The finish line

The JOOS Reboot has ended...3 weeks and 10 lbs later...I must say, this experience was more than worth it! 3 weeks ago I gave up Meat, Wheat, Dairy, Artificial and heavily Processed foods, artificial sugars and caffeine. Additionally, I was having 2 JOOS per day...one in the AM and one in the PM. My biggest meal was in the middle of the day and snacks whenever I was hungry. The adjustment was a bit of a challenge at first but became more comfortable by the second week and somewhat of a habit by the end. I am now 2 days PR (post reboot) and I continue to observe many of the same principles that have made me feel so strong and healthy over the past few weeks. I have experimented with adding the "restricted" foods back onto my plate in a singular fashion as a way of examining how they make me feel. I have noticed that my body/mind has become much more aware and sensitive to the effects of food. Caffeine makes me wired (these effects were previously dulled due to the amount of coffee I was drinking prior to the reboot), Fish Taco's seemed to work well for me, Sweet tastes are much more noticeable and Beer made me feel a little bloated (several more tests needed to confirm this one!). Other than feeling great and losing a few pounds (not my primary intention going into this), I am definitely noticing an increased mindfulness around my eating choices. One thing that I am wrestling with, however, is what exactly is it that is causing me to feel great? Was it the JOOS? Was it the 1 big meal per day? or was it the elimination of a particular food that my body had a hard time digesting? Truthfully, I believe it is probably a synergistic combination of everything but I believe that the 2 biggest factors for ME were the mid-day big meal and the 2 JOOS daily. The mid-day meal was very satisfying and only left me slightly hungry in the evening. The JOOS and a small snack would hold me over and my body became primed to maximize its healing time while I was sleeping. I believe that this is why I was waking up with so much energy. I guess the interesting thing for me was that while I missed coffee,pizza and grilling a burger on the back deck during a beautiful summer evening...I also felt so damn good that I had to wonder which activity was serving me better. Yes, I will go back to enjoying those items once again, however, it will be tempered by my knowledge of the effect that it has on my system. There is most certainly an awareness within me that will guide my eating based on intuition, experimentation and listening to my body. Great experience and one that I will look forward to doing again soon...Thanks to those who have checked out the blog....blogs are an interesting concept to me (feels very self-important at times), oh well.. maybe i'll cover that one on my next post. Be Well -Dan

End of 2nd week on the Reboot

Today marks the 15th day of the Reboot. Started off the day at 6:00am when I woke up on my own (no alarm or crying baby)...still having loads of energy in the morning and not waking up hungry. This morning I had a JOOS Green Lemonade (Apple, Celery, Cucumber, bok choy, kale chard , collards, ginger, tumeric, lemon and lime). The joos was delicious, but I must admit that it tasted rather sweet to me. It is interesting how the sensitivity of my palate to sugar has changed over the past couple of weeks. Things that I once found to "normal" tasting, now taste sweet...amazing how desensitized we can become to the "experience" of our normal routine. In any event, energy has been steady throughout the day...even directly after lunch (which was usually a time in the past that I would hit a wall). At night, my sleep has been solid and I have been falling asleep seconds after my head hits the pillow. All in all, the reboot is making me feel great. 1 more week to go...I'll keep you posted.

Week 1..done!

Week 1 of the JOOS Reboot has come to an end and I am still alive. In fact, very alive! Tons of energy, enjoying the fresh JOOS first thing in the morning as a great way to jumpstart the day (it's much easier than eating 2 pounds of fruits and veggies first thing in the morning!). The energy that I have can only be described as "grounded" and "sustained". Very few fluctuations throughout the day and when I get into bed at night....i'm out. I'm not sure if this is related to the lack of caffeine but I must imagine this has something to do with it. I weened myself off the java to avoid headaches and now I am going without it. Of all the things that I had to part with for the reboot...coffee is the hardest. Interestingly enough...it is more of the tradition of having coffee that I miss more than the "kick" it gives me. So now, as I sit in a coffee shop writing this blog, I am doing so with an iced passion tea rather than a coffee...tasty, but not the same. I don't want to talk about it anymore or I'll cave-in.
I have received several questions from friends and family about the Reboot so I will use this space to answer some of them.

Nate in Boston wrote:
"To do the cleanse, you have to go somewhere every few days to buy the JOOS?" and "What are you eating for lunch while on the reboot?"

Dan:
Thanks for the questions Nate. I signed up for the JOOS Reboot on www.drinkjoos.com and selected the "depot" that I wanted my JOOS delivered to . I pick mine up at The Body Workshop in Dedham which is the most convenient depot to where I live. On pickup mornings (Monday, Wednesday & Friday) I pop over to TBW to grab my JOOS, exchange a "good-morning" with Frank (great dude who owns TBW) and set off with enough JOOS to last until my next pickup day. The payment however, does not take place at the depot locations, rather it takes place when I place the order on the website. The second part of your question regarding Lunch....For the most part, lunch consists of a grain like brown rice or quinoa (pronounced keen-wah, a delicious high protein grain and is loaded with calcium and other key nutrients), veggies and beans. I'm not a huge fan of tofu but I have used it sparingly. I have found that most ethnic restaurants offer several selections: Thai, Mediterranean, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican and Italian are all great options. This time of year is great for the Reboot because there is an abundance of fresh, local produce. We get ours from www.whitebarnfarm.org which is a small 4+ acre farm run by friends of ours Chris and Christy. If you are ever near Wrentham on a Tues, Wed, Fri or Sat...it's well worth stopping by their roadside stand.

Rory in New York wrote: "How does the JOOS taste" and "anything scary happening in the bathroom?"

Dan:
Thanks Rory- thanks for getting right at the good stuff. For me, the JOOS tastes great. My wife got me into juicing our own fruit and veg. about 3 or 4 years ago so I am used to the non-sweetened, non-industrialized, non-full of crapizized (my own word) taste of fresh juice. For some reason, the JOOS just tastes better than ours (and is much easier to clean up!). When the Reboot starts, the joos' start out sweeter (because they contain apple). As your body begins to adjust to being without excess sugar while on the Reboot, the amount of apple is decreased because you no longer desire such a sweet taste. By the middle to end of the cleanse, you are drinking JOOS that contains no apple and more green leafy vegetables (quite possibly one of the healthiest foods on earth). The amazing thing Rory is that I have met so many people who told me that before they start the reboot they could barely stand to take a sip of JOOS yet by the end of 3 weeks, they were physically craving it. It is pretty amazing how the human body responds when you treat it well.
The second part of your question made me laugh but it is a very valid question and probably one of the best indicators for me as to how this is working. I'll do my best to address this accurately while offending as few people as possible. The Reboot is a total body cleanse and not a colon cleanse....with that said, there have not been any total "blowouts" if you will (a welcomed relief for me as I have known several people who have done the colon cleanses and couldn't be more than 5 feet from a bathroom). I am in the "office" 1x a day and it is a casual affair that takes place first thing when I wake up (as apposed to having to be coaxed with a couple sips of coffee as in the past). Lastly, I would mention that there has been virtually no odor....almost as mind blowing to me as the fax machine.

more Q&A soon...

Reboot day 6- The International diet

6 days into the Reboot and feeling great. For those of you just joining the blog, I have embarked on a 3 week JOOS Reboot and have agreed to document my experience here on the JOOS Blog.

A little under a week ago, my wife, Jess and I committed to drinking 2 JOOS' per day and eliminating Meat, Wheat (gluten), Dairy, Refined Sugars, Processed Foods, Artificial Sweeteners and Caffeine (Jess went cold turkey on the coffee..I have been weening myself) from our diets. Today, on day six, we are both feeling GREAT...good energy level- especially in the AM and sustained throughout the day (including a workout). I have learned that I need to consume additional food on days that I exercise as I was getting light-headed after I workout. Mentally, I have a solid degree of clarity due, most likely, to the foods I am eating (and more likely, not eating) but also to the fact that there is an added degree of mindfulness applied to my food choices. I have enjoyed putting together our "big" meal of the day as I have been forced to utilize new ingredients and leverage multiple spice combinations to create delicious and nutritious feasts. Interestingly enough, if I think back on the meals that we have had since the Reboot started, almost all of them have been influenced by the cuisine from cultures outside of America. Mexican (Beans, Rice, Salsa & Guac), Thai (Green curry vegetables), Italian (Rice Pasta with Eggplant, portabella mushrooms & Garlic in a San Marzano and basil sauce) and Indian (Potato and garbanzo bean curry) flavors have been on call as I have struggled to find a solid American meal (Burger & Fries??) that satisfies the parameters of the Reboot. I find this quite interesting as I believe it speaks to a much larger issue in our culture around the sourcing, quality and cost of the "typical" American diet.