REVIEW: Juci Wellbeing detox

I know only too well that if I go for even one day without eating that I will fall over, so I got my new boyfriend to test out the Juci Wellbeing detox for me. This is how he got on…

Juci Wellbeing

If Gillian McKeith is to be believed, and you really are what you eat, then I’m in a lot of trouble. Last year, I lost a whopping three stone by doing all the right things – a healthy diet, plenty of exercise and only a moderate intake of alcohol. I felt (and although I say so myself, looked) fantastic. I bought an entire new wardrobe and reveled in the ability to wear slim-fit tops and skinny jeans. I never grew tired of the unadulterated joy I encountered over the next three months at being stopped by everyone I knew so that they could tell me now wonderful I looked. I know that sounds horribly vain, but if you had spent the preceding five years looking like a darts player, you’d understand my situation. My confidence went through the roof, and all was very much right with the world.

Well done me. 

Of course, it won’t surprise you to learn that since then the weight has piled back on. Okay, not all the weight, but some of it, and that’s bad enough. The slim fit jeans are now the most uncomfortable item of clothing I own (all the regained fat is gathered together – it’s like the jeans are some kind of fabric sheep dog), and the slim tops need to constantly be pulled down to cover my stomach. I generally feel like I’m on my way back to being able to balance a pint glass on my stomach. That is not a good place to be, which is why when the lovely people at Juci Wellbeing offered me the chance to trial their three day detox diet, I jumped at it.

[I want to add here that I don’t think New Boyfriend looks in any way like a darts player. I wouldn’t want everyone to think I was dating Andy Fordham or anything.]

Andy Fordham

New Boyfriend on the way to the fridge for a juice.

The idea is simple; you replace your usual diet with a pressed juice drink four times a day. Each day starts and finishes with a ‘Juci Boost’; an interesting mix of broccoli, cucumber, celery and lemon, which is specifically designed to kickstart the removals of toxins.  At periods throughout the day you have a carrot and apple drink to lift your blood sugar and a beetroot based juice to support the circulation. What could be more simple? No washing up, no wondering what to cook for supper, just a trip to the fridge four times a day.

Coupled with plenty of water, three days of the Juci Wellbeing diet claims to leave you feeling healthy and help you lose a few pounds. It all sounds so easy.  To be fair the juices are very tasty, and I thoroughly enjoyed them for the first 24 hours. But, as the feeling of virtue slowly became washed out by lowering blood sugar levels, I started to struggle. By day two it started to become really hard work. I couldn’t help wondering how hard it must be to do the five day plan. I was concerned enough that I’d have totally wasted away after three days, and I totally underestimated how hard it is not to eat.

[At the point at which I caught New Boyfriend in the act of trying to make a piece of toast I asked him exactly what he’d been expecting. “Some sort of lovely pampering experience?” he said. Hmmm.]

I certainly wouldn’t recommend the diet during a busy working week. You should definitely only try this if you have a few quiet days when you’re not required to be on top form or in stressful situations where rational thought is required.  There again, if you don’t ever suffer from being ‘hangry’ (angry through hunger), then this could be a metaphorical walk in the park.

I came spectacularly close to throwing in the towel on day two. I woke with what felt like a hangover reserved for the morning after an evening of excessive mixing of cocktails, wine and beer. I thought my head was going to explode and that I would vomit everywhere. I felt exhausted from doing nothing and wondered if I could ever get to the end of the programme without hospitalisation.

[He didn’t complain at all though. *coughs*]

But by day three, I turned a corner. I felt energetic and chirpy, and was noticeably trimmer around the waste. My skin looked fresher, and I was planning a ‘new me’ to compliment such an incredible kickstart. Cravings for coffee and toast, or pizza and burgers had been replaced with a desire for fruit and vegetables, and it really did make me question what it is that we put through our bodies in a daily basis. If cutting out everyday foods could have made me feel so grim, what are they doing to us in the longer term?

The plan comes with lots of guidance, including a plan of what to eat once you go back to a normal diet. I have to admit that I didn’t follow these as religiously as I could have. Perhaps if I’d been preparing to get married or go on a beach holiday I might have done this differently, but the plan did achieve exactly what it said on the tin, or the plastic bottle, to be more precise.

All credit to Juci Wellbeing – this is a well thought out plan that offers a good balance of nutritional fruit and veg and a tasty way to help clean out the body. It would have been nice to have a bit of information on calorie consumption, but other than that, information comes thick and fast from their website. Will I do it again? Maybe.

Disclosure: We were sent three days of juice for the purposes of this review.

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