How I lost 15 Kilos Juicing in Thailand

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Over the new year, I made a resolution to make some big changes about my life. I’m not the kind of person who usually gets ill and I cannot remember the last time I had a day off work. But last year was a wake-up for me as many times I suffered from flu-like symptoms and other aches and pains, and was using natural supplements on a major scale to help myself (by the way, Kratom is amazing for pain). I was also overweight and I knew there is something that I needed to do before it was too late. The big change for me was starting to juice (see my original blog Tips for Juicing in Thailand). I bought a Philips centrifugal juicer from Cantral Department store for about 4,000 Baht. I then proceeded to replace my breakfast with a healthy fruit or vegetable juice. At the same time I quit drinking coffee and eating fastfood at places such as KFC and McDonald’s.

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My aim was to do a limited juice detox where I would only drink juices the whole time. No meats or other solid food. I prepared myself for about six weeks experimenting with different recipes. Some people go straight into the detox but then they suffer withdrawal symptoms.  For me the two weeks of the juice detox was easy. I didn’t have any side affects as I had already quit coffee beforehand. I had also been more conscious of what I was putting in my mouth. I was basically having fun shopping for fruit and vegetables at the local markets. Variety is always very important, but I had my favourites too. In the evenings I exercised on my bicycle. I could have gone on much longer but I missed eating Thai street food.

From the time that I started experimenting with juicing on 1st January to when I finished the two week juice detox on 12th March I had lost a total of ten kilos and felt great. I no longer had a need for coffee. Before I started juicing I needed a coffee when I first got up in the morning and then numerous more cups during the day to keep me awake. I was also drinking coffee in the evening. Now I no longer feel tired or fatigued. There is a new spring in my step and I feel great about myself for the first time in years. I didn’t start juicing as a way to lose weight. It was more as a healthy way of life. The weight loss was just an extra benefit and an incentive to continue.

When I came off the juice detox my original plan was to go back to juicing for breakfast and then eating as normal for lunch and dinner. I had seen a video diary of an American guy who had just successfully lost a lot of weight after a 60 day juice detox. Pretty cool but I found it strange when he talked about putting away his juicer. I searched for more of his videos on youtube and low and behold, I found another one called something like “Doing the juice detox for the second time”. He had put on all that weight again. His mistake was just seeing this as a diet. It is more a change in your way of life. Juicing taught me to be more aware of what I ate. I cannot eat a burger or minced meat any more as I have watched documentaries about how they are really processed and what is in them. Enough to put me off for life.

So, in mid-march I continued with juicing. I had recently bought a blender so this helped mix things up. I alternated between clear juices which had no fibre to eating the whole fruits in smoothies. I also splashed out on buying a masticating juicer which was four times as expensive as my old one. The advantage with these is that you get more juice and also you can store for 2-3 days. Which now meant I didn’t have to juice several times a day any more. Day one after the juice detox went something like this: Breakfast juice containing beetroot, cucumber, celery and carrot. Lunch of pork chops, jacket potato and vegetables. Dinner of….. a smoothie. I was so full from lunch that I didn’t have any room that night. And the next night too. I guess my stomach had shrunken a little.

Two months have passed since I finished doing the juice detox and I have now settled into a routine. I didn’t plan this but I basically only eat once a day now and nearly always only before noon. I juice for breakfast, eat anything I like for lunch (but no fast food), and then have a smoothie or fruit salad with yoghurt for dinner. I sometimes make a homemade soup in the evening like sweetcorn or carrot soup. I am very content with this. I never go hungry. Sometimes, due to my job, I have to attend gala dinners in the evening, and so I usually then have a very light lunch to prepare myself for these. It’s now been four and a half months since I started experimenting with juicing on 1st January. In that time I have lost just over 15 kilos and the weight is still slowly coming off. I have gone from being overweight to just being fat. I have every intention on carrying on. Wish me luck!

28 thoughts on “How I lost 15 Kilos Juicing in Thailand

  • March 3, 2014 at 2:43 pm
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    Hi Richard, I live in Bangkok and am about to start a juice fast and would appreciate some information to get started: I’ve been advised to build on a base of Kale, Apples, Celery, etc. Can you share, where can you buy dark-green Kale (I guess it’s western style Kale) here? I looked at Big C, Max Value, and Villa Thonglor today and had no luck. Are there good native thai vegetables that can substitute? What are some of your favorite mixes with ingredients that are easy to find in BKK markets/supermarkets? Thanks!

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    • March 3, 2014 at 9:51 pm
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      They have kale in places like Big C and Tesco Lotus but it doesn’t look the same as Western kale. I don’t think it matters. I use cucumbers as a base and add things like beetroot, kale, celery etc.

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  • October 17, 2013 at 8:32 pm
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    It is now October 2013. So, about 7 months since I did the two week juice detox. Lots of people thought that I would put on the weight again once I stopped. But that hasn’t happened. It’s remained pretty steady fluctuating up and down about 2 kilos. I am now in the middle of my second detox for this year. My plan is to do two of these per year. I will do a new blog once I have finished.

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  • September 8, 2013 at 9:58 am
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    Hi Richard, how about an update on juicing? Still doing it? Still have kept the weight off? Also, do you have any exercise included in your routine and any issues with getting protein/calories needed for the exercise?

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  • May 18, 2013 at 10:26 pm
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    Hi Richard,

    Always appreciate your true sharing. Have been following your articles since I first came across this place during the flood disaster, truly impressed you cycled to places and updated us the flood conditions. And now the health issues…

    As Carrie, I’m curious about your juice recipe, perserverance is the success factor, though. May I know which brand and model of Masticating Juicer are you using?

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  • May 17, 2013 at 7:07 pm
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    This is so inspiring. May I have your juicing recipe??

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  • May 15, 2013 at 2:00 pm
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    Congrats! This story is inspiring. I should pull out the juicer and kick it back into action. I think we have the same Philips model I see in your other post, but we just seem to use it in phases. It would probably help to make a set plan like you did and then stick to it. Luckily Thailand has so many wonderful and cheap fruits to choose from.

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  • May 15, 2013 at 1:50 am
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    I’m another convert, thanks to Richard. I bought myself a cheap juicer from Big C, just to try it. Thought it would get used once and thrown away, but, not at all. I juice every day. I work unsociable hours, sleep twice a day and tend to eat unhealthy. Now, I substitute one meal for juice. Big C has a reduced rack that has lots of juicable fruit and veg. I’m saving up for a mastacating juicer, but they are expensive. I want to buy the same one that Spike has. His blog has been very informative about juicing, too. I haven’t lost any weight yet, but enjoying getting all that juicy goodness down the hatch. Maybe I’ll take it more seriously once I have a better juicer that makes juice I can store and take to work. Juicing rules.
    Phil

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  • May 14, 2013 at 11:40 pm
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    great stuff you come up with all the time and the juice idea is wonderful,now to get my thai sweetie there will be fun…..really enjoy your photos and blog about thailand.Thanks again

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  • May 14, 2013 at 2:44 pm
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    Good luck. I myself lost about 28 kg since october doing a diet with proteine and very few carbs. It worked great for 3 months, after that the mood sunk a bit, but I am still around 23 kg lower compared to when I started. And the last 3 months have been more off diet than on diet. But today I started again. I went from obese to overweight (or slightly overweight as there are so many terms to it and they tend to differ). Now I want to lose around 15 kg and I will be at the so called ‘perfect’ weight for my height (I was Always too short for my weight). Now I am 43 and I can not remember being this weight for more than the last 50% of my life…. So wish me luck too for the coming 15 kg!

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  • May 14, 2013 at 1:35 pm
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    Hello Richard, there is something I don’t understand : in the text you write ” from 1st of january… to 12th of March” and you say “two weeks juice detox”… so you did the first juicy diet 2 weeks or 9 weeks ?

    Sorry to ask you that but are you living alone ? And if not, how did you manage with your partner and eventually child(ren) ? Since I do cooking to three to four people, one or two times a day, I don’t see how I could follow you without leaving home a go to a temple for some weeks…

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    • May 14, 2013 at 2:15 pm
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      Juicing and doing the detox are two different things. Sorry I wasn’t clear. The juice detox was just for 2 weeks when I didn’t eat solid food. In the run up to this I had fruit/vegetable juice as one meal per day. Doing a juice detox is like rebooting your body. You would only need to do it once or twice a year. With kids, I find its best to get them involved as they too will love preparing, chopping and drinking juices that they concocted. But obviously it won’t be a meal for them. So, yes, it’s hard at first to see family members and friends tucking into steaks in front of you. But I’m now eating at least one & sometimes two meals per day as normal and so easier to be sociable. For me, breakfast is the easiest one to have just juice.

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  • May 13, 2013 at 10:25 pm
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    awesome story, i needed to lose 8kg, so far only 1. LOL

    well done!

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  • May 13, 2013 at 8:48 pm
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    Great work Richard keep it up it’s a good feeling to lose those Kilos

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  • May 13, 2013 at 7:26 pm
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    My favourite is something I call Simply Red: Beetroot, red bell pepper, tomatoes, carrots. It’s very red!

    I find bell peppers add a pleasant tang to almost any juice, less sharp than lime.

    Oh, and blending a juice with an avacado adds a lot of body and goodness.

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  • May 13, 2013 at 6:57 pm
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    Way to go! Juicing is good for you and me!

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  • May 13, 2013 at 6:57 pm
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    “where can I buy beetroot?”

    Villa Market (others are sure to have it as well).

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  • May 13, 2013 at 5:47 pm
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    Congrats Richard! 15 kilos is a lot of weight to lose in such a short time…and you did it without going hungry or missing your previous lifestyle. Awesome!

    Juicing was part of my daily ritual before I moved to Thailand. After reading this post I’m tempted to get back to it, although I don’t really have any weight issues. I simply love the taste of fresh juice and certainly welcome the health aspects of juicing. My favorite was carrot mixed with either dark green vegetables/herbs or carrot mixed with apple. What is your favorite so far?

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    • May 13, 2013 at 7:03 pm
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      I just made a fruit juice containing four guavas, four half ripe mangoes and half a pineapple for sweetness. Lots of goodness in that. For tomorrow’s breakfast I made a juice containing beetroot, carrot, cucumber and celery.

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  • May 13, 2013 at 5:37 pm
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    I think it also helps that fruits in Thailand are cheap. I can do the same thing here in the Philippines, but I would end up having a huge gaping hole in my pocket.

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  • May 13, 2013 at 5:36 pm
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    You can buy beetroot at the local markets (or the malls if you want to pay more.
    Thanks to Richard’s original post, I started juicing a month ago and every day I have one meal which is juice; plus some fruit juice with my breakfast. Plan to do a juice fast now that my body is used to the new diet.
    I have lost some weight (not sure how much because I am not overweight and didn’t measure too carefully0, but the main benefit is that I feel more healthy, and I know that I am treating my body with more respect than I used to.
    The most surprising change is that I used to always have coffee in the morning, couldn’t get going without it. After just a few days of juicing I lost interest in coffee and if I now have a cup just to be social, I don’t enjoy it at all!
    The only problem I have is finding enough variety of greens to juice. I tried what is called Kale here, but it looks different from that sold in Europe and I don’t like the taste. Bok Choy is OK, as is brocolli, but any other green suggestions would be welcome.

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    • May 13, 2013 at 7:01 pm
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      I agree kale doesn’t taste very nice but you can disguise the taste with fruit like apple. I use cucumber as the base.

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      • December 18, 2016 at 7:47 pm
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        I cannot find Kale in Chiang Rai where I live….what would you use as a substitute? Please email me at [email protected]
        Thank you so much!
        Justin

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  • May 13, 2013 at 5:09 pm
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    This sounds great, where can I buy beetroot?

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    • May 13, 2013 at 7:00 pm
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      I buy from Tesco Lotus/Big C. Usually about two for 25 Baht. I haven’t seen them in local markets yet.

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  • May 13, 2013 at 4:27 pm
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    I would think cutting out fast food would have done it for you, but I’m tempted to try out juicing as well

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  • May 13, 2013 at 4:15 pm
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    Well done Richard and you got me going after first round 🙂

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  • May 13, 2013 at 4:13 pm
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    Keep it up richard, juicing safed my life too

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