Sober and the City - ‘How juice doing?’

Hello! I’m back with some juice.. 

I have decided to get raw and try out the radiance juice cleanse (entirely organic). I decided to do this to rebalance my mind and give my body a chance to spend all that energy used to break down foods, on nurturing my my core, my mind and strengthening my discipline..

It seems like a pretty good thing to give a go whilst I’m on this magnificent sobriety journey...

Day 1

Ok, I’m going to be honest, I woke up with mixed emotions - I was excited about giving my body a well needed cleanse but also, I was dreading the whole week. I’d heard those juicing horror stories of people deprived of their usual intake of caffeine falling asleep on the Circle line and just going round and round with dribble all over their faces. People dashing to the loo mid meeting as their Green antioxidant juice bomb decided to detonate during a Powerpoint display.

So, I ‘womanned’ up and took a swig of my first shot  (turmeric, ginger and lemon) which I’m not going to lie tasted like shit, but look, if it tasted amazing I would have become suspicious, things that are good for you are meant to be awful right?  But anyway it gave me an instant buzz. It was only 8.15am but so far so good!!. 

Well, it seemed that I was wrong about the juices the next juice was super yummy, (turmeric root, water, lemons, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper) it gave me the energy to take a work call and hop and skip to a meeting, aided with my next 2 juices of the day.

The juice that got better and BETTER and basically became my obsession was the cashew, maple syrup... the dream for a starving but dedicated juicer. 

The next 2 juices (carrots, apples, lemons, beetroot, spinach and carrots, celery, lemons, red pepper, apple) were pretty tasty and seemed to get better as the days went by.

So as I got into bed feeling a very ‘Smug Sally’ I wondered what all the fuss was about with all these juicing horror stories? My stomach was flatter, I felt energised and they were delicious, well apart from the turmeric one in the morning.

Day 2

I spoke too soon - my body had finally realised nothing solid was going to pass my lips and started grumbling in protest!! By midday it all became a bit of a struggle, I tried to keep super busy with errands, I even started cleaning my room and ironing, yes, reader, that was how desperate I was to get my mind off of a huge 12inch deep crust pizza that seemed to haunt my thoughts, I picked up the iron.

Day 3

Felt a bit better, still lethargic though but really pleased with myself that I had got so far - speaking to a friend apparently its day 2 when people finally give in and dive head-first into a KFC party bucket 

My pals invited me to the Everyman Cinema in Maida Vale to see ‘Rocketman' the story of Elton John through all his success, sadness and wild times thrown in with his sobriety. I wasn’t going to go as I felt like all I wanted to do was just lay on the sofa and dream of pizza but do you know what I had heard such good things that I thought ‘fuck it, I’ll go’.

The fact that it was Elton made it all the more interesting for me and especially the journey of sobriety I had only just started, he’s been sober for 28 years - what an inspiration!! And what can I say I am a sucker for anyone who can not only confront their demons but beat them. Elton is a man after my own heart.

I hadn’t really thought it through, I really wasn’t prepared for the flowing popcorn and chocolate treats in abundance, surrounding me whilst I watched this emotionally and heart wrenching film. The only thing louder that the popcorn crunch coming from my friends mouths was the rumble of my stomach begging for just a handful of popcorn - PLEEASSEEE!! The addict in me reared its ugly head - Go on, give in! One handful won’t hurt. Why are you doing this to yourself? Fuck it! Why not?

But you’ll be so proud of me - I was strong. The irony of watching an Elton John biopic was not lost on me, believe me. This man who had taken every drug known to man,  a confirmed sex addict, not to mention a shameless shopping addict with anger management issues had given all that up and yet here was me thinking ‘Fuck it! I’m going to stuff my face with chocolate and popcorn’ I was a bit like ‘Come on Gemma - get a grip!! A bit of perspective - eh?'

I left the movie feeling emotional but bloody proud of myself and of course my love and respect for Elton magnified ten-fold.

Day 4

Was surprisingly easier than day 3. I genuinely felt revived and the hunger pangs were thankfully scarce. 

I managed to meet a friend to discuss a show that I am currently writing, we spent a really lovely afternoon strolling around Notting Hill. I couldn’t help feeling lighter and dare I say it a bit floaty. I walked down Portobello Road and the smells of the pastries and the sight of the diners in the restaurant windows didn’t even tempt me - a few days ago I would have avoided Portobello road like the plague - any sight of food was a cruel temptation. I even turned off Masterchef in anger as seeing food even on a tv screen had me longing for something naughty to pass my lips.

I came across a new sober bar/restaurant called Redemption Bar. 

I decided this would be my final point of celebration upon finishing my 5 day radiance juice cleanse. 

Day 5

Was a breeze.. I knew I had a glorious meal to look forward to at Redemption Bar the following day and I was buzzing off the glow beaming from my skin and the effortlessly light feeling trickling through my veins. Happy days! And I totally get why they call it ‘RADIANCE cleanse’. Highly recommend!

This month my blowout item is

‘Sexy little bootie’ by Stivaleria Cavallin

Black Patent Leather

Price £720

These booties are the dream.. they have made it on many adventures already.. one being a short film that I have just done, produced by one of my besties and favourite humans, Sadie Frost. 

I played ‘Nurse Callie’. Sounds chill, right? Alas, Nurse Callie happened to be a bit of a party bae..

I was pretty nervous to begin with but all off the nerves fizzled out quickly, with such an awesome team involved. I am super proud of myself for getting this far in my sobriety, that I can play the party girl role..

My gratitude list for today

🦋 I am grateful for the amazing souls in my life

🦋 I am grateful for my self discipline

🦋 I am grateful for the universe, constantly throwing magic at me

🦋 I am grateful for scent, love a good scent... they became my food whilst juicing

🦋 I am grateful for my darling little boy, Benji

by Gemma Gregory

Redemption Bar

6 Chepstow Road, London W2 5BH
Tel: 020 7313 9041

www.redemptionbar.co.uk
nottinghill@redemptionbar.co.uk 
Instagram:@redemptionbar

Stivaleria Cavallin

47 Elizabeth Street, London SW1W 9PP
Tel: 020 3198 3269

londonhouse@stivaleriacavallin.it
www.stivaleriacavallin.com
Instagram: @stivaleriacavallin

Radiance Cleanse

www.radiancecleanse.com 
@radiancecleanse