NIKI’S FILMORE JUICE PROGRAMME EXPERIENCE

January 30, 2017 11:42 am

Hi everyone! I’m Niki and I was one of the first Filmorites to try out the new Filmore & Union juice programme - so I wanted to share my experience with you!

We all know what it’s like; it’s the middle of January, the nights are cold and dark and the days are grey, Christmas seems like a lifetime ago and there is no sign of Spring on the horizon. Every day, it gets harder and harder not to abandon the New Year’s Resolutions and order a pizza or reach for the chocolate cake. I was feeling pretty fed up and my healthy eating regime needed a boost so I decided to throw myself into one of Filmore and Union’s Juice Programmes. There are three to choose from: -

Glow – for skin
Rest – for your digestive system
Reboot – for energy

As soon as I read the Hippocrates quote ‘All diseases begin in the gut’ I was sold on Rest. I’m not sure if I’m gluten intolerant, my partner thinks I am, but I know what it’s like to feel bloated, have indigestion or a queasy tummy, and for this to affect my whole mood.

What I liked about the Programmes on offer was the simplicity. None of this ’30 days on lettuce and beetroot’ here, just a 3 or 5 day programme of juices to give your body a good reboot. I opted for the 3 day programme and was just about to start pouring when I noticed the booster option on the menu. £20 for 3 powerful booster shots each day to maximise my results. Now I’m a fan of Aloe Vera anyway so when I saw the boosters for the Rest programme were Aloe Vera, Probiotic and Wheatgrass I was sold (wheatgrass isn’t my favourite but it’s only a little shot after all). In for a penny in for a pound. Now I have to admit that I was at this stage a little dubious that I’d be able to last three days without eating, I have to admit that, but I promised myself I’d be strong and deal with feeling hungry when those cravings for food came along.

So I packed up my F&U coolbag with 3 days’ worth of provisions and off I went…

Day 1

A juice for breakfast. That sounds odd, doesn’t it? I usually have a smoothie as part of my breakfast anyway so when I opened the Bluebiotic breakfast juice, I was pleasantly surprised. Blueberry, pear and probiotic, really tasty and left me pretty full.

I’m not a coffee or tea drinker so the rest of the morning whizzed by before my next juice at 11. This is the Hardcore Greens and believe me, it looked just like its name suggests. Cucumber, celery, kale, broccoli, ginger and lemon, they sound more like the ingredients for s stir fry or a salad than a juice, don’t they? And I have to admit that this wasn’t my favourite but with all those antioxidants, I knew it was doing me good. Oh, and knocking back the dreaded wheatgrass booster shot along with it was a lot easier than expected too (with a big glass of water to wash it down, of course…).

Lunchtime, for me that’s around 2PM. I wasn’t feeling overly hungry or anything so on with the programme, Zen – coconut water, green apples, spinach and pear. It was a nice juice and one I’d drink again in its own. I can imagine it being refreshing on a hot day. Side bonus was that I only needed 30 secs to drink the juice so the rest of my lunch break was freed up to stalk celebrity outfits on Mail Online and look for bargains on The Outnet.

4PM and I’m still full of energy and not yet dreaming of carbs but then again, it is only day one. Veg Focus, we’re talking carrot, sweet potato, kale, lemon and one of my favourite ingredients, turmeric. I didn’t like this one, I can’t deny it, I wouldn’t order it again put it that way, but I washed it down with the probiotic booster and got on with my afternoon.

As I got in from work, I watched my partner cook steak frites but I was actually happy to turn this down. Not only was I committed to the 3 day programme but my final juice of the day was the one I was most excited to try. Dark Cashew Magic. Just let that name sink in. Cashew Milk, Maple Syrup, Cacao, Himalayan Pink Salt. All pretty interesting and exotic sounding. But the star of the show here is the activated charcoal. Charcoal in a drink? Not only does it relieve gas and bloating, but it helps absorb poisons and toxins in the stomach. It’s a health food superstar and I’m told we’ll be seeing a lot more of this in products going forward. The whole thing looked like a creamy, cloudy black smoothie and tasted divine. If this is health food, then I’m converted. I did the Aloe Vera booster just before bed and didn’t even reflect on being hungry or irritable. A pretty successful first day.

Day 2

Pretty much the same as on day 1 but with one crucial improvement, I chilled the Veg Focus to make it much more palatable. I felt my first hunger pangs in the afternoon, about 3PM but by then I was more than half way through the programme so it never felt like a challenge to get to the end.

Day 3 and beyond

In terms of the ease of following the programme, day 3 went much like days 1 and 2. There was no discernible loss of energy, no crippling hunger, no low blood sugar irritability, all went swimmingly. The programme was easy to follow and I reckon anyone could do it.

Here is the really interesting thing though; in just 3 days, I was seeing a difference, I wasn’t bloated, I was, erm…. how do I put this delicately? more regular. And the bathroom scales yielded a pretty welcoming sight as well. The results are going to take a bit of time to fully make themselves known, and they’ll only really have any lasting effect if I keep up the good work of getting my greens and probiotics etc. long term. But as a reboot and a reminder, the programme has been simple and a great success for me.

Will I do another? Yes. Not straight away though, maybe one every three months or so. As for tonight, those steak frites are calling…