Foodie Swellness: Smash Juice Bar’s Executive Cleanse

August 27, 2015

I know, I know, I know. I said I’d never do another juice cleanse.

But, the Executive Cleanse from Smash Juice Bar is not like the other two juice cleanses I tried (and was quite miserable on). First off, this one comes with lunch and a snack aaaaand you eat your own healthy dinner. It sounded much more healthy and easier to complete given the amount of actual food involved. And so I took Smash Juice Bar up on the offer to try it out.

I started out the day with the Purify cold-pressed juice. It contains cucumber, celery, green apple, parsley, lemon and ginger. It was tasty (my tastebuds are much more used to green juices now, and for me, it makes a huge difference if there’s ginger, so I quite enjoyed this one).

Then this was to be followed by the green Refreshing smoothie. It contains pineapple, kale, mango, dates, coconut water, almond milk and chia seeds. And this was not only delicious, it was also filling. Another advantage of this cleanse over your typical juice cleanse.

And what do you know, it was lunch time and I wasn’t ravenous yet. For lunch was a delicious crunchy zucchini linguini and the sauce was made of tomatoes, hemp hearts, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, herbs, sea salt and spices. This was so tasty, it had me contemplating buying a spiralizer so I could replicate this dish!

Mid-afternoon, what a nice surprise to not only have a bubbly probiotic beverage  (kombucha, orange and mango — like a tropical delight and the fizziness was a nice change!)  to enjoy, but a delicious little coconut power ball as well.

I wasn’t remotely cranky or craving more food, in fact, I even went to do a tough workout at Surfset Toronto in the evening…and then I ended up at Terroni, and well, I didn’t really stick to the clean eating like I was supposed to. I ordered pizza (it had veggies on it, if that redeems me in any way!).

I chatted with Aly Shoom, Smash Juice Bar’s Chief Nutritionist about the Executive Cleanse. It comes in at about 750 calories, she told me, and it’s meant to work well for the busy executive who doesn’t have time to cook healthy meals. When I asked whether one day is enough to benefit someone, she noted it can be a great kick-start to healthy eating. “For see more drastic benefits, I would recommend doing the cleanse for a few days, or one of our full-day cleanses for one to five days,” says Shoom. She added that some clients do the Executive Cleanse for up to five days. “It’s a great option for the busy exec who has dinner commitments but wants to jump start their health.”

While I didn’t stick to a “clean” choice for my dinner, I feel I easily could have. I weighed the pros and cons and given I don’t feel a particular need to “cleanse”, I opted for the pizza instead of something leaner or more veggie-based. I also could see how this Executive Cleanse could encourage you to start eating more healthily; with your healthy lunch and snack and all the bevvies provided and they’re all satisfying, you only need to consider your dinner (and not have your cleanse conflict with dinners you have on your schedule) so it greatly simplifies eating well overall.

For these reasons, I would happily do this Executive Cleanse again, and possibly even for more than one day (and yes, I could even attempt to make a less heavy choice for my dinner!).

 

 

 

Filed under: Foodie Swellness

Tags: clean eating, cleanse, detox, executive cleanse, juice cleanse, smash juice bar