Just watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (the first movie, have yet to see the second) and it really made me think about juicing as a way to reboot my system en route to a healthy lifestyle. The guy, Joe Cross, had great results as did some of the featured participants in the movie, and he was very clear that there had to be healthy eating afterwards and a shift to whole plant based foods afterwards to be successful. I like the idea of juicing simply because of the load of micronutrients I can get and I think I need this as I'm not a vaggie person as in SO NOT A VEGGIE PERSON.
Anyone else do this? Anyone else juicing? Thoughts? It sounds like it would be tough...

I am against juicing as a dietary plan. Juice fasting does nothing special for the body.

what matters to long term success is creating dietary habits which restrict calories but are sustainable forever.

Learn to eat your veggies.

Having said that if one wants to juice up veggies to pump up their daily intake of greens and other micronutrient dense plant matter I am all for it.

By the way the documentary is enjoyable and quite convincing. What they don't tell you is that all the benefits of juice fasting you also get with any dietary plan one follows that is comprised primarily of whole foods that is hypocaloric.

I have an acquaintance who lost over 100lbs with this method. He has related his progress via facebook and so I got to see some of the ups and downs. I find it extreme and undoable in my case. I can see the appeal of it for someone who is in dire straights but I think there are better ways to get healthy and stay healthy. My friend has relapses - he'll gain 30lbs and then go on another juice fast. He's averaging about 3 juice fast overhauls per year since he lost the initial weight, which signals to me that this is not sustainable in a real way. It's yet another way to yoyo diet.

There are certain things about what the guy Joe Cross says that are worrisome to me in some of the promotional videos I've seen. First, he refers to the process as imprisonment in vegetables. Not a good analogy. Then he tells us he gets food poisoning because "that's what happens when you juice a lot." Uhm, also worrisome. He also claims to start his day with vegetables and mother nature and so by the time dinner time comes he's "earned his right" to eat fun food. All this tells me that the approach is that food is the enemy and I just don't believe it is.

Some people approach health by telling themselves they have to change their body to change their mind. I operate on the opposite system, you have to change your mind to change your body.

Is juicing harmful? No. I indulge in an occasional juice or smoothie about as often as I indulge in chocolate cake. Whenever I feel like it. But on an every day basis? No.

Hey WannaBeSkinny -- could you link to those promotional videos where Joe Cross says whay you say he says? I've never seen him say those things - perhaps you are thinking of someone else? I watched the movie and all his promotional stuff for his sequel and he's never said things like "prison of vegetables" and "eating real food" after his veg. Interesting -- I'd love to see that.

He also makes it clear that it's not what you eat by why you are eating the way you are eating and that a change in thought is absolutely necessary, so I'm confused about what I've seen (movie and promotional stuff) vs what you say you've seen! I'd love to research this more, so any links are helpful.

Anyways, I kind of believe what Joe is saying, and what is interesting to me is this is a 1200-1400 calorie a day low fat, low carb, raw vegan diet just in juice and smoothie form. I'm wondering how the reception to this would be different if I said simply that and eliminated the "juice" part.

The video is on the bottom http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-15359...00-pounds.html

I juice one meal a day and have for months. I hate vegetables, but can't taste them in a smoothie. So I dump 3 oz. raw baby spinach, 1 1/2 cup of 2% milk, and 1 1/2 cup of blackberry/raspberry/blueberry frozen fruit in the blender. Makes two big glasses and fills me up nicely. If I didn't juice, I'd never get the veggies or fruit in. That's why I do it, not for weight loss. I was hoping it would give me a great loss, but I'm still a really slow loser. I eat "solid" the rest of the day. Works/is sustainable for me, but everyone's different!

I think this is a more sensible, sustainable way to incorporate juices or smoothies in your diet. I imagine eating all juice all day every day would get old quickly, and you'd be missing some important things (like fiber!) and you'd easily go off the rails as soon as you were "done" with juicing.

I have smoothies for lunch a few days a week for a similar reason, to help me get in more fruits and veggies. It's not necessarily a "diet plan", but I fit it into my weight loss "program" if you will.

misspixie, I'd be interested in hearing how you plan to incorporate juices into your diet.

I incorporate juicing and smoothies into my daily lifestyle. However, I do both with a regular meal plan. I add a green juice shot prior to eating dinner as it actually makes my nails stronger and skin smoother. I have a fruit/spinach smoothie for breakfast. I eat vegetarian meals during the week and have chicken in addition to fruits and veggies on the weekends . I don't add sugar and I don't drink my calories. I've watched the movie as well and feel that juicing alone is extreme. I think it is wiser to incorporate juicing and smoothies within moderation and make it a permanent lifestyle change. Juicing alone is not sustainable for a long period of time.

Just to get technical for a second you don't have to eat mainly veggies to lose weight. They're good for you but it's not necessary to live on plants to achieve fat loss. I'm not saying to eat cheeseburgers on a daily basis either but if you loathe veggies I don't see this as being sustainable in the long run.

I like veggies but I would definitely snap on an all juice diet. I suppose it can't hurt for you to try though if this is something you really want to do. I'm certainly not going to talk you out of it.

Good luck.

WannaBeSkinny, that is an article from one of the participants in the first movie, not Joe Cross himself, who is the advocate for doing this. I can't find any video "on the bottom", so if you could run the video up and then link directly to it that would be great.
Phil Staples is one fellow who juiced like Joe Cross did, was successful, then gained it back. If you read the article, Joe Cross is the fellow who got him help again because he realized that this was an emotional thing, not a dietary thing.
I really urge you to watch Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (for free! On YouTube! Or Hulu! Won't cost you anything) and see what Joe Cross is saying personally.

Hmm that's curious. I clicked on the link and saw the video right at the end of the article. I wouldn't lie.

At one point I had the movie on my netflix line up but I removed it. I try to avoid sensational media about extreme measures. Good health begins with hunger and food, not the absence of either.

Good health starts with good nutrition, and that's why this movie is valuable. More information about getting veggies into place, the better I think? This is what the focus of Joe's second movie is. Anyways, watch it, you'll find it interesting if nothing else. Nothing sensational about this I think.

Thanks but my veggies are in place, juice is a beverage in my life and I prefer eating. Did you watch the video? I wasn't impressed, why would I watch the movie if the promotional material didn't spark an interest?

ETA I don't want to discourage you from something that helps you and you enjoy doing. I've been down this route and it had its consequences and so I avoid extremism.

I looked into juicing after watching that movie, if I remember correctly, doing a juice diet as he did was pretty dang expensive. Could have just been the price of produce where I was living at during that time though. The main reason I didn't do it though, was restricting like that just doesn't work for me. It leads to binging later on. I will still do a smoothie/juice to get veggies, as I don't really eat them well otherwise, they just don't make up the main part of my diet.

However, if it's something you want to do, then go for it. As long as you're getting your calories and nutrients, and can make the life style change to keep it going, it should be good.