'Reboot with Joe' days 1-5. Top tips for doing a juice detox

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine opted to drink a bottle of this revolting looking green juice instead of joining us for our usual mid-morning coffee at our playgroup catchup.  We all listened intently as she told us about this 15 day re-boot juicing program she was doing.  In all honestly I thought she was as mad as a box of frogs!  There was no freaking way I was not having my morning coffee!!!

The idea of just having pretty much nothing but juice and green juice at that made me literally shudder.  There was just no way I could do!! NO WAY!!!

So how on earth did I end up doing it????  Mmmmmm yes, good question.  Well......... the lovely Gina (mad as a box of frogs friend) sent the link for a documentary film called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (delightful title) and I was so intrigued that I had to watch it.  If you're in any way intrigued too.......watch it!!!  It explains everything you need to know about the benefits of detoxing.

As shallow as it sounds, the thing that caught my attention was the amount of weight Gina had lost in such a short space of time (not that she even needed to)!!  I know I'm not huge, but I have been trying for so long to loose the last little bit of my baby weight and it's just not happening!! I lost it so easily after baby one and two but the third time round I am really struggling.

I couldn't stop thinking about the reboot detox and the concept of literally spring cleaning my whole body (and of course loosing those last few pounds).  For about a week I mulled it over and then grilled Gina about it on the phone one afternoon while I was sat watching Miss H's swimming lesson.  I decided to just suck it up and do it.  And that was it!!

The program I followed was 'Reboot with Joe' and he includes a FULL shopping list, step by step meal plan and all the recipes too.  It takes all the 'thinking' out of it and all you have to do is following the steps and polish up your will power.

I am now on day 8 and still going strong.  Here are a few tips I have if you want to join in too and a few details of what to expect.

TOP TIPS

• Invest in a juicer.  I tried to use my thermomix as a juicer but it just wasn't happening, so I went out and bought a Breville Juicer and it has been fantastic.
• Follow the shopping list and make sure you have all the ingredients you need before you start.  Joe gives you a new shopping list ever 5 days, but I actually got my ingredients every 3 days as I just didn't have enough space in my fridge to store everything.
• It's a lot cheaper to use frozen berries than fresh ones.
• Be organised.  I can't stress enough how important this one is.  If you're busy like me you really need to know exactly what you're making that day and if you can pre-prepare anything than do it.  There is nothing worse that being starving and you can't eat anything because you're not home and have not made a juice to bring with you.
• The first 5 days include juicing and some food but no dairy, meat, sugar or carbohydrates. The following 10 days are just juice.
• Be prepared to go to the toilet - all the time!!!
• Be brave - it's only 15 days.  Some of the recipes sound revolting but are actually not that bad after all.

Full details of shopping list, meal/juice plan and all recipes for the 15 day Reboot with Joe program can be found here.

Day 1 
I actually found that there was too much to eat and I couldn't keep up with it all.  I felt great, enjoyed the food and really didn't see what all the fuss was about!!

Day 2
Now the fun kicked in (cue sarcasm!). Not being able to have coffee left me with the most horrendous headache that felt like someone was stabbing at my temples all day.  Other than having to tell myself several times that 'this is self inflicted and NOT the kids fault' day 2 was not too bad.  I wasn't left feeling hungry at all.

Day 3
This was a funny day really - for some reason I felt really emotional and found myself getting all teary over the silliest things.  Also my cravings for a big fat slice of fresh bread with butter REALLY started to kick in today, especially when I was eating soup.

Juice instead of coffee (sobs)

Day 4
Day 2's lingering headache was starting to slowly disappear and I had the best nights sleep I've had in a long time.  I was also starting to get used to drinking the different juices, although it still took some extra will power to drink anything with celery in it.  I also discovered that chopped kale, garlic, onions and some chilli olive oil is actually bloody delicious!! Who would have though it?

Day 5
This was by far the hardest day for me so far as it was our wedding anniversary and Mr D was taking me out for dinner.  We went to a beautiful fish restaurant and I had some amazing grilled tuna with roasted vegetables.  However it just took EVERY ounce of strength I had not to order any wine.  It was coconut water all the way for me.  The only thing that got me through was that fact that I had lost just over 2kgs - in 5 DAYS!!!  The other thing I noticed was how beautiful and long my nails have grown.  Bonus!!

I'm about half way though now and although I wouldn't say it's been easy, it hasn't been as hard as I though it would be either.  I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Have you ever done a detox before??  How did you find it??

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