that everyone’s tastebuds are different. One woman’s grass is anothers Bollinger.

To finish off the day I had a Far Infra Red sauna, which has a multitude of benefits. Sweating is one of the best ways to detox the body, helping eliminate toxins and improve skin texture and tone, and believe me when I say I don’t think I’ve ever sweated that much in my life! One thing I did forget to do was take off my makeup so the next morning I had two lovely blemishes appear on my face (only small, but still) but I felt amazing after the sauna and was thrilled to know that along with aiding insomnia, helping de-stress, boosting circulation and boosting the immune system, one of the big benefits of the sauna is that you can sweat off between 300 and 600 calories a session!

Day Three

Friday Fun Day!

My final day on the juice cleanse was awesome. I woke up 20 minutes before my 5:30am alarm and felt light and energetic and excited to get to bootcamp. Yes, you read that right – I did just write excited and bootcamp in the same sentence!

After an hour of circuit training, I headed to work and gulped down my breakfast green smoothie. I was full of beans, and as I posted on my social media profiles, feeling ‘bouncy’ all day!

I had a pesky eyelash stuck in my eye for most of the day and when I was trying to get it out at lunch, ~~jamming~~ delicately inserting my finger under my eyelid (you should totally try this if you’re looking for something fun and daring to do today, it’s amazing!) (ha!) I noticed in the rearview mirror my eyes were significantly brighter and bluer. Like, much brighter. Hooray!

In the afternoon, I had a freshly squeezed beetroot, carrot, apple and ginger juice instead of my green juice but apart from that I stuck to the prescribed juices and whizzed through the day, making the most of the last day of the cleanse. If I felt my mind drifting towards food, I would make a conscious effort to draw my attention back to what I was doing. My stomach was nice and flat and my usual random bloating had totally disappeared. Still no sugar cravings either, which was the biggest bonus.

The Day After

I bounced, danced, bounded out of bed today feeling seriously incredible! As a Lover of Food, I was pretty excited to chew again so I shoved a handful of almonds in my mouth before heading out the door to the gym for a Body Attack class. I couldn’t quite believe how sky-high my energy levels were. The scales told me I was 1.5 kilo’s lighter as well and I felt that both physically and mentally. My mind felt razor-sharp. I was feeling so good that I think I may have even been grinning on the way to the gym, which is a really good look when you’re by yourself in the car. It definitely doesn’t get you strange looks at the traffic lights.

+ So that’s it – it really wasn’t that hard at all and I reaped all the rewards you hope for when you embark on a cleanse or detox of any type.

+ Have you done a juice cleanse like this before? Anything you’d like to know? Feel free to ask away below, and be sure to check out the Urban Remedy blog for a plethora of great advice and tasty recipes, I’m signed up to their newsletter and it’s an excellent resource.

+ Finally, find Urban Remedy on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with their latest news, I believe there is a new cleanse on its way!

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