The JuJu-Challenge: Day 3

Today is the final day of the cleanse!!!!

Rather than feel ecstatic though, I woke up today feeling a bit blah. I didn't have the appetite for anything, not the juices, not even real food (if somebody offered me some right now, I'd probably say no). Maybe it's because I just can't wait for today to be over. If I could go home, tuck myself under the blanket and just sleep this whole day off, I would.

But of course I can't. I have to work! "Back to the daily grind, Les, stop being such a wuss!" is my mantra for today.

Before starting on the juices, I weighed myself and was glad to find out that I lost 1.6 lbs since yesterday. So that's a total of 2.6 lbs lost since I started the cleanse. My stomach is noticeably flatter (well, wouldn't anybody's tummy be flatter after 2 days of no solid food?! Dibaaaa?), and my skin looks clearer! It doesn't look too drab today. I usually have to put a bit of primer on my face because I look kinda greyish in the mornings. But my cheeks today have a bit of color in them. I hope this is not wishful thinking. Haha!

Day 3

Bottle #1, the Green Bomb:

I always have an internal struggle with this one. I really just don't like the taste of cucumbers. *shudder* And since I was feeling very blah this morning, my internal army didn't feel like putting up a fight with the Green Bomb. So I had a staring contest with it instead. It stayed in front of me, on my desk, for an hour, before I had the guts to open it up.

Not much to report here except that I finished it all off in more than an hour. :( What motivated me to finish it was this: the promise of a nicer tasting juice right after! My most-awaited Spicy Limonada! Yay!

One down, 5 to go...

Start: 8:14 a.m.
Finish: 9:35 a.m.
Total time: 1 hour and 21 minutes


Bottle #2, the Spicy Limonada:

Yay, I am finally at #2, my favorite! Cannot wait to drink this refreshing mix. I needed something to wash off the taste of the previous one. :(

 Two down, four to go...

Start: 10:44 a.m.
Finish: 11:02 a.m.
Total time: 18 minutes

Bottle #3, the Red Giant:

My schedule for this bottle isn't till 1:00 p.m., so I planned to just have a siesta during lunch. But during one of my bathroom breaks, I chanced upon this in the pantry:

They cooked fried chicken for lunch! Look at all of those plates with steaming hot white rice...

*snap*

Back to reality, please. JuJuCleanse reality, that is.

Was a bit busy after lunch break so I was 50 minutes late for my 3rd bottle. Our utility guy also took the first 2 bottles away to wash them, so I wasn't able to take a picture of all 3 of them in a row. :(



Start: 1:50 p.m.
Finish: 3:00 p.m.
Total time: 1 hour and 10 minutes


Bottle #4, Salaba't and Lemon:

Ahhhh, so we finally meet. :) The taste isn't too bad once I got used to it. The ginger just heats up  my throat, but I can easily wash it down with water anyway.

I was supposed to join one of the DATEM Biggest Loser groups on their run today, but I decided against it because I didn't want to strain myself. Although I feel fine now, I just didn't want to take my chances.

I will just take my JuJu bottles with me, sit at home in front of the TV and in front of my laptop, and relaaaaaax. :)

Start: 5:00 p.m.
Finish: 6:00 p.m.
Total time: 1 hour


Bottle #5, The Green Bomb:

My last bottle of green stuff!!! Yeaaaah, I'm so happy, that I postpone drinking it until 3 hours later. :( Hehe. But I know that I have to conquer it sometime, so I get it from the ref, open it...and then just stare at it for 10 minutes.

Oh man, this is gonna be a loooong night.

I'm smiling here because I haven't opened the bottle yet. Haha

Start: 8:05 p.m.
Finish: 9:30 p.m.
Total time: 1.5 hours


Bottle #6, Salaba't Lemon:

Again, this bottle remains untouched inside my ref. I was just too full to drink it. I finished the Green Bomb too late, I was too full, I was already sleepy, and I didn't want any more liquids inside of me! So I brushed my teeth and called it a night.

Sorry. I guess I failed yet again.


The following day...

I woke up this morning not feeling ecstatic as I had expected. No cravings. No hunger pangs.

I took the last bottle with me to work, planning to just drink it for breakfast. I think I got to 9:00 a.m. without eating solid food, and then, free hotsilog was presented to me...how could I resist? Haha! I only ate a couple spoonfuls of rice, though, and I already felt full.

Oh, and I weighed myself first thing this morning. The result? I lost a total of 3-lbs, as I had predicted. Not too happy with it, since I know it's mostly water weight, but it's a start!

The verdict?

What this JuJu-Challenge has taught me is that I should have enough will-power to control my cravings, to only eat when I am truly hungry, and to eat in moderation. It also taught me that I should drink a lot of water! Just think, only 6 bottles of juice a day (plus a lot of gulps of water in-between) and not once did I feel hungry! I realize that most of my whining about food and feeling "hungry" only came from my cravings, but not once did I feel that my stomach was empty. If I would just increase my water intake and decrease my tendencies to munch, that would already make a big difference in my diet. :)

I think this could be a good product for those who are aiming to remove their bloatedness before a big beach trip, but this isn't a solution for lasting weight loss. In the end, it can only give you the push you need towards eating healthier. :)

So to those who are thinking of doing the JuJu-Challenge: GOOD LUCK! If you're not a vegetable eater, like me, try the 1-day challenge first to see if you're up for it. But since I survived, I guess there's no harm in trying the 3-day challenge! Just make sure that you have a support system (i.e. friends who will not eat delicious, aromatic food while you're around), and that you have a good purpose.

...and with that, I am signing off, on my way to a better,  healthier lifestyle!

The JuJu-Challenge: Day 1
The JuJu-Challenge: Day 2

The JuJu-Challenge: Day 2

Yesterday, I wasn't the most optimistic person in the world, and I guess it was my fault that I failed JuJu-Challenge Day 1. I was too much of a "negatron." So for Day 2, I promised myself that I would be more optimistic. "I will finish ALL the juices today, and I will enjoy it!" is my mantra.

Day 2

I started the morning with a jolt. I slept through my alarm again, and I was running late for work. While I was getting ready, I noticed that my usually bloated tummy looked flat (hooray!). That's a good sign.

As soon as I arrived at the office, I stepped on the weighing scale (yes, I have a digital weighing scale on hand, which we use for our DATEM Biggest Loser program. Haha!), and I noted that I lost 1-lb since yesterday. Huh? That's not much of an achievement is it? Psssh. But still, I will not let that discourage me. 2 more days to go, maybe I will lose a total of 3-lbs. I know that it's completely water weight, but still! I shall work from there.

Bottle #1, the Green Bomb:

Ahh, green monster, it's you again.

I decided to pretend that I don't care (dedma lang). I opened the bottle and just drank it without hesitation. I was surprised that I didn't feel like gagging after the first sip. The taste wasn't too bad this time around! Maybe my taste buds were getting used to it. Hooray!

Oh, but before I attempted to drink it, I tried the mint tea (using the leaves they provided in the pack). It tasted like pesto in hot water. Maybe I was using it wrong :(

Start: 8:00 a.m.
Finish: 8:30 a.m.
Total time: 30 minutes!


Bottle #2, the Spicy Limonada:

My office is in the Fort, and I had a 9 a.m. meeting all the way in Quezon City. Estimating the travel time to and from QC, plus the duration of the meeting, I figured that I'll be away for the next 5 hours, so I took the next 2 bottles with me.

Unfortunately, I drank bottle #2 during the meeting, so I have no photo. :( The Spicy Limonada is my favorite drink. It's the easiest to take! It tastes more like calamansi than lemon, though...but that's ok. :)

Can I just say that travelling while on the cleanse is such a hassle? I had to stop by 2 gas stations to pee. Haha! Well, at least that's a sign that it's working.

Start: 10:20 a.m.
Finish: 10:30 a.m.
Total time: 10 minutes!


Bottle #3, the Red Giant:

I felt hungry by 12:30 p.m., and I was already looking forward to drinking the Red Giant by 1:00 p.m. However, I got back to my car at around 1:20 p.m. already, so I was 20 minutes late for my 3rd bottle. Good thing the insulation bag kept it cool. :) The Red Giant was my companion during the drive back to Taguig. It took me so long to finish it, not because of the taste (this is my 2nd favorite drink), but because I didn't want to spill this bright red juice all over myself or my car seat. I had to wait for full stops before I could take a sip or two.

Start: 1:22 p.m.
Finish: 2:22 p.m.
Total time: 1 hour


Bottle #4, Alkazest:

As I said during Day 1, this isn't one of my favorites. Probably the 3rd least favorite, because of its bitter aftertaste. I think it heard me and it plotted its revenge. How? You'll see in a while.

I took my sweet time drinking it because I was busy with work, so there were times when I completely forgot that it was right in front of me on my desk. Haha. ;) I finished it by the time I was supposed to leave the office. I couldn't leave just yet because the delivery of juices for my cleanse the next day was late. The package arrived at around 6:15 p.m. already, and the JuJu delivery guy apologized profusely...traffic on the way here was horrible, he said (in Tagalog. Haha).

No worries, dude. I had work to do anyway.

Start: 4:12 p.m.
Finish: 6:00 p.m.
Total time: Almost 2 hours


Bottle #5, the Green Bomb:

Maybe my morning taste buds are different from my evening tastebuds, because my evening tastebuds didn't like the Green Bomb. :( Drank this while watching TV (with an emergency glass of water by my side). I had to finish this quickly because I had to leave for QC with friends by 8:30 p.m.

No picture for this one, sorry. I was too engrossed in the evening news to remember.

Ton came to pick me up, and with him, he had some JT Chicken Inasal (pecho!) for take-out. For him to eat, obviously. Will power, Lesley. Will powerrrrrrr. :(

So since I had to leave the house for the night, I grabbed the last bottle from the ref and placed it into the insulation bag.

Start: 7:15 p.m.
Finish: 8:15 p.m.
Total time: 1 hour


Bottle #6, Salaba't Lemon (or is it?):

Before heading out to QC, we passed by Draft, Rockwell to meet up with Ton's other friends who are also going with us to QC. It was like torture walking into Draft. I could see tables piled on with orders of Hoegaarden, fish and frittes, sheperd's pie, and other yummy, deep fried, fatty food. It was like I had died and gone to hell. Hell, because there were so many temptations in front of me, and I could not have them!!!

So finally, we leave, and I grab my last bottle of JuJu like a lifeline. So what if you guys have fish and frittes? I have JuJuCleanse! Nomnomnom.

(ok, maybe the hunger is making me delirious)

I was dreading drinking the last one because of its strong ginger taste, so when I finally drank it, I was surprised that it did not give me the usual hot kick. "Hey, this isn't so bad," I told Ton, gulping down almost half of the bottle. "In fact, it kind of tastes like..." I trailed off, panicked, and grabbed the bottle cap.

Just as I thought. Alkazest has sought its revenge. Instead of grabbing the #6 bottle, I grabbed #4. :(

No picture here again, because I'm embarrassed to document my mistakes. Haha!

Bottle #6, Alkazest:

We were already on our way to QC then (and I was hungry!), so I decided to just finish off the contents anyway. Since I expected a ginger taste, this Alkazest was actually a welcome replacement. Ah, you sneaky Alkazest you.

Start: 10:45 p.m.
Finish: 11:00 p.m.
Total time: 15 minutes

The good news is, I finished all 6 bottles! Hurray! The bad news is, this is the 2nd day in a row that I wasn't able to drink the Salaba't Lemon. So now, I have 2 and 3/4 bottles in my ref. Poor, neglected Salaba't Lemon, don't worry, I will drink you this afternoon as a replacement for the Alkazest. :)

The JuJu-Challenge: Day 1
The JuJu-Challenge: Day 3

The JuJu-Challenge: Day 1

I can't think of a cleverer way to name this blog post other than to incorporate the word "challenge" in it, because it's exactly that: A CHALLENGE. I challenged myself to take this on, because I knew of my propensity for snacking and eating more than what is required. Masarap kumain, bakit ba? I knew that I needed to do something to turn-around my eating habits, and maybe JuJuCleanse is the answer to that.

I'll be lying if I told you that I ordered JuJuCleanse to jumpstart a healthy lifestyle by flushing out the toxins and cleansing my palette. The first and foremost reason is: I want to lose weight. Looking at what I look like now, you'd probably scoff and say that I look fine for my height; or if you've known me for a while, you'd probably say that I look better with a little meat in me. But I know that if I do not control my weight gain NOW, my propensity for retaining water weight will come bite me in my (future) big ass someday.

In the past couple of years, I've noticed a big change in my metabolism, and I am not liking it one bit. I've gained around 12 lbs in 3 years, and it is showing no sign of slowing down. So before this all goes out of hand, I've decided to make a commitment to fitness:

• I've started running since August of 2011. Although I've had several stops and starts, I am happy to report that from being unable to run for more than 2 minutes straight, my longest running record has now been 31:31 minutes or 4.34 kilometers! From couch potato to 4.3k! Not bad, don't you think?

• I've signed up for a gym membership at 360 Fitness Club. I love this gym. It's quite a drive away from where I live, but I spend around 2 hours there anyway, so it's totally worth it. Aside from the circuit, I really enjoy the Power Yoga, Body Balance, Body Jam, Zumba and Suspension Training Classes.

However, I still haven't made a commitment to a healthy diet. It's just SO HARD to let go of good food! Masarap kumain! I always use my regular exercise as an excuse to eat whatever I want (especially on weekends). But I am slowly beginning to realize that exercise is only 40% of the battle. They say that your diet makes up 60% of the game; without eating the proper food, then your exercise will be for naught, and you are breaking sweat just to maintain your current weight.

I am a failure at dieting because I get tempted by food quite easily. It's easy to diet when I'm at the office; I can just bring tuna and crackers, or snack on a banana. But once the free food comes in (when there are birthdays, bonuses, etc.), how can I say no to that??? I needed a structured diet plan, and I need to practice my will-power. What kind of diet will help me achieve this?

I've been eyeing JuJuCleanse for a while now, but given its steep price (a 1-day cleanse costs PhP 2,500; a 3-day cleanse costs PhP 7,100), I've had second thoughts.

Last week, though, I finally decided that it's NOW OR NEVER. My weight has been fluctuating for around 2lbs for the past month, and I decided to stop making excuses for my diet and to just help jumpstart it with JuJuCleanse.

I ordered a 3-day Level 1 cleanse via JuJuCleanse.com (the level depends on how many "green" drinks are inside the 6-bottle package. The higher the level, the more "Green Bombs" you have to drink). I mean, I do want to lose weight, but I'm not a masochist. I am not a vegetable eater, so I know that these green drinks will be hard for me to gulp down.

My order came the day before my cleanse, and I was a bit surprised that I was handed 6 bottles inside a plastic bag. What happened to the nice insulation bag they promised in their website, with cooling packs? I texted Kat (the owner of JuJuCleanse) to ask about it (maybe they ran out of bags?), and she apologized for the mix-up. Apparently, she thought I was a repeat customer, and repeat customers are asked to reuse their insulation bags. She promised to have my bag delivered along with the bottles for Day 2.

I lined up the bottles along the bottom shelf of my refrigerator, and headed out to have a night cap with friends. It was a stressful Monday and I wanted to unwind with a few drinks. I know that JuJuCleanse recommends that I cut down my intake of the following:

• Animal protein and processed foods
• Salt, refined sugar and carbs
• Carbonated sodas, and other caffeinated drinks
• Alcohol and nicotine

 ...but with the impending doom of no solid food for the next 3 days, I had some Beef Wanton Cups, Pumpkin Soup, and a couple of shots of the Flying Tiger from Fez for my "last meal." Hehe. Sorry. :) I will soon regret this, though, as my stomach had such a hard time adjusting. :(

So now, Day 1 of the cleanse begins. I take 5 of the bottles to the office with me, and I hope for the best.

Day 1

Bottle #1, the Green Bomb:

I know that it's the first bottle and I haven't tasted the others YET, but I could tell that this is going to be my least favorite drink. It's made of celery, cucumber, coconut water, malunggay, pineapple, Romaine lettuce and spinach. Bleuuuurgh.

When I got to the office, I noticed that my usual cup of 3-in-1 was already prepared for me. Resisting the urge for my regular caffeine fix, I turned away from the piping hot mug of lovely, delicious coffee, and I grudgingly grabbed bottle #1: the Green Bomb. I decided to skip the mint tea for now (free mint leaves come with every order of JuJuCleanse).

As I've mentioned earlier, I am not a vegetable eater. I've only started to eat salads this past year (especially after my Korea trip where every meal has greens), and even then, it's not the sort of food that I would take regularly. The Green Bomb has an overpowering cucumber taste, and out of all the vegetables, I hate cucumbers almost as much as I hate okra. I started to drink this bottle at 7:30 a.m. 2.5 hours later (time for me to drink the 2nd bottle), I am still not finished with it. I admit, I stopped attempting to drink it at around 9:30 a.m., upon reading the FAQ page at JuJuCleanse.com, wherein I saw this:

"Since you are not eating anything throughout the day we recommend that you drink as much of the cleanse juices as possible, as they are meant to be your nourishment for the day. However, if the volume is simply too much for you, it's absolutely nothing for you to worry about."

Since alkalinity is what you're after, this green juice is the way to go. This elixir of assorted green veggies loads you up with important nutrients and enzymes that our bodies desperately need to keep alive and well down to the cellular level. You've heard the term "life force"? This is all that and more!

But to be sure, I texted Kat, and she replied, saying that it is ideal for me to consume all 6 bottles within the day, and that it's ok to sip slowly until I finish the whole bottle. So I bucked up, transferred the bottle contents into a cup, and I see that I only have a little more of this green juice to go! Konti nalaaaaaang! Let's do this!

Doesn't look very appetizing out of its cute bottle, don't you think?

By this time also, I've been to the bathroom to pee for around 3x already. And each time I go, I get sad, because the kitchen is right next to the bathroom, and they're cooking Pork Sinigang today. :(

Start: 7:30 a.m.
Finish: 10:23 a.m.
Total time: almost 3 hours.


Bottle #2, the Spicy Limonada:

Since I finished the Green Bomb very VERY late, and since the aftertaste of the cucumbers was still there, and since I still felt very full, I decided to take the next drink during lunch break (11:30 a.m.) instead of the recommended 10:00 a.m. schedule.

To be honest, after my bad experience with the Green Bomb, I wasn't looking forward to drinking another bottle of juice. I had to stare down this yellow bottle for a couple of minutes before I got the courage to open it. I read reviews from various bloggers, and they say that the Spicy Limonada is their favorite drink, so it seemed promising.

Not just your ordinary lemonade. This version packs a little extra heat and health into every sip with cayenne pepper. This drink aims not only to swing your body pH into a more alkaline state, but to speed up your metabolism as well.

It's exactly what the name implies: spicy lemonade. It is made of the same stuff used by Beyonce in her Master Cleanse diet: cayenne pepper, honey and lemon! I was able to finish it in 4 goes. I had to keep myself from finishing the whole bottle all at once, as I remembered Kat saying that gulping it down is not recommended. Truth be told, I just wanted to get it over with! 500ml is too much liquid! I want to chew something!!!

Start: 11:43 a.m.
Finish: 12:03 p.m.
Total time: 20 minutes


Bottle #3, the Red Giant:

Another drink that I wasn't looking forward to, because I know that the main ingredient is beets. I hate beets. At around 2:00 p.m., I got bottle #3 from the ref. Its bold, red color is a bit intimidating, I must say. It's made of beets, carrots, ginger and pineapple...all 4 ingredients I'm not too fond of separately. All combined, though, it wasn't too bad! The ginger taste is what stood out, but I think the pineapple balances it all out. :) The ginger kind of gives it the same "hotness" factor that the cayenne pepper gave the Spicy Limonada.

Rich in alkaline elements that aid in cleansing and elimination, this potent potion of beets, pineapple, carrots, and ginger is as healthy as it is delicious. Beets are remarkably good for your liver, and beet juice has been shown to increase stamina and act as an athletic performance enhancer

I didn't have a problem with the taste, but it took me so long to finish it because I was already feeling so full from all the liquids I've been consuming all day (the juices plus water). It also didn't help that I was beginning to get a bit masungit from being food-deprived for the whole day. Printer ate my paper? Roar! An officemate offering me lanzones? Growl! It doesn't take much to irritate me today. I can't believe that I'll be food-deprived for another 2 days.

In the meantime, I am considering abstaining from Twitter altogether because people keep posting pictures of food. Roar!Growl!Hiss!!!!

Start: 2:22 p.m.
Finish: 2:57 p.m.
Total time: 35 minutes


Bottle #4, Alkazest:

Seeing that it has coconut water in its list of ingredients (the other 2 ingredients being grapefruit / orange and pineapple), I immediately imagined gulping down a whole bottle of virgin coconut oil. I hope this one is more like buko juice.

Taking the 1st sip, however, I was pleasantly surprised that it had a citrus taste. There's this weird, bitter aftertaste though, that I can't identify. I think I prefer the Red Giant over this. I discovered a new trick to enable myself to easily drink the juices: if you focus your eyes on a far-off point, and if you stop breathing while you swallow, you won't taste a thing (at least, not much. And at least, not until you start breathing again).

This vitamin and anti-oxidant rich mix of grapefruit, pineapple, and coconut juices is a refreshing mid-afternoon picker upper. It is designed to replenish your electrolytes and boost your energy levels to help get you through the rest of the day.

I still feel full from the last 3 full bottles I consumed, so I took my time finishing this one. And I think it's the thought of another Green Bomb coming up that has caused me to procrastinate finishing bottle #4. Halaaaaaa. :(

Start: 4:20 p.m.
Finish: 5:15 p.m.
Total time: 55 minutes

At this point, the delivery of bottles for my 2nd day has arrived, and with it, my free (and previously forgotten) insulation bag with cooler packs. It's so cute that I almost forget that it contains 6 more bottles of liquid torture.

At this point also, someone offered me a free slice of pizza. I think he was a bit shocked when I shouted "NO!" complete with a look of terror on my face. I don't think he saw the solitary tear that fell down my cheek when he stalked off (and with him, that delicious slice of pizza...).


Bottle #5, the Green Bomb:

I left the office at around 6:15 p.m., so I took bottle #5 back home with me. Since I finished bottle #4 at around 5 p.m., I decided to take the Green Bomb at 7 p.m. So. I am faced with this green monster once again. Just looking at it makes me want to puke. I have a stare-down contest with it for about 30 minutes or so, before I conquered my fear, and I opened the bottle. I wish I could turn off my taste buds for a few minutes while I drink this one. :(

I'm thinking that I should finish this in 30 minutes, or else I will be too full to take my last bottle: the Salaba't Lemon. But, already an hour and 1/2 has passed and I still can't get past half. :(

I think I will have to give up on this one. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow.

 Start: 7:34 p.m.
Give-up time: 9:10 p.m.
Total time: N.A.


Bottle #6, Salaba't and Lemon:

I had a movie date with Ton that night, so I took the unfinished bottle of Green Bomb, and the bottle of Salaba't Lemon with me. He took a sip of both drinks and he said he actually liked the Green Bomb. Hmp. I guess I'm just a picky (vegetable) eater. I've seen blog reviews about the Green Bomb, and a lot (not all) also like its taste. Guess I'm one of the few unlucky ones who can't stomach it.

Anyway, as I said earlier, I gave up on the Green Bomb halfway through. Ton kept giving me tips on how to drink it (he says it's the same technique he uses to gulp down Bacardi 151), but I kept giving him this "wawa" face that he soon gave up. And it also didn't help that he bought Wendy's french fries, iced tea, and Pan de Americana pandesal as a movie snack (I confess, I had a couple of nibbles of each...just to have something to chew on, I promise)!!!

This potent ginger tonic i an excellent expectorant, providing relief for those with respiratory problems.

It helps improve circulation and stimulates your digestive system as well.

This is a wonderful drink on ice and is also perfect warmed up as a pre-bedtime tea.

So, anyway, I started to drink the Salaba't Lemon, but being a non-salabat drinker, I found this drink too strong. It burned my throat, even more than the cayenne pepper, so I had to wash it down with a glass of water. It was too distracting to do while watching a movie, so I set it aside for before bed.

Hmmm. I think I conveniently forgot all about it come bed time. I didn't finish the drink at all. :( I promise to exert more effort tomorrow!

Start: 10:30 p.m.
Give-up time: 11:30 p.m.
Total time: N.A.

To my blog readers, please do not be discouraged by this blog post...remember, there's still Day 2 and 3! :)

The JuJu-Challenge: Day 2
The JuJu-Challenge: Day 3