40 Day Detox

My weight dropped 0.3kg to 68.0kg, however my Body fat rose 0.2% to 17.6%. My Body Water dropped 0.1% to 56.6% and my Body Muscle dropped 0.1% to 42.8%. 

Quinoa, coconut milk, strawberries, raspberries and agave nectar

For breakfast I had a hot lemon juice followed by quinoa, strawberries, raspberries with coconut milk and agave nectar. 

This was the first time I used coconut milk as an alternative to cow’s milk. Well what can I say? It’s absolutely delicious. It beats soy milk hands down. Not only did it taste really good with my quinoa it also tastes great on its own as a drink. 

Coconut milk

I looked into the health benefits of coconut and coconut milk. It has anti-viral, antibacterial- and anti-fungal properties capable of fighting things like influenza, ulcers, and athletes foot. It can kill tapeworms and other parasites. The saturated fat in coconut is made from medium-chain fatty acids which the body quickly turns into energy rather than store as body fat. It improves the digestion of nutrients and minerals. Improves insulin secretion, relieves stress on the pancreas and relieves symptoms of pancreatitis. Helps relieve symptoms of diabetes. It is good for the kidneys and urinary system. Coconut oil can be used to heal cuts and sunburns. It is good for the skin and hair and coconut oil is therefore used in skin and hair care products. It can help boost the immune system. The list of the health benefits of coconut is endless. 

For the taste alone, I know I’m going to come back to using coconut milk a lot more often. 

Buckwheat, channa dal and salad

For lunch I had buckwheat with channa dal and salad. 

Prior to my workout I prepared for it by eating another portion of channa dal and buckwheat just before starting my workout. The protein in buckwheat like quinoa is complete i.e. it contains the eight essential amino-acids in significant amounts. Other benefits of buckwheat include: it is high in fibre; it contains many minerals (phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper and manganese); it lowers glucose levels and therefore is good for managing diabetes; and it reduces blood pressure and cholesterol due to it being rich in the flavonoid rutin. It is gluten free and therefore good for celiacs. It tastes like a grain but it’s about 3-4 times the size of a grain of rice. I quite liked it.

Buckwheat

I made up for missing yesterday’s extended resistance workout by doing them at home today before heading to the park for the rest of my workout. It was a good workout. Other than the chest press, I beat previous repetition records for each exercise. It seems eating buckwheat with channa dal just before the work was a very good idea. It was an exhausting workout and I did my laps in 56 min 22 sec. A relatively fast walk, but nowhere near the record I achieved the day before. I then did a 12 min HIIT session on the cross trainer.

Post workout I had mango and watermelon.

Overall I was pleased with what I achieved today.

My weight stayed the same at 68.3kg. My body fat dropped 0.3% to 17.4%. My Body Water rose to 56.7% and Body Muscle rose 0.1% to 42.9%. 

Quinoa, soy milk, straweberries, raspberries and agave nectar

For breakfast I had my usual hot lemon drink followed by quinoa with soy milk, strawberries, raspberries and agave nectar. 

Channa dal, whole grain basmati rice, salad and vegetable juice

For lunch I had whole grain Basmati rice with a Channa dal, red kidney beans, corn and green peas curry and salad. This meal was accompanied by a vegetable juice (cucumber, ginger, celery, beetroot and carrot). 

I had intended to do my new additions to my resistance training before heading to the park today (squats, lunges, shoulder press) however I was running out of time and so went to the park for my laps. I got a new record today! 54 min and 30 sec! I then followed this with an 11 min 15 sec HIIT session on the cross trainer. 

Pakistani Anwar Retol mango and watermelon

Post workout I treated myself to a high GI treat of Pakistani Anwar Ratol mango and watermelon followed by a glass of soy milk and some peanut butter. 

Kenwood BL450 Blender with mill

Earlier today I went to Argos to buy myself a blender. After checking a few reviews I decided to go for the Kenwood BL450 Blender. It is rated 4.5 out of 5 on the Argos customer reviews. I asked to view it first as I wanted to check its user manual to see if it could blend/grind nuts. For now I want to be able to make smoothie/protein shakes, but in the long run I want to be able to make the kind of shakes you can buy at Tinseltown. The instruction manual said that you could put nuts in it, particularly in the mill. So I went ahead and bought it. 

False advertising on the Argos website of the Kenwood BL450 Blender shown with mill

When I got home, the Mrs unpacked it, gave it a rinse and left it out to dry. I wanted to make a soy milk and peanut butter shake after my workout. So I sat down and started to read the instructions. As I went through the diagram outlining the different parts, I got to the bit that described the mill. It said, if provided, it looks like such and such. I had all the parts in front of me, and there was no mill. I checked the box, no mention of a mill on the outside of the box. What gave me the idea that it came with a mill? I checked the Argos website. Well see picture with the blender? See that small beaker like thing with a lid on it next to it, that’s the mill that is missing. It was only on my last visit to Argos that I had bought a 2L Aqua Optima Water Filter Jug  thinking it to be 2.4L as it was advertised on the Argos website. After I was treated very rudely by Leytonstone Argos staff, I wrote four letters of complaint. Three to different Argos complaints addresses I found online and one to Strix, the manufacturer of Aqua Optima. Strix  swiftly responded with an apology and a 2.4L Water Filter Jug free of charge courtesy of Strix. Bravo! Now that’s what you call fantastic customer service. They also spoke to Argos and got them to amend the mistake that Argos had made on their website and corrected the error. In response to my THREE letters, Argos has responded with Nada. Zilch. Nothing. Bravo Argos! What a wonderful company you are! (British sarcasm) 

Aqua Optima by Strix

This review of the Kenwood BL450 Blender on the Argos website mentions how good the mill is (click to enlarge)

I looked closely at the Argos section promoting the Kenwood BL450 Blender. I went through the reviews and found no less than three reviews specifically mentioning how great the mill was. So was it my mistake to think that the product came with a mill? Clearly the impression the website is giving is that it does come with a mill. Once again I have been duped by Argos into buying a product that does not meet its description on their website. I was outraged. So I thought I’d do the helpful thing and put a review on the Argos website warning other customers that the mill is not supplied with the blender even though the website gives that false impression. So I went on the review section and looked for the link to click on to add my review. I looked everywhere. Nothing. My wife suggested maybe you have to register with the website first and log in. So I created an account, logged in and went to the review section. Still no option to add a review! I Googled: “How do I add a review to the Argos website?” It turns out this is a common query. Apparently the only way you can add a review to the Argos website is when Argos send you an email about two weeks after you’ve bought a product from them. How would they email me without knowing my email address? I don’t recall providing them with an email address upon buying the product. Also it seems even if you do get to write a review, if your review is overly negative they might not include it. 

It seems I’m not the only one appalled by Argos as a company. According to the impartial Review Centre, at the time of writing, from 2 ratings and 124 reviews Argos has a staggering overall rating of 1.3 out of 5! 

Shocking! Argos is rated 1.3 out of 5 by Argos customers on the Review Centre website

I personally am fed up of being misled by incorrect information on the Argos website. I’m fed up with the appalling customer service I receive within their stores. It seems their product reviews are not reliable (for example, I’ve not managed to find a single product that has an overall rating of less than 3 on their review site – I doubt this is a coincidence.) I’m astounded that I have received no reply to three separate complaints to Argos when I have taken the time write to them. This company needs to get its act together and stop pissing its customers off! Until they do get their act together I am boycotting them. From now on I shall stop buying any products from them. I’d rather pay another company more money for better customer service then get a cheaper deal at Argos. 

Boycott Argos

If you have had similar bad experiences at Argos I encourage you to boycott them too. Shop for it! Don’t Argos it! 

If you have suffered at the hands of Argos business practices there are other proactive steps you can take to encourage change. Share your bad Argos experience with BBC Watchdog, they seemed interested in what I had to say when I contacted them in regards to my dreadful experience with Argos. If enough people contact them with their stories maybe BBC Watchdog will do a feature on Argos which will no doubt force Argos to improve its service. 

Also join the Boycott Argos As They Suck For Quality And Customer Service group on Facebook. Every little helps.

No.

Wait.

That’s Tesco.

You know what I mean.