Today I wanted to share with you all something new that I have recently tried out: The Soulmatefood Perfect Juice Diet. There were a few reasons I decided to try this product out. Firstly, juice diets made their rounds on Instagram a while back and I never had the opportunity to try one. I wasn't convinced that they could achieve the rapid weight loss they claimed but I was curious to see what the effects of the juices during and after the 5 day diet would be. Secondly, I had just come back from a two week indulgence heavy holiday in Florida and felt like my stomach could use a rest. I had eaten so much cheese, fried food and sugary treats while I was away and I felt so fat for it. I needed to kick start a new healthy regime and I thought that this could do that.
The reason it has taken me so long to try one of these diets is because they are so expensive to do. This one comes with 5 juices and a tea per day for five days (25 juices and 5 teas in total) and costs £200. That's £6.67 for each juice/tea. When did you last pay £7 for a juice or tea? As you can see they are not even in big bottles. There's only around 200 ml of juice in each bottle! But what they lack in size they do make up for in taste (most of the time). It's the same 5 flavours of juice and the same tea everyday, which you are supposed to have every two and a half hours from each other (with a glass of water to avoid dehydration).
The handy little guide sheet that comes with the diet kit
On the first few days of the diet I kept a note on my phone of all the juices and my thoughts on them (and how I was feeling throughout the day). So I thought I'd include that as a diet diary, grouping them by juice because my experiences were pretty similar each day.
Juice One: Carrot, Apple, Ginger
This one was very tangy. The fiery ginger warms your throat which I personally really liked. I love the taste of ginger in juices and it was very strong in this so I was really happy with how this tasted but I can imagine those who like milder tastes might not be so keen. The only issue I did have with this juice was that it had odd bits in it which put me off since I did not like the texture of them. I disliked the bits so much that I could only give this juice a 4/5 rating when the taste alone would have given it a 5. Since I sleep in really late during the holidays I had this juice at 12pm but was already really hungry by 14:20. You'll notice that the mention of hunger or craving food and needing to pee feature heavily in this food diary, mainly because this diet made me so preoccupied with those feelings!
Juice Two: Parsnip, Pear, Lime
This one was surprisingly nice. I am not usually a fan of parsnips but apparently I like them in juices, who knew? The reason I liked it was because the juice literally just tasted like Copella Apple Juice. There is actually apple juice in the drink as a lesser component but that was literally all I could taste. Weird. I would give this one a 5/5 for taste. I did however start to feel the effects of the lack of solid food after this drink. I began to feel very tired an hour after drinking this drink and dizzy another hour after that. I also had to keep going to pee. It was ridiculous, I had to plan my day around when I could stop to go to the loo because there was just so much liquid in my system (don't forget you drink a glass of water with each juice too).
Juice Three: Blueberry, Mint, Kale
As I have succinctly put it in my notes, "Weird. I still kinda dig it though". This one has a bitter taste which I assume comes from the kale in the drink and also leaves a weird after taste in your mouth. I gave this a 3/5. Between this juice and Four I started to experience a headache as well as increased tiredness and let's not forget the ever-full bladder.
Juice Four: Coconut Water, Yuzu, Blue Spirulina
This drink was definitely the coolest colour. I loved the vibrant baby blue colour! The taste of the drink also really surprised me since I'm so used to coconut water being sweet, however this was surprisingly tangy. You see, I had never heard of Yuzu before and so wasn't aware that it was a citrus fruit from East Asia (which would account for the tangy taste!). This drink tasted similar to grapefruit juice or still lemonade but wasn't as sharp. It was nice and refreshing though. I gave this one a 4/5.
Juice Five: Kale, Avocado, Coconut
I was not a fan of this one. It was thicker than the rest of the juices and also bitter (that darn kale again) which led to an awful aftertaste. I also found the creaminess of the avocado odd in conjunction with the bitter kale. This was definitely my least favourite and only scored a 2/5, unfortunately.
Bedtime Tea
The bedtime tea was pleasant too. It was a nice change to have something hot for once! It was berry red in colour and tasted fruity but I have no idea what was inside it because they don't tell you! I give it a 4/5.
By the end of the night I felt full (despite feeling hungry at many intervals during the day) but not bloated which was nice. I was also sleepy by 11pm which is very early for me.
One thing I really struggled with when doing this diet was the lack of solid food. Usually I am fine with not eating much food and am actually in the very bad habit of skipping/forgetting meals. But as soon as I'm not allowed food it was the one thing constantly on my mind! It was bizarre. I really struggled. In fact, I was so preoccupied with food throughout those five days that I made a list of all the foods I wanted to eat as soon as I finished it. I think one reason I found it so hard was because I am living at home at the moment and so our house is full of different snacks as well as my mum's cooking. If I had tried this at my university flat there would be less temptation because I don't have an abundance of food just lying around to snack on! The constant thoughts of food made this a very painful and drawn-out experience for me!
So in terms of results I personally didn't feel or see any drastic weight loss. Unfortunately I couldn't find any working scales in my house to do a proper comparison but I did notice that my tummy did seem slightly smaller and certainly felt less bloated. In fact, when I started eating solid food again I could actually feel the difference because my stomach felt so much heavier and fatter. It did feel uncomfortable to eat solid food again so I guess my stomach shrank over the five days which I guess is a sign that it did do something. If I had paid attention to my stomach and my newly reduced appetite, I might have been able to sustain some weight loss by eating less. However, dummy that I am, I decided that I should eat ALL the foods I put on that list I made and completely negated all the good work I had done with my diet. What. An. Idiot. Well I guess I'm going to have to go back to good old exercise and a healthy eating plan!
Despite how much I grumbled about doing this juice diet, I think I might possibly do another one sometime in the future, but definitely not any time soon! If I do decide to take up another one I think I'm going to do one of the DIY diets as a cheap alternative. I know that the NutriBullet comes with some information of doing a similar juice/smoothie detox but it's a two smoothies to one normal meal a day ratio which I think will be much easier for me to stick to!
I hope you guys have found this informative and also enjoyed a nice little chuckle at my expense. I know I was being melodramatic about this diet but seriously, this girl needs hers food! Let me know if you've tried this juice diet, or any other ones for that matter. Until next time.
Lots of love, Kira xxx
