# The Juice Master: Turbo-charge Your Life in 14 Days

Jason Vale

A practical 14 day diet plan with 30 raw energy recipes from leading health coach and seminar leader, Jason Vale – aka The Juice Master. A motivational read with a practical plan that will inspire you to fuel your body with the right stuff!Jason Vale is fast becoming the UK's most popular health coach. Here 'the Juice Master' offers his first ever 14 day diet programme.It includes:- no wheat, no yeast, and 'man made' carbs at lunchtime only- 70% of your daily menu to be water-rich 'live' foods- not eating 3 hours before going to bed- exercising twice a day for 45–60 mins- TV and recreational computer time being kept to a max of 2 hours a day- 30 great recipes, including Green Veggie Power Soup, Turbo Salad, Protein Snack Attack and Green Power SmoothieJason Vale tackles the most common excuses we use to let ourselves off the hook: 'I can't because… I've got a slow metabolism… I don't have time…' and offers inspirational stories of people who have overcome giant obstacles to achieve their goal.This book will help you move from a dieting mentality to one where you focus on what you can have rather than what you think you can't have.

## Copyright

Thorsons

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published by HarperThorsons 2005

This updated edition published 2014

© Jason Vale 2005, 2014

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Jason Vale asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Cover photographs @ Shutterstock.com

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 9780007194223

Ebook Edition © APRIL 2014 ISBN: 9780007390274

Version: 2017-08-09

### Praise. Turbo-charge Changed My Life!

When I first wrote this book I was hoping that it would successfully inspire people to much better health and an improved lifestyle. However, I had no idea just how much difference it would make to so many people. I now receive many hundreds of emails and letters every week from people all over the world who have read the book, completed the programme and made unbelievable changes to their body shape, health and life.

Here are just a few genuine letters from the ever growing postbag – I hope, like the book itself, that they inspire you to an incredible life change.

‘Just had to share my delight with you on completion of the 14-day Turbo-charge programme. I have lost 181bs in 14 days! Truly amazing as I have tried them all before and never had such startling results with such ease and enjoyment. My husband looks and feels 10 years younger and is spreading the word to his “food police” mates. I overheard him explaining to one that “It isn’t a diet, it’s a permanent change of lifestyle.”’ Alison

‘Four weeks ago I started the “Turbo-charge Your Life” programme, and now when I try to eat a fast-food burger I feel physically ill! I’ve lost weight, I look great, I feel great, and I’m bursting with energy for the first time in 15 years. I’ve never been happier. Thank you, Jason. For the paltry price of a juicer and your book, my life has changed completely. Best regards.’ Tony

‘Hi Jason, would just like to say thank you so much! I’m 15 and have been overweight all my life, constantly trying to slim down – that was until my mum bought your book, which I read. I’ve lost a stone (14lbs) and the weight just keeps going. I’ve never been happier or felt better. Thank you!’ Jenny

### THIS BOOK WORKS. READ IT – DO THE PROGRAMME – CHANGE YOUR LIFE IN JUST 14 DAYS

Take the Turbo-charge Challenge

FREE PLACE on Jason Vale’s Mind and Body Detox retreat for the person who makes the biggest change on the Turbo-charge programme – see www.thejuicemaster.com for competition details or call 0044 (0) 8451 30 28 29.

## Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright

Praise

Introduction

Quote of the Decade

No More Excuses!

Get Moving

Ditch the Diets

Liquid Engineering for Your Body

The Seven Deadly Dietary Sins

The Six Essential Dietary Needs

Seeing Is Believing

The Turbo-charge Your Life in 14 Days Programme

Juices & Power Smoothies

Appendix

Keep Reading

About the Author

About the Publisher

### Introduction. 14 Days Guaranteed to Turbo-charge Your Life for Ever

Let me make something very clear from the start: this book has been designed not simply to give you a kick up the backside on the health, fitness and life front, but to literally send a rocket booster up there!

It doesn’t matter who you are, how many ‘self-help’ books you’ve read, how many seminars you’ve been to, how many times you’ve been on a diet or started an exercise programme in the past. It doesn’t matter how much you may think you ‘know it all’ when it comes to this subject – the fact is we could all do with a bit of inspirational hard talking to move us from simply thinking about making a change ‘one day’ to actually getting off our backsides and just doing it.

The information in this book will not only help you to do just that, but much more importantly, it will explain exactly what is needed, on both a mental and physical level, to make the change stick for good. The last thing you want is what usually happens with virtually every health/fitness/diet/programme – you get all motivated, stick to it for a while, start looking and feeling good only to find yourself back where you started a few months down the line.

So many of us are good at the start. We are excited and have all the right intentions. But a massive 95 per cent of the time we revert back to our old ways and spend every weekend telling ourselves (and the world) that all will change again on…Monday!

My aim is simple: to supply you with the correct motivational, nutritional and fitness information to inspire you to complete the unique and highly effective 14-day Turbo-charge Your Life programme. I will also show you how to tap into the right psychology on a regular basis to enable you to create an amazing, compelling life where you truly live as opposed to ‘survive’.

### FAT Chance

I know that weight loss in particular is a huge issue for many people (pardon the pun), as indeed it was for myself for many years. This is hardly surprising as we are now in the unenviable position of holding the title of ‘The Fattest Nation in Europe’ (and as you’ve no doubt seen that’s up against some pretty big competition!). A massive three-quarters of the population of the UK are now classed as overweight or obese and children as young as 5 are now getting heart disease and ‘early onset’ diabetes. You cannot pick up a magazine or newspaper without mention of ‘The Obese Time Bomb’ waiting to explode. This is why I want to get something very clear from the start:

### I can guarantee that you will lose 8-14 lb on the 14-dayTurbo-charge Your Life programme.

That’s if you need to lose weight clearly!

The weight loss I’m talking about here is in just the first 14 days, but as this programme will turbo-charge you for life, you will soon find you reach your ideal weight and body shape. What’s even better is that the programme has also been designed to improve the skin, add body and shine to your hair, increase your energy levels and, more importantly, change the way you feel about food and exercise for ever.

The Turbo-charge Your Life programme is much, much more than a simple ‘lose a few pounds’ programme. In fact, not everyone follows the programme to lose weight. Many people simply want to feel light, to experience amazing health and tap into a level of raw energy they haven’t had since they were children. Many people, especially men, also want to increase their weight by building muscle, which is why I want to make my second point very clear:

### This programme is not just for Overweight people.

Far from it. It has been designed for everyone who finds it hard either to kick-start or continue with a healthy, balanced eating and exercise programme. It’s designed for all those who are fully aware of what they should eat for better health and why they should exercise more, but for some reason just cannot tap into the right frame of mind to get themselves to take action on a consistent basis. It’s designed for those who have started many programmes in the past but never quite achieved their health and body potential. This unique programme is also designed for all those who not only want to improve their health, but also need the ultimate kick up the backside.

However, long before we get into the programme which will, without question, change your life, you have to do the very thing that will make following the programme one of the most easy and enjoyable experiences you have ever had, and that is you must…

### Read the Book!

We are living in an extremely bizarre time when it comes to health, exercise, meal preparation and dieting in general. As a nation we now have more cooking shows, more celebrity chefs and we buy more cookery books than any other country in Europe. However, we also buy more takeaways than any other country in Europe. In fact the British spend £7,000 a minute on ready meals; that’s three times more than any other country in Europe. The projection is that we will be spending £5 billion on ready meals by 2007.

We also have more ‘slimming’ clubs, more health and exercise books and more celebrity ‘get slim and fit’ DVDs than any other country in Europe, yet we are also the fattest and most unhealthy country anywhere in Europe.

### Why?

Because although we are good at buying the books, it appears we haven’t actually mastered the art of reading them! Sure, we’re good at flicking through them, but rarely, if ever, do we read the whole book and get around to acting on any of the information.

Virtually everyone I know has Jamie, Delia and Nigella in their kitchen, but I’ll be damned if I’ve ever seen them cooking a recipe from any of them. These celeb cookery books have become the food equivalent of Hello! or OK! magazine – great for good food voyeurs, but unfortunately that’s where it usually ends.

In the real world, most people have all the right intentions, but the reality remains the same. Most of us either grab a takeaway, tuck into a sandwich and crisps or shove a ready meal in the oven, believing we’ve made dinner! It appears that Jamie, Nigella and co aren’t in the kitchen to help us prepare wonderful, wholesome food every night, but more as the ultimate kitchen fashion accessory. In fact, I believe a big, glossy Jamie Oliver or a sultry Nigella book is now even more important to kitchen aesthetics than the Smeg hob itself. Gleaming state-of-the-art cookers remain gleaming, not because we are such super cleaners, but because we rarely actually turn them on.

At the same time, virtually every house I go into has some sort of self-help, diet or exercise book on the shelves, and yet the people who bought them are eating rubbish, watching hours of TV and complaining about their size, shape or lives in general. It was estimated that at the height of Atkins mania, 20 million people in the UK, Europe and the US were on the diet. However, what this figure actually meant was that 20 million people bought the book, but that doesn’t mean Jack. Just because 20 million people had a copy doesn’t mean for one second they actually read the book.

We need to remember that at exactly the same time Atkins made number one on the New York Times bestsellers list it was announced that for the first time in history over 60 per cent of the US population were considered overweight, obese or morbidly obese. Perhaps people weren’t so much reading the books as eating them! Even the late Dr Atkins himself may have been guilty of this as, according to a popular UK newspaper, at the time of his death he weighed in at a whopping 2501bs.

### Buying the book isn’t enough – you have to read it!

I will tell you now that the information in this book will work. It will change the way you look at health and exercise. Without question, it will not just give you a good kick-start but will turbo-charge every single aspect of your life. I would even go as far as to say it would be impossible to read this book and not be moved in some way to change your eating and exercise habits and so, in turn, your life. As completely alien as it may seem at this stage, by the time you finish the book you will actually look forward to daily exercise, you will love the process of eating well and you will know exactly what is needed if you want to turbo-charge any aspect of your life. But, let me make this point crystal clear, if you simply flick through the book, use it as a place mat or leave it on your shelf, then it’s got about as much chance of weaving its magic as George W Bush has of winning the Nobel Peace Prize!

### Ninety-five per cent of self-help books remain unread on people’s shelves.

Many people seem to think that by merely buying a book like this, they’ve done enough. You know what I mean. You feel good about the fact you’re at least taking steps towards a better body and life. Then you get home, have a quick flick, put it down and say, ‘I’ll just do this and then I’ll read it.’ Next thing you know, there are more things to do and now the book’s getting in the way. You then move it to one side and say, ‘Tomorrow – I’ll read it tomorrow!’ But once again you get caught up with the ‘more important’ things, and before you know what’s happened the book has found its way into a box or onto the bookshelf, never to see the light of day again. But at least you felt you were doing good for a moment – the moment you bought it.

It’s similar to all those people who feel good about joining a gym, but simply joining a gym will not get you fit – YOU HAVE TO GO! Equally, buying this book will be about as much use as a pork pie at a Jewish wedding unless you actually read it and act on the information.

As you have probably gathered, I’m pretty keen to get this point across and I am not averse to repeating myself to make myself heard. The reason I do this is not to treat my readers as if they’re a few biscuits short of the full packet, but because the more you hear something, the more it goes into both your conscious and subconscious mind.

To make absolutely certain that you know just how important I regard my first point, and with the danger of repeating myself again, I have dedicated a whole page to hammer the point home:


Glad that’s clear!

Don’t just read the book, but read it in the order it was intended to be read, from start to finish. Being about the most impatient person I know, I’m fully aware that despite my massive ‘READ THE BOOK’ message, you may still be tempted to go straight to the 14-day Turbo-charge Your Life plan and just get on with it. But please, please, please don’t. I will tell you now that if you do that, if you ignore my first piece of advice, the programme could well feel like just another diet/detox and exercise plan, and ultimately you will fail. Before you launch yourself into this life-changing programme, you must be mentally prepared first – it’s the mental preparation that makes the difference between turbocharging then crashing and turbo-charging, remaining up there and achieving the body, health and lifestyle you crave. If you’re not dedicated enough to simply read the book, you’ve also got to ask yourself what possible hope you have of being committed to the programme itself.

Fortunately, as you can probably tell, I write the way I speak, so you will find you whiz through this book in no time at all. For those people who have never sampled my books before, you will see as we go on that I’m not here to win any literature awards. I’m here simply to help you get the results you’re looking for. And if that means repeating certain points 20 times over, SHOUTING MY POINT, mildly swearing (at times) or being pretty blunt, then so be it. I don’t expect you to agree with everything I write, or even to like my style all of the time, but as long as you use your intelligence, taking what makes sense to you and dumping what doesn’t, you’ll find your life will excel. Sometimes you can read just one line of a book and it triggers something that changes you for ever. All I ask is for you to be open-minded throughout.

So if you’re ready to begin a journey that will turbo-charge every single aspect of your life, let’s begin…


### Quote of the Decade

Every now and then you hear just one sentence that not only warms your heart but also has the power to completely change the way you view your world, and in some cases to completely change your life. The following short story should help you change the way you look at your body and what you put into it.

An 87-year-old man was interviewed for a local Irish television station in the 1970s. He had been living on the streets for many years, but despite having no home or job he looked not just OK, but super well and healthy. He was also incredibly happy and explained that living on the street was a lifestyle choice as he loved being a ‘free spirit’. When asked what his secret was he replied, ‘It’s simple. I don’t eat any junk food.’

Now clearly this man didn’t have a chance to cook, but he was incredibly fussy about what he put into his body and made sure he got plenty of good, nutrient-packed food every day. It turned out that he would go to the markets at the end of the day and get a couple of bags of fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts. He also got friendly with some restaurant owners who would, every now and then, rustle him up some wholesome cooked food.

When the interviewer asked him why he insisted on never eating junk food, he replied with a sentence that has to be one of the most profound ever aired, and you may need to read it twice, or at least think about it for a few seconds to fully understand it. His exact words were:

“The reason why Idon’t eat junkfood is because if Idon’t look after my body,I’ll have nowhereto live.”

And how true is that for all of us? If we don’t look after our body we really will have nowhere to live. We may have somewhere to survive, but rarely will we experience the mental and physical vibrancy that will enable us to truly excel in every area of our life; rarely will we feel the power of what it’s like to live every day in a powerful, light, slim, trim, energy-driven body.

### It’s No Good Being the Richest Person in the Graveyard!

I know that may sound over-dramatic, but as a former fat, chain-smoking heavy drinker, who grew up in a very rough part of London, experience has taught me a valuable lesson. There’s a world of difference between just ‘getting through’ life, surviving from day to day, and having the raw energy to truly suck the juice out of each and every day.

The old man who lived on the streets would be seen by many as poor. But mentally and physically he was far wealthier than most people. He may not have had financial wealth, but he was truly content with his life – something most people never achieve – and his health bank account was well and truly in the black, something most people only dream of.

Now at this stage I already know you are financially much, much better off than that man, but no matter how much money you have, unless you are physically and mentally wealthy – you are poor. Unless you wake up looking forward to the adventures that the day may bring – you are poor. Unless you love your body and have the raw energy to play and excel every day – you are poor. Unless you have the energy to manifest your dreams – you are poor. If you ‘can’t be bothered’ – you are poor. If you spend your life working from morning till night in a job you hate and are exhausted at the end of each day – you are poor.

### Amazing health, like true love and affection, is about the only thing you cannot buy or cheat at – you can only do health.

No matter how much money you spend on liposuction, external creams, magic potions, botox or plastic surgery, the fact remains that you cannot buy mental and physical vibrancy – you can only earn it.

### Digging Your Grave with Your Teeth

Your body is without question the single most important thing you will ever have the good fortune to use while you’re on this planet, and yet most people are digging their own graves with their teeth. Everything we eat and drink; the way we move, or don’t move our bodies; the environment we live in and how we think all affect our entire biochemistry and every single aspect of our lives. Your life and how you feel on a daily basis is a direct reflection of your internal and external health. When your body feels good, you feel good, and when you feel good, you are more productive, content and happy in every single area of your life.

The fact is, like that wise old man said, if you don’t look after your body, you really will have nowhere to live. That is why most of this book focuses on what you put into your mouth and how you move your body, as without the right fuel for your body and mind it’s almost impossible to turbo-charge your life and live your dreams.

Equally, if you don’t look after your mental health – the thoughts you have daily; the way you see the world – you will also have nowhere to truly live.

### Our thinking determines everything we do: our food choices; what we drink; whether we exercise; our work; how productive we are; how much love we give and what we strive for in life.

The way we think can also generate incredible stress, which can be more damaging to physical health than the worst foods and drinks on the planet. This is why as well as focusing on the most amazing super-fuel for the body, which will power you to amazing physical health, I will also be concentrating on changing the way you think about food, exercise and life in general.

Unless you change the way you think, everything remains the same.

### No More Excuses!

There is nothing stopping anyone from getting the body and energy levels they crave – except excuses. You have clearly picked up this book because you are not 100 per cent happy on the health, fitness and body front. The reality is that there is nothing stopping you from taking the steps right now that will get you the body and energy levels you crave. Nothing that is except…excuses!

If you think about it, most diets/programmes designed for weight loss and health do actually work, on a physical level at least. If you eat less and exercise more, the end result is usually weight loss – hardly rocket science! Equally, for those looking to gain weight, this can be achieved by eating more of the right muscle-building foods and doing a regular weight-lifting programme. And if you are the correct weight but find your energy levels on the floor, then you know that eating and drinking more ‘live energy’ foods and drinks and doing plenty of exercise will make you feel more energetic – once again, a degree in common sense is not required.

It’s not so much that people don’t know what to do to get a lean and healthy body and mind. Due purely to fear, they come up with a million excuses as to why they can’t do it at this time. And boy will people make excuse after excuse. I call it ‘the but syndrome’. ‘But I can’t because…I’m too old.’ ‘But I can’t because…I don’t have the time.’ ‘But I can’t because…blah, blah, blah.’ People who suffer from the but syndrome usually end up with a very big one – BUTT that is! Whatever ‘but because’ excuses you have, not only do they prevent you from getting what you really want, but I can guarantee they are a load of old rubbish. When looked at, none of these excuses hold any water at all.

### The only way to Stop having a big butt is to stop having a big ‘but’!

Please do not make the mistake of looking only at the excuses that apply to you. To do that would be to ignore my most important instruction, to read all of Chapters 1 to 8 in order. You will soon see that if you haven’t used a particular excuse yet, you may have done so in the future. So without further ado, come with me as we totally shatter…

The But Syndrome

### ‘But I can’t because…I don’t have the time’

Of all of the excuses given as to why people don’t eat well and exercise on a regular basis this is without question the one I hear the most – “I would do, but I just don’t have the time.” It’s funny that the same people who say they don’t have the time to look after themselves seem to be able to tell you exactly what’s happening in EastEnders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Big Brother! They have the time to watch God knows how much TV, nip to the pub for a couple of hours a day, spend ages queuing for a ‘hip and trendy’ coffee, yet seemingly don’t have the time to go for a walk or prepare an apple!

The one thing which we are all equal in is time. Every single one of us has access to 24 hours in a day and, no matter how busy we all think we are, we can always find time to eat well and exercise. It’s simply down to priorities. It’s like those people who say, “I didn’t have time to call you”, but what they really mean is “I didn’t have time to call YOU”. If someone had said, “here’s a number and if you call it the person on the other end of the phone will give you I million pounds”, I can guarantee they’d find the time.

### Money Rich – Time Poor

You’ve got to ask yourself just how important you regard your health and well-being and where it fits into your priorities of life. Health and fitness should, without question, be at number one. It should be the very first thing you focus on above anything else, as without the correct nutrition and a good supply of oxygen you are not going to perform at your best. But more and more we are seeing a situation where people are Money Rich and Time Poor; or more accurately, Money Rich – Health Poor. The question really is, what’s the point of earning all that money if it gives you a heart attack in the process? What’s the point of trying to create a better tomorrow for your children if you don’t have the energy to play with them today? There’s nothing wrong with earning money, or working hard – I’m all for it – but it doesn’t mean you can’t look after your body at the same time.

I do realize that time for many people is becoming harder and harder to come by, but the point I’m making is that despite how much we rush around like headless chickens giving the impression to the world and ourselves that we are non-stop busy from morning till night, very rarely is that actually the case.

If we cut through the rubbish we tell ourselves, time is not the reason why we don’t get the body and supreme health we crave. Time is simply yet another excuse people can give themselves to try to justify why they aren’t healthy and don’t have the body of their dreams. But again how much time does it actually take to rustle up a few stir-fried veggies, steam a bit of fish, make a delicious fresh juice or peel a banana? How much time does it really take to go for a walk, run or jump on a mini-trampoline? How much time do you need to push some weights? Yes, it may take some degree of effort to do the exercise part of things and, yes, you ‘can’t be bothered’, but that’s nothing to do with time. Please don’t delude yourself any longer into thinking you can’t do it because of time; we can all make the time if we want to enough.

If you have to be up for a flight at 4am to take you to paradise – you find the time. If someone close to you gets ill and you need to drop things to get to hospital – you find the time. If you crave chocolate and must have some NOW! – you find the time to go and get some. The point is if something’s important enough to you-you find the time. The problem is, up until now, your health, body shape and well-being haven’t been important enough to you. You may think they have, as like most people what you eat and how you look probably dominate a large part of your life – but you haven’t wanted it enough. You haven’t wanted it more than that tub of ice-cream for example!

Remember, if you want to turbo-charge your life, excuses have to go out of the window and not having enough time is just like all the other excuses we come up with as to why we can’t exercise and eat well – complete bullshit!

### ‘But…I can’t afford to get healthy’

When it comes to your health, the truth is you cannot afford not to do it. I mean, how much is your heart worth? What about your kidneys or your liver, or how about your life? You cannot put a price on health. Four members of my family have died of cancer. All these people would gladly have given every penny they had for a body clear of cancer. It’s times like these when people see clearly that money means nothing compared with health, and start wishing they had taken care of their bodies earlier.

My number one priority is to make certain I have good quality ‘live’ nutrients flowing through my system on a daily basis, no matter what the cost. Fortunately, despite what you may think, it doesn’t cost any more to be healthy than it does to get sick. In reality, it’s often cheaper! Regardless of your income, everyone can afford to exercise and get healthy.

How much does it actually cost to buy a bag of fruit or get up and go for a walk? It’s funny how the same people who say they can’t afford to eat well and exercise seem to find money for cigarettes, alcohol, going out and junk food. The average drinker will now spend in the region of £100,000 on alcohol in their lifetime; an average 20-a-day smoker will get through £65,000.

People think that getting fit and healthy means joining an expensive gym or buying organic ingredients, but you don’t need those things to get fit and healthy.

### All you need is a pair of trainers, plenty of water, some nutrientrich foods and the right mental attitude.

Even juicing fruits and vegetables doesn’t need to be expensive. Anyone can nip down to their local market at the end of the day when bargains are plentiful.

Despite what we have been conditioned to believe, we don’t require a large quantity of food to thrive. One of the main reasons people overeat is because their bodies are suffering from malnutrition and ‘false hungers’. When you burden your system with loads of junk food, your body will try its level best to extract whatever it can in order to survive. With so few nutrients contained within each plateful, the body soon cries out for more. This is why when you begin supplying your body with the ‘live’ nutrients it craves, you will find that you eat much less yet feel more satisfied.

### ‘But there’s nothing I can do about it because…fat is in my genes’

You may have fat in your jeans; but not in your genes! Of all the bullshit excuses I’ve heard as to why people can’t lose weight, this has to go in at number one. It is true that depending on your genes you can have a predisposition for many illnesses including weight gain, but this doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it.

My father didn’t give me much, but one of the things he was generous with was his buggered-up genes. He managed to pass on a predisposition for asthma, eczema, psoriasis, hay fever and weight gain – nice! This means it takes less wrongdoing for me to get these ailments than someone who is not predisposed to them. So yes, if your mother or father was overweight then it might be possible – unlikely, but possible – that they have passed on a gene which makes you gain weight easily. However, unlike asthma, eczema, psoriasis and hay fever, all of which can have other contributing factors, weight gain is only caused by one thing – eating too much of the wrong kinds of foods and not moving your body enough. People often say, ‘My mother was fat so that’s why I’m fat,’ but chances are that’s not even down to a predisposition; it’s simply that they lived in the same house, ate the same food and watched the same amount of TV.

### If you really want success on the slim, trim and energy-driven front, and have been hiding behind the rather convenient ‘but it’s in my genes’ excuse, you’d better face up to the fact that once again it’s all rubbish!

I don’t care who you are. If I were to put you on what I call the David Blaine diet, where you are elevated in a glass box near Tower Bridge for 44 days with nothing to eat or drink except water, trust me, you’d lose weight. Equally, if I put you on a diet consisting only of water-rich live foods, fresh fish, lean white meat and freshly extracted ‘live’ juices, trust me again – you’d lose weight.

The predisposition for fat may indeed be in the genes of some people, but to suggest for a millisecond that even if these people ate well and exercised daily that their genes would prevent them from losing excess weight is absolute rubbish. I am so confident on this issue that I am willing to be challenged by anyone in the medical profession who thinks otherwise.

This programme doeswork…if you stopthe bullshitexcuses and just do it.

### ‘But I don’t understand it because…I never eat anything’

I’m sure you’ve all heard this one. People who are the size of a house complaining about the fact they have got that way by complete fluke as they ‘really don’t eat that much’. You may be able to be a secret smoker, but it’s very hard to eat in secret if you are predisposed to weight gain – IT SHOWS!

I’m teasing slightly as not everyone who is overweight is scoffing their way through bucketloads of chocolates and chips, but to say ‘I don’t eat anything or very little’ is usually about a mile from the truth. It’s true that many people don’t realize how much they are eating. After all, if you eat anything standing up or from someone else’s plate, it doesn’t count! This is why when someone writes down what they eat over a week it often comes as a massive surprise. The problem is that many people often reach for food out of sheer habit, so the conscious brain doesn’t take it in.

I think people genuinely believe that they ‘don’t eat that much’, but this is only because they delude themselves. Often they’re part of the, ‘I don’t usually but…’ gang. You know, the group of people who are always saying, ‘I don’t usually but…it’s a special occasion’ or ‘I don’t usually but…oh why not’. When you add them up, the ‘I don’t usuallys’ soon mean a hell of a lot of extra calories. I’m not saying that after you read this book you won’t genuinely have the ‘I don’t usually but what the hell it’s a special occasion’ moments (we are all human after all!). I’m just saying that if you are overweight and have somehow deluded yourself into thinking you really don’t eat much, just write down EVERYTHING that passes your lips for a week and I think the evidence will be clear.

You’ve also got to remember that it’s not just food which causes weight to stay on. Sugar-loaded drinks also play a massive part. If you are eating three balanced meals a day and drinking 2 litres of fizzy pop then you’re not going to see a great deal of movement (on every level!).

Stop deluding yourself. If you are overweight you are clearly eating too much for your body’s needs.

If you believe you can do nothing about your problem you will sit around getting fatter and sicker until the magic weight-loss pill has been found. The magic pill is in your mind, and once you stop the excuses and use the power of your mind, success is there for the taking.

### ‘But it’s much harder for me because…I’ve got a slow metabolism’

Yes, you’d probably like to think so. This is one excuse I used to use all the time, and I honestly thought it was true…to some degree at least.

### One of the biggest myths about metabolic rate is that some people who are overweight have a slower metabolism than their slim friends.

They believe it’s this ‘fact’, and not their intake of food and drink, which is causing their inability to lose those excess pounds. However, the reality is the complete opposite. The heavier you are, the faster your metabolic rate. Heavier people actually burn more calories than lighter people. This makes sense when you think about it, as it obviously takes more energy to move a heavier body than a lighter one.

### It may seem that because of your metabolism, ‘you only have to look at food’ to gain weight. I’m afraid the truth is that if you only looked at it, all would be well!

I will repeat this until I’m blue in the face –

### Eating too much of the wrong kinds of food and not moving your body enough on a regular basis are the only true reasons why people are overweight.

Not NASA stuff I know, but that’s about it. It has not a jot to do with your metabolism – glad that’s clear.

### ‘But I’ve tried it all before and…it doesn’t work for me’

I was desperately trying to come up with another word to the one I’m going to use but there is simply no other word in the English language that captures what I want to say in response to this excuse – bollocks!

People who say, ‘I’ve tried it all before’ and ‘nothing works for me’ are basically talking rubbish. However, they’ve probably said it to so many people – and to themselves – so often that they have started to believe it.

What they really mean of course is, ‘I’ve failed to follow what was being suggested’, but of course you’ll never hear that. All you’ll hear is a load of excuses as to why that particular programme has failed them.

Just like the ‘but it’s in my genes’ excuse, this one doesn’t wash.

### It doesn’t matter who you are, or how big or small you are. If you eat nature’s superfoods, move your body until you sweat on a regular basis, do some resistance training, think positively and get some fresh air – ‘IT’ will work.

The truth is there is no ‘IT’ – IT IS YOU! ‘It’ will work if you do ‘it’. If you fail to do it, then IT hasn’t failed – YOU HAVE! If you want success, if you really want to take charge of your health and your life, you must understand that you’ll never have the body or life of your dreams if you keep coming up with ‘but’, ‘but’, ‘but’.

### ‘But it’s hard for me because…I eat as a response to emotion’

So many people believe that they will never be able to change because they are ‘emotional eaters’, and as life will always be full of emotion, what’s the point of even trying to change? On the surface this may seem true – again, I would often use this as an excuse – but once looked at, it just doesn’t wash.

You may well think that you are one of those people who eat purely as a response to emotion, but I will tell you now that you eat certain things as a response to emotion. I’ve never heard anyone saying, ‘I’m really pissed off today. I need a grape’! People never turn to things like steamed fish and stir-fired veggies when they’re bored or upset. When people look to feed an emotion they always turn to ‘foods’ containing refined sugars, fats or a combination of the two, such as chocolate, fast food, muffins, bagels, cakes, breads and ice cream.

### People ‘use’ refined fats and sugars in much the same way as people ‘use’ drugs, and the excuses for taking them are pretty much the same.

If you ask a smoker why they are smoking they may say it’s because they’re bored, stressed, relaxed, sad, happy, lonely, anxious, angry, excited, upset, nervous, and so on. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be an emotion which isn’t in some way linked to their smoking. If you ask a cocaine addict to come up with ‘reasons’ as to why they are taking that drug, you will hear the same list of emotional excuses and the same goes for heroin, crack and other drugs. The fact that most of the emotional excuses completely contradict one another doesn’t seem to occur to those trying to justify their actions. Equally, those getting their fixes from refined sugars and fats will also blame any number of emotions:

> ‘I ate the chocolate bar because I didn’t get the job and was consoling myself’

> ‘I ate the chocolate bar because I did get the job and was celebrating’

People eat rubbish food when they’re sad and when they’re happy, when they are stressed and when they are relaxed; when they’re bored and when they’re ‘on the run’. The sad truth is they have been saying how certain foods help certain emotions for so long that, like smokers and other drug takers, they have ended up believing what they’re saying; but it’s all nonsense. If you’re bored you can shove as many cakes in your face as you like but you’ll still be bored. If you’re upset, all the ice cream in the world will never console you. If you’re stressed, squashing a large piece of pizza in your mouth will not calm you down and if you’re feeling lonely, eating bucketloads of rubbish foods will not fill the gap in your life. In fact, not only will your emotions not be helped at all by eating drug-like refined sugars and fats, but on top of the boredom, stress, loneliness or whatever, you will now have to deal with feeling guilty, anxious and fat!

What would you think if you saw a monkey stuffing loads of rubbish food into its mouth and then trying to explain its actions by saying, ‘I’m a bit anxious today’? Yes, you’d think, ‘stone me, a talking monkey’! But seriously, wild animals have more stress and more anxiety on a daily basis than we are ever likely to experience. Now you may well argue with that, but often their lives are a 24/7 battle to find something to eat or to stop themselves being eaten. You may have to pay your bills, go to a job you don’t like, or have to put up with traffic for hours on end – but you probably know exactly where your next meal is coming from and you’re not about to be eaten! Imagine how much more stressful and anxious wild animals’ lives would be if they had substances entering their system which created additional feelings of stress and anxiety to the ones they are already experiencing.

### People who consume rubbish foods and drinks all the time are more stressed and anxious than people who don’t.

This is because refined fats, sugars and drinks like caffeine all create empty withdrawal-type symptoms which are similar to normal emotions like anxiety, stress and boredom. Like drug addicts, people then try to deaden those feelings with more of the same. Initially, the refined junkie foods appear to help, but that’s only because they have taken the edge off a low caused by the last dose.

### You cannot feed an emotional hunger with food – you can only feed a physical hunger. Anything you eat when not genuinely physically hungry will be stored as fat!

I will explain more about this in the Seven Deadly Dietary Sins, but for now, if you keep saying you are an ‘emotional eater’, please stop the bullshit and remove this ‘but’ from your life.

### ‘But, do you know what?…I’m “fine” as I am’

Fine, which of course stands for

### Freaked-out Insecure Neurotic & Emotional

Most of the time when you ask people ‘How are you?’ and get the response ‘I’M FINE, thank you’, it usually means they’re feeling either ‘Freaked-out’, ‘Insecure’, ‘Neurotic’, ‘Emotional’ or a combination of the lot. ‘How’s your diet going?’ ‘Oh, fine’ – meaning ‘It’s making me feel insecure, I’m getting a touch neurotic about the whole thing, I’m a bit emotional and it’s beginning to freak me out – so as you can see, I’m fine!’

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to spend my life feeling ‘fine’. I don’t even want to just feel ‘good’, although good is clearly better than fine. I want to feel pretty damn incredible most of the time, or as my good friend Martin says, ‘outstanding’.

The problem is most people settle for a life of ‘fine’ or ‘alright’. ‘How’s your relationship with your partner?’ – ‘Oh, fine.’ ‘How are your finances?’ – ‘Oh, fine.’ ‘How’s your health?’ – ‘Oh, fine.’ ‘How’s your job?’ – ‘Oh, fine’. ‘How’s your life?’ – ‘Oh you know, it’s OK, it’s alright…I’m FINE!’

The idea behind turbo-charging your life in 14 days is to move way beyond settling for a level of health and vitality and a body that’s simply ‘alright’ or ‘fine’ – it’s about setting ourselves new standards, raising our expectations of ourselves on a daily basis.

### ‘But it’s hard because…I have children’

It doesn’t matter if you have one child or a football team’s worth; there is no reason on the planet why having children should prevent you from eating well and exercising.

Why does having kids, even being a single parent, prevent you from eating some fruit, making a juice or doing some exercise? And why does having kids mean you have to stuff your face?

### When you think about it, it surely takes longer to make toast and cereal than it does to prepare a delicious melon – there’s even less washing up!

But the minute you say something like that you get hit with another but; ‘But it’s difficult because you have to make food for the kids.’ Yes, and so what? It is true that you do have to make the kids’ food, but you don’t have to make them unhealthy food, and even if you have little terrorists who rule the roost in terms of what’s for dinner, why does this prevent you from making a healthy meal for yourself? In fact, having children gives you a reason to shop and prepare for mealtimes.

### If you say you are unhealthy, overweight and lethargic because you have children, you are inadvertently blaming their being born for your health demise.

Yet, if you think back, your eating, drinking and exercise habits might not have been exactly fantastic before you gave birth. Whatever, you still need to understand that it’s not the children preventing you from getting the body you crave – it’s only you and your excuses!

‘But I can’t make it to the gym as I’m at home with the kids all day.’ Again, so what? This doesn’t stop you exercising or eating well. You can get some kind of home exercise equipment, take the kids to the park, go for a walk, etc.

There is always a way if you are committed, no matter how many children you are fortunate to have. If you really wanted to join a gym and make it there a few times a week – you could. If you really wanted to start eating well – you could. Children are a blessing; it’s time to stop blaming them for your bad habits.

### ‘But the kids like McDonald’s so it’s hard’

I was on the phone to a friend of a friend recently about a matter which had nothing to do with health. Because of what I do, however, health, and in particular his weight, soon came into the conversation. He said, ‘If you are what you eat, then I’m a Big Mac,’ and proceeded to tell me how his eating habits had gone pear-shaped (or burger-shaped) because of his son. I asked him how on earth he worked that out. His reply was one I’d heard a few times, ‘Well, he loves McDonald’s and I have to take him in there.” And?’ I replied. ‘And, you know, once you’re in there…’

Firstly, what does he mean, he has to take him there? Does his son have a gun to his head? Is his son in charge? Isn’t this man meant to be his child’s guardian? Isn’t he meant to be looking out for his child’s best interest even if that means having to be a strong parent and say no? After all, if your child wanted to go and play in quicksand because it looked fun, you’d shout, scream and do whatever it took to make sure they never went in: you certainly wouldn’t join them because they’re doing it. Why do so many people these days have such difficulty in saying a simple NO to their children? Some people see places like McDonald’s as a treat, but that’s hardly an argument.

### If parents think a treat is to feed their loved ones a load of refined sugar and fat, then I’d hate to see what they do to punish them.

Secondly, even if he does see it as a treat and his son only has McDonald’s once a week, why on earth does that mean he has to join his son with a Big Mac and fries? I explained that McDonald’s now do salads, so he could always tuck into one of those. But of course the reason why he doesn’t is the same reason why he doesn’t say NO to his boy – he wants to go and he wants a McDonald’s; but boy, aren’t kids a great scapegoat for our failures?

Stop blaming the fact you’ve had kids or you’ve got kids; if you want a slim trim body you can get one. You don’t have to feed your kids junk; you don’t have to pander to their every terrorist tantrum for their next sugar fix and you can be strong and take control of at least their household’s dietary habits. I realize that some households are different and many ‘buts’ can come into play. ‘But I’m only the step-parent so I must feed them what their real parent wants’, ‘but my kids are teenagers and they are so set in their ways it would be wrong to change now’, or whatever. If that’s the case then it still doesn’t mean you have to eat stuff from their plates and it doesn’t mean because they eat junk food that it automatically means you have to.

You might see a great opportunity to add another but, something like ‘but I can’t make it to the gym as I’m at home with the kids all day’. Again so what? This doesn’t stop you exercising or eating well. You can get some kind of home exercise equipment; take the kids to the park; go for a walk; etc. etc. Remember the question should always be ‘What could I do in this situation to move more towards my goal?’ It’s a great question; it stops the ‘buts’ and your brain will always think of a solution. Ask the right questions and you get the right answers

There is always a way if you are committed. There is always a way if you really make it a priority – no matter how many children you are fortunate to have. If you really wanted to join a gym and make it there a few times a week – you could. If you really wanted to start eating well – you could; if you wanted to get the children involved in playing every night or joining some kind of active sports club – you could. Children are a blessing; it’s time to stop blaming them for your bad habits.

### ‘But it’s different for me because…I know it all already’

This is one ‘but’ I love. When it comes to the subject of health and fitness, because there have been so many ‘diet’ books, God knows how many TV shows about this subject and because food plays such a role in today’s Western world, everyone is an expert. The amount of people I see who at first say, ‘I know that’ or ‘tell me something I don’t know’ is amazing. What’s amazing is in many cases they do know it all (well, most of it anyway). They know that if they eat less junk, increase their intake of fruit and veg and take regular exercise they will change body shape, have more energy and be healthier. More and more people are also aware of the danger of refined sugar and fat; how too much alcohol can cause weight gain and speed up the aging process; how sitting around on furniture for hours on end can cause bone and back problems; and people are even becoming experts on how certain foods have a low or high ‘GI’ (Glycaemic Index) rating and what role that plays on fat levels in their body. In fact with more and more ‘health’ and ‘diet’ books hitting the shops and becoming number-one bestsellers throughout the western world, I think it’s safe to say more and more people aren’t just getting to know a little bit more about how certain foods act on the body – they really are becoming experts in this field.

I think it is almost undisputed that most people, even if they don’t know the exact science behind certain foods and drinks, have a pretty good idea of what’s best to eat for a healthy lifestyle. But just knowing it doesn’t mean anything. I know that if I actually listen to the Spanish course I paid good money for that sits with dust on my top shelf, I’ll be able to learn Spanish. But just knowing that doesn’t mean I’ll ever do it. Just knowing what to eat and what exercises you need to do to get the body of your dreams means jack unless you are going to actually get off your derri&re and do it.

### Even the Experts have Buts!

Another problem for people is that many of the true diet experts aren’t exactly applying what they teach and often aren’t exactly the picture of health themselves. Many seem to have the old doctor adage of ‘do as I say not as I do’. It is amazing how many people seem happy to take health advice from unhealthy people. It is true that you don’t necessarily need to be the best football player in order to be a good football manager, but at the same time I personally would never take financial advice from a poor person and I wouldn’t go to a stop-smoking therapist who had a cigarette hanging out of their mouth. I think I make my point!

What I’m saying is, knowing what’s good and bad and being an ‘expert’ on the subject of health and fitness doesn’t mean anything unless you apply it to your own life. After all what’s the point of being the most knowledgeable health and fitness expert if you’re fat and ill yourself?

I’m not so much here to teach you what to eat, drink and how to exercise for optimum health and vitality – although clearly these nuggets are covered in depth in case of any doubt and you’ll have a step-by-step plan for the 14-day Turbo Charge Your Life programme – but it’s more to show you how to apply the knowledge which most of you already have. It’s designed to show exactly what is needed to get off of your butt and catapult your life to a new level. Remember, knowing what to do is one thing, but doing what you know is what makes the big difference between those who talk a good game and those who are actually in the game.

### ‘But I don’t really need to change as…I’m only a little overweight’

Not everyone reading this book is overweight. Some are underweight and some are slim but have no energy and bad eating and drinking habits. However, for those who are overweight – and I mean overweight – but have for years been saying things like ‘I’m a little overweight’ or ‘I could do with losing a few pounds here and there’, please let me say what all those you come into contact with are thinking and saying behind your back – you are not a little overweight:

### YOU ARE FAT!

Not only are you fat, but as is the way of the world, your character is also called into question, and you can add the words ‘git’ and ‘bastard’ after fat to get a true picture of what’s being said.

I realize that sounds harsh, but until you see things as they really are you will never make the change.

If you continue to make the situation seem better than it is then what possible motivation would you have for change?

I realize that in some cases people saying to you out loud ‘you fat bastard’ isn’t exactly useful, and could have you locking yourself in a room with half a hundred weight of cake and ice cream in order to ‘comfort’ yourself. However, if you are constantly being real about the situation, and if you no longer hide behind things like ‘I’m just a tad tubby’ or avoid looking in the mirror, then your brain will feel more and more frustrated about the current situation and try to do something about it.

When I was at school I was nicknamed ‘Fatty Vale’, and every day I would get picked on for being overweight. My mother and all the people who cared about me said things like, ‘It’s just a bit of puppy fat’, and ‘You’re not fat, just a little tubby’, but with children you get the truth. They tell it as it really is and, yes, I was indeed ‘Fatty Vale’. This constant barrage of verbal abuse led me to go from Fatty Vale who couldn’t run a bath and was always last at cross-country to a person who just 12 weeks later was Slim Vale who not only finished the cross-country course on time, but even broke the school record for that distance!

I was not willing to be called Fatty Vale again and from that point on (when I was 13) until I left school at 15 I was never fat again, and I never got detention for being late after cross-country. As soon as I left school, however, I discovered beer, bar snacks, the kebab shop and video games, and was Fatty Vale again before you knew it. Only this time I didn’t have people coming up to me everyday telling me so; they just did it behind my back.

So please, if you are very overweight – and I mean 20 pounds or more over what you should be – get real with your situation and understand fully what people are saying. You are not overweight, you are not a little ‘rotund’ and you are not ‘big boned’. Use the ‘F’ word – you are FAT! And as such you are at huge risk of developing heart disease, diabetes or one of the other major debilitating illnesses as well as having to live your daily life in a body with little energy that brings you down.

### ‘But I’m fed up with having to conform…big is beautiful and I’m fat and happy’

This is another excuse I hear over and over again. When all else fails, tell the world the reason why you don’t change is because you don’t actually want to. In reality, all women would love to be slim, and all men would love some definition and at least a four pack – that’s just how it is.

Women love to buy weekly magazines with picture after picture of celebrities with something wrong with them. If Britney gets a spot, or Cameron Diaz has some cellulite, then all of a sudden the world seems a brighter place. I know It’s hard for women to believe, but nowadays men do exactly the same. If David Beckham were to ever get a few spots or, heaven forbid, get fat, most of the men in the country would be jumping for joy. This is because it’s much easier to drag someone else down in order to try to make yourself look better than it is to put in the effort to lift your own world. Many people don’t even do this consciously and there’s no malice involved; it’s just they’ve done it for so long and, given we also have a culture that does it readily, it appears normal.

### Fat is Not Attractive

People can say that many years ago, being fat was seen as a sign of wealth and regarded as sexy, and they can even harp on about how in many cultures it still is today, but that doesn’t change how it is in the West here and now. If we’re being frank, and I believe we are, someone who is fat is not as pleasing to the eye as someone who is slim.

In today’s politically correct world, that statement will have some people ranting and raving and reaching for the nearest cream bun, but if we cut through the crap – it’s true. If it wasn’t, then people like Dawn French would be used to advertise the latest Ferrari rather than chocolate! I don’t think anyone could look at Dawn French and say she isn’t a beautiful-looking woman. My point is that if she’s beautiful as she is, she would be stunning if she were slim.

‘But that’s shallow – beauty comes from within.’ Yes I agree, and in an ideal world people would be able to see the inner beauty in everyone. However, having been fat and suffered from severe psoriasis in the past, I know first hand that most of the world isn’t like that.

### They say personality goes a long way, but in some cases it can never stretch that far!

And talking of personality, it’s not just coincidence that you often see ‘fat and jolly’ people. We have to make the best of what we’ve got, and if your external shell isn’t what the world likes to see, you tend to develop more of a personality. This is why some models seem to have had major personality bypasses. They haven’t had to develop that side of themselves to attract people; often they just need to walk into a room and people come running.

I know it’s not fair and I know it shouldn’t be this way – but it is! I didn’t make the rules and neither did you, but if you’re in this ‘game of life’ and you want to get the best out of it, we have to accept some of them. There is of course one huge advantage when you have been overweight and then lose it: you end up with a slim, trim body and a personality!

### If people genuinely thought being overweight was a good thing then they would actively encourage their children to overeat and get fat, but if you ask any parent if they want their child to be slim or fat, they opt for slim every time.

This is not just for health reasons but also so that they’re not picked on by their peers and have the energy to really enjoy their life.

Those people who say, ‘I’m fat and happy’ may well be just that, fat and happy – but this doesn’t mean they’re happy because they’re fat. It also doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be a damn site happier if they were slim. If you feel there’s nothing you can do about a particular situation, like being fat in this case, you have no real alternative but to try and justify why you are the way you are. Because no one wants to look as though they are weak-willed jelly fish who cannot control their eating, it seems easier to say, ‘I’m happy the way I am, I don’t want to change.’ But the reality is that’s a load of old tosh as everyone who’s fat, regardless of what they say out loud, would love to wake up in a slim, trim, energy-driven body. It’s only when they have exhausted all other possible ‘excuses’ that they come out with the ‘I don’t want to change’ line; after all how can anyone possibly argue with that? If they don’t want to change and are happy as they are – good for them! But in truth they are not as happy as Larry as they are, despite what they say; they would love to change. The saddest part about the ‘I’m fat and happy line’ is that the person saying it has almost resigned themselves to a life of ‘fat’. They have no doubt already ‘tried’ God knows how many diets and are now convinced they’re beyond hope. This leads to a need to justify why they are not doing anything about their weight and health, ‘I’m fat and I’m happy’ usually being the outcome. If you are fat and genuinely think it’s beautiful and are genuinely happy, then I for one am happy for you –I don’t believe you, but I’m happy for you. The fact is, though, if all was well in fat land you wouldn’t be reading this book. I know what it’s like to be fat and I know what it’s like to be slim – and guess what? Give me slim any day!

### ‘But It’s All Down to the Magazines’

Some people even have the gall to blame the glossy magazines for being overweight and unhealthy. They claim if it wasn’t the pressure to conform they wouldn’t rebel and eat. What amazes me is the people who bitch about these magazines buy them all the time. I know this may sound stupidly easy but if you think the magazines are causing your problem – don’t buy them! But they do prove my theory that fat is not the new black. If it were, we wouldn’t have pictures of nice-looking bodies on the front covers of magazines, we would have fat people. People like to look at attractive people – that’s just how it is.

But the main reason why ‘big isn’t beautiful’ is because when you’re big you just don’t feel beautiful – you feel fat and bloated, you can’t move as you want; you can’t wear what you want and you don’t feel as sexy as you want. There is nothing beautiful about a life spent feeling that way and with disease hanging over your head.

### ‘But I have an injury so…I can’t exercise’

You must have heard them (you may even be one them) – people who say the reason they got overweight and unfit was because they sprained their foot, knackered their elbow, broke their leg or damaged their ligaments, and so the list goes on and on. However, in order to have an injury so severe that it stops you from doing any kind of exercise you would need to be in a Christopher Reeve situation. Actually, that’s not even true. One of the many things the truly remarkable Christopher Reeve did for the nine years of his life as a paraplegic was to make sure he exercised whenever he could. His exact words from his inspirational book Nothing Is Impossible are, ‘I’ve also found the self-discipline to exercise when I don’t feel like it…’ Remember these words if you’ve ever banged on about how you can’t exercise because of whatever.

If you have a leg injury, do some upper-body exercises. If you can’t move your arms, move your legs. If you can’t put pressure on your joints, go for a swim or jump on a trampoline. If you really can’t move anything without being in pain, do some deep-breathing exercises and cut down on your fuel consumption. After all, you wouldn’t put the same amount of fuel into your car if you weren’t using it as much as usual, would you?

There isn’t any reason on the planet why anyone should become unhealthy or overweight just because they have an injury. I’ve seen people in wheelchairs whacking tennis balls over nets and shooting basketballs into hoops, and I’ve seen people with no arms running marathons. In fact, I’ve seen people with no legs running marathons with prosthetic limbs.

Whatever the injury, it shouldn’t be an excuse for not achieving your health and body-shape goals. Look at someone like Tanni Gray Thompson, a truly remarkable and superb athlete. Losing the use of her legs didn’t stop her training and getting the rest of her body super-fit, so much so that she has, at the time of writing, won an incredible 11 gold medals for Great Britain at the Paralympics. What’s your excuse?

Then you have the, ‘But I used to…’ gang. You know, the people who tell you how much sport they used to play; how they used to run all the time and how they used to always be in the gym. But so what? Used to means Jack! You can spend your life living in the ‘what I used to be able to do’ world, but that’s not going to change how you look and feel today.

The truth is most people can usually exercise with an injury, no matter what the situation. There is always a way if the person is committed. Instead of looking at what isn’t possible because of the injury, people should focus on what can be done.

### ‘But you’ve got to live…you could get run over by a bus next week’

That’s true – but don’t you want the week to be nice before the bus comes along?

For every action there is always a reaction and every action you take today has a knock-on effect which will determine your tomorrow. People who are overweight didn’t get that way one day; it took many months and years of consuming too much of the wrong kinds of foods and drinks and not moving their bodies very much to get that way. It’s all very well and good living as if there’s no tomorrow and saying, ‘the bomb could go off tomorrow’ or ‘I could get run over by a bus tomorrow’, but what happens when it doesn’t and you don’t? What happens when you eat and drink junk every day, get fat, unhealthy and lethargic – or all three – only to wake up and find that tomorrow very much did happen and it’s here to face today? I used to make the excuse that ‘Anything could happen tomorrow, so why not just indulge’, only to find that ‘tomorrow’ always happened and I would still have to face it as a fat, unhealthy bastard!

Yes, you may get run over by a bus next week, but what about today? Don’t you want to feel good today? Don’t you want to be able to wear what you want today? Don’t you want to wake up with energy and vibrancy today? Don’t you want to feel light and slim today? Those people who say they are eating and drinking junk because they are ‘living for today’ or because the bomb could go off tomorrow seem to have missed the irony. It’s all about today, and the only way to create a much better today is by understanding that there is a tomorrow. Unless you keep an eye on tomorrow it’s going to come up and bite you on the bum, and that could be one hell of a bum!

### This excuse, like all of the others, is total rubbish.

Nobody, when they are tucking into a cream bun and a large Coke, is ever thinking, ‘The only reason I’m doing this is in case something happens to me tomorrow.’ If you really thought tomorrow wasn’t coming, the last thing on your mind would be, ‘Yippee, how much junk food can I stuff down my gullet today?’ Your only focus would be on finding the people you love and telling them how you feel.

‘But Jason, life is too short.’ I agree, life is too short, and unless you change it will be even shorter! It’s also too short not to live your dreams; it’s too short to live feeling sluggish and overweight, hating the way you look and feel; it’s too short to be scared to get into a bathing costume; it’s too short to hit your head on the pillow every night hoping things will be different tomorrow; it’s too short to wake up every day with a junk-food hangover; it’s too short to collapse at the end of the working day with only enough energy to slump in front of the TV for hours on end – YES, LIFE IS TOO SHORT – so stop saying, ‘I could get run over by a bus tomorrow’ because that’s not why you eat and drink rubbish or don’t exercise – it’s just another excuse.

I suppose there is some argument on the other side though. I mean, if you keep eating and drinking rubbish and end up as big as a house, the chances of a bus actually being able to run you over would be pretty slim!

### ‘But I can’t because…I’m too old’

Too old for what exactly? Too old to buy some fruit and veg? Too old to peel a banana? Too old to go for a walk? Too old to push some vegetables through a juicer and drink it? Or too old to live?

### The truth is that if you believe you’re too old then you’re right, and if you believe you’re not too old you’re also right.

I’m not saying that the years don’t take their toll. As we get older we often genuinely can’t do what we used to be capable of, but it doesn’t mean for a second we are washed up and on the scrapheap. Age is just another excuse, which once again is simply based on fear – the fear of taking the leap from settling for what we have to making life an unbelievable adventure.

Two ladies in their sixties attended one of our Ultimate Health Weekends. Having read my first book, Slim 4 Life, a few months earlier, they had decided to get up and, as one of the chapters suggests, Get Busy Living. In the time since they had read the book, and, more importantly, acted upon it, they experienced not only an increase in physical energy but found their worlds expanded by the day. On this particular weekend they played ‘net-football’ on the beach at 7am; swam in a cold, but beautiful lake first thing on a Sunday morning; climbed an enormous height up a pole onto a platform where they then attached themselves to a Zip-Slide and slid James Bond-style down a mountain; completed a 50ft high-ropes assault course; ate and drank pure live foods; and joined in with everything. I know people in their thirties who wouldn’t have the physical or mental energy to do that.

### It’s not about your chronological age, it’s about your mental age, i.e. how youthful you are in the mind and how much zest and spirit you have for life.

I met a young man on holiday and asked if he wanted to come ‘wake-boarding’ with me (this is like snowboarding but on water with a boat pulling you along). He seemed unsure, so I told him that if he had done any snowboarding or skateboarding it would be an advantage. His eyes lit up and he explained that skateboarding was his passion. When I asked if he still did it, he said, ‘Oh not now, I gave it up as I’m getting too old to do that sort of thing.’ I asked him how old he was, and he was 29! He thought it looked silly for a 29-year-old to be on a skateboard. Who gives a flying 360-degree jump?

### You cannot possibly let your thoughts of what other people may think of you dictate how you live your life.

If I want to skateboard at 99 let alone 29 then I will! Stopping physical passions cause people to ‘age’ before their time.

When ex-veteran Ray Sheriff jumped from an aeroplane with the Red Devils on 18 September 2004 he was 84, and he was blind! He was just one of ten men aged between 79 and 85 that made the jump in order to commemorate the battle of Arnhem. He has made the jump in the same place, on the same date, every year since he was 70. Ray lost his sight in a German mortar attack in World War II, but being blind and 84 years of age isn’t enough to produce one ‘but’ from this amazing man.

Life begins at 40…or 50,60,70,80 or whenever you want it to. Life begins when you say, ‘That’s it. I’m no longer going to sit and be a spectator of life – I’m going to get off of my backside and live a little.’ It’s when you aren’t willing to settle for a mindset which falsely tells you ‘you’re too old’ or ‘you’ve had your time so it’s time to sit back now’. We are on this planet for a short enough time as it is; the last thing you want is to tell yourself you’re too old for anything.

Some people don’t think they’re too old; they think that they’re either too overweight or have battered their inner organs so much that it’s just not worth making the change as it’s too late. But the human body is one of the most rejuvenating survival machines on the planet and no matter how much we’ve battered it over the years, the second we give it the opportunity to heal, it will do everything within its power to make optimum health possible. No matter how ‘old’ you are, or what condition or conditions you have; if you supply the body with the right tools – ‘live’ foods, drinks and physical movement – it will do whatever it can to breed life and vitality to your body and mind.

### ‘But I’ve tried juicing and…it’s such a hassle!’

Before I get on to why this excuse doesn’t wash, I want to stress that THIS IS NOT A JUICING BOOK! Yes, juicing will play a part during the 14-day programme. The chances are, once you start to live, feel and see the difference juicing makes, you will continue well beyond that time. However, the main focus of this book is to show you how to drop the bullshit excuses.

The same people who say it takes too long to make a juice and clean the machine don’t seem to have the same misgivings when spending God knows how much time cooking bacon and eggs and cleaning the pan!

### Once again, it’s all about priorities, and anyone can easily find the time to juice if they want

It’s hardly the most difficult process. All you need to do is pop a few fruits and veggies into the juicer and push down. How flipping tricky is that? Even cleaning the machine is hardly back-breaking work, is it? I mean, all you have to do is rinse a couple of parts and spend about one minute (if that) cleaning the filter part – so big deal. Most juicers will now even go into the dishwasher, making juicing life even easier.

Millions of people all over the world would kill for the opportunity to have the liquid fuel contained within fresh fruits and vegetables feeding every cell in their body. These are people who often walk 20 miles a day to find water. Somehow I don’t think they’d moan a great deal if they ‘had’ to juice the finest fruits and vegetables from around the world.

### Juicing can be super fast – if you know what you are doing.

In reality, it shouldn’t take any longer than 10 minutes to make a juice and clean the machine. Like anything new, juicing takes a short while to get the hang of, so don’t throw in the towel after just one attempt. No matter what, you will be juicing for at least 14 days during the programme, so even if you ‘hate juicing’ you can easily do it for 14 days.

### ‘But it’s hard for me because…I’m on the road all the time!’

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.

### ‘But I can’t even start because…I don’t have the energy’

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!

### The irony is that the lack of physical movement is a major cause of lethargy.

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.

### Slim Chance

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.

### It’s sad that most people will get excited about money but very rarely about their health, yet without health, without the confidence that a vibrant and trim body gives you, as I’ve already pointed out – you’re poor.

‘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.

### ‘But what’s the point…I’ll never look like Jennifer Aniston’

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.

Never lose you. You are unique and you should ALWAYS want that distinction.

### ‘But I don’t need to change because…compared with most I’m doing OK’

One of the biggest mistakes people make is to compare themselves with other people in order to gauge their own success. But are they comparing themselves to people who are at their peak mental and physical condition, or to the masses who are suffering from overweight, lethargy and ill health, and who may end up with heart disease, cancer and an unfulfilled life?

### Feel Like an Instant Success – Hang Around with Losers!

The easiest way to feel like a good tennis player is to hang around with people who can’t play as well as you; the easiest way to feel slim is to hang around with people fatter than you; and the easiest way to feel extremely healthy and full of energy is to hang around with people who are ill and can’t move!

One of the easiest ways to feel ‘OK’ or to feel successful is by comparing yourself with those people who aren’t doing as ‘OK’ as you. But just because you are doing ‘OK’ compared to them, it doesn’t mean for a millisecond that you are actually doing OK.

### That’s a Bit OFF!

It’s like the slim…ish person who hangs around with people who are larger than they are – it’s what I call the ‘OFF’ (Obligatory Fat Friend). Sure, compared to their fat friends they seem to be doing ‘OK’ on the weight and health front, but just because they are slimmer than their friends it doesn’t mean they are not fat! It simply means that compared to them they are doing ‘OK’ and compared to them they are slim. But if you saw them on their own or up against some people at the peak of their physical fitness they would look fat and instantly feel that they weren’t doing that ‘OK’ after all.

In the area of health it’s so easy to feel good compared to most people. Heaven knows all you have to do is hit the gym a couple of times a week and eat a few pieces of fruit and you’re already doing more ‘OK’ than most. But this may be nowhere near what you need for you to get the body of your dreams and energy levels you crave.

The only person you should ever compare yourself to is you. Only compare yourself to how good you can be in a particular area of your life, not how great you are compared with other people. You know what you are capable of and you know exactly what is needed for you to feel successful. Success cannot be gauged by money or even body shape; success is doing whatever it takes on a daily basis to truly live as opposed to exist. You can be slim and feel like a failure or overweight and feel like a success. Being a success is not the end result: success is a daily feeling; it’s based on whether you feel you have done what it takes today to get your best tomorrow at the same time as enjoying the present. It’s about hitting your head on the pillow at the end of the day feeling proud and fulfilled – that’s true success.

We all have a choice and we can spend our lives doing just ‘OK’ or we can decide to step up a level and finally do what it takes to get the body and energy levels which will enable us to truly excel. It’s up to you, but there is no way you would have bought a book entitled ‘Turbo-charge Your Life’ if you really thought all was OK with being just ‘OK’. I don’t want to be just ‘OK’ and neither do you. Don’t settle for comparing yourself with others in order to gauge your own success; always strive to be the best you are capable of being in any situation. You may or may not be overweight or particularly lethargic, but I can guarantee when you do the 14-day programme you will find that you push yourself to your next level.

### ‘Where’s My BUT?’

You may feel I haven’t addressed your ‘but’ (so to speak!), but to be fair we could be here for the next 100 pages trying to counter each one. Rarely do people have just the one ‘but’. The minute you come up with a solution to a person’s ‘but’, up pops another, and another. But…‘it’s too cold’, ‘it’s too hot’, ‘it’s too wet’, ‘it’s too dry’, ‘I’m working’, ‘I’m on holiday’, ‘the kids are on holiday’, ‘the kids are at school’, ‘it’s a weekday’, ‘it’s the weekend’…and so it goes on and on and on.

### The general rule I have found is the more ‘buts’ a person comes up with, the bigger the butt they tend to have, and the more unfulfilled their life tends to be.

The reality is you can ‘but’ your way through the next God knows how many years, BUT if you do that, you’ll never have the extraordinary life you deserve. You will also never feel the joy of what it’s like to wake up every day in an energy-fuelled, slim, trim healthy body. You’ll never experience what it’s like to be the very best you can be, to live at your true potential every day. If you ‘but’ your way through life you’ll always wonder what could have been.

It doesn’t matter what decade of life you are in, how lethargic you are, how much money you have or don’t have, how fat or thin you are, how many children you have, or whatever other ‘but’ you can come up with – anyone can change and get a body and daily life they are proud of.

### ‘But My Story Is Different’

Unfortunately, some people have what they consider very big ‘buts’, buts which go way beyond ‘I haven’t got the time’ or ‘It’s in my genes.’ The sort of buts which they believe no amount of ‘positive thinking’ could possibly help with. Your particular story of why it’s different or more difficult for you may well be moving, disturbing, painful and, on the surface, justified. However, if you want to move forwards, one thing must be clear:

We’ve all got a story –get over it!

### Everyone has had ‘shit’ happen to them, and virtually everyone you meet will tell you that they didn’t have an idyllic childhood.

It is true that some people have worst pasts and stories than others, but it’s all relative. After all, what one person perceives as bad or life-crippling can be just another day or even life-enhancing to others. Some people see their past as a valid reason for not having the life they want, whereas others use events of their past as a tool to drive them forwards to create a magnificent life.

Now I know that people’s childhood experiences are a touchy subject, but as this is one of the major excuses for overeating, smoking, excessive drinking, not doing exercise and, for many, not getting a life, I feel the need to get real with this seemingly big ‘but’.

If you had ‘shit’ happen to you as a kid, if you feel your childhood wasn’t exactly a bed of roses, then you need to realize one thing – you’re not alone. The sad reality of our world is that you don’t need to pass any kind of exam to be a parent, and many people haven’t got a clue. However, what has happened to you in the past doesn’t have to dictate your future. It doesn’t mean you have to drag it around with you for ever, and it doesn’t mean you don’t have a choice – because you always have a choice. You can either choose to allow past events to control your thoughts and your life every day; or you can use the experience as a motivation to drive you forwards. You can use it as a negative or a positive ‘but’. You can say, ‘But shit happened to me so what do you expect?’ or, ‘But sod it, I’m my own person now, I call the shots.’