Hey everyone,

So Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I'll be doing one of those trendy new "juice cleanses" - a raw vegetable/fruit juice blend made by a local raw food restaurant. I'm somewhat dubious, but I agreed because a very close friend and coworker wanted to do it in preparation for her wedding in a month, and she told me she needed moral support when she is "hangry" on those days! Haha. She is doing a full 5 days, I'm doing 3, then just eating solid raw fruit and veggies on the last two.

Now that it is coming up tomorrow, I'm worried this could some how harm my weightloss/fitness. Is this possible? For one, I will be getting a lot less protein and a LOT more sugar than I normally get in my diet. Will I feel too week to go for a run? or life weights?

Just curious as to your thoughts!

Thanks

Potentially. One, there is no such thing as a need for a cleanse. If you are doing it to reset your eating, then you may find it beneficial. If you don't normally eat veggies, it can also introduce you to a new way to get those nutrients.

Any weight loss that occurs will be due to a couple things, primarily decreased calories. You might also experience temporary weight loss due to not retaining as much fluids.

3 or 5 days won't kill you. You will probably feel like crap during the time though. It isn't any 'detox' or anything but just your body adjusting to a drastic change and possibly insufficient calories.

I started a juicing fast 5 days ago and have never felt better. I have lot of energy and don't feel tired. I am actually energized! I thought I would feel horrible, but all is going really great. Some of us really have lots of luck with juice fasting, while others don't. It just depends on the person, and probably how you eat before you start. If you are a pretty "good" eater, not eating lots of preservatives and processed foods, then you won't have as many of the side-effects of juicing. My only side effect was a headache for 1/2 of one day (but I was up all night before with a sick child).

Good luck!

Just be certain you're getting a lot of greens in the juices and not so many fruits; you're right in thinking the sugar (which is primarily the highly-dangerous fructose) could be a problem, but generally 60% leafy greens and 40% other vegetables and some fruits will give you the benefit of juicing. (which is getting a lot of nutrients without having to force yourself to sit and eat a lot of vegetables).

I think it is supposed to be a lot of vegetables in it (kale, etc) and I eat pretty cleanly (or at least, have been for a month!). So maybe it won't be too bad. :-)

Yeah, best of luck! I've juice fasted a couple of times, and it's been pretty well-going. If you're interested, there's a movie/documentary that chronicles one man's juice fast that's pretty engaging from a lot of angles called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead." He eventually spreads his message to others, and so you get to see how fasting affects different people. Seems like everyone has a pretty rough day 2, ha ha.

Anyway, it's on Netflix streaming if you have that; probably can find it online somewhere, though.

I would start with mostly green/veggie smoothies and add fibrous fruit to the juices as tolerated. I would start with lower-sugar content fruits such as cucumber, berries, and tomato.

I'm not making it. :-) They are being made and delivered (tonight, not this morning, I was wrong we start tomorrow) by a raw food restaurant/juice bar in the area.

aie - i'd have a problem with that. i like to know *exactly* what i'm getting, esp when it's from a restaurant.