If you dabble in the world of weight loss wonder products, you will probably have heard of Juice Plus. Along with JuiceToU, it’s one of the top hyped up weight loss programmes out there. Juice Plus is made of fruit and vegetable protein and powder, so is apparently loads better than other meal replacements.
Thanks to this source of ingredients, Juice Plus is a LOT more expensive than other meal replacements. When I got it, it was £99 for a ‘four month supply’, or you could choose to pay £26 a month for four months, however it has gone up in price, which I assume is because of the increase in demand and popularity.
The reason I air quoted four months, is that they advertise their turbo weight loss plan (two shakes a day) all over the website, but the four months is based on their maintenance plan of one shake a day. The terms and conditions are in German as well, so I guarantee a lot of people have been tricked by this!
Once you’ve handed over your money, you get sent 6 tins of powder (these can be all chocolate, all vanilla or half of each). Each tin comes with a 35g scoop. You also get sent a diet plan, which has a list of foods you should avoid, and a recommended eating plan. These have obviously been put together to try and increase the credibility of Juice Plus as a detox programme, but actually kind of point out the fact that they are bullshitting a lot of their claims. For example, avoiding dairy is a must on Juice Plus. But you have to make the shakes with skimmed milk.. Right. Let’s face it, you lose weight on Juice Plus because two shakes a day is 500 calories, plus a meal and some healthy snacks of fruit and veg means your daily intake will be around 1200-1500, leading to weight loss.
So, how am I finding it?
The shakes are genuinely filling. I have mine with ice, skimmed milk and an occasional banana. The vanilla ones are nicest, with the chocolate shakes tasting a bit powdery. If I have a shake at 9am, I’m fine not eating until 1pm. For lunch, I have whatever I fancy so long as it comes under 600 calories. I’ll normally have a piece of toast or fruit before dinner, and then have my shake around 8pm.
Although you’re never really hungry, it can get really boring having one meal a day. I love cooking, and I’ve gone from around seven veg a day to one or two fruits. I can tell you now that my digestive system is probably not as up to scratch as it used to be! I have lost weight, around a pound a week but that does include the few odd kitkats, nachos and drinks. My bad!
Which brings me to the point that Juice Plus will not teach you how to eat healthy. For me, my diet is 80% healthy, 20% unhealthy which I think is quite a good mix as I go to the gym, I only resorted to Juice Plus to lose my last bit of fat before Mexico. If you’re unhealthy in general, I’d honestly say that Juice Plus would only be a quick fix for you and you’ll pile it back on when you stop.
I can’t vouch for how good JuicePlus is compared to other meal replacements, as I’ve never tried them. If you’re thinking of doing Juice Plus, do yourself a favour and try a Slimfast or own brand powder first, you’ll get an idea of whether you can stick it out long enough to justify the money. But then again, if you can stick it out on the cheaper powder, why bother paying more?
