The Detox Kitchen

This year has been a rather challenging one: the growing bump (and both the excitement and worries that came with her), the full time work projects, the toddler. I’ve been extremely grateful, yet focusing solely on them, I forgot there’s also an ‘I’ that needed more attention. Therefore when I got the chance to try on The Detox Kitchen 5 days package, I also got the magic wake up call stressing on the importance of looking after myself in order to address my family’s needs better.

I’ve been following these guys at The Detox Kitchen for a while now (their insta is great for healthy dish ideas) but I haven’t fully and completely understood the word choice of ‘detox’ as my recent experience with them was all about guilty free, clean food which eventually had the power to make me feel lighter and more energised (a huge perk during a third trimester of pregnancy if you ask me!). The word ‘detox’ always sounded more like having to embrace restrictions, replacements and the idea of a promised short term miracle diet. However the past few days have been the very opposite!

But what is The Detox Kitchen exactly? Well, the concept behind the project is equally simple and beautiful: it is a delivery service of ready meals which excludes wheat, dairy or refined sugar while also providing a good list of programs for you to choose from. Each box includes the three main meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner as well as healthy snacks to keep everyone happy between meals. The program was created by the brilliant Lily Simpson who I recently met at a lovely dinner where the brand had invited a cool bunch of people to celebrate the summer solstice – truth is I was so not jealous of Lily’s glow and healthy vibes, to find out she’s also a proud mother of two! She won me over.

I confidently went for the protein active package which was recommended to me by the team at The Detox Kitchen. After a bit of research, I also believed it would be more filling considering the advanced pregnancy stage. I was right. We all know the damage uncontrolled cravings can do through last minute refined sugar ‘treats” when hunger strikes, so removing foods that made me feel tired and bloated for almost a week, and replacing them with a healthy balanced diet rich in plant based foods and lean protein was an obvious change for the good.

The delivery was a surprise on the first day as I didn’t expect it this early (although 6am is a rather decent hour) but for the rest of the days I was eagerly waiting for the new boxes. The package came on one of the most challenging weeks I had lately – one poorly feeling toddler off nursery for over a week while work deadlines were on. So I did appreciate more the freedom and time it gave me to focus on him and my work while the sink was empty and my cooking was minimum.

I’ll soon enter my last month of pregnancy so I’m involuntary reminding myself the postnatal challenges I had the first time round including the worries about healthiest practices to get back in shape while the sleep deprivation was making me go for unhealthy sweets. As I’ve recently learnt that The Detox Kitchen is preparing a postnatal package tailored especially for new mums, I can now say I’m so delighted and excited to see what they come up with. After my recent experience I will definitely sign up for that and keep you posted.

If you wish to test the benefits of The Detox Kitchen programs, use the 10% discount code Aly10 to book your box (I suggest going for at least 5 days program in order to easily notice its benefits).

I must also add that I am proud enough to say I have not cheated (much) during the program. The toddler’s curiosity left me twice with half bottles of my morning juice and without a pudding on one of the evenings (there was a huge battle over this so I had to either hide or share quite often!) and that the 1800 cals they say the package had were more than enough for me. But also a good reminder that I had days when I had more calories which were not as healthy as these but I felt the lack of energy that came with them.

Here’s a bit of what I had during the 5 days trial: The Protein Detox Package

Ginger shot – one per day – a real immunity booster to wake you up first thing in the morning

Chorella – a capsule a day – a fantastic detoxifier as it stimulates the growth of probiotic bacteria and its cells absorb toxins within the intestine. To be taken each morning at with water at breakfast.

Day 1. WEDNESDAY

Morning juice: Beetroot, apple, carrot, celery and lemon

Breakfast: Boiled egg and avocado salad

Snack: Turmeric cauliflower with pomegranate seeds

Lunch: Buckwheat tabbouleh

Dinner: Coconut dhal with king prawns

Pudding: Seasonal berry crumble

Evening drink: cashew milk

Day 2. THURSDAY

Morning juice: Fennel, apple and cellery

Breakfast: Apple and lime bircher muesli

Snack: Edamame, celery and cucumber salad

Lunch: King Prawns and quinoa with broad beans, courgettes and salsa verde

Dinner: Roasted salmon with butternut squash and tahini salad

Pudding: Ginger cake

Evening drink: cashew milk

Don’t forget to use the ALY10 code upon checkout.

Starting prices for Detox Kitchen packages range from £28.90 to £39.95 per day, probably not as cheap as one would think, but they do ‘take away the stress of planning, shopping and cooking healthy meals’ and this can be priceless especially during a busy time when it gets so easy to live on refined sugar treats and unhealthy drinks.

For more, head over to www.detoxkitchen.co.uk/