Behind The Beauty

JuiceMaster Diet: "7lbs in 7 days" - tried and tested.
by Emmy Glover

A study by the UK's Centre for Appearance research (CAR) found that 90% of UK women are unhappy with their bodies.

Losing weight is a difficult task; and the first step seems to be deciding on the best 'diet' to follow.

One of the latest crazes to be sweeping through the celebrity world is 'Juice Dieting' - Replacing your daily meal intake by juices made up with an array of fruits, vegetables and supplements. Celebs such are Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Anniston and Drew Barrymore are all said to be fans of the 'Juice Diet'.

One juice plan in particular making the headlines is 'The Juice Master Diet' which claims on average you will lose 7lbs in 7days. The man behind the diet, Jason Vale, has been hailed the 'King of Juicing' and helped glamour model Katie Price lose two stone in three months on his programmes.

Although the success of the diet has been widely broadcast in the media, I wanted to test it out for myself; giving you the good, and the bad and all the juicy bits in between.

What is it?
The programme consists of beginning the day with a cup of hot water and lemon, followed by 5 juices at 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm and 8pm. The juices are made up of fruit, vegetables and vitamin supplements.

Vale insists you purchase the book and read it from cover to cover before you begin. At first I thought this may simply be some sort of marketing strategy but I would definitely recommend giving the whole thing a read.

It gives you science, many diet myths, explanations on calorie counting and surprisingly was an enjoyable read. Vale's humour and honesty deliver throughout and definitely leave you feeling positive to start the plan, especially reminding you through-out "you don’t HAVE to do this, you WANT to."

The shopping list of all the ingredients you need for the week is also available in the book, and they also include a wall chart for the week which was easy to follow and made things a lot simpler than referring back to the book for every juice.

You will need:

· Multitude of different fruit and vegetables, list of which is printed in the book - (I spent around 60 pounds on the week's shop - a lot more than I would usually spend on myself)

 

· Wheatgrass, Spirulina and friendly bacteria tablets (I ordered them from holland and barrett as they were half the price of the bundle sold on the juicemaster website)

· Juicer

· Blender (yes you need both unfortunately!)

· Flasks to transport your juices.

So how was it?

The bad…

Adapting at first was difficult. Although the first day my energy levels were high throughout the day, I felt myself getting slightly grumpy and agitated. 

Balancing a busy lifestyle and the juice diet was also tricky. Vale claims you should aim to have your juices as fresh as possible and try and avoid making them up hours before. This theory probably suits the celebrity lifestyle where they can afford to have the juices made and brought to them, but during a busy day I found myself having to carry 3 of them around with me which at times was heavy and frustrating.

The whole week was pricey! Having spent £60 on the juice ingredients, and £20 on the supplements I was spending around £50 more than I would on an average weekly shop. In order to keep the ingredients fresh, Vale also encourages a mid-week shop which would be inconvenient for many busy households.

The last two days on the diet were particularly tough too as my headaches and dizziness increased and at times I felt faint and lethargic.

The Good…

I was surprised at how energetic I was throughout most of the week (up until the last two days). The first drink (lemon/lime and water) is at 7am every morning, and soon became a much less daunting time as the week progressed.

As a regular gym goer, I was worried that I would not be able to do as much exercise on little solid food but I was still able to do my normal fitness routines.

Overall it was a good sense of achievement to finish the programme, and to know that my body had had a little detox. Though whether it will be beneficial in the long-run, remains to be seen.
 

Nitty Gritty Juicy Bits…

I think choosing to take on a diet like this could potentially be quite frustrating for the people around you. Especially for my University housemate who was regularly woken up by the 8am whirring of the blender, and my boyfriend who felt as though he couldn't eat in front of me out of guilt.

Bowel movements were also a problem and found myself occasionally waking up in the middle of the night with crippling stomach ache as though all the liquid inside my stomach was turning me into a human washing machine!

Overall:

I suppose it does do what it says on the tin! I lost 8lbs in one week going from 8st 12 to 8st 4.

In terms of quick weight loss, the results are undisputable, however, I don’t believe the headaches, occasional nausea, dizziness and overall impact on your daily routine is worth it.

Seeking professional advice, I spoke to nutritionalist and personal trainer Luke Aaron who said: “If it’s called a diet, it’s probably a temporary quick fix solution to lose weight which floods the body with sugars from fruit and veg. Personally I wouldn’t recommend it as it doesn’t teach about long-term healthy nutrition.”

If you’re wanting fast results for a wedding or special event than '7lbs in 7 days' may be for you. It is clear a lot of research and science has gone in to the making of this diet and I do believe following a professional well thought out programme such as this is significantly safer than trying out a juice diet alone.

However, having spent £80 to receive a temporary weight loss plus added extras of headaches, tiredness and occasional nausea I’d say the losing weight that quickly isn’t worth the possible health impacts.

Final thought: Slow and steady wins the race.

Diet Rating: 5/10

 All the juicemaster info can be found on their website