Tipping the Balance

So, at just about the halfway point I am devouring green and red juices like there's no tomorrow and am becoming expert in cleaning the juicer, which continues to annoy me on a daily basis.

And I hope that some of you at least are enjoying the blog and that some have also been inspired to try it out for yourselves. I know an old friend of mine has and I had a long chat with her tonight about the programme itself.  So with this is mind, I thought I'd share some tips for anyone interested.

1 - Make sure the juicer is man enough for the job!  One for around £100 - £140 should be fine.  Phillips are a good range recommended by another juicing guru, Jason Vale, while the reboot king Joe Cross always uses ones made by Breville, but these are in the £400 category and probably too much.  A couple of weeks ago on holiday we went to a Food Festival and there was a mobile juice shack and they used the Phillips ones which they swore by and had never let them down.  Don't be tempted by cheap juicers; they burn out quickly and don't get enough juice out of the fruit and vegetables.

2 - Fruit will overpower the flavour of vegetables every time.  Therefore, a juice containing vegetables like spinach and kale won't taste of them if you add fruit like pears or oranges.

3 - When on a detox or juice fast, you don't need to take additional supplements as you will be getting probably more nutrients than you have ever had before.

4 - On a juice fast, drinking more green juices and water will increase weight loss.

5 - Joe Cross recommends "drinking a rainbow" every day, so make sure there are some red, yellow and green juices.  The most nutrients and healthy stuff are in the green juices.

6 - When buying fruit and veg, check with local greengrocers or in the "Reduced" sections of supermarkets as they will often have nearly out of date stuff very cheap. It doesn't matter what it looks like don't forget.

7 - Shop for a day or two at a time as you seriously will not have enough room to store any more.

At the end of this fast, I am undecided what to do.  I may do another 10 days or I may go to 2 juices a day plus a meal.  We'll see.  But as there are only so many juice pictures I can post, here are a couple of pictures of me now, as the weight loss now stands at 1 st 4 lbs.  Please ignore the coat hanger which looks like it is coming out of my head.

The (Juice) Fast Show

Well, Day 6 is here and the juice fast begins. Hopefully the detox programme will have dealt with all of the usual side effects of fasting like the headaches, etc. and the weight loss will be just as dramatic.

So, what other side effects have been apparent?

Well, there has been a change in my energy levels.  I used to be able to function with very few hours sleep and although seemed always extremely tired, was like one of those Duracell batteries that kept on and on before having a quick sleep recharge and then off again. Every 2 or 3 weeks I needed a good rest but otherwise I'd just cope.  Now however, I have noticed that actually I don't get steadily tired at all and can just deal with everything until about 11:30pm when I all of a sudden become so tired I can't do anything so I have to go to bed.  It feels like a sudden stop as opposed to a gradual slow down, if that makes sense.

I'm sure I don't have to explain the differences in the digestive system and the subsequent toiletry effects when someone goes from being an alcohol drinking, sugar needy carnivore to what is essentially a protein free Vegan diet.  At the other end, one interesting thing is that when you chew, the food seems to give the front of your teeth a little bit of a clean - if that's the right word - which doesn't happen when you just drink juices and soups, so that my teeth both today and yesterday (fluid days only, no solids) feel unclean all the time.

Over the last 2 days I have also felt quite thirsty, much more so than usual.

Other than that, there hasn't yet been much bad to report and I have easily given up the whisky, beer, coke, chocolate, crisps, meat or whatever without any major withdrawal symptoms.

I will have to buy a new juicer though.  This one has been ok and does the job, but for some reason now doesn't line up properly when being assembled and will only work then the handle holding it together is held in place manually. However, this morning, as I was juicing carrots for the Carrot, apple and ginger juice I had for breakfast (yum!) the handle slipped, releasing the top cover and spraying a load of pulped carrot shavings around both me and the kitchen. Not good.

I'll leave you with a Pear Pie Juice, which doesn't look great admittedly but was actually gorgeous considering that it's predominantly Sweet Potato. It also had 2 pears (you can use peaches as well), an apple, a handful of blueberries and a dash of cinnamon.

OMG! I am officially staggered...

It's the end of Day 4 and the only solid food I've had today has been a big detox salad at lunchtime consisting of various different lettuce leaves, avocado, tomatoes, radishes and celery.  Otherwise it's been a liquid day with an Island Smoothie for breakfast - Mango, Banana, Lemon, Coconut water and a handful of spinach (which was REALLY NICE) - Carrot, Apple and Lemon Juice both mid morning and mid afternoon with 2 portions of soup, Squash and Apple and a Green Detox soup with water and herbal teas throughout the day.  Tomorrow I don't think there are any solids at all in readiness for the 10 day Juice fast starting on Tuesday.

A very colourful carrot, apple and lemon juice.

It has not been too hard so far really, I must admit making the girls Shepherds pie was another trial but I came through it unscathed and it all makes it worth it when you realise that in just 4 days I've dropped a stone in weight.

I wasn't really expecting to have any substanti...

Hang on a minute... Did I just type that?

IN JUST 4 DAYS I HAVE DROPPED A STONE IN WEIGHT.

Yes, that's right.  A stone.  Four days.  ONLY FOUR DAYS!

Now I know I said I'm not going to publish weights (and I'm still not) but on the basis that my scales actually do register my weight and although they are inaccurate they are consistently inaccurate, I rather nervously weighed myself on the morning after my "Last Hurrah" and was actually horrified.  Now when I did Lighterlife several years ago I lost 8lbs in the first week and I was bigger then than when I started this so there was even more excess to drop off, which I know it does quickly, mainly fluids.

But a stone!  OMG!  However, it's not only that... I have so much more energy during the day.  For instance, this morning I was up at 7:30 and prepared the smoothies and juices for the morning, went to my office to work from 9 until 12:30, went shopping for the next two days recipes, came home, made the lunch for me and Dawn, made the Shepherds Pie, carrots and peas for the girls, put 2 loads of washing on, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, sorted the ironing, paired what seemed like a million socks, (all of that whilst watching Crystal Palace v Spurs and Chelsea v Hull on the iPad), washed up and cleared away, made the evening juices (the soups were done yesterday) and then had a shave and shower before sitting down to write this at about 9 and I don't feel in the least bit tired.

Dawn did all the Mums taxi bit and plenty of other stuff around the house as well, while two of the girls have also totally blitzed their rooms so it has been a bit of a life detox as well.

My word.  I am still amazed.  Looking at the typical juice fast weight loss, I reckon that I could be another stone lighter at the end of that 10 days.  If you're still thinking about this then just get on it, seriously.  You won't regret it.

I'll post another picture after day 5.

Totally, absolutely staggered.

Green is the Word

Day 3 of the detox programme and everything is green. Breakfast starts with a Shamrock Smoothie which is, indeed, green, as shown.

Now nice is laying it on too strong. Similarly, vile, putrid and makes you gag is also probably too strong. Somewhere in between is fair and nearer the vile end of the scale would probably be more accurate. However, would I prefer this over taking a ton of medication? I guess the answer would be yes and it isn't even close.  And I guess that's the point.

But if we are talking about green, the check out the colour of the green lemonade juice here - it is almost neon in colour!  I promise you, no effect or adjustment has been made to either photo; they really are that green.

Lunch consists of a squash and apple soup, which is really, really tasty and we have a rest from the green. The evening food is the same as last nights offering and I think tomorrow there is even less solid food as we prepare for the 10 day juice fast.  In fact, just a salad is allowed so it'll be a bit of leaf to crunch on and on Monday, it's all liquids.

So is it beginning to have a positive effect?

Well, I did realise that actually this morning I had a lot more energy than normal and there was a spring in my step as I walked to work.  I also accomplished quite a lot more than I usually do at work and I seemed more tolerant than normal as well.  For some reason I am more tired of an evening than I usually am, but then I am going to bed earlier and I suppose that's not such a bad thing either.  No headaches, although Dawn has another one but it's not as bad as yesterdays.

Sundays will be another challenge as no doubt the kids will want a roast dinner - I wonder if you can juice that?

Err... and how many hours are there in the day?

I've come to the rather quick conclusion that this detox lark takes a hell of a lot of time.  It's not just a question of being organised, it's like being a permanent sous chef.

No headaches for me today, although Dawn has had a monster one, more like a migraine. It really doesn't seem like it's only day 2 as there is so much that I've read and done, plus I seem to have been a permanent fixture in the kitchen!  This morning we had the rest of the Berry bake from yesterday and a Green juice, being kale, cucumber, celery and pear.  Whilst it looks like Radioactive waste, the taste of the pear is predominant and it is unexpectedly ok.

Lunch is Avocado and Vinaigrette salad, similar to yesterdays evening meal (I used the left over dressing) and a raw carrot ginger soup which was absolutely fantastic in flavour, but all this involved a ton of prep in making the salad as well as making another green juice for the afternoon, cleaning the juicer, making the carrot juice as the base for the soup, washing the juicer, blending the soup, washing the blender... it is a big job and not one that someone could do casually whilst working and having an hour for lunch.

But the food part of the 5 day detox is coming to an end and more liquids are being introduced over the next 3 days before the juice fast begins properly on day 6. Hopefully the downsides of the fast will already have been overcome by then.

Maybe it's just as well. The food portions are huge. I cannot imagine that weight loss would be possible on this detox plan; neither Dawn nor I could manage the Green Detox soup (so we'll have that tomorrow) as the evening meal consisted of Roasted Butternut Squash stuffed with Mushrooms and Herbs. Look - its massive and completely filled us up.

Very tasty though, but extremely difficult for me to resist the girls' Chinese takeaway consisting of Seaweed, BBQ Ribs, Sweet + Sour chicken, Special Fried Rice, Spring Rolls and Prawn Crackers. Normally I would have polished off what leftovers there were, but not today.  In fact, I am pleased to say that I dished up the whole lot for them and didn't even lick the spoon.

Well done me.

Let the Games Begin!

Urghh. So this morning I awake after last nights "Last Hurrah" session (I didn't have the kebab) and my immediate reaction was to reach for the milk, sugar and PG tips, maybe with a comforting bowl of Honey Nut Cornflakes to accompany it.  Fortunately I don't really suffer from hangovers but this would usually be definitely needed for a condition I can only describe as "Sticky Mouth"...

BUT STOP!  I ALMOST FORGOT... I have to be good.

Well, I hadn't forgotten at all actually and I really do need this detox and healthy eating regime as I feel stodgy, bloated, heavy with nowhere near as much energy as I should have, or in fact need.

So the kettle went on and I reached for the ingredients to make the opening drink of the day; simply boiling water poured over a large slice of lemon and some slices of root ginger.

Breakfast is the Berry, Apple and Cinnamon bake I made last night, shown here

which is just strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and apples thrown together with cinnamon and nutmeg before being baked on a medium heat for 45 minutes.  And it is delish!  I've made enough for tomorrow as well.

Now, about 30 minutes after eating this I was suddenly aware that I felt pretty good and awake!  I'm sure it wasn't psychological as I wasn't thinking about the plan at all and I was instead surprised at just how good I felt bearing in mind the previous evenings session.

Today's meal plan involved a juice, Ginger, Apple and Carrot which was quickly made and stored in my flask for mid morning and I glanced at the lunchtime menu; ok, maybe I should have been a little more organised as there was a lot of stuff to do in just an hour - thank God I a) work locally and b) am the Boss!

So the Reboot Green salad consisted of loads of leafy greens plus at least 4 vegetables of choice; I went for tomatoes, celery, avocado, radish and cucumber, all topped off with an Olive Oil/Balsamic Vinegar dressing with sweet potato and carrot "fries" on the side.  They took about 5 minutes to peel and prep plus 30-35 minutes to cook and then of course I have to eat the meal (which was gargantuan by the way - no hunger issues) before off I went to work with my flask again full of the Ginger, Apple and Carrot ready for the afternoon.

All through the day I have been steadily drinking water and tonight's feast is some more Sweet Potato and Carrot "fries", with a Kale and Avocado salad with sauteed Greens and Garlic.

However, as the evening wears on, I develop a headache.  This is normal on a detox as the sugar and caffeine withdrawal causes the body to scream out for the stimulants it is used to and I just need to push through and keep drinking water.  My beverages of choice over the next weeks will be herbal/fruit teas and water, probably between 2 and 2.5 litres a day.  I haven't managed quite as much as that today, but maybe tomorrow will be ok.

I do not intend to publish weights on here, mainly for two reasons;

1) - my scales are cheap and quite inaccurate, and
2) - I'm not 100% convinced they will go up high enough and I don't want to find out.

But the odd picture will do, and here's a "Before" shot so progress can be monitored.  It's a deliberate hang-dog expression and yes, I am pushing my stomach out to heighten the effect.  Honest.

Launch day 15th August

Watch this space!