A few weeks ago I watched Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead and became inspired by it. I'm 24 and getting married in October. I'd like lose a lot of weight before the wedding (about 100 pounds) but I want to do it in a healthy way. The main guy on the documentary started at 309 pounds, did 60 days of fresh juice,and lost I believe 82 pounds. When he went off the juice, he continued eating healthy and exercising and lost over 100 pounds in a year. He went to the doctor regularly during the juicing fast, and he just kept coming out healthier and healthier. His skin cleared up, he got off all of his medications, and he FELT energized and focused. All of this sounds wonderful, and I'm planning on trying it on February 1st. But before I start, I'd like to know if anyone has tried it and if anyone has any advice, suggestions, experience, or anything to share?

Also, if you've ever done an extreme lifestyle change/detox (such as suddenly eating just healthy, fresh food instead of the typical junk) how did you get through the first week of headaches, grumpiness, and cravings?

Thank you everyone I appreciate any feedback.

I'd suggest looking into the actual recommended diet. The guy in that documentary had doctor supervision. Also, any long term weight loss change requires change of habits. Having said that, we have had quite a few people try the recommended diet from Fat, sick and nearly dead. I found one thread but there might've been a couple in general diets and questions subforum. Here is one thread
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/gene...d-juicing.html

My personal experience is juicing doesn't work well for me. In the summer, sometimes I will do green smoothies in the morning.

My fiancee and I did a juice fast for a week. We too saw that movie and it caught our interest. I felt okay for the most part while doing the juice fast, but I was always hungry. There was no weight loss for me either. My fiancee does not need to lose weight he just wanted to see how he felt. I will admit that we both felt we had a bit more energy, although I think that came from not eating junk the way we had been. The best thing that came from it was that it truly did curb my cravings for sweets (which I have a problem with). I am sure it would work for some, but overall it was not for me.

I'm doing a one-week juice fast every month.. This is my second month... What happens (at least for me) is you will lose 1/2 pounds to 1 pound of weight a day. I would drink four glasses of it a day.

When you go off it, you will gain 3 pounds.

For me it is/was simple math.

Most people can go about six days on it before eating real food.

Of course, I cheated, but I wasn't consumed with guilt about that at all ~ this is hard! There can be Healing crisis's.. headaches, feeling colder, needing more naps.. but around Day Four you are filled with happiness and energy!! Well worth any discomfort.

I'm doing it not for weight loss now so much as health. Veggies are better than fruit, IMHO, but I do mix them up.

P.S. Drink Water!! Two big Nalgene bottles. Discomfort is toxins leaving your body ~ which is the point of the fast, actually. Your fat cells will get rid of them, so help them out by flushing them with water!!

I also take Vitamin D pill because it's winter, and it helps with your mood.

I've done several, some long, some short. None of them ever made a huge difference weight wise. Most of the time I did one right before a diet because I felt like they cleaned me out.

I still love juices but I don't rely on them. I'll incorporate one into my day and they tend to be very veggie heavy or get blended into a smoothie.

I've never done anything long-term, but I have done short juice fasts. My longest was four days. Now, this is just what I did and was based on my own research. If you plan on doing a juice fast for an extended period of time, definitely talk to your doctor first and have supervision.

Ease into it. A couple of days before, try to cut back on foods like bread, potatoes, etc. Incorporate more fruit and veggies into your diet or you're going to have some massive stomach pain when you start.

Pre-buy your juices and make a meal plan. You may want to purchase some protein powder if you're doing this for a long period. Again, talk to your doctor.

Juices I've Used:
Cranberry Juice
Low Sodium V8 - Kinda filling because its full of fiber
No Sugar Added Apple Juice
Pomegranate Juice
Unsweetened Tea
Water

And this may be cheating a bit, but I make fruit smoothies (no sweeteners, just frozen fruit) for breakfast to help fill me up.

And warnings about juice fasts... You may feel weak and tired. You will likely get diarrhea. You will be hungry. And honestly, you'll probably re-gain some of the weight lost after you stop fasting.

DivineChaos if you check out the menus on the reboot website, last time I was on you could download PDF files for a few different length juice fasts, you can also eat fruits and vegetables, they had some interesting recipes for salad dressings, salads, soups, etc.

Juicing can be a good start, a good restart, a good meal replacement, we use juicing on occasion for a day, two at the most, sometimes just for a meal. We make our own juice, for the kind of occasional juicing we do a lower cost juicer like the juice bullet would work, if you're going to do longer term every meal you probably want to invest in something better.

One thing I would caution you on, if you combine giving up caffeine at the same time, prepare for some misery, you might want to start cutting down on caffeine now, or some recommend a half cup of black coffee to ease the withdrawal, it is real. Psychic gave some good advice on easing into it with food, I just want to add caffeine to that. It's good to have knowledge going in, I encourage you to google, check out YouTube, etc.

Best of luck to you!!

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'm going to aim for 10 days, and if I can do that and if I'm feeling energized and full, I'm going to aim for 21, and if I can do that, I'm going to go for the full 60. I've been eating more and more raw veggies to get my body ready for the change, but I haven't completely cut out anything yet. I'm glad that the 1st starts on a Saturday so I won't have to be a cranky teacher running to the bathroom the first couple of days I do it The last time I went to the doctor, I was in good health besides being overweight and my BP being higher than normal.

Kelijpa, thank you for the advice. I haven't had caffeine since 2014 began. Cutting out soda was one of my resolutions. I've never been a coffee drinker. I loved mountain dew, but for the flavor rather than the effect.

I've also never had a sweet tooth. I just love carbs.

Inkrid, thank you for the advice. I'll be sure to drink plenty of water. I currently take calcium vitamins with vitamin D because of Charlie horses I was getting, but it's good to know it helps my mood, too

Has anyone had experience with a recipe that was extra filling for the beginning?

Extra Filling Raw Meal: Not a recipe, per se, BUT, you could make a green smoothie with an avocado in it! Or, simply combine chopped avocado with tomato and a splash of olive oil and/or salt for a quick, filling lunch!

I think the website has the official diet, again they do not suggest juicing for longer than a few days
http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/

I've never tried one but I've had friends who have. I'd like to try one but I don't think I'd expect weight loss from it. It would be more of a way to detox and rest my body I think.

I liked that documentary also. While I don't juice, I do have one big green smoothie a day for lunch. I'm satisfied, energized, and smoothies have the added benefit of lots of fiber. Either way I really recommend the book 'Green For Life' by Victoria Boutenko.

I did a three-day green-juice fast with excellent results!
I only made my own juice. and I lost 12 pounds, and gained 4 back. But the 8 pounds stayed away because after juicing, it seems that you lose your taste for fatty, greasy, over processed foods. Everything seems too rich. Everything seems too salty. And smelling fast foods, blergh. That alone made me want to vomit (and trust me, I'm a Wendy's fanatic, angry whoppers are delicious,mand I love me a Big Mac!) but! Long story short. It truly helped me "reset" and helped me to eat far cleaner, which I always suggest over only juicing! the human body was MADE to eat solid foods. If it weren't, we wouldn't have teeth!

Feel free to PM me if you like!

Thanks for the advice, ladies. My fiance is sitting next to me right now eating quesadillas and doritos. >:/ It's hard to drink juice as your meal when the person you live with is eating as much as he can because he needs to GAIN weight.

But everyone here keeps me motivated Thanks again for your help/comments!