GEORGIE - Detox fall out!!

So after virtually starving myself on a low calorie juice detox - against the advice of many of you by the way - I will admit that I did actuall feel fantastic. I was careful last weekend to eat carefully and despite going to a wedding where I drank too much Schnapps (and was sick) it was great to be back in the gym, to have awesome energy levels and to have a mega slim waistline too!! For all the bad the detox did it did teach me that in future I can cut out caffeine, wheat and dairy, I can get the same feel good effect, without the starvation!!

What next? Well then, as predicted by many of you - the fallout. My poor body has fallen to peices!! Most importantly, the cold I have been staving on for WEEKS (that Rosie and Jack tried to give me) finally hit full blast yesterday. It might be coincidence, but when you aren't eating a balanced diet (i.e. when you eat just green muck and fruit juice) your immune system sometimes takes a hit. It been documented before but I guess that I, being someone who almost always cheats colds and illnesses when everyone else is going down - I thought I was too invincible for that!! Great!! I am at crappy cold rock bottom, armed with vix, Benylin, strepsils, the LOT!! I have also had my first spot break out in about 6 months. This also might be a coincidence but it all seems a little bit too convenient in timing for me.

Fundamentally, what disappoints me about my experience is that I naively thought that detox meant a way to have a good clearout of your system. It does. But I don't think that a clearout should involve near starvation and the intake of green gunk to the point where I will NEVER EVER drink a vegetable juice again!! I can't even look at one!!

I hope that if any of you decide to detox in the future you will follow my advice that follows!

1 Don't starve yourself - sure cut down your calories but no nutritionist would ever ensorse cutting down to unhealthy levels (like I was on - about 600 calories a day)

2 Cut out all sweet fruit - stick to berries only. It's important your body has a break from processed and sweet food so try and keep fruit consumption to a minimum, especially those very acidic orange and grapefruit juices.

3 Cut out dairy, wheat, red meet and caffeine. Eliminating these four is certainly enough to give you a massive health boost. The caffeine starve will give you the WORST headache for 2 days but find something you can replace that hot cup of tea/coffee with (I like a segment of lemon or just plain boiling hot water) and you won't miss it too much.

4 Keep in mind the foods you need for vitamins and minerals - I am sure that is the reason I am sick this week - I had no iron, not enough vitamins and no protein in my diet for nearly a week and that just can't be good for you!

5 Stick to it! I am glad I did, just choose a length of time - 3 or 5 days is enough and stick to it come hell or high water.

Good luck and remember - don't go extreme!! ( Just a little lesson I have learnt - again!!)