I was amazed at how quickly the benefits began to show. Early on into the second week my trousers and shirts began to become a bit baggier and needed to tighten my belt another notch in order to keep my trousers up. It really was that rapid.
I think the first thing I realised very early on in the 28days is how tough in reality it was going to be. Not necessarily physically tough but mentally tough. The discipline, determination, will power, focus and pure grit required was immense. I hadn't quite realised how entwined into my daily/weekly life routines coffee, alcohol, and sugar were. It seemed like not a day went by where I was challenged on each of these fronts. Ranging from the obligatory 'fancy a coffee', The Friday night beer after work, the bottle of wine with a meal to the grabbing of a chocolate bar whilst filling up with fuel. These temptations appeared to be everywhere and with out a steel like determination would have been easy to give in too.
I was amazed at how quickly the benefits began to show. Early on into the second week my trousers and shirts began to become a bit baggier and needed to tighten my belt another notch in order to keep my trousers up. It really was that rapid.
I never felt any down sides in terms of real headaches etc, only a slight fuzzy head in the first 3 days or so. Maybe a bit of lethargy too.
Very quickly I noticed that my sleep quality had started to improve which was a good plus to the programme, albeit wakening up was tougher than normal but in a good way.
A surprising side effect I also noticed was that my resting heart rate began to drop by 1- 2 beats per minute every day for about 5 days. I know this because I wear a FitBit and can monitor this measure on a daily basis, as was the case with the sleep profile. A huge improvement was measured in both indicators. I guess this showed that my body and heart were not needing to work quite so hard whilst resting.
The juicing phase was really tough both mentally and physically. No headaches but a huge gap appeared in my days due to not having meal times of any significance. I did have more time in my day due to the absence of shopping, cooking, eating and clearing up but a big hole in my day none the less. I am sure that it must have been doing me good at a cellular level but didn't feel it on a physical or mental level. Coming off the juice phase was totally underestimated on my part. What I thought was me 'taking it easy' in reality was no where close. I think going back onto solid foods after 3 days of elimination needs to be done over at least 3 days and needs to be a very, very, gentle process which needs to be emphasised strongly at the start of the process. Not doing so can be very dangerous as I discovered to my cost. My research suggest that the serious situation I ended up in could have even been a lot worse.
By the end of the programme I realised that not only had I lost weight, was feeling slightly more energised and fitter but had managed to break habits that in reality were probably not good for my mind, body and soul. The thought now of having an alcohol free weekend no longer fills me with fear and anxiety but something that I could do relatively easily if I had too. This has shown me that much of the lifestyle we live is very much habitual. Both the good things (working out) and the bad things (all things eliminated in KICK17)
My challenge now is where do I go from here, do I back to what was 'normal' or do I hang on to the good habits and diet I have developed over that last 28 days - time will tell I guess. Will keep you posted on that one.
In summary: It has been a journey to say the least, a huge mental challenge and test of character greater than I had imagined at the outset. The health benefits are plain to see - it works, it does what it says on the can. However, I think a stronger warning and guidance for coming out of a juice fast needs making or I need to pay more attention in class, not sure which.
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