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To juice, or not to juice? That is the question!
To juice or not to juice? If you saw Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, no doubt you came away from it wanting to try a juice “cleanse”—no matter your weight. It was so inspiring to watch the people in the movie not just lose weight, but detox their bodies of all the crap they were subjecting themselves to: sugar, caffeine, processed foods…
I absolutely do not approve of fad diets. I do, however, think that short-term, doctor-monitored juice “fasts” are an interesting idea. There is not much wrong with eating only fruits and vegetables in their purest form, at least to kick start your quest for healthier eating. I do believe that a short-term fast can adjust your taste buds, help with taming your processed food addictions, and jump-start your weight loss, if that’s part of your goal.
Do you have to do exactly what the guys did in the movie—60 days, nothing but juice? No way. It’s your fast, so I say make it what you need it to be. If you’re intrigued, consider: What are your goals for the fast? If it’s weight loss, you probably will want to juice for at least 10 days to see results start to kick in. If it’s to cleanse your body of sugar or gluten or caffeine—whatever vice you need to rid your body of—a weekend cleanse might do the trick. Make it your own, but do decide on a number (of days, that is). That way you’ll be able to mark time and see how you’re progressing on the scale of start to finish!
I also don’t think strict juicing for the entire cleanse is necessary for everyone. If you really really want to try it but are scared to death of giving up your morning cup of coffee, then make one cup of coffee in the morning your exception. Or better yet, switch to tea for the duration of the fast. For heaven’s sake, you’re not going to do your fast on a reality show where people will be giving you a hard time for “cheating.” Is it better to do the thing with a cup of coffee thrown in? or not do it because you can’t decide when a good time to give up coffee will be?
On the same note, if you think you might like to add chewing to your particular fast, maybe you can bend the hardcore rules and say you can chew, as long as it’s on something that could be put in the juicer, i.e., a fruit or vegetable. Does that work for you? Maybe not. Some people need more hard and fast rules. That’s okay. You decide. I’m just saying, make it your own. Get rid of your particular “buts” and fast already.
Then it’s time to pick a day to start. This might be the one thing that kills the deal. Aunt Lucy is coming next weekend so we’ll be eating out a lot….and I’m going out with the girls so I’ll want to have a few drinks….There’s a big meeting Tuesday and I don’t want to feel grumpy and lightheaded… Do you remember when you were trying to break up with your boyfriend when you were 23? Valentine’s Day was around the corner. His parents were coming to visit. Then he got fired and you just couldn’t add to the load… There seemed NEVER to be a good time. But to continue stringing him along was absolutely not any better. You can see that now, can’t you? So no need to string your body along. If you feel it’s time for you to go all fruits and veggies, get to the store and stock up. It takes a LOT of produce to drink juice for 10 days. Wink!
