Knowing how to eat clean doesn't necessarily translate into being able to do it and that's been one of mine and Darren's battles recently. It feels awful advising people to eat clean because they will feel better, lose weight, have more energy, sleep better, have better skin and hair, etc, etc and then not being able to take your own advice.

I now feel totally committed to eating a healthy diet and I'm enjoying it again - I used to love rustling up new creations in the kitchen but had lost all my motivation to do so.

Not only do I value eating healthily again but it was about so much more than food for me - the therapy I had has helped me to feel much more like the 'old me' - in some ways the week hasn't changed my life it's just given me back the life I used to live before Darren's father became ill and passed away and we got on the fertility merry-go-round.

Finally, because I no longer feel constantly tired and depressed I now have the motivation to get on with building and promoting my side of the Achieve business which was another thing I had really struggled with since leaving my Boxercise job back in May.

So - the dreaded colemas! What is the point?

When you don't eat for a few days your digestion shuts down so you probably wouldn't go for a poo if you didn't do the colemas. However the main reason is that whilst you are detoxing you sometimes feel really crappy as the toxins are released; when you feel like this it's the perfect time to do a colema to assist the body to get rid of the toxins - apparently if you don't get rid of the toxins during this phase they can be re-absorbed in the body which wouldn't be good!

We also did other things to help get rid of the toxins such as dry skin brushing, oil swilling, massaging our lymph glands, spending time in the steam room and Epsom Salt baths. All of these techniques help to expel the toxins we were releasing as our digestive systems had a chance to rest.

What was it like not to eat for 5 days?

A lot of you will already know what it feels like to detox as you've been through the Real Food Plan - remember how it felt when you first cut out caffeine? A really deep detox is similar to those feelings you will have experienced but I think the difference with the juice detox was that I also felt quite low on energy. This makes total sense because although I was taking in loads of nutrients in the juices and broths I wasn't really getting any energy from them. I have to say that I didn't ever feel hungry which had been one of my main concerns at the start of the week.

By the fifth and final day of juice I started to feel re-energised but couldn't actually have done anything very energetic. I really wanted to climb Glastonbury Tor while I was there and while normally I'd run up there no problem it felt like an impossible task - in fact on the day we did try (day 4) we had to turn back as I had 'bambi' legs and my friend was having palpitations.

What a difference some food makes though! We broke the fast on Thursday with a non-watered down juice for breakfast, a delicious raw food feast for lunch and a tasty soup for dinner - with all of that inside me I thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of satisfaction when I made it to the top of the Tor that evening.

All in all it was an amazing week and I would certainly recommend it as a holiday if you are feeling at all in need of some self-love and nurturing. The yoga was brilliant and all of the staff were fantastic - if anyone needed any extra support - day or night - there was always someone to help.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend - some of Team Achieve are currently sat on the M6 on their way up to Scotland for the 3 peaks starting tomorrow so I'd like to wish them the best of luck for that (I've had to stay at home to nurse a poorly Poppy).

I wanted to finish by remembering a key member of Team Achieve on this very sad day. It was Sam's sister Mandy's funeral today and although it was very, very sad it was a beautiful service which made it clear what a wonderful person Mandy was and how loving their family is. Tell your friends and family this weekend how much you love them - you can never say it too many times and if you can't say it, show them.

Fran xxx