Jason Vales Juice Detox diary

helenrs87

Hi everyone. I've been interested in the idea of 'detoxing' for a while now. I know there's a lot of contradicting evidence for and against. I've suffered from many skin conditions and allergies brought on by food in the past and removing these from my diet for a small amount of time can get rid of the symptoms. I thought perhaps that by removing the irritants in your diet for a week could do similar things, after all, people do report that it improves ailments such as eczema and asthma. A while back i got terrible fever from exercise and someone suggested that it was the sugarfree electrolyte sports drink I was using. after I switched to organic ones these symptoms went away slowly. Sounds like It was the sweeteners, but then again, perhaps not.

Criticism include: 'it's unnatural', 'our body is capable of detoxing itself' etc, but we're so unnatural in how we live and what we eat, our digestive system has evolved a lot from when we were caveman and it varies massively from person to person. 'Naturally' I'd expect us to east seasonally which would mean cutting out many foods for seasons at a time. With the artificial additives in our everyday including sweeteners, hormonally treated packaging, preservatives etc, these aren't natural! there's a lot of evidence that shows how difficult it is for our digestive system to get rid of these so is it hard to believe that they need some help? Otherwise, if our system is so hardy that it can deal with our modern diet, can it really do any damage to have a week living off fresh juice, spirulina and avocados?

Either way, I'm on the fence, but intrigued. So i've bought a juicer and I'm going to start the 7 day plan tomorrow. I'm going to keep a diary on here of weight, measurements, mood, cravings, other side effects etc for anyone who's interested.

I'll post tomorrow with measurements, exercise etc.

Helen

helenrs87

initial stats:

weight = 125 lbs
waist = 26.75"
hips = 36.5"
(height = 5' 5.5")

ailments: mild eczema, itchy skin, mild hives, low energy

helenrs87

summary of day 1:

a LOT harder than I expected. I don't think of myself as having an addictive personality but knowing that I'm not allowed coffee has been playing through my head all day. I cant even have a nice tea with milk, it's only fresh teas: mint lemon or fennel. These just don't cut the mustard for me.

With it being day 1, before my energy levels ultimately plummet, I decided to do 2 'hard' workouts. Jillian Michaels shred it with weights (with 6-8kilo kettlebells), and Jillian Michaels 30 day shred level one. I was surprised how easy I found 30ds as I've not done it in a while, but I think its down to kettlebell training, not juice.

I surprisingly didn't feel hungry all day, but this doesn't make it any easier. Are most food cravings from being hungry? absolutely not. I want coffee, and surprisingly enough, lentils.

helenrs87

summary of day 2:

woke up after a terrible nights sleep having dreams about coffee and bread.

Today was a little tough as I kept swinging back and fourth between 'yes I can do this' and 'no I cant, it's stupid'. you're not supposed to weigh yourself until the end of the week, but I had to see, I lost 2lbs. So I stuck with it.

however the day wasn't so hard. People commonly complain that day 2 is the worst day and are plagued with headaches etc. I didn't get any of this, my energy levels were quite high, I did 'shred it with weights' and '30 day shred level one' again and had a nice long walk at lunch time. I think the walk did me good actually as It was beautifully sunny and everyone was out half naked, and the range of body types on show gave me the boost I needed. My boyfriend came home on day 2 and had a hearty portion of fish and chips. I was a bit jealous, but actually enjoyed the smell of cooked food and stayed strong.

helenrs87

summary of day 3:

nice and easy, was even allowed a yoghurt smoothie today which was AMAZING!

again did 30day shred and shred it with weights without too much hassle.

unfortunately I've decided to cut the detox 2 days short as its my mums birthday on saturday and Im staying there so I cant very well take my juicer there and not join in the birthday meal etc. So Im going to have my last day on tuesday and move onto 'phase 2' where i introduce cooked and solid food into my system slowly over 3 days. If you dont do this apparently you will put the weight straight back on. So hopefully I can have a small champagne and a tiny piece of cake on saturday without balooning up.

I've decided to stick with daily weigh ins as there a big motivation boost. Today is the morning of day 4 and I've lost 6 lbs in total (down to 119)

However, although the scales tell me I've lost weight, I cant say i look like I've lost that much. I've lost an inch off my waist though.

helenrs87

summary of day 4:

fairly easy again. 45 min walk to work. 10 min walk to gym and 50 min bums and tums class at lunch. Bums and tums was very easy compared with last time I did it. Feel really full of energy. 10 min walk back. Lots of stair climbing at work. 45 min walk back home. Shred it with weights at home. The super detox juice is disgusting though :P

helenrs87

hi everyone, I completed 5 days. Lost 7lbs in total, an inch off my waist, half inch off my hips, and a bit off everywhere else. Didnt think the inch loss was reflective of the weight loss. 7lbs of fat would yield a lot more than an inch loss off my stomach. So I dont know what weight was coming off me. I didnt feel dehydrated at all so Im not sure it was than. Anyway, I've been following phase 2 to the letter. Juice for breakfast and lunch, rice and veg and perhaps fish for tea. Almost instantly I put 4lbs back on! This lead to a half inch gain on my stomach.

So all in all, I lost 3 lbs. Considering the intensity of exercise I did throughout the week and the very low calorie intake (I had 3 juices a day ~ 900cals) and I burned about 800-1200 cals a day with exercise, the weight loss is not staggering. On the plus side it did give me the push to try hard for a week and it's cut down some of my food cravings. Cutting out dairy for a few days also made me realise that Im quite intolerant to it and it aggravates my skin.

So all in all, a few good things came out of it. But dont expect to lose 7lbs of FAT!

My next challenge starting next week: callanetics 10 in 10, does it really work?

Peta22

Congratulations on making it through the 5days. I relate to your increased energy levels... I did the Lemon Detox diet a few years ago for 5days and the most remarkable thing for me was the amazing surge in energy I experienced. Having said that, I did it again a couple of years later and didnt have the same result unfortunately.

shelleycolton

Hi, i've done the Jason Vales Super Juice Diet a few times last year, the week thing is really intense but the benefits i found were i detoxed off caffiene, i did get the terrible headaches, but no at work and home i have decaffienated coffee and the occassional skinny cappuccino when i'm out and about (1 a day max), its actually made me think its a treat.

In the summer i like the juices at breakfast and lunch (winter am a soup person) but with a meal in the evening, I missed chewing!

helenrs87

what results did you have with weight loss etc?

I wasn't really expecting much but it was still upsetting putting it back on so quickly!

I have taken a few good things from it though, I'm sticking to juices for breakfast and reduced my caffeine intake too. Hopefully my health and energy levels will continue to benefit from it. I can definitely work harder at the gym with a super chute juice in my system!

emlustri

I had the same thing... albs of weight loss but 4 gained back almost instantly despite following the continuation programme and not even touching albs of food or drink the next day?! Go figure! I didn't take all the measurements. Love the Jason Vale Green Power Soup... Also have worked out it's less than 100 calories for 500mls of the yummy stuff! YAY