I have seen mentioned in several places (not here) that a "juice fast" is great for detoxing and cutting down on water retention. What do you think? Is it worth doing once in a while (I've been on a plateau and if things haven't changed at all when I weigh in on Saturday, I'm thinking about trying a juice fast) or is it dangerous or just not worth it? Any thoughts?

I've done it and it sent me on a binge the next day...

Hmm, that's good to know. That would defeat the whole purpose, I think. I'm kind of tossing the idea around if I don't see some movement on the scale pretty soon, just because I'm getting so frustrated. I hadn't thought about dealing with a binge the next day though. Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.

To get your body off the plateau why don't you instead tweak your workout or just your calorie intake for a week instead...

When you workout make sure you workout with intensity... if you walk on a treadmill, try walking on an incline instead for a minute then walk for a minute, repeat this a few times for 20-30 minutes, or walk and jog in the same manner.

For you food , journal every morsel you eat for a while, it's surprising sometimes what we don't realise what we eat... or bring your calories down a bit by 100-200 cals/day for a few days and then back up again and see what happens...Eat often 5-6 meals/day of 200-300 cals each...

Do you weight train? Weight training will build muscles and muscles burn more calories while at rest...

Here is a great site for some helpful hints...http://www.fitfaq.com/index.html

I've looked at juice fasts before and thought about them... but I always thought I'd be starving and miserable throughout the process, so I've never tried it. The binge part makes sense-- you'd be so hungry you probably wouldn't care what you ate. For me, it just didn't seem like a good idea.

First of all, I am extremely skeptical that one day of fasting or only drinking juice is going to make any impact on any toxin build-up in your body. When proponents of a health practice don't have any evidence of a benefit from the practice, they always throw in "detoxification." There are some toxins that can build up (metals, especially), but fasting for a day isn't going to get rid of them, and it's certainly not necessary to help your body deal with the things it cleans out anyway.

It also sounds like you think a juice fast will help you lose weight; even if you don't binge the next day, it's still not going to make much difference in the grand scheme of things, especially since it would be EASY to consume as many or more calories than you currently do even when just drinking juice, since it is calorie-dense.

Dr. Andrew Weil has a good articles on the topic here:

http://www.drweil.com/u/QA/QA300783/


And, just as a side note ... coincidentally I had to do a clear-liquids-only fast for a day last Sunday in preparation for a colonoscopy. That meant water, clear soft drinks (I did sugar-free), non-red jello (again, for me, sugar-free), and non-red juices like apple and white cranberry, Gatorade, etc. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be in terms of hunger, etc. What I found was that, starting in the early afternoon, I was EXHAUSTED. I wasn't sleepy, just had absolutely no energy. It was all I could do to drag myself around the house.

I didn't binge the next day, but my sum total weight loss for the week (I weigh in on Saturdays) was no more than it usually is.

Ilene, thanks for your suggestions. I'm really not sure what else to try, as I've tried most of the things you suggested. I have fiddled with my calories a bit. I was staying around 1500 or so most days (sometimes more, sometimes less, that was my general guideline but I didn't want to stick to it as a strict rule because I know your body can get used to a specific # like that and merrily store fat away because it knows what it's getting) and then I hit the plateau. I thought maybe I'd cut my calories too low, so I increased to around 1700 for a couple of days with no results. I tried a couple of days at 1300 but I was just too hungry staying that low so now I'm back at 1500-ish a day.

I do journal, I've been using Fitday for a couple of months and I'm very dilligent. I am a snacker at heart anyway and I've never been the type to do the "3 square meals" diet ... I tend to graze all day long and I've been eating healthy foods. When I work out I change things up a lot - I'll do 2 30-minute sessions on the elliptical, or 30 on the elliptical and 30 on the bicycle (I"m not a runner. I've tried and I'm just not.) Last time I went and worked out (the day before yesterday, I'm headed to the gym this afternoon) I did 10 minutes backwards on the elliptical in the middle of my workout and I plan to start adding that in sometimes because it really seemed to work some different muscles. I have started doing some weight training also and on the days that I do weights, I also do at least 30 minutes of cardio. Thanks for any feedback you can offer. I'm just baffled. As far as I can tell by looking at what I burn versus what I eat on Fitday, I really should have lost 3-4 pounds in the last 2 weeks and I haven't lost anything.

AmyMCGS, it really does make sense to me and it's something I need to think seriously about. I think I'd probably be starving and miserable too, which would give me a double whammy as far as being tempted to binge (I'm very much an emotional eater). Thanks for your input also .

Funniegrrl, you raise some really good points. I have wondered if doing a one-day juice fast would just encourage my body to give up any retained water or anything. I hope that that's what is causing the plateau, but on the other hand I drink tons of water every day (almost 3 liters so far today and it's only 3 pm). I am just getting pretty fed up with not losing anything, kwim? I will go read that article you posted as soon as I post this reply. I appreciate your feedback, thank you.

If you are doing everything right, be patient all of a sudden you'll drop some pounds, just be patient...

Please stay away from the juice fasting. Its essentially all the sugar from the fruit with all the fibre and good stuff pulped away. You'll just get highs and lows. If you really want to fast, drink water and tea.

But if you really have plateud, mix it up as some people have said. Keep your body guessing so it doesn't get a chance to become complacent. Whether you change your exercise routine each 6 weeks or up the anty a bit with some circuit training.

Hope the scale budges soon

To kick off my diet two weeks ago I drank two protein shakes a day and ate tons of vegetables only for two days. I lost 4 lbs. I know that's not good for long term but it did give me motivation to keep going. I'm on phase one of South Beach now and so far have lost 10lbs. Another idea is to just drink water, herbal teas, and eat the whole fruit instead of the only juice which can give your body major sugar highs and lows.

Funniegrrl posted an excellent link above that you might want to read before considering this further. Dr. Weil says not to fast for weight loss because it can damage your metabolism and hurt your weight loss efforts. Fruit juice fasts are very gimmicky. You may drop a few pounds of water weight, but as soon as you eat solid food again, you'll replace the lost fluids and bulk matter, and be right back where you started.

The idea of detox is more myth or slick marketing than anything. The body naturally cleanses itself. Detox diets and products can do more damage than anything. A lot of health experts have warned us against them.

If you are feeling yucky, the best thing you can probably do is take a closer look at your diet and make changes such as cutting out caffiene, excess sugar, and highly processed foods. This might help you feel better within a few days.

Gray-eyed girl, from what I've heard, going on those types of diets will eventually lead to regaining the weight. I've never tried it, so I do not know for sure, but I wouldnt do it. One of my best friends did a detox diet for 5 days and lost 8 pounds, but she has since informed me that she gained that weight back plus 2 pounds!