The Great Reboot Experiment

Today marks the first day of Joseph and his friend Matt's Reboot diet experiment. The diet is based on the juice fast cleanse/diet used in the documentary "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead." It's a great story. If you have Netflix, you should watch it sometime. The main subject of the film is overweight and has some uncomfortable health problems as a result, so after talking to his doctor he decides to try a juice fast for 60 days. His idea is to eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible to help him lose weight while getting some healthy nutrients he wouldn't normally eat. Apparently it's hard to eat as many fruits and vegetables as he would need to be healthy, so he threw them all in a juicer and drank veggie/fruit juice for 60 days while being active and generally preparing to live a healthier lifestyle. He looks and feels amazing at the end, and it works so well that he converts some strangers to his diet, with similarly incredible results.

Now, Joey is very much a meat and potatoes guy. Quote: "The four main food groups are: hamburgers, pizza, Italian noodle dishes, and tacos." However, he occasionally has stomach problems. Some may be hereditary, and some of it may have to do with, oh, I don't know... drinking an average three cans of Pepsi a day, skipping random meals, trying to make up for it by snacking on Doritos, etc. Our hope is that this diet/cleanse will give Joseph time to reset his digestive system a little bit with lots of healthy fruits and vegetables.

Joseph is not alone. Obviously Diana and I can't do this with him, but he will be trying this Reboot with his friend Matt. Matt's weight has fluctuated over his life, but in the past two to three years, he has gotten serious about losing weight and being active and has gone from this:

Matt, August 2008

To this:

Matt, July 2010

A shadow of his former self- in a very good way!

However, Matt's weight still fluctuates in a way he's not happy with, and he wants to get a head start on getting down to his goal weight. One of the ways he has lost so much weight already is by putting himself on a very calorie-restrictive diet- sometimes 1,000 calories/day, but for a while he stuck to a 600 calorie/day diet. When you can only eat 600 calories/day, that means you don't want to waste calories on eating things like fruit. You pack in as much protein and filling food as possible. That has left Matt's diet a little lopsided. We think the Reboot will be a healthy way for him to start losing weight.

Obviously this is going to be difficult for Joseph and Matt, especially since they both live in places where family and roommates will be eating a more balanced and delicious diet. ;) The Reboot program based on the documentary has several levels based on people's goals and nutritional needs. Joey and Matt will be starting with the Entry Program. It's a 15 day program for people who have never done a juice fast before, so it is not exclusively "juicing," but includes eating whole fruits and vegetables as well. There's a sample meal plan at the bottom of this page, which is what they'll mostly be following for 15 days. After that, Matt intends to follow the Reboot program for another 45 days for an entire 60 day diet cleanse. 

And me? I volunteered to help make all the salads, soups and juices so that the guys could focus on other things. I'm going shopping for the first week of the diet plan today, and my shopping list includes: 8 bell peppers, 37 stalks of celery, four pounds of collard greens, 14 cucumbers, 24 radishes, 33 tomatoes, 14 zucchini, 8 romaine hearts and probably something like 10 bunches of spinach, and that doesn't include all the many fruits of different varieties and the miscellaneous things like ginger, jicama, carrot juice, coconut, onions, etc. It's a VERY long list. Our refrigerator is going to look like a jungle for a week or so. 

Diana and I won't be doing the Reboot with Joseph and Matt, but I imagine we'll be trying things like their leftover salads, squash soups, apple chips, etc. So at least our diet will probably branch out to include more vegetables and fruits since there will be more around. That seems like it could be healthy for us, especially since Diana is starting to go through a picky phase. If it's not oatmeal, noodles, or pizza, she's not interested in eating it. 

SO, this diet is a grand experiment, but we hope it leaves everyone healthier anyway. Joseph and Matt are both excited about starting the Reboot, and if it works well, maybe they'll do it again in the future!