Not everyone is convinced by the whole 'detox' concept and whilst I do believe in the idea that sometimes our body needs a little bit of help I was a little sceptical that just a week could change my life - as the Vital Detox strapline promises. 

As most of you know Darren and I had a really tough time last year (IVF pregnancy resulting in a miscarriage followed by a 'scrape' to correct the failed miscarriage - you can read about that here) and prior to IVF we'd already been on a long fertility journey with three goes of IUI and all the while trying to support these intrusive processes with more natural treatments such as good nutrition and acupuncture.

After I had recuperated from the scrape last June I bounced back to work, training and 'normal' life really quickly and before I knew it Christmas was here and Darren and I had a great holiday in Cornwall with the dogs.

Once January was here though I could feel myself sliding into a real slump; we hadn't managed to eat clean since I can't even remember when and I kept getting little coughs/colds/flu-like symptoms. I felt permanently run-down and whilst I could function through life I didn't really feel fully 'with it' a lot of the time - I've just been looking back at my diary and during the first half of this year I seem to be constantly snoozing and/or writing that I feel tired! I also had really aggravating eczema which itched constantly which I would then scratch until it bled leaving my legs covered in rather unattractive scars - urrgh! Aside from the physical symptoms I felt just generally sad a lot of the time, lacking motivation and in the end really depressed (I did have some counselling which certainly helped but still felt like a bit of 'me' was missing).

I'd researched detox weeks before and had found the Vital Detox one ages ago - it sounded great, a whole week to rest and recuperate which promised that I would feel like new by the end. There are loads of juice retreats out there but I chose the Vital Detox one because it also provided emotional support and counselling/therapy to help you through any issues you may have. This sounded perfect for me as I felt that it wasn't just my body that needed a good clear out but my emotions too. The only part I was a bit unsure about was the daily colonics(!) but put that to the back of my mind and booked.

Two weeks ago I headed down to Somerset with some trepidation - I was looking forward to the rest but now that it was here I kept doubting my ability to get through the week - what if I'm bored? What will I do all day? I don't do well being hungry, what if I'm starving? How on earth am I going to do a daily colonic? What if I don't like the juices/broth? What if I don't get on with anyone there?

I arrived just in time for the 7pm welcome chat where we met the team, introduced ourselves and had a lovely cup of butternut squash soup & a cup of detox tea - that was an acquired taste but as it contained loads of supporting herbs I thought I should give it a go J I booked a couple of treatments for the week as I thought a couple of relaxing massages would be a perfect addition to my goal of de-stressing.

Everyone was pretty exhausted after long, stressful journeys so we all headed to bed nice and early ready for our first day of juice fasting and colonics.....

Thanks for reading and I'll let you know how the week went tomorrow

Fran x