Day 3 of my JuiceToU Detox

Day 3

The last day on my JuiceToU detox has arrived and I can’t say it’s been horrible, I feel slimmer but most of all I feel healthy. I can actually pull my stomach in tight like I used to when I was a kid, there is still a fat belly there but its going to take more than 3 days to sort that out! lol

My working day actually went fast due to being busy so I did not really think much about food during the day although one of my colleagues at work insisted on reading a dinner menu out loud which made my mouth water. I also had to pop to the garden centre on my way home which has a gorgeous farm style shop there and loads of homemade cakes.

Ive just drunk my last Berry Good juice which is my favourite of the 4 and I'm ready to go to sleep so I can wake up to a healthy small breakfast in the morning, but no I still have my biggest challenge ahead of me tonight in the form of a chocolate facial party!!! rarrrggghhh You don't eat the chocolate on your face but the host has prepared cup cakes and other naughty chocolate delights plus purchased a few bottles of chilled wine. How on earth am I going to resist? I plan on taking some bits home and sharing them with the family over the weekend. I cannot let myself down after my 3 day achievement so I am just going to have to use the most amount of willpower EVER!

Exercise today - I did an ab workout with the girls and had no problems with dizziness etc.

Side Effects - nothing major to report but I did have a few little black dots over my eyes first thing this morning but it disappeared after 20 mins, lack of food can effect your eyesight so its worth noting but it was nothing to worry about.

Times I felt hungry today: I have to be honest and say that after I left work I felt ravenous and gave in again to a couple of carrot sticks and a bit of celery - no one said it would be easy but at least I ate some vegetables rather than a mars bar!

So tomorrow morning is weigh-in day and I am hoping for at least 3 pounds off.........only time will tell.......see you in the morning!

Day 2 of JuiceToU

Hi everyone

Day 2 of my detox arrived and what a wonderful day outside it was the sun was shining and the tunes on the radio this morning were pumping!

I woke up this morning with a slightly flatter stomach and felt good. Last time I did a 7 day detox it took till day 4 before I felt this good so my body must be getting used to detoxing. Some people I know who have juiced before wake up feeling quite weak and nauseous on day 2 so if anyone feels like that have a warm herbal tea with lemon in before your juice. Because I have a food addition (read my previous posts) it’s always a wonderful feeling for me when I feel in control of my compulsion to eat unhealthy food because if I can deal with the cravings during a detox then it enables me to deal with them on a normal day, I find the cravings a challenge because I know the detox will only last 3 days and then I can get back onto eating healthy.

So 4 juices again to drink today and the flavours are exactly the same as yesterday:

Juice 1 - Clean Green still can’t say I am in love with the taste but then with all the sweetness I have had recently it does not surprise me that I find it so different!

Juice 2 – Let’s Glow went down pretty quickly as I find this one quite zesty.

Juice 3 – Clean Green, can’t believe I nearly missed this juice today due to being engrossed in work! Rare thing for me to miss eating/drinking.

Juice 4 -  Very Berry - did not leave work till late so had to drink this on the way home in the car at 7.30pm by which time I was ratty, hungry and gave in to a carrot stick in the fridge :( note to self - try and stick to the times recommended on the bottle!

Times I felt hungry today: Twice so I had at least 3 extra herbal teas today. Blueberry tea is actually really nice but going to bed early helps! Drank my 2 litres of water and must have visited the toilet for a no1 about 20 times (I bet that's why you lose weight! lol)

Side effects: None.

I also exercised today with the girls at lunchtime but I did not overdo and I felt completely normal, no light headiness or fatigue.

What I find astonishing is other people’s reactions to juicing. There has been a real mix of opinions on juicing in my office/home life, some think I am completely bonkers (although no one says I don’t need to! lol) others are really encouraging and like to see me as the guinea pig before they embark on the challenge. A lot of people think juicing is faddy or stupid, there is a real misconception out there that juicing is literally just drinking fruit juice that you buy off the shelf in the supermarket, they don’t realise the amount of different fruits/veg that go into each juice. The only real thing that you miss whilst juicing is chewing.

Most of the sensations you feel whilst juicing are the withdrawal symptoms from what you regularly eat so if you have a poor diet full of sugar and bad carbs you will probably suffer more with withdrawals than someone who eats quite healthily, I would say that generally I eat quite well with the odd treat every couple of weeks, I had been juicing every morning for the last couple of weeks before embarking on this plan and if there is anything I have learnt from the JuiceToU plan is that I am guilty of putting far too many high sugar fruits in my juices, however I am still a great believer in adding more pineapple to my diet than a McDonald's or chocolate bar!

Last day tomorrow - think I will miss all the attention! ;)

My JuiceToU experience - Day 1

Juicing - what is it?

Juicing is the process of extracting juice from fruit and vegetables typically using a juice machine. The machine crushes and squeezes the juice and then disposes  of the pulp. The juices are then blended together (using a blender) to form a drink packed with vitamins and nutrients.

Juicing has been around for years and is definitely the way forward, its a fantastic way of receiving the benefits of fruit and vegetables even when you don't particularly like them! The secret is to mix them together and hide the tastes you don't like with the tastes you do.

Juicing is a brilliant way to get your kids involved with something healthy, my 3 year old Joshua loves to push the fruit & veg down into the juicer to see the juice come out, he is then more than happy to drink what he has just made.

I'm not new to juicing as I have followed the Juicemaster 7 day plan which got me hooked on the whole process. What I wanted to look into was how to make juicing even easier as it can be a chore to shop and prepare your fruit and veg and then to clean up after. This is when I came across JuiceToU, I follow many different juicing groups/companies/individuals on Twitter and noticed a few of them mention JuiceToU so I thought I would try it.

I would like to clarify that I do not work for JuiceToU or have any connection with them this is simply my personal experience from ordering their 3 day detox. 

JuiceToU's website is simple http://www.juicetou.com you select the products tab and then select the product which suits you, checkout using paypal (accepts credit and debt cards) and voila it wil be on its way. Deliveries are every Tuesday so mine arrived yesterday afternoon and was perfectly packed with ice bags to keep the juices cool, it was then down to me to find a space in the fridge to store it (I wish I had kept the mini fridge as that would have been perfect).

Now before I start talking about how I got on with the plan there are a few things I would like to prep you on if you are thinking of starting a juice detox.

1)      Firstly DON’T go off and have a huge binge the day/night before you start your detox as all that will do is make you gain extra weight/water retention which could hinder your 3 day results.

2)      Exercise is not recommended during juicing so use this as an opportunity to have a rest but if you are an exercise nut (like me) then just take it easy, walking is totally ok.

3)      If you are doing this to lose weight then weigh yourself without your clothes on the morning you start then weigh yourself on the morning of the 4th day for your final result.

4)      Take measurements of your waist and hips in cm’s, there is no point doing inches as its only 3 days but you will lose some cm’s.

5)      If you get hungry or feel like giving up just keep saying to yourself “Its only 3 days” chances are by the time you feel hungry alot of time has already passed and you have only 1 day left so hang on in there!

6)      WATER WATER WATER – you must drink at least 2 litres of water each day, buy a 2 litre bottle of water and have it next to you all the time. I find it easier to have a full 2 litre bottle rather than guess how many glasses I’ve had in a day! You can also have herbal teas (except green tea).

7)      DON’T cheat as your only cheating yourself, if you do get really desperate then it is always best to eat something that is in the ingredients of the juices for example an apple or celery rather than to give up completely or binge on something!

8)      Embrace being in control of your food intake, don’t focus on the negatives and keep yourself busy as 72 hours will fly by! I go to bed early! ha ha


Day 1

The first thing I noticed this morning was the amount of spare time I had on my hands, I usually have to cut up loads of fruit and vegetables, put them through the juicer and then clean the juicer. Today I simply opened the fridge door and took the amount of juices I needed, I work full time so I took all four in case I don’t get home in time for the 6pm juice.

My normal routine at work is to fill up my 2 litre bottle of water and make a coffee, my coffee today was substituted by warm water and half a squeezed lemon. There are 4 juices on the plan to drink per day. The first juice (Clean Green) was meant for 9am but I was slightly delayed by an hour. Clean Green contains spinach, cucumber, celery, apples and limes and on my first sip my taste buds were not instantly in love but then the majority of the ingredients are vegetables so I knew it was never going to be sweet. I could mainly taste and smell the cucumber. For those of you that are not keen on vegetables then you may struggle a little with this one but if you love your veg or are a purist you will love it. Even so, it is totally drinkable and only a small bottle so for the goodness of what it will bring its worth getting it down the hatch! 

My next juice at 12.15pm was Let’s Glow which consisted of oranges, apples, kiwi, grapes and strawberries. Given that this was 100% fruit I was expecting it to be sweet but it was quite zesty, maybe this could be down to being juiced with the orange skin on, I like to juice oranges, lemons and limes without the skin as the taste is too sharp for me. Lets Glow is sweeter than Clean Green but could do with a bit of pineapple or something just to take the zesty edge off, however if it’s pure you like then that’s exactly what you are getting. I suppose it’s a difficult task to get the taste right as everyone is different and I know I have a sweet tooth.

The 3pm juice is a repeat of the first juice Clean Green and strangely it actually tasted better than when I first tasted it this morning. These juices are definitely 100% better when really cold so don’t leave them hanging around to get warm. I know this is totally physiological but I already feel slimmer just by being so virtual!

My last juice of the day Berry Good was filled with pineapple, blueberries, strawberries, apples and raspberries and I would say this is my favourite of the 4 juices as it had a sweeter taste which is exactly what I needed tonight. 6-8pm is probably the worst time for me with dealing with hunger pangs I am usually preparing my partners dinner and leave myself till last to eat and tonight was no exception the smell of pizza in the oven tested my willpower but I take comfort in the fact that it is only 3 days of my life committed to this detox.

Times I felt hungry today: Twice - once, I downed another glass of water! Did you know that thirst is often mistaken for hunger so grab a glass of water before you worry about food, I find a hot herbal drink helps with these moments (I love roobios tea as it has a sweet taste and smells like custard powder check out the benefits

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooibos) the other time I felt hungry was when dishing up my partner's pizza from the oven I had to do it quick and get it out the kitchen pronto!

Side effects today: a few hunger pangs and a slight headache this evening but other than that I feel fine.

Roll on day 2!

Summer Update 2013

Hey everyone

Its nice to be back writing again! Life has been busy over the last few months, my workload has increased both at work and at home which makes time for exercise and diet even more of a pressure!

Since my last update in April 2013 I have managed to keep my weight down by exercising during my lunch hour and the good news is that my measurements have seen a decrease! woo hoo! I had to stop doing the Cambridge plan as my friendly gut bacteria was low causing all sorts of complications.

I managed to get away this year to Italy with work (Lago Maggiore) and Menorca for some rest and relaxation although I found it extremely difficult to stay on track with food but luckily we had a pool to burn off the extra calories.

I still have 2.5 stones to lose so I decided to have a rethink and try something new, that's when I came across juicing. It was through a conversation with a friend in Italy, he totally recommended that I try it, he was totally impressed after visiting a retreat in Turkey where he juiced for 7 days. After some investigation on the Internet I purchased a 2nd hand juicer from EBay, borrowed a blender from a friend and spent about £70 on ingredients which included fruit, veg and a load of supplements from the health shop.

After completing 7 days on the Juicemaster Plan I felt totally amazing, never did I think about the effect food can have on your mood, I felt clean on the inside and I was 7 pounds lighter. It was a wonderful experience and one I am soon to repeat.

This time though I am going to be doing it differently, I am going to be trialling a 3 day juice detox which is delivered to your front door, so no cutting up of fruit and veg, no cleaning the juicer every 5 mins and the best bit no shopping for your ingredients.

Keep an eye out on my next few posts as they will be all about the exiting benefits of juicing with the www.juicetou.com plan.

Cambridge Diet Plan - whats it all about?

Shakes, Porridge & Soups

Ok so I have been useless recently when it comes to writing my blog. I have not written anything since June and for that I feel terrible but I have been really busy.

Weight wise not much of a difference – you would think after 2 months I would have dropped a couple of stone but no not with my metabolism!  My fitness has got a LOT better though and I even run now, not very far but it’s still classed as running. Still loving going to CrossFit and will continue to do so.

Although I have always been against short term diets I have decided that I need a boost, I need to see some pounds coming off the scales as I feel my effort levels are high but the results are low (from a weight perspective) so I am going to try the Cambridge Diet Plan and I will be blogging about it as of today. This diet will be a part of my life for a while until I am ready to go back to eating Paleo/healthy to maintain my weight. For the next two weeks I will also be limiting my exercise due to limitation of calorie intake. Let’s see how I get on!

Day 1 -Monday

After an hour consultation yesterday with my Cambridge Consultant Val I leave her house feeling a little anxious but also exited and motivated to start this plan. I just need a boost in weight loss, I really have been trying so hard to lose the pounds. My body shape has defiantly changed over the last couple of months so that in itself is a great achievement (pics to come later). Val decides to start me on Stage 2 of the plan which is 3 Cambridge Weight plan sachets consisting of either porridge, milkshake or soup and then a small protein portion with vegetables for dinner. I decided to go for porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch, a milkshake about 15.30 and dinner about 18.30. It’s funny how your mind tricks you into thinking you are hungry the second it knows you are reducing your food! I woke up hungry even though I was not!

I went for the Maple & Pecan porridge this morning which I found a little too sweet tasting but the consistency was good and I felt like I had eaten. Chicken & Mushroom soup for lunch which tasted like cup a soup – TO DO I definitely need one of the hand held whisk’s as I had to break down the lumps of powder. Hungary by 13.30 and looking forward to 3.30pm shake! The 3.30pm shake could have not come any quicker as I really struggled in the afternoon and by the time I got home I literally went straight to the fridge to start the “small” evening meal, I cooked 245g chicken with no skin and 80g of spinach together and mixed in some cayenne pepper and a tiny bit of spray lite. That feeling of hunger disappeared and stayed away for the rest of the evening. When I did feel a little peckish I made a herbal rooibos tea with some of my skimmed milk allowance. I drank 2.5 litres of water throughout the day and evening but I must say I could not wait to get into bed so I could stop thinking about poxy food! They say the first three days are the worst let’s hope that is true!  Hunger level out of 10 is 10!!

Day 2 - Tuesday

I expected to wake up hungry but I was surprised I did not. Breakfast was the original porridge, which was nice. I decided due to struggling so much in the afternoon yesterday that I would try having my main meal at lunchtime rather than the evening, for lunch I had two large boiler eggs and a salad made up of lettuce, cucumber and a couple of olives which I thought were ok but are not on the allowed list (oops). I waited till 4pm for my shake – chocolate & mint and then I had Oriental Chilli soup for dinner which was really tasty. In between I drank 2 litres of water but have 3 rooibos tea’s with my skimmed milk allowance. The feeling of hunger has subsided slightly and I do feel less puffy but I have stayed away from the scales as I would rather have a nice surprise on my weigh in next week. I did feel tired last night but that could also be down to the fact our son woke us up a few times during the night. Roll on day 3. Hunger level is 8

Day 3 - Wednesday

Woke up feeling slimmer but then who would not if you are only eating 810 calories a day. Put my black work trousers on and did they defiantly felt slightly looser. The first week of weight loss is going to be a lot of water so I am under no illusion its fat going just yet! Had Apple & Cinnamon porridge for breakfast (best one of the three porridge choices), then 1 egg, 150g of chicken and salad for lunch, Coconut shake about 4pm and then Oriental Chilli soup for dinner. Drank 2 litres of water plus a few herbal teas with my skimmed milk. Felt fine today although I can feel an underlying tiredness and I did go to bed at 9.45pm! Also asked if I was ok as I was super quiet at work, felt fine but it shows how food affects your energy levels dramatically! Hunger level is 7.

Day 4 - Thursday

Had to get up extra early today (06.30am) so did not get to eat breakfast till 9.30am and I could actually hear my belly rumbling. Breakfast was original porridge which I find quite thick so I add water after the microwave to make it more palatable. I had Leek and potato soup for lunch which I had to spend a little time on adjusting the thickness but it tasted ok. Butterscotch shake at 3pm which was ok but I prefer Strawberry. For dinner I followed one of the recipes in the stage 2 section of the Cambridge book which was Chinese style prawns, I substituted the prawns with chicken, this recipe allows you to have 30g of rice noodles in your portion – woo hoo something different! It tasted amazing and took about 1 minute to eat as the portion size was just enough to keep hunger at bay. About 8pm I felt hungry again so I boiled up my skimmed milk allowance and sprinkled some cinnamon and vanilla into it to make it taste a little sweeter.

Day 5 – Friday

I actually woke up today feeling a little bloated today (must have been the noodles), my partner Matt talked me into going on the scales just for a sanity check and I had gone down 5lbs! But I am not getting excited yet as the Val’s scales were a difference of 7lbs to mine! I just need to keep focused as you find your mind can wonder, I don’t think about giving in to a particular food I just think about how long I can keep this up as I would be looking to be on the plan for at least 6 weeks plus.

Day 6-7 Saturday & Sunday

These days I found the hardest as I was not keeping busy at work to keep my mind off food, I felt light headed if I got up suddenly but that did pass by Sunday. If I did get hungry I nibbled on some celery as suggested by my Cambridge Advisor Val.

Weigh-in day

I had to wait until Tuesday to weigh-in as it was a bank holiday Monday but to my delight I lost 6 pounds in my first week! This is good but I know any new plan you embark on always has a great first week weight loss. I am interested in the long term weight loss and maintenance, but at least it shows I am following it correctly. My biggest pleasure was actually putting on my navy work trousers and they are actually pretty loose! That is a combination of exercise leading up to this plan and this week’s weight loss.

From now on I am going to do a weekly update of following the plan as the days don’t seem to change much. I do feel much more alert now and I can feel my energy coming back so all good at the moment!!

Glitch in the Matrix

Dealing with Occasions

Oh dear....what can I say apart from I have lost my way a little. I have still been going to CrossFit but my diet/eating clean plan needs to go through the dishwasher!

It was all going so well until my birthday 1st June, Matt took me to this wonderful quirky hotel and restaurant called The Crazy Bear in Beaconsfield (I totally recommend it) the meal started with whitebait in breadcrumbs followed by a huge burger and chips (poshly done) and to finish a creamy rice pudding with strawberry compote oh and don't forget the strawberry champagne cocktail on the side. All the food there is organic and a lot of the ingredients are home grown at their farm in Oxford so although an indulgent treat at least I knew the ingredients were not processed. For me it was the alcohol that started the slip into past habits, later that evening we had a Chinese meal at my aunts which I tried to be good by having egg fu yung which is basically an omelet and then a little rice on the side. She then surprised me with a Thornton's fudge cake - I know this is going to sound cliche but how can you say no when someone has gone to the effort for you? I had a very small slice. The next day I woke up with a very upset stomach, I am convinced the re-introduction of the sugar and wheat was to blame. For the next day or so after that I stayed away from the "baddies".

The downhill slope started again when I decided it would be a good idea to make cupcakes for the first time for the Queens Diamond Jubilee celebrations (see pic to the left), I organised a street party and because we were not flush with cash I wanted to make an effort with the ingredients I did have already in the cupboard, can I just say that I could NEVER be a baker.....OMG I must have licked the bowl and my fingers about 9000 times! I really did try hard at first not to, I even chewed gum so I would not like the mixed flavour but nothing worked. Needless to say I don't think I can ever make them again as I cannot control myself at all. The smell they send around the house when baking is too much for me so note to self "no baking cakes". So after consuming 5 cupcakes (over a two day period) and half a tonne of icing I also consumed 2 bottles of rose wine during the street festivities and loads of meats from the BBQ's. Again I woke with an upset stomach but this time also a hangover. I don't do hangovers very well although I come from a long line of drink lovers I really suffer the next day and of course the only thing that ever helps a hangover are processed carbs and greasy food so I reached for the toast and jam - not good.

After a few not so bad days in between we then made our way down to the south coast of England with my family for a long weekend of fun and frolics in the sun, except there was no sun the whole weekend it just rained and when it rains I feel depressed and want to eat! Also anyone who knows my family know that our favourite past time is eating, our days are scheduled around eating. We had fish and chips Friday night, BBQ Saturday night plus between Matt and I we drunk a bottle of Vodka over the weekend, Sunday night was jacket potatoes and fillings plus half a large bag of thick cut cheddar cheese crisps. My trainers and I did make an appearance though for a 2.2 mile run (I only ran half though and power walked the rest) plus a swim with Josh.

If I ask myself how I truly feel after eating bad over the last week or so I would say "disgusting" although I still made healthier choices than I would normally (for example I said NO to yum yums, tortilla chips and dips, extra chips, side portion of rice etc) have on holiday I still gave in and indulged too much for someone who needs to lose 4 stone! I feel quite down today about myself and keep wondering if I will ever get to my goal. As I am typing I am trying to find that trigger again inside that will motivate me to start fresh again tomorrow.

Starting again

I have faced this feeling so many times now, I am sure like me we all have to deal with occasions such as holidays, birthdays and family gatherings and sometimes they all come at once but I am thinking that it is always better to start again than to give up right? If you are good for 300 days of a year but 65 were not so good is that not better than 365 days of eating poorly? I have to deal with these fresh starts quite regularly but I am not giving up, I try to departmentalise the last week of eating poorly and shut the door on it, there is no point sitting moping about it I just have to start again in the morning and put the past behind me. 

The luxury of tomorrow is that I can learn from this experience, I feel that I need to also up my exercise as before I was doing two crossfit sessions a week plus swimming some lunchtimes at work, however due to my cancellation of the gym I have been relying on CrossFit and I just don't think it is enough! I need to do more!

NEVER GIVE UP, TOMORROW ALWAYS FORGIVES YESTERDAY!