Did any of you (in the UK) see the programme in the week called ‘ Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead’ ?  It was about Joe Cross, an Aussie who is well known for his ‘Reboot’ programme of juicing as a way of healing and losing weight.  He was, as the title suggests, over weight (over 300 pounds), sick with Urticaria and felt like he was nearly dead.  So he went on a 60 day green juice fast.  He lost about 90 pounds and gradually built up exercising while he did it and felt fantastic.  This was done under medical supervision and after his juice fast the Urticaria had cleared up for the first time in years and he was off all his meds.  He met other people and encouraged them to try, who had great results if they could stick with it.

I am tempted to try this in the Autumn.  60 days may be too ambitious so I will start with 10 and see how I go.  I have been trying various green juices this past week and surprisingly you don’t feel hungry.  They are not all pleasant to drink but I expect you get used to it.  It is healthier to have as low sugar (i.e. minimal fruit and sweet veg like carrots) as possible.  I wanted to try 2 meals of juicing today to test it out.  I am testing in advance as I will invest in a new juicer.  Mine has been going for about 25 years and is a good juicer but not great with green leaves and as it shakes and judders along, I am thinking it may be about to conk out on me.

So this is what I juiced today.  The first Swiss Chard from the garden, kale, celery, cucumber, carrots, melon and an apple.

All chopped up and ready to go. Some of the end result.  The quantity of produce I juiced made 3 large glasses of juice which I drank over the morning and early afternoon. This was not an ideal day for living on just juice as I was in Ramsgate cleaning the house which is exhausting as it is a 5 storey house so there are lots and lots of stairs to keep going up and down.  After 5 hours I was exhausted and relieved to sit in the dining room beside the window, enjoying the view while I finished my last juice. The little fella was a champion today.  He is saving up for a hand held gaming device and came along to help and earn some money.  He enthusiastically hoovered and dusted every room, emptied all the bins (11!) and mopped floors.  A genuinely superb effort so that was money well deserved. So what happened next?  Well, as you can see from the next photo, the juice fast came to an abrupt end.  We had planned to head for the beach but the recent spell of sunny weather came to an abrupt halt the minute I took my beach bag out of the cupboard!  So we went shopping instead as we all needed some things for our holiday.

I dislike out of town shopping centres immensely and always try to avoid them but today necessity took us to Westwood Cross Shopping Centre which is between Ramsgate and Margate.  Having purchased what we needed we noticed the M&S had a huge and very enticing cafe.  I have never been in an M&S cafe before and I will go again.  It was great.  A large, spacious, well lit area with pleasing decor and comfortable chairs.  They focus on providing a range of sandwiches and cakes, toasted sandwiches and jacket potatoes.  I had a toasted ham and cheese with salad and it was really good.

This was refreshing to drink. Regular readers and those who know me, will know by now that I have zero willpower for resisting many types of food but especially cake.  I noticed many people around me having a high tea, served on one of those tiered cake stands.  I love those and everything that goes with a high tea.  I did not order one as I was quite full from the toastie but the carrot cake won me over.  It was perfect and worth every naughty calorie.  It was moist, sweet and nutty, just as it should be.  Enough icing but not too much to make it sickly.  Carrot cake heaven! Well done M&S for a decent cafe and a pleasant alternative to the ubiquitous coffee shops proliferating on our high streets and in our shopping malls today. So back to the test on juicing.  If I was to juice all day, I clearly can not be let loose in a cafe or any other food emporium.  I must also make sure I make enough juice in the morning and work out a way to carry it round with me so when I am hungry, I have something to drink to sustain me. I need to make them less sweet too as the sugar in the melon creates blood sugar spikes which have to be avoided.

After the cafe we went in to the food hall and bought lots of fruits and veggies.  But by the time I was peckish in the evening, and feeling very tired, I wanted some cheese and wine instead.  Which I enjoyed in front of the TV, catching up on some quality drama that has been recorded with no time to watch it recently. I had 2 crackers (they are very large) with butter and for me,  a modest amount of cheese.  I think a year or two ago, I would have eaten considerably more.  

I am learning to eat much smaller portions of high fat food and cut right back on sweet high carb foods.  I still have a long way to go but looking at what I consumed yesterday, which these days is classified as a bad days eating, it is considerably better then a bad days eating would have been 2 years ago.  So it is not hopeless and as I write this on a Sunday morning, I am not despairing and giving up.  I enjoyed what I ate yesterday.  I learned some good lessons for my potential juice fast.  And I thoroughly enjoyed 2 glasses of quality red wine with some cheese.  I will not be having any today though.