8 Jan 2013
I thought I had everything planned to start this new regime, the shopping was done, I had cut out all sugar, carbohydrates and alcohol days before hand, and I had detoxed the kitchen in preparation. Firstly I failed to get the early night I had promised myself and ended up with a restless night and little sleep. When I got up I looked and felt tired, I also knew that I had to weigh myself, something that I try not to do too often when I’ve put on weight, I’m perfectly happy doing it when I’ve lost it, but starting the day knowing your clothes are going to feel tight isn’t much fun. That’s how I know I’ve put on weight; more by my clothes than appearance. Being 5.10” helps spread out the weight, my aunt once told me that she would be really slim if she was my height!
I weighed 10st 3lb, I still weigh in old money, my Nike+ is set to kilos but I still think in stones and pounds. This is me close to my heaviest, I know it’s not over weight for my height but as the nice doctor at BUPA told me as you get older it just gets harder to lose it. As if I didn’t know that, years ago I could cut down for a few days and knock off 3 or 4lbs as easy as anything, now it’s a hard and long slog to get rid of it.
It was obvious that getting up at 8.00am and having a 10.00am appointment I wasn’t going to get any juicing done before I left. The juicing process does take some time, after you’ve cut up the fruit or vegetables and juiced them; you still need to clean the juicer. Yes you really do need to clean it immediately as food pulp can dry in no time at all and it makes a messy job even worse.
So I kicked off the day with a large cup of warm water and lemon. I know that drinking this long term really isn’t good for your teeth, it will destroy the enamel and as my first appointment was with my dentist I asked her advice. Gaynor Barrett said that it’s fine to drink the hot water and lemon for 12 days, but it’s not advisable to do it on a daily basis, she has seen patients who have destroyed all their tooth enamel in less than a year.
I started juicing when I got back and made carrot, apple and spinach with ginger and cinnamon. It was only later that I read that you shouldn’t combine fruit and vegetables other than apple and carrot. I need to ask Chris why, especially as so many recipes have a combination of both. The juice looked like I had just dredged it from the pond, but tasted surprisingly delicious. I followed this with a green salad with avocado topped with a sprinkling of olive oil and a splash of apple cider vinegar.
I didn’t feel hungry until about 6.00pm so I drank the reserved half of the juice I had made earlier and prepared hummus from the Your New Life Plan. Simply put one 400g can of chick peas, half a clove of garlic (I used a whole clove and it was a bit too much) one large tablespoon of tahini paste, the juice of half a lemon and a good glug of olive oil into a blender or processor and blitz. You can make it as chunky or smooth as you wish.
After eating a bowl of hummus with carrot batons I didn’t feel very hungry so I followed this with a few black grapes and two tangerines.
My son came home opened the fridge and said “it looks like a bloody forest”; I have to admit I don’t think there has ever been so much green in my fridge. He asks where the meat is. The concept of detox is completely lost on him and as I cook him some chicken the smell is wonderful and I wonder how I am going to stick this out for 12 days.
End of day one I have managed to drink plenty of juice, not drink enough water, not do any body brushing or do any exercise, unless you count a mad dash back to the car before my parking ticket ran out. I haven’t got nearly as much work done as I planned; I seem to have been preparing food and washing up for a large part of the day.
Chris James Mind & Body Cleanse
