A couple of weeks ago I got a strong longing to cleanse. 

Sometimes I cleanse because I want to give my digestion a break, other times I want to shake off some holiday weight, but all the time I cleanse because only this sudden influx of nutrients (and simultaneous avoidance of indulgences) is what gives my immune system a strengthening boost, clears up my skin and makes me feel light and energised.

Detoxing is something I do periodically anyway, but each time it can look somewhat different depending on the time of year, my work load and my mood. 

These are the cleanse plans I normally alternate between:

1. 24 hours on 100% raw food once per week for a month
2. Seven days of 100% raw food cleansing
3. 24 hour juice cleanse to give my digestion a mini break
4. Three day alkaline cleanse, where I literally follow the cleanse protocol we used to offer at Tanya’s Cafe
5. 21 days of 500-750ml celery juice for breakfast
6. 28 days being 100% sugar free, including alcohol free
7. Intermittent fasting for as long as my system enjoys it

This time I was so fed up of my protruding belly and weird lockdown weight, that I was prepared to do a juice cleanse for as long as needed to feel like me again. 

What I wasn’t prepared to do however was not to join my family for dinner and let my children see their mama 'on a diet'.

So, with the limited supply of ingredients in our small beach town of Pauanui, our planned trip to Auckland and all the socialising that was to be had there, equipped with my Big Why on doing the cleanse plus knowing what I wasn’t willing to compromise, here is what I decided on:

• 9 days
• Warm water (no lemon, no tea) first thing in the morning
• A brisk beach walk and lunges, daily
• 500ml-750ml pure celery juice for breakfast (around 10 or 11am)
• 500ml-750ml celery/beet/apple/carrot/ginger juice for lunch (around 2pm)
• A small dinner with the rest of the family (between 5 and 6pm)
• Lots of herbal teas throughout
• Definitely no snacking, no sugar, no wine, no overwhelming workload in the diary
• A wellness book while I cleansed to keep me inspired. This time is was The Fast Diet by Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer

And inspired I remained! Just look at this amazing quote from the book:

“The entire time you’re eating, your insulin levels are elevated and your body is stuck in fat storing mode. Only after a few hours of fasting is your body able to turn off the fat storing and turn on the fat burning mechanisms. So if you are continually nibbling, your body will just continue storing fat, resulting in obesity and liver damage.”

What did each day look like?

This was my morning. Every morning. To get a 500ml (1 pint or 2 cups) glass of celery juice in the UK, I'd have to juice 1.5 bunches of celery from Waitrose or Ocado. There was just such a demand for organic celery (all thanks to the Medical Medium!:)) that it couldn't grow fast enough and was far too thin. Here in NZ, one bunch yields 1 litre (2 pints or 4 cups) of juice!

These are literally the exact ingredients and amounts I used for my lunch-time juice. It's always best to drink the juice immediately after making it, so that the nutrients aren't oxidised away, but the opportunity cost of time spent juicing and cleaning up for me won over the small percentage of nutrients lost, so I prepared my lunch time juice right after the morning one and left it waiting for me in an airtight bottle.

Dinner is the only thing that varied from day to day, but usually looked something like these Mexican burritos from the 'Family Meals' section of the Nurtured eBooks series. It wasn't always gluten-free either, but I did stick to dairy-free, because dairy showed up as a sensitivity in my food intolerance test I've done at LMS Wellness.

So how did it go, you ask?

• I lost 2kg (4.5lbs)
• I lost the weight in the first two days and no more. One week after cleanse ended, I kept it off
• Lost a whole inch (2.5cm) from my waistline 
• Got a rare sighting of some long lost abs
• Day 5 was the hardest and at lunch I gave in to a large helping of vegan sushi which I was making for kids’ pre-school Matariki Night (Māori New Year) and had some chocolate at the event with everyone
• Staying off wine wasn’t a problem
• The hardest time of day was getting past breakfast while I made warm cinnamon porridge for the kids
• The second hardest time of day was around 3pm when I usually have tea with  something sweet
• What kept me going was the promise of a warm dinner each day
• What I wish I could’ve done instead was to juice in the mornings and evening but have solids at lunch (it’s always better to go light at dinner and have your main meal in the middle of day for optimal digestion, but that wasn’t an option - for me anyway - with a young family)  

You’re keen to cleanse too, but not 100% on the difference between juice and smoothie…

Differences Juicer and Blender (Source:examinedexistence.com)

Juices vs Smoothies. Juicer vs Blender. What is the difference? This question is so popular, I wrote a separate post here:  tanyasliving.com/blogs/tanyas-blog/smoothies-vs-juices-what-is-the-difference?

You want to juice too, but what juicer to buy?

Choosing a juicer with all the choices out there can feel like a minefield, especially if you've never juiced before!

Do you go for the cheaper centrifugal juicer and is the more expensive cold-press juicer really better?

But better how? - better to use or better for the juice quality and therefore nutrient density?

And once you settle on a cold-press variety, where to here?.. do you go for the masticating, triturating or a hydraulic press?

Not to worry, I have you covered...

Download my Juicer Buying Guide now>>

If you've followed me for some time or done my Acid Alkaline Breakthrough program, you may remember just how many juicers I've tested and experimented with in the past (I'm up to 14 and counting). 

You may also recall that every single time, I kept coming back to the Green Star Elite. It was always the quietest, it was always very straight forward to assemble and to clean, the pulp came out super dry and there was very little of it (in other words - there was A LOT of juice!), and maybe it's just me but I always felt that my green juice or celery juice always tasted much more pure and refreshing made in a Green Star. This was the only machine I decided to feature in my book, The Uncook Book.

If you too decide to go for my beloved Green Star Elite, the good people at Inspired Health are offering my subscribers a MASSIVE 25% saving on their machines! Use this code at check out:

BETTERRAW

Take a look at the Green Star Elite range now>> 

Last time David Wolfe was in town, I had the honour of catering his epic event and then sitting down with him the following day to chat everything from poop to longevity. 

Not even kidding... our interview began with poo talk.

I just couldn’t help myself, could I 🤪

Well, that chat took place almost 3 whole years ago and this longevity megastar is soon to return to London for one day only (Saturday 30th May 2020) so I figured it’s time you have a listen...

For most of you reading this blog post, David Wolfe needs no introduction.

Some of you only know him as the health guru who’s got 12 million Facebook fans.

Some of you know him as the go-to superfood expert for celebs like Woody Harrelson or Tony Robbins.

Or maybe even the nutrition master that got Novak Djokovic back to no.1.

The rest of you may be hearing of him for the first time right now.

Perhaps even hearing of me for the first time!

(For you guys, I include both of our bios, below 🤓)

Whatever category you fit into, you’d enjoy watching our chat and you would be stoked to hear that by using the promo code TANYAPLUS, you could get £10 off your ticket to David Wolfe's upcoming event in London!

(I’ll be there with my salads and treats again, so definitely stop by for a cuddle!)

[If the video isn't playing here, watch it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kjlNezP8tNY]

Watch this video and you’ll learn:

• The no.1 thing you can do at home to be ‘more regular’.
• How cancer smells and the clue which this offers us towards the first steps of healing.
• The three simple principles of self-healing.
• Why detoxing once per year is painful.
• How often should we REALLY detox and where to begin. 
• How to cultivate a diet that can overcome internal barriers which have led to low energy and depression in the past. 
• The real cause of the epidemic of cancer, autism, heart disease and stroke.
• The key natural remedies for aiding digestion and the process of elimination in the body. 
• Ways to nurture your gut bacteria to give yourself time to heal and restore balance.
• What the temperature of the water you drink has to do with the quality of your toilet visits.
• Why the darker pigmented foods are more beneficial to our health.
• What is the no.1 ingredient that contributes to longevity more than anything else.
• What you can eat for ultimate gut health that’s already in your local supermarket.
• Why maintaining good gut health and manifesting your dreams & desires aren’t mutually exclusive.

Want to know more about David Wolfe's 'BEST EVER YOU' masterclass in London?

• Block out 10:30am-6:30pm Saturday 30th May 2020 in your diary
• Check out this link: tanyasliving.com/collections/workshops-and-events/products/best-ever-you-david-wolfes-masterclass
• Apply promo code TANYAPLUS at check out to get £10 off the purchase price!

Want to know more about David Wolfe?

David Wolfe is one of the world’s most active peak performance coaches, nutritionists and lecturers. As the son of two medical doctors, David has had the unique experience of seeing the mainstream medical profession from the inside-out since infancy.

David has written numerous books including, Eating for Beauty, The Sunfood Success System, and his latest book which partly informs this very Masterclass, Longevity Now.

A highly sought after health and personal success speaker, David has given over 2000 live lecture events all over the world during the past 20 years. Today, David Wolfe continues to share the stage in the company of Anthony Robbins, Mark Victor Hansen, John Demartini, Jack Canfield, Deepak Chopra, Buzz Aldrin, T. Harv Eker, John Gray, Les Brown, Barbara DeAngelis, Brian Tracy, and many more.

Want to know more about me?

Tanya Maher (pronounced Marr) is a leading pioneer in the world of ultra-nutritious and energising plant-based foods for the whole family.

Tanya co-founded 'Tanya's,’ a high-end raw cafe in 2014 and merged it with her established wellness company 'Better Raw' in 2017.

She is the creator of the Amazon #1 best selling DVD 'Raw Food 101' and author of Hay House's 'The Uncook Book' (available to purchase worldwide, here).

Born in Russia, raised in New Zealand and now raising her own family in London, Tanya has been hailed as one of the most recognised experts in the world of gourmet raw food by the likes of Vogue, Daily Mail and Women's Health.

January has just begun but the Alkaline Cleanse packages which we send all across the UK are selling out. There are only 3 delivery dates left for this whole month. Take a look...

I must’ve invented my first recipe when I just turned 14 years old, but it wasn’t delicious. It didn’t get better with age. It was rather unsightly too. It also caused much pain for years to come, but at the same time, it was the recipe that made me.

This recipe involved a combination of teenage hormones, stress in my body caused by a near fatal car crash and a morphine overload pumped into me at the hospital, which I turned out to be severely allergic to…

What I got was an entire back full of hideous, giant, repulsive acne, which I was too freaked out to lay a finger on myself, let alone have anyone know the real reason I preferred to sunbathe only my front or why I loved long sleeved dresses so much even in scorching hot weather or why I needed a sick-day as soon as the school announced a swimming event.

It was hard enough being a teenager, but having to hide was pretty damn depressing.

Eventually I learned to come to terms with what I thankfully didn’t need to look at, as it was going on behind me. I simply figured that it is what it is and it’s never going to go so I’ll just plan my life, my road trips, holidays, sports I played and even friends I spent time with- around how easy it is to hide my back.

This went on for many many years. And then I discovered raw food!!

Waamp waamp waaaaamp…

You thought I’d have something new to share, right? Aha- that I do, and I want to tell you my secret in person!

I’ll be doing just that at 2 epic events this May…

TOPIC | Sexy Glowing Skin (skin expert panel revealing their top tips and secrets)
LOCATION | Tanya’s at MY Chelsea
TIME | 7pm-9pm, Monday 9th May
FEE | £25, includes green juice, limited seating, book here>>

Really hope I’ll see you at one or both of the events! They are both very different and will be jam packed with incredible eye opening info on what is going on inside your body, what is causing the issues and how to clear them (and your skin) for good.

My own secret, which I’m going to reveal to you is so good, I usually save it for my retreat attendees only. This time I decided to share it in my classes too, since this year’s retreat is still under question…. but if for some reason you can’t make it or live too far away, let me know in the comments below that you’re keen to read about how I healed 12 years worth of awful skin. If there’s enough interest, I promise to write a post for you guys!

Happy New Year, you guys!

I don’t know about you, but something tells me that this year is bound to be truly magical.

After working with many of you over the course of last year and after reflecting back on 2015, I know energetically it’s been a tough one for many. Even as you’ve welcomed brand new digits full of hope and desires, some of us still had ‘debts’ left to pay and found ourselves weak, sick, irritable, achy or disappointed during this first week of 2016 or perhaps losing material but sentimental things, which is also the universe’s way of encouraging you to leave stuff behind.

You may have started with good intentions, but now feeling like you have already let yourself down within days, so I’m here to remind you that you’re OK…

Actually this first week of a new year is more of a transition week, sorta like doing a cleanse and experiencing all kinds of awful detox symptoms before feeling and seeing the benefits.

It’s a week to be kind to yourself and to spend time setting your intentions not just for the start of the year, but for all of it.

It’s a week to explore all of your options. A week to make wishes. A week to day dream and to plan. And only if this plan involves a good and effective detox to clear out the bad and begin with the new, then read on.

Below you will find various detoxing options which I’ve categorised in order of cost, starting from ideas that cost nothing at all…

24 HOUR RAW FOOD PLAN // FREE

Do you have either a juicer or a blender at home? Then you can start this 24 hour plan tomorrow. If you own both, you can even extend your cleanse to 48 hours, because I put together a thorough step-by-step guide with recipes using a juicer and totally different recipes using a blender. Download it for free here >>

VISION BOARD // FREE

Although not exactly a detox plan, this step-by-step guide to creating your own vision board is an essential component to reaching your ideal weight, body and health goals. See my blog post here >>

TOP DETOX TIPS // FREE

 

My amazing friends of Neal’s Yard Remedies just launched their stunning new wellbeing website and I got the privilege to guest-write their very first post. Detox and Alkalising being my favourite topics ever, this blog post includes my Top 10 Detox Tips >>

 

THE UNCOOK BOOK // $3.99 – £11.89

My raw food recipe book, The Uncook Book, is not specifically designed as a detox guide, but there are over 140 recipes and a bunch of them can definitely be used when menu planning for a cleanse. I suggest starting the day with a juice or smoothie (like ‘Everyday Green’), a salad for lunch (like ‘Sauerkraut’ or ‘Hearty Kale Salad’), a porridge for an afternoon snack (like ‘Green Warming Oat Porridge’) and a soup for dinner (like ‘Alkaline Soup’). If you don’t want to wait for a copy in the post, you won’t believe your luck!- the downloadable version of The Uncook Book is on special right now at a majorly discounted rate of US$3.99 (84% off!!). Or order a hardcover copy via Amazon UK or Amazon US at 30% off.

 

7 DAY DETOX PLAN // £15

 

The first eBook that I ever launched came as a result of designing over 100 individual detox programs. After working with so many different clients, there emerged an undeniable pattern of ingredients and food combinations that encouraged toxic release from the body. Any body. ‘Purified- Your Complete 7 Day Detox Program‘ was born as a result. Many that do this plan end up enjoying the changes and energy levels so much that they continue for another 7 days, which I provide as a bonus within this downloadable guide.

 

DETOX EVENT // £25

I’m pretty excited about this one! If you are in London on Monday 11th January, there’s no better way to get inspired and excited about cleansing than hearing directly from industry experts. This Detox Edition of our brand new Nutrition Talks event series launching at Tanya’s will be headlined by Inner Me‘s Nikki Cooper (detox and supplementation), Bodyism‘s James Duigan (detox via movement) and nutritionist Eve Kalinik (mindful detoxing). Even a green juice and raw food canapes are included your ticket price. Secure your seat here >>

 

 

NEW YEAR WORKSHOP // £35-£195

This may not be my event or focused on detoxing, but I have massive respect for Gabby Bernstein and the content she is going to cover at this ‘Make Your Resolutions Stick’ workshop. Plus as Gabby teaches you about how to change old patterns to create new dreams and guides you through powerful meditations, you may just find that the results you experience are more radical and sustainable than any diet or detox will provide. Book your ticket here >>

 

DONE FOR YOU CLEANSE // £75 – £390