New Palate, New Plate, New Life

Name:  Tom Meng
Age: 43
Location: Zurich, Switzerland / Vienna, Austria
Reboot: 16 Days – juice only 16

What Health Issues apply to you?
High Blood Pressure

Did you Reboot to lose weight?
Yes

How did you learn about Reboot with Joe?
I have a Netflix account and I started watching a whole series of programs that included Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, Super Size Me, Food Inc., Food Matters, Fork Over Knives, Vegucated, Gerson Therapy, and 7 Pounds in 7 Days. Juicing caught my imagination, and I said “Hey, that’s easy, why not try that out” I have not looked back since. But it was FSND that got me started. So Thanks Joe!

What inspired you to do a Reboot?        
Joe Cross. I find him a total inspiration. I like his laid back, easy going approach for a very important and  serious message. In the film Phil was also an uplifting heartwarming story that made me say I can do that. I wanted to live healthier, and weight loss was a secondary goal. So I got going by buying a centrifugal juicer.

How did the experience go for you?
Life changing. Juicing has rebooted my taste buds, making me crave salads, raw vegetables, cutting back meat, alcohol, coffee consumption, etc. It made me realize that after the 16 days, I could transform my life. And I made a decision at that point, to make a commitment to change to healthier eating habits. This meant that even after Rebooting, it was a catalyst for getting my act together. It has helped me with my energy levels, concentration and feeling much more positive. It also made me move to primarily organic foods. Additionally, I continue to juice almost every day. After Rebooting 16 days, I lost 10 kg/22 lbs. However, adopting a healthy lifestyle has meant that I have now reached my ideal weight from 98.5 kg/217 lbs to 78.4 kg/173 lbs. I now exercise regularly without any issues. Physically, I am no longer breathless when I run or swim. Running 10 km is no longer an issue. My concentration levels at work have also considerably improved, and I don’t feel so tired.  The 3 new mottos I live by are Carpe Diem, One Life, Live it Well, and Live Life, Love life.

Today one my favourite juices I love to drink is 3 apples, 6 carrots, 1 kiwi, 1/2 lemon, tumeric (health reason) and a little ginger. I drink this almost daily.

How much weight did you lose (even if that wasn’t your goal!)?
16 months ago I was 98.5 kg/217 lbs. Over that time I lost just over 20 kg/44 lbs. I am 1.81 m and now reached my ideal weight. My goal was to be 78.5kg. I’m now 78.4 kg.

Did you have any notable health or physical improvements?
No more HBP tablets. Now it’s stabilized. My health was seen as average. Now at the age of 43 I just feel like I am 30.

What was the toughest part about the Reboot experience?
Nothing. Changing lifestyle made it easy. Key to success is changing lifestyle. Just before the Reboot I did a mix of eating and juicing so I did not go “Cold Turkey”. This made Rebooting easier. Going to work carrying juice around when traveling was difficult.

In my former life, I used to have to have at least 2 hot meals a day. Every meal had to be with meat, chicken or beef, sometimes fish and cooked vegetables. I Ioved eating Italian, Japanese food, pizzas and burgers. I did not have a bad diet, but I just ate a lot. I loved eating, drinking 3-5 coffees a day, eating crisps, drinking lots of apple, orange and cranberry juices from a carton, drinking red bulls, etc. I had no idea of fresh juices, except “squeezed orange juice” from the supermarket. Now I know that those are full of added High Fructose Corn Syrup, and added sugars.

What habits have you maintained and kept a part of your everyday life?
Juicing rebooted my taste palate. Sustaining it has meant changing my lifestyle by eating a primarily vegetarian diet. I avoid milk products and eat fish on occasion, and always try to buy organic.

It’s primarily avoiding processed foods cutting out sugars. A shed load of fresh vegetable and fruit juicing and fitting in regular exercise. In this way we can all feel super fit! And we can avoid health issues such as heart disease and cancers.

What is your lasting impression of the Reboot experience?
I watch the video every few months to keep me motivated. The question you have to ask yourself is, how do you sustain a healthy way of life. Rebooting is not a diet, but if we are not careful, you could so easily fall back into the trap of falling off the bandwagon. I Reboot on a regular basis. About every 3 months I will do a 3 or 5 day juice cleanse. I also find inspiration in other health and wellness influencers like Jason Vale, FMTV, Jay Kordich, Cherie Blom, John Gabriel, Charlotte Gerson, and more. I have bought books and apps from these inspiring people. I now juice for health.

So many people have become ill from cancers and other conditions such as Colitis or Chron’s disease, but I have found that simply by taking proactive steps we can do so much. Rebooting helped me on my way, into disease prevention.

Since my Reboot, I have moved from a centrifugal juicer to a masticating one at home, and get much more juice yield. I have joined 1/2 a dozen social media sites which educate me in eating healthy and living a healthy life.