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.

Spring (or lack of) 2013

Hi all

Its been a few months since I uploaded a new post but I thought I would update you all of where I am now in my journey. Its been almost 6 months now since I started the Cambridge diet and in total I am still at 36 pound weight loss, I could have done more but I relaxed over December and January and put on 6 pounds, it then took me untill end of March to lose those 6 pounds! Currently I have just had another 2 weeks off the diet as I was unwell with a virus so today Monday 8th April 2013 I have started again and are calling it Day 1 of Round 2!

I am currently reading a book called "100 ways to motivate yourself" and I am finding it a really great read, simple but very thought provoking!

check it out on amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motivate-Yourself-Third-Edition-ebook/dp/B009SQECVK/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365416059&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=100+ways+to+tivate+yourself

Apparently successful people plan ahead so I have taken inspiration from this and have actually written down my goals. For this part of my journey I would like to lose a further 28 pounds so I have broken this down into smaller more achievable goals. From a motivation perspective this makes me feel more in control and less overwhelmed by how many pounds I have left to lose.

So the plan is to get back onto the Cambridge stage 2 and shift the 28 pounds by July as I now have two events which I would like to work towards.  A potential holiday in Italy at the end of June and a booked holiday in Menorca at the end of July and I sure as hell don't want to be fat and wobbly on the beach this year! The first few days are always tough on the Cambridge as you are withdrawing from sugar, wheat and bad carbs but I should start to feel good again on day 4. My next weigh in will be on April 17th 2013 so I will let you all know how I get on!

Another thing to note that I am coming up to my first year anniversary since starting Crossfit and I still love it!!!!! I have not been loads recently as I have been unwell but I have booked in twice this week so I can feel the burn again, I have also started walking at lunchtimes for between 10-40 mins dependant upon how busy I am, but even just getting out for some fresh air for 10 mins helps!

p.s More recent pics to be posted soon xxx

Update Xmas 2012

Hi everyone

I'm so sorry I have been terrible with writing my blog recently - I give myself far too many things to do!

So where am I now?

Well I am 35 pounds lighter!!! I feel so much better and look so much better. One of my goal's was to be able to fit into a ballgown I had made in 2008 and guess what........I did it!. It was tight and I felt uncomfortable after eating my Christmas dinner but I am so pleased I got back into the dress!

I am still on the Cambridge Plan, although I have given myself some days off over Xmas, I put on 4 pounds but have lost a couple since but that's Xmas for you, I would say Xmas is the most difficult time of year to lose weight but I have managed to curb the cravings and reduce the food intake even though it has taken 3 days!

What's next for 2013?

Well I have a few targets set for 2013, I want to be able to wear a bikini again and I would like to get into a size 12 dress and I also really want to become a Cambridge Consultant and help others to lose weight.

In total I would love to lose another 3 stone (35 pounds). I plan to do this by continuing the Cambridge Plan plus continuing my CrossFit that I still love very much.

I'm excited to continue in 2013..............i'll be back!

Cambridge Weight Plan Days 15-21

Week 3 Days 15-21

Still following Stage 2 which is 810 calories daily, this week I had decided to return to exercise so on Day 18 I had my usual porridge in the morning, soup at lunch, shake at 3pm but then I had one of the Cambridge weight plan chocolate bars at 5pm ready for my exercise session at 18.30. My coach at CrossFit is great and scaled the routine down for me as 1000 calories for the day is not ideal to complete a CrossFit session but I am determined not to let my fitness decline as I have already had two weeks off. The session was great I had no dizzy spells and felt I had done just the right amount of exercise without going overboard. I did feel a little more peckish this week and I am putting that down to be due on my period so on two occasions during the week I added a boiled egg to lunch which took the edge of the hunger. The rest of the week remained the same and I enjoyed following some of the recipes from the Cambridge book (see pic of Chinese chicken noodle). I have weighed on my scales just for a sense check and have gone down a few pounds but my official weigh-in is on Tuesday 11^th Sept so I will let you all know how I get.

The toughest part of this week was defiantly taking my son to a birthday party and having to watch everyone eat jelly, ice-cream, cakes, crisps, sweets, sausage rolls and so on.  Joshua even got covered in cup cake which I had to touch but I resisted even licking my fingers! Tough but I managed to stay angelic! I am enjoying the fact my clothes are looser!

Roll on weigh in day!!

Cambridge Diet Plan - Week 2 days 7-14

Week 2 Days 7 – 14

Nothing has changed with my eating habits since the first week, I am still on stage 2 of the Cambridge plan which consists of 3 products (porridge/soup/shake) plus a main meal of an evening and an allowance of ¾ pint of skimmed milk. If I have felt hungry at any time I pre-prepared some celery and cucumber sticks which I munch on during the day.  I am still drinking 2 litres of water a day plus I have a few herbal teas and coffee so that is more water I am drinking. The only side effect I have experienced is constipation but then if not much is going in then I don't expect much to come out! I have Senkot at the ready.

Weigh-in 2 (Day 12)

The good news is that I weighed in again on day 12 which was a few days earlier but my consultant Val is on holiday this week. So after a further 5 days I had a weight loss of 4lbs. That is a total of 10lbs in 12 days, I am really pleased with this and starting to notice the difference in my clothes, others are also starting to notice.

The things you need to remember when doing this plan:

1.       There is NO point following this diet if you are NOT going to ease yourself back into healthy eating. Your calorie intake has to be increased slowly over a period of time. You will put the weight straight back on if you lose a stone or more and then immediately go back to your old ways of unhealthy eating.

2.       If you get really desperate to eat NEVER GIVE UP just have an extra porridge/shake/soup or some protein i.e. egg, chicken, soya to fill you up – stick to the plan as much as possible.

3.      Your appetite will decrease, I don’t find myself hungry at all at the moment.

4.  Be creative with the foods you can eat for your main meal - I will be uploading some recipes next week which I have made up. You are allowed herbs and spices so use them!!

My next weigh-in is now not for 10 days until my consultant returns so fingers crossed it is good news.

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!!