#CurrysIntroJuicing* – Currys + Phillips Juicers + Fitness Session = Health Education

When Currys invited me to a Bloggers Juicing event, there was no doubt in my mind that I’d not say yes. A room full of fruits and veg? And healthy lifestyle bloggers? AND a HIIT session? Ooh and thank you very much for organizing it within a 20 minute cycle from my home.

The event took place next door to Urban Kings Gym, one that caters largely for the MMA crowd. I eyed it up with interest and made a mental note to come back to try one of their classes for Healthy Living London. Upon arrival, I was ushered into a room that was already packed with bloggers, the majority of them lycra-ed up in their gym gear as requested. Best of all was the giant spread of fruit and veg laid out.

It’s now where I should make my confession; I am, to be honest, in two minds about juicing and for three reasons:

1. It seems a waste not to get the rest of the fruit, like the good fibrous bits. I’m a bit stingy in this way – if I’ve paid for fruit and veg, I want to eat as much of it as I can.
2. You need an awful lot of fruit and veg to get a decent amount of juice.
3. I’m lazy and I don’t like to clean up; it bores me and I scratch my fingertips trying to push out all the leftover ‘mush’.

However, I would never pass up a good juice, nor education session so I said hi to the nice girl beside me and we waited for the talk to begin, phones out to record any nuggets of information. Derry, a PT and nutritionist from Temple Training, led the talk, beginning with the advantages and disadvantages of juicing (I really love it when you’re given both sides of the story).

For anyone that’s wondering why drinking your fruit and veg is better than good old fashioned chewing, here’s the top points I picked out:

1. Pretty much everyone would benefit from eating more fruit and veg yet sitting down for a plate of roasted carrots and a bowl of spinach in the morning may not be to everyone’s taste. Juicing totally transforms the way we eat fruit and veg, making it faster without compromising on the goodness.
2. Making your own juices is better than buying 99% of what’s out there. For a start, you know exactly what’s gone into it and there’s none of the evil stuff you get in processed food.
3. You don’t get more nutritious fuel than fruit and veg. Having a breakfast juice can kickstart your metabolism and give your body a break from all the usual stuff you’ve been trying to get it to digest.
4. Supposedly, natural plant-based vitamins and minerals are more easily and complete absorbed by your body than synthetic ones. Boom.

And the downside to juicing:

1. You’ll generally get more vitamins and minerals in whole fruit and veg – mainly because there’s a lot contained in the skin.
2. Whole foods contain more fibre since the fibre is squeezed out during juicing.
3. If you use mainly fruit in your juices, whilst they taste damn fine, they also contain a lot of sugar. Even though this is natural sugar, it is still sugar. So when you juice, ensure you also include lots of veg.

After a short Q&A session, we were released into the wilds of the kitchen to make our own juice with the Phillips Juicers. When there’s so much delicious fruit and veg on hand, my decision-making skills are at their weakest. So I went for pretty much everything. The fruit that I decided wasn’t going to be part of my juice went whole into my mouth instead. Oh, those raspberries!

Dodging people with precariously balanced food, I placed myself in front of a juicer and prepared myself. I know I sound like a complete wuss when I say this, but you do hesitate a bit when the blades are whirring and you’re about to push stuff with your fingers into a plastic funnel. After getting spattered with some unruly pulp (beware if you’ve got beetroot in the mix), I finally got my wayward apples and celery under control and watched as the fruits (and veg) of my labored poured into my Currys drinking bottle.

I have to say, juice can look a little appetizing – not in texture, but in colour; my muddy red drink looked a little dubious but one quick sip confirmed that it was in fact, DELICIOUS.

Before we had a chance to drink our juices, we were whisked to a HIIT session which involved a circuit of weighted squats, burpees, box jumps, ladder running and other enjoyably torturous activities.

Session over, we collected our juices and I cycled my tired legs home.

The verdict

I love juices and I can totally see the point in getting one, especially if you need to increase the amount of veg in your diet. However, for me, there’s some veg that you don’t that much juice from (like spinach) so I think I’m more of a smoothie blender girl. Having said that, I’m seriously thinking about getting a juicer for my mum. And I know where to go!

Thank you Currys, thank you Phillips. Great juicy evening.

*Oh dear. I’ve only just ‘got’ the hashtag. CurrysIntroJuicing = Currys Introducing… at least, I think that was the idea. Maybe I need to stop overthinking and get back in my box.