My Juicy Story - Barbara Gunter
8 February 2010
We spoke to new juice convert Barbara Gunter about her progress with juicing and weight loss.
What's your background?
became overweight when I went to university at the age of 19. I have always eaten and cooked home-made food, but at university I didn't bother eating many vegetables; instead I ate a lot of pasta & bread (thinking that was fairly healthy!) didn't do enough exercise, and drank far too much alcohol. I lost some weight a few years back when I was extremely stressed at work, and again when I started doing some running.
I completed a half-marathon, but after that I stopped running and continued to eat the same amount of food, so put all my weight back on again. My problem has always been portion sizes, and not doing enough exercise. I have always enjoyed healthy food and a bit of exercise, but the weight never shifted.
How did you get into juicing?
I got into juicing through my boyfriend - he knew someone at work who had lost a couple of stone by following the juicing plan. He suggested that we tried the plan together, the first week we moved in together. We went out and bought the "Juice Yourself Slim" book and a Phillips juicer together, loaded up our trolley with fruit & veg and started on the week of juicing and soups. By Day 3 he had given up, but I persevered until the end of the week (not following the plan entirely to the letter, and not really doing enough exercise!).
I lost 3lbs that week despite this, and really loved the soups, smoothies and salads, particularly how easy they are to make and how delicious they were. After that week, I continued to avoid caffeine and was making smoothies for breakfast. I kept up the exercise - I joined the local running club and was going to the gym in the morning before work.
A couple of weeks later, I decided that because I had been so half-hearted about it the first time but still managed to lose a little bit of weight, I should give it another go. Having read the 7lbs in 7 days book, I started on that and the weight just fell off (it was easier this time as I didn't have the caffeine / sugar withdrawal symptons, plus I was already doing the exercise!). After that week I continued to do the juicing a few days at a time, and each time lost 2/3lbs, and the weight stayed off. Over the course of a month or so I had dropped over a stone and people started to tell me how great I looked. It continued to fall off after that, with my "a few days at a time" approach.
I now incorporate the juicing, healthy eating and exercise into my daily life. I bought the "Turbo-charge your life in 14 days" book (which I think is the most inspirational of the lot), and regularly make the recipes from the post-juicing section in between my spurts of juicing. I always find time to exercise several times during the week, and feel much better for it. I quite often take a large flask of my favourite smoothie into work and have it for breakfast and lunch, but take in a healthy, chewable alternative when I want some real food - my favourite lunch is sardines with brown rice and a huge portion of salad. I always have a box of nuts and seeds on me, so that I can satisfy my hunger during the day without reaching for the crisps.
I do treat myself now, but I eat healthily most of the time, so I don't feel guilty about it. I know that if I ever put any weight back on, I could lose it so quickly that it woudn't be a problem. I stick to the 80:20 rule - and easily - its not really that hard if you put your mind to it.
I am a real convert - I tell everyone about how I have achieved the weight loss and how inspirational the books are. My boyfriend loves the results and my friends and colleagues are really impressed; I have passed on details of Jason's books to several people.
My current goal is to lose another half a stone (which I think is very achievable) - I started out a size 16/14 & nearly 12 stone and I am now a 12/10 & under 10 stone. I would like to be a 10/8 before the Christmas season. I want to reach my 30th birthday next Feruary looking and feeling as good as I possibly can.
I owe it completely to Jason's books - everything I had tried before hadn't worked because I never stuck to it and didn't realise what was really healthy and how much I should be exercising! This works because of the kick up the backside the books give you, it helps you to take responsibility for what you put into your body and to stop making excuses.
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