What It’s Like to Go On a Shaka Juice and Nalo Juice Cleanse
Editor Robbie Dingeman and Lei Chic Editor Natalie Schack share their Nalo Juice and Shaka Juice cleanse experiences.
Robbie Dingeman and Natalie Schack tried out the five-day Nalo Juice and Shaka Juice cleanses (respectively). Here are their takes on their experience—the good, the bad and the ugly.
Robbie + Nalo Juice
Photo: Courtesy of Nalo Juice
The week before our scheduled juice cleanse, I started eating more salads, raw foods, fish and plant-based proteins, tofu, beans, edamame and easing away from processed foods, caffeine and alcohol.
Day 1
Robbie
What’s in the cleanse
Cost: $300 (5 days) |
My one cheat of the week was a cup of black coffee at home on Day 1. (OK, it was a double shot of espresso.) But I was scheduled to appear on KHON2’s Living808 to talk about our August issue of HONOLULU Magazine. And being coherent on Monday morning TV without coffee seemed unlikely.
We had an office surprise baby shower for HONOLULU Family editor Christi Young, who has since delivered her second child. (Talk about taking your job seriously!) With lavishly detailed cupcakes, pastries, mini quiche and multiple desserts, I clung to half of my morning fruit juice to escape temptation.
Each day’s midday meal was a refreshing green juice blend. Sipping it and drinking lots of water left me feeling like I’d had a meal, albeit a light one.
Though I found myself thinking of what I would normally fix or buy for lunch, I was intrigued by the promise of a healthier me. That night’s dinner was a tasty surf-n-turf broth of konbu, shitake mushrooms and miso. And two quart mason jars full of savory broth turned out to be satisfying and even too much for one night.
Natalie + Shaka Juice
Three days before the cleanse, I was told to prepare by cutting out processed sugar, caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, remaining hydrated and increasing my fiber intake with lots of fruits and vegetables. I was doing (mostly) great … until the night before, when I ate a cinnamon roll skillet from Chili’s. It did not bode well.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF SHAKA JUICE
Day 1, midday
Natalie
What’s in the cleanse
Cost: Juice cleanse with food $55 (1 day), $165 (3 days), $275 (5 Days) |
I kept waiting for the inevitable descent into madness, but nothing had happened yet. No hunger pains, even. I wouldn’t have minded eating a hamburger or a cupcake, and my head ached slightly, but that could have been that my ponytail was too tight. All in all, I thought the cleanse would make me feel more in touch with my body, but I felt just the opposite. I didn’t know what was causing what anymore, as if my body was shouting at me from a far distance … and I didn’t recognize it. Maybe, to be honest, I don’t. I’ve never known my body without lots of eating, lots of munching and lots of comfort food. I’ve never known a life in which planning meals, having meals or thinking about meals wasn’t a huge part. Without it all … who am I?
Maybe the madness had set in a bit.
By the way, it didn’t help that, for the baby shower, I made two types of cupcakes, mini quiches and haupia. There was also pistachio cake, jellyroll cakes, cocoa puffs and custard-filled croissants. CUSTARD. FILLED. CROISSANTS. That all happened after our company’s Monday morning meeting, where there was Portuguese sausage, eggs, rice and potatoes. I deserve an award.
Day 2
Robbie
Woke up fine, feeling good, did my normal early-morning bootcamp workout but started to get a headache by midmorning. I drank unsweetened green tea, which is on the approved list despite a general guideline to avoid caffeine.
The breakfast juice was a mango, orange, pineapple, coconut milk mix (called the Puka) and tasted like three large ripe mangoes had been whirled together. Definitely a sweet, smooth treat that left me optimistic that this would not be a dire experience.
Still, I couldn’t shake the headache without ibuprofen and found myself thinking more about food than I’d like to admit. Dinner gave me new hope, this time a spicy curried vegetable broth.
Day 2, morning
Natalie
Oddly enough, the night before, I almost forgot to drink my last juice, instead passing out for hours. I don’t know if it was the lack of food sapping my energy or just a long, hot weekend of activity. Either way, once I had my salad (I’ve never been more satisfied and ecstatic about a salad, by the way), I was out like a light.
I was already a couple of pounds lighter in the morning than normal, but obviously it was water weight or something else that I figured would pack back on quickly if I started diving into fried chicken the second the cleanse was over.
I felt lighter, for sure. I also felt a bit unsteady and groggy in the morning and very achy when I woke up (that might have been from trying to start yoga again, though). Sipping some of the alkaline water helped and, once I had my morning cayenne pepper drink, I was mostly back to normal (just missing solid things and munching).
Day 3
Robbie
I started feeling lighter, healthier. And I’d learned to reserve some of the savory broth from the night before to warm up in a mug in place of what would normally be coffee. And to save a cup of the juice blend as breakfast until I picked up the day’s worth of mason jars from the Nalo kiosk along King Street across from Tamarind Park. OK, I was still thinking about food, even if I wasn’t eating it …
The morning juice blend combined beet, watermelon, coconut water and lemongrass, a cleaner, lighter option called Ko‘olau Sunset. And the dinner broth was Thai coconut. So, while Natalie began planning to close out her cleanse after three days, I felt encouraged to keep on! I did look enviously at her nightly salad, since my cleanse had no solid food.
Day 3, who’s even keeping track anymore
Natalie
PHOTO: COURTESY OF SHAKA JUICE
By the morning of Day 3, my cravings for eating (not, mind you, my hunger) got the best of me and I settled on the fact that I was not doing five days. Day 3, I decided, would be my last day. And Day 3 ends at 6 p.m., I figured, since I started “not eating” at 6 p.m. on Sunday night. Logic.
My stomach is the flattest it’s ever been. I was shocked by my lack of hunger and by the realization that I’m constantly going through life consuming more food than I really need. What happened was more a sense of panic and depression. It turns out that I depend on meals, psychologically, way more than I realized. They’re a part of my life rhythm, a punctuation throughout the day. I look forward to them and I use them to keep track of time … they are what makes everything, in some ways, feel worth it.
Day 4
Robbie
This turned out to be the easiest day of the cleanse for me. I’d chosen a very busy week to do the cleanse with heavy deadlines at work and lots of commitments at night. I first wondered if that was a mistake (especially during the baby shower with many treats). I worried I’d be too drained to keep up. But the timing meant I didn’t have to plan my healthy meals and could just pick them up each day. I’d adapted to the fruit juice in the morning, green at midday and broth at night. The big portion of broth gave me freedom to hold some back to have whenever I wanted and also provided the salty fix I’d missed on other juice-based cleanses.
Day 5
Robbie
By the last day, I was feeling energized, my skin felt soft, my head was clear. People told me I seemed pretty perky. I hadn’t gotten grouchy or hangry with anybody. (At least, nobody told me I did!)
Takeaways
Robbie
This cleanse worked for me because it offered variety for two of the three daily beverages so I didn’t get bored or feel particularly deprived. I looked forward to the fruity blends daily, a sort-of drinkable salad midday and a variety of savory broth flavors I liked. (Italiano and southwestern rounded out the broth selection for the week I was doing the cleanse.) Both of those flavors worked chilled—somewhat gazpacho-like—which is handy if you’re taking your nighttime meal somewhere it’d be hard to heat. I felt refreshed and recharged by the experience. While I didn’t completely stop eating processed or fried foods, I’m definitely eating less of both, and the cleanse inspired me to make more of my own juice blends and smoothies at home. I did not experience, however, the euphoria that some people write about on various juice-friendly blogs.
Natalie
I didn’t get quite as much juice as Robbie, it seemed, but the lack of juice wasn’t an issue. I wasn’t ravenous. I didn’t want more juice. In fact, I couldn’t finish all my juices. What I learned was that food is a mental crutch for me, a sort of socially ingrained dependency and, this week, I wasn’t psychologically prepared enough to kick it.
I was definitely envious of Robbie’s broth, though not enough to trade it for my delicious salads (again—the best salads I’ve ever tasted, with the yummiest dressing and a wonderful mix of textures. They’re actually made by Tate Edwards, a KCC culinary grad and recipient of the American Culinary Federation national title.
I lucked out with the daily juice variety, which included five different juices and one alkaline water (by the way, I am definitely on the alkaline water train. I can’t tell you why but it actually did make me feel energized). While Robbie’s juice menu switched up from day to day, however, mine stayed the same five juices.
I actually missed the juices in the days following the cleanse, so it seems as if a healthy combination of juice and food is best for me. The cayenne pepper Morning Elixir, which I was suspicious of, packed the perfect punch for getting me going in the morning. I also loved how the other juices weren’t too sweet, but had a rich, deep vegetable-y flavor.
Would I try it again?
Robbie
I would! Nalo Juice owner Kale Furuya told me he’s gone on a 28-day stretch before. While I’m not ready to sign up for a month without solid food, I found that five days was good because it left a lasting impression. I appreciated that the local company had partnered with Maui-based nutritionist Dr. Craig King, so the cleanse felt balanced. I was offered our cleanse as a media trial run so I didn’t have to pay the normal fee of $300. Next time, I might try the seven-day cleanse for $350, since it costs just $50 more for the extra two days. I like the idea of supporting a Waimānalo-based company that makes the juices fresh from as many local-grown ingredients as possible. And I like that Furuya, who studied botany at UH, enjoys getting feedback from his customers. He manages an encouraging coach attitude with a shot of bartender friendliness which helps make juice more interesting, even if it’s just a bottle of the daily special for lunch.
Natalie
Probably not. If I did, it would be an experiment to try to take back control of myself from an eating-based culture that apparently is running the Natalie show.
Or all this could be an excuse for the fact that I have the self-control of a 5-year-old.
READ MORE STORIES BY ROBBIE DINGEMAN AND NATALIE SCHACK
