Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand April / May 2015 - The Health & Wellness Issue | Page 19

Beauty
Most of the dinner guests were
curious and asked me about the juice
diet. Nearly all of them said they could
never do it and applauded my efforts.
The first day or so is difficult, true.
But by Day 3, I was getting used
to it and no longer hallucinating about
every savory food I missed. Adhering
to something like a juice cleanse—
or any kind of change in diet—is very
much psychological.
When you’re in Bangkok, food
is cooking everywhere. I became
much more aware of how available
food is. The smell of waffles floats
by as you exit the BTS. Sausages sizzle
on little makeshift BBQs on the streets.
There’s a Starbucks on every corner,
and every mall has hundreds
of macaroons on display. I realized
how difficult it must be for people
to lose weight in this city, with
temptations always in range. And there
I was, at a dinner party, another
commonality in Bangkok, watching
my friends eat regular food.
I observed everyone else have
a lovely meal while taking sips of Juice
#6. Someone asked me what I would
eat when I broke the fast. At that
moment in time, it was eggs Benedict
that sounded the most appetizing,
so I said I would go for brunch. In fact,
earlier in the day, I had researched
a healthy place where I would
return to eating more normally —
but I had miscalculated. My cleanse
was to end a day later than I thought.
I was getting ahead of myself!
And what about progress? I had lost
another .4 kg that morning and noticed
a mild breakout on my forehead.
I wasn’t so thrilled about a breakout,
but I felt calmer and less anxious
overall. That might have been from
no longer being hooked on caffeine.
Fringe benefits included
the absence of garlic breath
(something that is easy to come
by in Thailand) and the cessation
of stomach cramps from spicy curries.
I was giving my body a little vacation.
I suppose she deserved it.

Day 4

UPPING THE ANTE
On the morning of Day 4, I had lost
.1 kg — a tiny amount of loss, barely
worth noting. I had slept soundly
and woke up without much of a strug-

gle. I was okay with the juices by now.
Some even started to seem a little
too sweet. One of my favorite juices
had become a green juice containing kale, spinach, cucumber, apple,
lemon, pineapple, basil, and ginger.
(Top juice, in my opinion, is Coconut H2O
and Cinnamon — it’s smooth and easy
to get down. Plus, it kind of tastes like
a cinnamon bun.)
Along with heightened sensitivity
to sweetness, my cravings for salty
foods had come back, which gave
me a big hurdle around dinnertime.
Our nanny was cooking up some
delicious Kao Soi for everyone in the
house but me. I love this coconutbased noodle soup dish, and the scent
of coconut milk and chicken wafted
about tauntingly in the apartment.
This had to be one of the biggest
challenges thus far. I really felt like
sneaking in a bowl of piping hot Kao Soi,
but I took out the greens drink
I had grown to like and pacified myself
with that.
Standing in front of the bathroom
mirror, I noticed my face
was a bit thinner and my clothes
a little looser. My skin breakout from
the day before was healing quickly
and there was a general feeling of calm.
I can’t say I was high on energy. I felt
mellow.
A friend met up with my husband
on Day 4, and they got on the subject
of juicing. This friend had also gone
on a 10-day cleanse with Lifestyle
Juicery. He had done it for weight
loss and lost several kilograms, which
he managed to keep off for six months.
He said Days 1 — 4 were the most
difficult and thereafter it was a piece
of…fruit. (One cannot use a cake
analogy when talking about juice
cleanses, I decided.)

Day 5

CHICKENING OUT

The end was in sight. Now it was supposed to be getting easier. Habits should
be weakened, and by now the fantasies about coffee and cheese should
have subsided. This was true—though
I did daydream about salted macadamia
nuts on a few occasions.
I stood on the scale and my weight
flashed up on the screen as exactly
the same as Day 4. If I had more pounds
to shed, I believe I still would have been

losing weight. For me, weight loss
had come to standstill.
The real trial of Day 5 would
be an evening out with a group
of women enjoying champagne
and having a go at karaoke. I knew
it would be awkward and I’d have
to explain myself when declining glasses
of free bubbles. I planned to show
up for the social aspect and that’d be it.
I would make it short night.
By 2:30 pm I was having serious
doubts about the evening. I considered
wearing a sticker that says, “No,
thanks. On a juice cleanse,” but that
wouldn’t be too fashion-forward.
The best two options seemed
to be either 1) Break the juice fast
and have a fun time tonight or 2) Stay
home and watch a movie.
Which would it be?

Day 6

THE GROCERY
STORE

I woke up on Day 6 clearheaded
and not the least bit hung over.
I had cancelled the night out in favor
of turning in early. (Snore.) The extra
sleep was probably a good idea, though,
as I had been rather tired. So, here
I was on the last day of the juice cleanse!
Today I would need to shop for the next
day’s meals.
At the grocery store, I feasted
my eyes on the gorgeous array
of colorful produce—mangoes, lemons,
limes, strawberries, eggplants, bananas,
and oranges. I slowly went up and down
the aisles, surveying the choices
and trying to determine what seemed
appealing.
Now, you’d think I would have
made a beeline for the cheese section.
But something funny transpired.
The foods I would ordinarily pick
up repulsed me. I saw the meats section
and felt faint. I saw some sausages
and deli meats and felt queasy.
I turned up my nose at Camembert,
Brie, and cheddar. All I wanted,
really, were those pretty fruits
and vegetables! It looked like my juice
cleanse was turning me into a vegan.
Not the worst possible outcome,
if you ask me.
I was still waiting for that surge
of jet fuel energy everyone else
mentioned. I worked out a few theories
why it wasn’t happening for me,

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