Jason Vale - The Juice Master - Turbo-charge Your Life in 14 Days

It is true that travelling makes it tricky, but don’t think for a millisecond that you can’t eat healthily or even do this programme when ‘on the road’. Again, if someone said they’d give you a million pounds if you could find a way to eat healthily while ‘on the road’ – you’d soon find a way. It’s not that you can’t eat healthily when on the road; it’s that you won’t. It hardly takes a great deal of preparation to eat an apple on the go or to throw together a decent wholemeal sandwich for the journey; and there isn’t a hotel or restaurant where you can’t find something healthy to eat. After all, you can get fish, veg and salad almost anywhere.

I was once in the company of a man who had just written a book on weight loss and how easy it can be. Someone asked him, as politely as possible, why, if it was all so easy, he was himself, well, fat. He went on to try to explain that it was harder for him because he lived in Spain! Now why on earth living in Spain prevents you from eating well is a mystery to one and all, but this just proves that if someone wants to try to justify their eating they will say anything, no matter how ludicrous it may sound.

If you are ‘on the road’, instead of instantly saying, ‘But I can’t because…’ ask yourself an empowering ‘but’ – ‘But what could I do to eat healthily while I’m away?’ You will find that by asking that question, you will instantly give yourself a good chance of finding an answer. Remember, there is always a way if you stop the BS excuses and ask the right questions.

On the surface this may appear true for many people. You may have bought this book because you want more energy. However, a lack of energy is no excuse for not getting nutritionally and physically fit. After all, how much energy does it take to pick up a piece of fruit and eat it? How much energy do you need to put some fish and veggies in a steamer and turn the knob? Even going for a long walk hardly requires the raw energy of Linford Christie, now does it?

You may not have enough energy to do various things you want, but eating well is not one of them. Once again, it’s funny how the same people who don’t have enough energy to prepare good food seem to find enough energy to get off the sofa and hit McDonald’s or find their way to the pub!

I will cover this point in greater depth later, but people who go to the gym will know that if they feel tired and hungry at the end of the day but somehow muster the energy to get to the gym, when they leave they’re less hungry and less tired than before they went in. Why? Because by moving their body they have given a good blast of oxygen to their cells and have cleaned out a lot of the dead cells that have built up during the day. This leaves the person’s system feeling lighter and their mind clearer, and gives them an overall feeling of increased energy. On top of that, because they’ve given their body a good dose of two of the primary human needs – oxygen and water – they are now less hungry.

I was filming a documentary-style programme for Channel 5 entitled ‘Fat Families – Slim Chance’. One of the mothers was a massive 27 stone (378 lb/171.5 kg) in weight and she was just 27 years old. Even worse, her daughter was 141/2 stone (203 lb/92 kg) and she was just 9 years old! As you can imagine the mother – Michelle – had a suitcase full of excuses, but one excuse she couldn’t make was she didn’t have enough time. Time was one thing her entire family had plenty of. She didn’t work and rarely left the house. In fact she hadn’t even been to the supermarket herself for over 4 years! The first time I saw her I said, ‘Right, we’re going shopping to get some healthy stuff in.’ Immediately it was met with a ‘but I can’t, because…’ response. She claimed she couldn’t go because she was tired and had a bad back. This is what I call a ‘double but’. The more ‘buts’ a person has the bigger the health and fitness problem, and, of course, the bigger the actual butt!

Now if I thought she had had a back so bad that she really couldn’t move then I would have left it. However, I’ve been in this business long enough to know that anyone that size didn’t get that way without a million ‘I can’t, because…’ excuses. The fact is that if at the end of the shopping trip someone had been there to reward her with a cheque for £100,000, she would have been skating round the aisles.

‘But What About M.E.?’

I realize that some people do have a genuine reason to feel lethargic; in particular I’m talking about M.E. and CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). Not everyone who has been diagnosed with M.E. or CFS genuinely has those conditions; many just have a lack of physical fitness and mental drive. However, for those who genuinely have these conditions they are certainly very real and drinking a few freshly extracted juices isn’t going to cut the mustard. But again even those genuinely with M.E. and CFS don’t have to let their illness control every aspect of their lives and having M.E. or CFS doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to help the situation. The biggest problem with those with M.E. and CFS is that they tend to say, ‘But I can’t as I have M.E.’ before they say anything else. This often leads to a state of helplessness and a brain which in the end refuses to seek possible ways to improve the situation.

There is NO QUESTION that no matter what the disease, if the person DOESN’T SMOKE, drinks very moderately, EATS WELL, has a positive outlook and does their best to do as much exercise as they can, as well as seeking out as much good air and sunshine as possible – THEY WILL FEEL BETTER than if they didn’t make any changes.

The truth is even if you have been diagnosed with either condition and you want to improve you must, like everyone else, stop the ‘buts’ and do everything within your power to help your situation.

Yes, and I’ll never look like Brad Pitt, but so what? It’s not about looking like someone else, or being like someone else. It’s about getting a better body shape for you and being a more vibrant you.

When I was fat and covered from head to toe with psoriasis, I used to look at people with good physiques and clear skin and dream of being them. What I was wishing for was not to be them, but a slim and clear-skinned me. I’m not exactly the best-looking biscuit in the barrel, and I certainly don’t have a true six pack or a perfect body, but I’m a slimmer, trimmer version of my former self. I have the energy I need and I’m as happy as pie with it.

You may never look like Jennifer Aniston or Brad Pitt, but then neither will Jennifer or Brad. It’s no secret that magazine pictures of glamorous celebrities are not exactly the real deal. Some of the best make-up artists, photographers, lighting experts and airbrush wizards have all played their part in making them look incredible. Don’t get me wrong, Jennifer and Brad look good with a capital G and of course genes clearly played a part in this, but we should never want to be other people – we are all unique and we should always embrace that.