[squashyo]

This last month, I was talked into participating in a food fast. Goal was 7 days living on nothing but veggie juice, tea, and water. I did a lot of research and found that this program is highly regarded as a way to detox the body while gaining significant benefits like weight loss and reducing blood pressure. I was fearful that I would be tired, grumpy, and most importantly, unable to ride my bike...I was wrong, wrong, wrong.

So, I bought a kick ass little juicer and gave it a go because forecast called for lots of rain and job stresses were low. I jumped in and, as warned, the first three days were rough but manageable...mostly mental but also the cravings and habits were rough. In the first three days, the body goes through significant detoxification and until everything clears out, the internal organs want to play. After three days though, hunger subsided, energy was at an all time high, and it was easy sailing...so easy in fact that I decided to go an extra 3 days (10 total). The theory here (which I see as completely factual) is that digesting is a highly energy intensive process. When you aren't digesting, your body suddenly has an abundance of down time which it uses to heal, remove crappy stuff, and allocate the energy to other areas. The veggie juice supplies the system with all the nutrients so you don't wain or feel crummy. If anything, I had more energy and perk than I have had in decades. The best part was I was able to go to the gym frequently and got in numerous bike rides including a couple 2000+ foot climbs.

The results: Lost close to 20 Lbs...mostly all of my beer belly. Took my blood pressure down from persistently high (doctor worried) to 120/77 which I believe is normal. I also came away with far less cravings for fat rich foods and more desire for healthy options. It has been almost 2 weeks since ending the fast and I am still sub 180 which is perfect for me. ( I was hitting mid 190s and growing)

Anyhow, I can't recommend this program enough. My buddy is doing 30 days and is a long distant runner. Check out this movie if interested: Fat Sick and Nearly Dead | a Joe Cross Film

My only regret was not following a pre-diet plan which consists of three days prepping the system for the change. I plan to do 2 a year. Anyone else out there try this?

 

[pwu_1]

That movie is on netflix streaming if anyone is wondering.
I saw that movie and was considering doing it. The up front cost of purchasing a juicer and the fact that I was afraid I won't stick to it(thus wasting money on a juicer) is what prevented me from doing it. That and there is a part of me that thought the movie made it sound too good to be true.
Thanks for sharing your experience...I'll have to give it some more thought about giving this a go. I'm not really that overweight but everything is pretty much concentrated on my gut. The fact that most of the weight you lost is on your gut is encouraging.

So during this fast you were able to bike like normal(no food while riding?)

 

[jtorlando25]

Very cool

I'm extremely interested in doing this. Thoroughly inspired by your post.

I've sucked at maintaining a healthy eating habit here lately and I've been exercising/running more on top of my riding just to maintain. I have ~20 lbs to go before I reach my 100 lb weight loss goal and I think this diet plan will help get me there. I like to make things extra difficult on myself so a juice fast during the holidays seems to be right up my alley lol. I already have the juicer too!

Does the movie explain the 3 day prep? (I'm going to check it out on Netflix tonight)

 

[squashyo]

Well, the juicer is pricy (I paid $170 for a nice one) but juicing alone is not a bad deal. I wasn't eating any veggies before (well some but far from a lot) so this thing has me in-taking all the veggie nutrients I need daily in an easy to administer fashion. I do a veggie drink every morning now just for health.

I was totally able to ride but was hesitant to go anywhere deep in the woods. I stayed close to ensure that I didn't bonk and would be stuck in no man's land. It was probably moot though because I went on some sizable rides local and didn't bonk...I was a little more tired than usual those evenings but nothing too bad. I brought veggie juice with me on the rides which really helped.

The movie is just a motivator...seemed ligit to me.

By the way, my motivation here was for detox...the weight loss was a bonus.

 

[pwu_1]

the movie is more like a documentary rather than a how-to. But there is a website where they give you the details.

Juicing for Weight Loss with Joe Cross | Reboot Your Life

 

[squashyo]

I'm extremely interested in doing this. Thoroughly inspired by your post.

I've sucked at maintaining a healthy eating habit here lately and I've been exercising/running more on top of my riding just to maintain. I have ~20 lbs to go before I reach my 100 lb weight loss goal and I think this diet plan will help get me there. I like to make things extra difficult on myself so a juice fast during the holidays seems to be right up my alley lol. I already have the juicer too!

Does the movie explain the 3 day prep? (I'm going to check it out on Netflix tonight)

You may want to wait till after the holidays just because the parties you go to will make it really hard on you. No boozing or coffee or nicotine...it's a full on purge. It's an awesome adventure actually.

Anyhow, I totally recommend reading this book first: The Fasting Diet by Steven Baily (The Fasting Diet: Steven Bailey: 9780658011450: Amazon.com: Books) It explains the prep but essentially you drink olive oil with garlic and lemon juice...this tricks your stomach into thinking a crap load on fatty food is on the way so produces lots of bile (which is bad stuff and contains a lot of toxins) you follow this shot with a bunch of raw veggies which essentially flushes the bile out so you don't suffer the 3 day detox as bad (you basically purged a ton of the stuff that makes you want to eat bad food). I don't think the movie explains this...hope this helped.

 

[Nelson34]

Thanks for the info. I've been curious about detoxing for a while now. I need too! I was thinking the same about waiting for the holidays to pass-at least Christmas. But this will give me time to prep for it. We have two vita mix blenders-I had one and my fiancé had one so now we have two and really never use either so hoping to start to.

 

[jtorlando25]

You may want to wait till after the holidays just because the parties you go to will make it really hard on you. No boozing or coffee or nicotine...it's a full on purge. It's an awesome adventure actually.

Anyhow, I totally recommend reading this book first: The Fasting Diet by Steven Baily (The Fasting Diet: Steven Bailey: 9780658011450: Amazon.com: Books) It explains the prep but essentially you drink olive oil with garlic and lemon juice...this tricks your stomach into thinking a crap load on fatty food is on the way so produces lots of bile (which is bad stuff and contains a lot of toxins) you follow this shot with a bunch of raw veggies which essentially flushes the bile out so you don't suffer the 3 day detox as bad (you basically purged a ton of the stuff that makes you want to eat bad food). I don't think the movie explains this...hope this helped.

Great info. Thank you very much.

 

[Dion]

I am an octo-lavo vegetarian - but I converted for ethical reasons. I enjoy local farm eggs that are certified ethical (farms that I can visit and pet the grass fed chickens) and incidental dairy - but I don't drink milk or any of that. My wife is vegan.

We have watched and read every article, documentary, diet, etc known to man. I swear - it is a bit much. The only criticism I have for the "juice" diet is sustainability.

I think detoxing is fine for a few weeks or a month - but then what?

My diet is not perfect, but it has worked and is sustainable. My weakness are sweets and cheese - but I have a health serving of fruits, vegetables, grain and protein. Every morning, I have a gigantic kale shake and eat kale throughout the day, with bananas and various in-season fruit. I eat ginger root and tomatos and avocados and whatever good, natural thing I can get a hold of.

What has resulted was, over the past two years, a loss of 30lbs. AND and ridiculously strong immune system. I am out in public almost every night, shaking hands, grabbing door knobs and being exposed - and from getting intensely sick at least three times a year - I never get sick. And if I feel run-down... it only lasts for a day, tops. I am around sick children and adults... I don't use hand sanitizer or any of that snake oil.

I don't have to take cold or flu medicines, etc. I don't get a flu shot and I'm never worried about being around sick people.

I'm glad people are being more turned on to diet awareness - but I would highly recommend adopting something that is sustainable. Drinking juices is just not sustainable - and the results are great initially, but a lifestyle change needs to be implemented to gain full benefits.

I took baby steps: first cutting out Fast Food, Chinese and Filipino food. Then meat, fish and poultry altogether. Then, milk and ice cream (although I have a scoop or two a year) and eating raw and superfoods daily. I don't drink alcohol, either.

Like I said, my diet isn't perfect, but it is something that I can live with - I give myself "breathing room" except for meat - which I will not consume unless it's game meat. I will not eat any meat from a grocery store.

I've tried these fasting diets and such, but always reverted back to my old ways until I completely changed my dietary lifestyle and my outlook on the ethical repercussions of industrial food.

Thanks for sharing! It's a good start to reviewing your dietary habits. Most of us, including me once in awhile, eat like crap. BTW, if your spouse or S.O. ain't into it - it really makes a dietary lifestyle change really difficult... you both have to be into this or it's hard to keep it going.

Sorry for being such a hippy

 

[yohyat]

Me too. It's amazing what a vegan wife will do for ya...:thumbsup:

I am an octo-lavo vegetarian - but I converted for ethical reasons. I enjoy local farm eggs that are certified ethical (farms that I can visit and pet the grass fed chickens) and incidental dairy - but I don't drink milk or any of that. My wife is vegan.

We have watched and read every article, documentary, diet, etc known to man. I swear - it is a bit much. The only criticism I have for the "juice" diet is sustainability.

I think detoxing is fine for a few weeks or a month - but then what?

My diet is not perfect, but it has worked and is sustainable. My weakness are sweets and cheese - but I have a health serving of fruits, vegetables, grain and protein. Every morning, I have a gigantic kale shake and eat kale throughout the day, with bananas and various in-season fruit. I eat ginger root and tomatos and avocados and whatever good, natural thing I can get a hold of.

What has resulted was, over the past two years, a loss of 30lbs. AND and ridiculously strong immune system. I am out in public almost every night, shaking hands, grabbing door knobs and being exposed - and from getting intensely sick at least three times a year - I never get sick. And if I feel run-down... it only lasts for a day, tops. I am around sick children and adults... I don't use hand sanitizer or any of that snake oil.

I don't have to take cold or flu medicines, etc. I don't get a flu shot and I'm never worried about being around sick people.

I'm glad people are being more turned on to diet awareness - but I would highly recommend adopting something that is sustainable. Drinking juices is just not sustainable - and the results are great initially, but a lifestyle change needs to be implemented to gain full benefits.

I took baby steps: first cutting out Fast Food, Chinese and Filipino food. Then meat, fish and poultry altogether. Then, milk and ice cream (although I have a scoop or two a year) and eating raw and superfoods daily. I don't drink alcohol, either.

Like I said, my diet isn't perfect, but it is something that I can live with - I give myself "breathing room" except for meat - which I will not consume unless it's game meat. I will not eat any meat from a grocery store.

I've tried these fasting diets and such, but always reverted back to my old ways until I completely changed my dietary lifestyle and my outlook on the ethical repercussions of industrial food.

Thanks for sharing! It's a good start to reviewing your dietary habits. Most of us, including me once in awhile, eat like crap. BTW, if your spouse or S.O. ain't into it - it really makes a dietary lifestyle change really difficult... you both have to be into this or it's hard to keep it going.

Sorry for being such a hippy

 

[squashyo]

Thanks Dion...good stuff! I am also a vegetarian but eat seafood. I think you are dead on about changing which I think this starter diet lends itself to. What I like is that it breaks you off of bad habits and addictions so that when you come out, you actually feel like eating Kale or dried apricots instead if those damn Mint Girl Scout cookies. For ethical reasons, I too would like to start moving to a more vegan lifestyle (watching this movie was an eye opener: Vegucated: Amazon.com: Vegucated: T. Colin Campbell, Brian Flegel, Joel Fuhrman, Stephen Kaufman: Movies & TV)

Anyhow, I too am sorry for being a hippy...just fired up about this program.

 

[Dion]

Thanks Dion...good stuff! I am also a vegetarian but eat seafood. I think you are dead on about changing which I think this starter diet lends itself to. What I like is that it breaks you off of bad habits and addictions so that when you come out, you actually feel like eating Kale or dried apricots instead if those damn Mint Girl Scout cookies. For ethical reasons, I too would like to start moving to a more vegan lifestyle (watching this movie was an eye opener: Vegucated: Amazon.com: Vegucated: T. Colin Campbell, Brian Flegel, Joel Fuhrman, Stephen Kaufman: Movies & TV)

Anyhow, I too am sorry for being a hippy...just fired up about this program.

Right on! It's awesome to see people re-think food.

 

[Nelson34]

I hate hippies! I hate vegetables too but probably why I'm fat. I totally agree with the hippie-this is just the first baby step. I had lost quite a bit of weight with riding, yoga and working out a few years ago. Diet was very important. BUT moving into a new house, remodel and our first son I've been reunited with some of my weight I lost. Bad habits have returned.
I REFUSE to go back to the weight I was prior to all this. I notice how I've become so much slower riding, less flexible and just tired. Not to mention none of my hard earned Hugo Boss clothing no longer fits. When I lost the weight I was like Eddie Murphy-Spandex! Everything Spandex!!!
Hoping to get leaner and faster next year. Don't need to be A group but B is nice-I'm just a weekend warrior. I think I'm F right now. Anyways good info and time for change. Probably be good to go get a check up as well.

 

[Carl Hungus]

You lost me at no beer.

But seriously, interesting stuff from you and Dion. I've always been the tall, skinny dude with the ridiculous metabolism so "diets" have never been in my vocabulary but as I get closer to 40 I can see that my metabolism is starting to slow down just a bit. That combined with having a 3 year old/less riding/more stress has me interested in something like this for the first time ever. We eat pretty balanced for the most part. Farmers market blah, blah, blah, very little fast food and so on and so forth but I have been known to shove a burger in my face. Hmmm...what are the benefits of a "juicer" vs. just a blender? $170 seems like kind of a big experiment for a couple week experiment.

 

[squashyo]

what are the benefits of a "juicer" vs. just a blender? $170 seems like kind of a big experiment for a couple week experiment.

Welp, the purpose of the fast is to remove all fiber from the digestion process. By drinking all the nutrients and only the nutrients, your system can go to work healing and combating toxins and burning fat. The juicer allows you to digest ridiculous amounts of veggie nutrients since all the fiber is out of the picture. A blender just makes it easier to ingest more veggies that chewing and swallowing interferes with but you are still working hard to deal with the fiber in your belly so a totally different ball game.

By the way, I included a couple table spoons of UDO's oil with my drinks to get some good fat. Made my drink taste better and my skin...nevermind.

Also, yes, giving up beer is tough (so was coffee) but the real hurdle is accepting that enemas are somewhat part of this diet (though not necessary) if you want to feel good the whole time. Since no fiber is working it's way through the system, nothing is scrubbing the walls. Same goes for plaque on the teeth. Whoop, just lost everyone I am sure.

 

[Dion]

You lost me at no beer.

But seriously, interesting stuff from you and Dion. I've always been the tall, skinny dude with the ridiculous metabolism so "diets" have never been in my vocabulary but as I get closer to 40 I can see that my metabolism is starting to slow down just a bit. That combined with having a 3 year old/less riding/more stress has me interested in something like this for the first time ever. We eat pretty balanced for the most part. Farmers market blah, blah, blah, very little fast food and so on and so forth but I have been known to shove a burger in my face. Hmmm...what are the benefits of a "juicer" vs. just a blender? $170 seems like kind of a big experiment for a couple week experiment.

Try this

Get a bundle of kale - $2
A bunch of bananas - $2
High quality orange juice

6-8 oz. of OJ
4-5 de-stalked kale
1 banana

Blend it all up and drink this concoction everyday for two weeks. Eat your regular healthy diet. Obvious to not eat fast food, crap, etc.

I have a juicer, but stopped using it. There are a TON of anti-oxidents and digestive aid in the leaves and pulp of plants. For fasting - sure. But for sustainability and health, the body needs large amounts of fiber. Sometimes I just eat a bowl of plain kale and spinach with raisins.

I don't mean to "get gross" but there's what happened to me when I was juicing. Sharting occurred. Yep. Sharting. Just having the liquid didn't give me the "bulk" I needed for healthy solid poo's. Sure, I took a crap like everybody else, but without fiber, it was pure "liquid gold".

:lol:

When you use a blender, like the aforementioned VitaMix or BlendTec, you retain the essential fiber needed for a healthy digestive tract. Blendtec has a crazy Youtbe channel called "Will it Blend?" and they blend things like cell phones and stuff in their blenders.

Try my recipe above. If you have an upset stomach or get an upset stomach in the morning, throw in a 1/4" of ginger. Ginger is a natural way to settle an upset stomach. Plus the anti-oxidents and anti-inflammatory properties are outstanding.

You will notice extremely "healthy" bowel movements - to the point of where you think you're done, but things keep a' flowing. That was what I first noticed when I started drinking kale shakes every day. Now, I'm just regular, without the prolonged porcelain visits. But those initial morning poo's are a doozy and you ask yourself "where the hell did all that come from?". Logs will be soft, not hard like from eating meat - and "seeing green" will have a different meaning.

Don't forget to flush between logs, because there will be a lot coming out of you.

Sorry to get gross, but it's da' troof!

 

[Bakudan]

Funny sort of on topic story of a friend who tried one of these veggie juice diets. He was going to the bathroom a lot and lost a few pounds. After a trip to the doctor it turned out he had diarrhea and didn't realize it because he thought it was just veggie juice detox.

 

[ask]

Great write up and congrats... it was interesting to follow your progress on FB as well. It sounds like the experiment was a success. I will probably give it a shot in 2013. Waiting for post Christmas sales on juicers.

So what did you eat after the diet? Was it difficult to transition back to a solid food diet? Have you changed your overall diet since or are you back to normal (pre-juice) diet?

Do you continue to juice in conjunction with solid foods now?

How much time do you think it took each morning to prep your day's juice? Trying to figure out if I can do this w/ my work/ride schedule.

So the next homebrew going to be a Carrot / Kale Double-IPA?

No post-ride beer and morning espresso might be the hardest part of this for me.

 

[squashyo]

Great write up and congrats... it was interesting to follow your progress on FB as well. It sounds like the experiment was a success. I will probably give it a shot in 2013. Waiting for post Christmas sales on juicers.

So what did you eat after the diet? Was it difficult to transition back to a solid food diet? Have you changed your overall diet since or are you back to normal (pre-juice) diet?

Do you continue to juice in conjunction with solid foods now?

How much time do you think it took each morning to prep your day's juice? Trying to figure out if I can do this w/ my work/ride schedule.

So the next homebrew going to be a Carrot / Kale Double-IPA?

No post-ride beer and morning espresso might be the hardest part of this for me.

Right on man! So answers:
Juicer: I really like my Breville RM-JE98XL...I got it refurbished on Amazon for $175...I am sure there are good ones much cheaper.

After diet: I followed a very strict 6 day diet after the fast which consisted of lots of raw veggies, grains, and other foods that got introduced each day. Day 6 was all systems go in which I ate really shitty food which I had been craving (Fondue, beer, chips, etc) I found it to be sort of unsatisfying and now am eating just really good foods that work for me...fruit, veggies, non-processed stuff. I am juicing every morning now as part of a habit. I am definitely more attracted to healthy foods now which is cool!

Morning prep is about 20 minutes. Clean up is really easy because its fiber not grease...just a rinse will do and it's easy. The hard part is finding space in your house for all the veggies and fruit. I brought in a mini fridge. I would stock up at farmers markets but ended up at Whole foods a couple times.

I put the home brew kit in the attic...it was fun but I got really fat and lazy with all that beer around the house. Maybe next summer I'll whip up a brew or two. You are welcome to borrow the stuff if your into it.

The best thing about the deprivation is that when you come out the end, the post ride beer will be 15x better tasting...everything tastes better.

word

 

[redmr2_man]

I am still sub 180 which is perfect for me.

eat a cheeseburger, skin and bones!