Hi, hello, my name is Maddie, and I am an unabashed Kardashian stan. Defending their business savvy is the hill I will die on, thank you very much. When POOSH came into existence a few months ago, I drank the Kool-Aid faster than you can say "What is Poosh?" (more on that later). That led me to this very important assignment: to live and die by Poosh rules for one whole week. Let me tell you, it was a LOT of work, and I've done Whole30—twice. Kourt, you've got much more discipline than I do. Here's how I fared.
Wait, what is Poosh?
Let's start with the basics, because some of you (and apparently all the people I thought knew me best) may have no idea. Poosh is Kourtney Kardashian's lifestyle blog. It's named after Penelope—her daughter with ex Scott Disick—whose nicknames include P and Poosh, and it features a ton of health/wellness/parenting/home content, including recipes and tips on how to cure a hangover. Think Goop, but slightly more accessible and way more Instagram-friendly.
On Poosh's "About Us" page, Kourtney put it like this: "I decided to launch Poosh because I felt that there was something missing in the healthy lifestyle space. Healthy living gets a bad rap; it’s as though if you care about what you put in—or on—your body, then you’re not sexy or cool. But this just isn’t true, and Poosh is here to prove just that."
How does one Poosh?
So, this isn't a rigid diet by any means. In fact, the site's mission says this: "Healthy living is a mindset, and Poosh explores how the modern woman is able to achieve just this." With that said, I needed guidelines. To establish my Poosh rules, I combed through the website's Recipes, Health + Wellness, and KMK (Kourt's initials) sections and created this Poosh-approved shopping list—it's a mix of items from Kourt's morning routine, recipes, and this grocery list.
Throughout the week, I cooked meals from Poosh, snacked on the same things little Poosh eats (the berry smoothie is GOOD, guys), and followed a *mostly* gluten-free, dairy-free diet. I also followed Kourtney's morning—which almost killed me—and her night routine. More on that below.
Morning Routine
Once I sat down to start planning my week of Poosh, my first thought was something like this: How on earth will I make ALL. THESE. DRINKS. before work every morning?! There's the collagen drink, which to be fair, takes 30 seconds to make and tastes kind of like Emergen-C). Then there's the apple tea, which was a whole process, but tasted like fall in a cup. Then there's the avocado shake, which serves as breakfast. WOOF. I was, in fact, exhausted, and I do feel like the tea plus collagen water combo is kind of overkill.
But, hey, collagen is supposed to make your hair shiny! And your nails long! So I dove in. (To note, Jaclyn London, MS, RD, CDN, the Good Housekeeping Institute's Nutrition Director, says most Americans are already getting plenty of collagen in the proteins we eat and can achieve healthy hair through a balanced diet of fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, lean protein, whole grains...all the things you know you should be eating more of.)
Caffeine
Day two, I woke up and immediately realized a lapse in judgment—I needed coffee. This led me to frantically Google "Does Kourtney Kardashian drink caffeine?" and boyyy was I disappointed with the answer. It was a long week of afternoon green tea, my friends.
However, I will say that the morning Collagen Vibes did fill me up for a bit—I strayed from eating breakfast first thing this week and surprisingly didn't hate it—and made me feel energized sans coffee.
Meals
As I said before, breakfast was Kourt's avocado shake, which, as she explains in a separate blog post, she adds collagen powder to—this is crucial! You will be extremely hangry if you make it with just avo, dates, and coconut milk. Learn from my day one mistakes.
For lunch, I mostly stuck with Kourtney's Signature Salad, which, as the internet has debated, is not an actual salad. It's also not great when prepared in advance, so if you're bringing it to work, I recommend peeling the eggs and cutting the avocado right before you plan to eat (apologize to your deskmates in advance). I wouldn't say it was the most exciting of lunches, but I did feel less groggy after than when I eat pizza or a gluten-filled sandwich. What can I say? I was drinking the Kardashian Kool-Aid.
I tried to rotate my dinner options, alternating between the Shredded Chicken Bowls and the Gluten-Free Coconut Chicken Tenders with a side of Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts. All three recipes are great, and I've made them post-Poosh. Tragically, the chicken bowls recipe does not call for sweet potatoes, though they are shown in the picture. @Kourt, can I add them in?!
Nighttime Routine
Blessedly, Kourt's nighttime routine involves just one drink: "I turn on my diffuser, take a bath, slip into some silk pajamas, wash the outside world off my face, and settle in for bed with a warm glass of Pink Moon Milk."
She drinks her moon milk with hot water (in this mug!), and I can't say it reminds me of strawberry milk as much as it does her, but it did make me feel like I was getting a deeper sleep (it has melatonin and magnesium in it). I drank it with water, à la Kourt, but went rogue on day 6 and tried it with unsweetened coconut milk—obviously, that made it creamier. Is it worth $50? Ehhhh. Not on my budget, but...it tastes good!
To Poosh or Not to Poosh?
...That is the question. If you're surrounded by junk food all day long (oh, it's just team Delish?), it can't hurt to at least attempt to add some Poosh-approved meals or lifestyle tips to your day, you know? Sure, I won't be ditching gluten for good anytime soon, but I will make those chicken tenders again. And I REFUSE to live without coffee. It's my lifeblood, and you can't tell me otherwise.
All things considered, my week of Pooshing did teach me that 1) routine is nice and 2) cooking meals myself makes me feel more accomplished than going down to the cafeteria for lunch for a third day in a row. Also, the Poosh Positive Morning playlist is bomb.
