Renew

I’ve been thinking about doing a cleanse lately. You know the kind us LA people do that makes us seem obnoxious. Since, I’m so innocent of being a pretentious and vain Angelino, it’s something that I thought I would never try.

However, the past 6 months have taken a bit of a toll on me. It’s my nature not to sit and “be still” and with recent events this has become even more difficult. Consequently, I’ve been on the go mentally and physically. The past few weeks culminated with of a little too much whiskey, a Vegas bachelorette party, working out every day and dinners out every night. I could feel the weight of it all.

Now there are a ton of pressed juices popping up all over Los Angeles. But, I decided to do a two day cleanse with TOTES in Sherman Oaks. Why, because the lil lady behind Totes, Chelsea, lives this stuff. Everything is truly organic and pure, down to the reverse osmosis water she uses (I know, what the heck is reverse osmosis water). But really, there’s something encouraging about living proof guiding you through a miserable day(s) of food and whiskey deprivation.

I picked up two days worth of “food” on Monday afternoon. Come on it’s really tangible chewable food if they hadn’t pressed it all up into liquid form. Relax. I was doing it along side a friend of mine so we could support (I mean bitch to) each other. When you walk in to Totes to pick up your juices, Chelsea is there to greet you with a big smile lots of laughter (She’ll even do curbside delivery).  It’s definitely not LA pretentious or intimidating, at all. She explains everything in an email document the day prior and in person if you have more questions. Simple.

The first morning, I woke up to a motivational email check in from Chelsea (and a desperate one from my juicing buddy).  Unfortunately, I also woke up hungry. My guess is that it was a mind over matter situation. Knowing that you can’t eat all day, starts the self-fulling prophecy of stomach aching for food. And, there’s that thing of someone telling you can’t have something, that makes you want it more, right?

Normally, I get up and have a bowl of cereal with blueberries and coffee, almost immediately. This morning, as instructed, I boiled water and squeezed lemons into it. This was a nice touch, especially since I felt like I was coming down with a cold anyway. Chelsea suggests Reverse Osmosis water. I didn’t have any on hand, so I just used regular filtered water.

Now the Juices.
(Sorry for the iphone picture, my nikon is in the shop.)

Drink #1

Protein Powder. This was a good way to start off. You mix it with water or some of the last “juice”, almond milk. It’s filling and thicker in consistency. After I drank this I was full for a bit. Satisfied. It was tasty. I did the Vanilla flavor. You can chose from a few different ones. You even get a cute lil reusable mason jar that affords future discounts when you return with it.

Two hours later, I moved onto, Drink #2

Drink #2

Root Awakening. This was a bit sweet for my taste, but I prefer straight up vegetable drinks. At this point, I was feeling hungry, but nothing too dramatic. As instructed, I sipped the drinks and “chewed”. I think this really helps. It made me feel more as I was eating something solid.

Drink #3

Verde. This was my favorite. The least sweet and full of greens. My friend, on the other hand, wasn’t thrilled with this one. I think most people aren’t used to drinking 160z of pure packet nutrition and vegetables. Something that gets easier. Like everything, practice makes perfect.

Now what seemed like 2 of the longest hours ever, I started #4…

Drink #4

Yolo. Is a great mix of sweets and greens. Beets, etc. At about this time I was ready for a steady mixture of not too sweet and not too green. It hit the spot. Also at this time I ventured out to the grocery store (why you ask???) I swear I didn’t buy anything to eat. I had to return some redbox movies. But, point being, my sense of smell was insane. I could smell all the flowers, food, people (unfortunately) AND I had a cold. It was strange.

Drink #5

Spicy Tonic. This is an awesome drink. The pineapple was the driving force and tasted so good after all the veggie powered drinks. At this point I was liquified out. For me 160z of fluid, plus 8oz of water in between each drink was a lot. And, I drink a lot (no not whisky) of water every day on a regular basis.

Drink #6

Apple-Tini. Cute name, but it sure in the hell reminded me of happy hour. Seriously, cruel. No but really, this was also delicious. But I couldn’t finish it all. I guess some people prefer lots of liquid. I started to taper down at this point. Plus I knew 2 more were coming and I didn’t want to be up all night, peeing (yes I said it like it is).

Drink #7

Dirty-Tini. I knew this was the last “meal”, as #8 is more like dessert. I only drank about half of it. Carrot driven and the grand finale. It was easier to tolerate as I knew I was done for the day.

Drink #8

Night Cap. Hands down the best almond milk in the universe. I had half left over from my morning protein powder. It was thick, delicious and a perfect grand finale.

REPEAT – Day 2…

The finale was like a lil renew. After the cleanse, my tastebuds exploded. When I had my first few bites of my boring morning regime, the flavors were vibrant. It was sorta crazy. Everything tasted better. It was like a reset on my corrupt self. My mind felt clearer. My body felt skinnier (most important). And, above all, I felt pretty darn healthy.

Don’t get me wrong, all the drinks are fabulous on their own, but just drinking all day proved to be more difficult than I imagined. Totally feasible. Totally worth it, but reality check on my so called awesomeness. I had always wanted to do a cleanse and TOTES was the perfect place to go. Everything is well organized. Easy to follow. And the pricing is comparable and even more affordable then most. Chelsea goes above and beyond to make sure you’re comfortable, making you feel that it’s completely fine to ask questions OR whine. Ha.

Details

• http://www.totesjuices.com
• Owner:  Chelsea Gutierrez
• 13569 Ventura Blvd. , Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
• 818.789.9700