20 January 2009
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Making Up Your Mind to Juice Fast
Okay, so you’ve decided to go on a juice fast. Maybe it’s just because you want to get healthier, or perhaps you’re looking to get a jump-start on weight loss. Let’s hope you’ve decided to sacrifice your favorite foods and survive a few days on raw juices because you want to focus on cleaning your body and helping it get rid of years – maybe even decades – of all the bad stuff that’s caked up inside. Let’s also hope it’s because you’ve truly searched your heart and wholeheartedly decided to lead a lifestyle that promotes life instead of one that promotes sickness, premature death, and obesity.
If you’re only planning on juice fasting to lose weight, you may as well not do it. Yes, most people lose several pounds juice fasting – I have. But weight loss is about so much more than lost pounds. Weight loss is about changing your entire lifestyle – mind, body, and soul. Weight loss is about targeting why you gained weight in the first place and what you’re going to do to prevent yourself from gaining weight again once you’ve lost it. So, although you probably will lose weight during your juice fast, it’s best to think of those lost pounds as just part of the process and not your sole reason for juicing fasting. Trust me; I do know what I’m talking about. I’ve lost over 100 pounds – and kept it off.
Made up your mind yet? Fantabulous! Let’s get started!
A few ideas for that pre-juice fast menu:
Organic Greek yogurt with raw walnuts, and fresh or frozen blueberries
This is a yummy treat you can enjoy any time. I prefer Oikos organic Greek yogurt myself, but you may like another brand. (Nope, I didn’t get paid for saying I love Oikos – it’s delish, filling, and most importantly, healthy!) Besides the protein in the yogurt, you’re getting protein from the heart-healthy walnuts, and loading up on antioxidants in those juicy blueberries.
Chopped avocado, tomato, red onion, juice from a real lemon
This is yum-o!! Simply cut up a fresh tomato and avocado and toss in a bowl. You can add a homemade vinaigrette if you want to. I don’t. I do squeeze the juice of about a half of a lemon over the avocado. (I wouldn’t use the lemon juice that comes in a bottle.)
Salad: raw spinach, Napa cabbage, carrots, blueberries, raw walnuts, salmon
This is one of my favorite salads ever. You can throw in whatever your favorite veggies are. The blueberries are optional but they are divine on salad! If you’re a big meat eater, adding salmon or tuna to your salad is a wonderful way to still feed your body a protein that will satisfy you while staying away from red meat. I normally don’t eat salmon or tuna within a few days of a juice fast, simply because it’s a little bit difficult for our bodies to adjust to an all liquid diet after consuming a lot of protein each day.
Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
I’ve mentioned this before but it really is crucial to prepare your body and your mind before setting out on this amazing journey with raw juices.
I’m so used to juice fasting it’s pretty much become second nature for me. I listen to my body – and mind – and I know when both are craving a raw juice fast. You’ll learn to do this too as you become more experienced with juice fasting.
I never, ever recommend that you start a long juice fast right off the bat. Like anything else, you want to ease your body into juice fasting. Think about it. You wouldn’t wake up one day and decide you want to be a runner, hop out of bed, and run the longest marathon there is. No, you’d go buy yourself some running shoes, maybe pick out an area to start running, jump online and study the stretches you need to do to prepare your muscles for a run. You might start jogging and/or doing some other exercises.
The most important message I want to share is that juice fasting is a marvelous way to nourish your body and mind. It’s a beautiful journey between the person who is fasting and the raw food our bodies were made to consume. It’s a great way to slow yourself down and find the calm that lies within you, but is drowned out by all the world’s chaotic noises.
Have you ever juice fasted? Are you just venturing out to try it? What are your thoughts on juice fasting? I’d love to hear them!
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So my question – if planning on doing a juice fast, could smoothies be utilized with avocado? Also, what about adding protein powder, flax seed, etc?
Mystis last blog post..Friday’s Visit with Doc
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Mysti: Nope on the avocado/smoothies–unless you’re wanting to use avocado, banana, etc., in smoothies as a way to either slow down the detoxification process during your juice fast OR as a way to wean your body away from solid foods and begin training yourself to juice fast. Here’s why: avocado, bananas, etc., actually get your digestive juices flowing again and the whole purpose of a juice fast is so that your digestive system will rest and “go to sleep”, really, so that your body can take the energy it normally puts into digesting the food we eat and use it to repair damaged tissue, etc. So, on to the protein powder and ground flax…. I, personally, don’t use protein powders and have never put them in my juices or smoothies at all. I have added powdered or liquid vitamins to my juices when I was juice fasting (some of the time) but you really don’t have to take vitamins while you’re juice fasting because you’re getting TONS of nutrition in those live, raw juices–especially if most of them are organic. Yes, you can use the flax seeds while juice fasting. I have never used them on a fast, though.
You might find this helpful:
Flax mucilage helps to prevent toxic build-up in the bowel during fasting or a healing diet. When juice fasting, take a teaspoon of whole flax, 2-3 times per day, with a generous supply of water. Do not chew the seeds; swallow them whole with a glass of water. This will allow only the mucilage to escape.–http://www.freedomyou.com/recipes/flax%20seed.htm
Hope that helps! I might post on this topic in the near future…
Michele
[Reply]
Oh, and I forgot to mention this: if you’re worried about getting enough protein, juice a lot of dark greens–you’ll be bombarding your body with protein!
[Reply]
Thanks!! I’ve always been one of those who gets incredibly hungry without protein of some sort. I love my nuts, etc. I’ll have to give it a whirl and try a few combinations and see what works best to keep me feeling full.
Mystis last blog post..Friday’s Visit with Doc
[Reply]
You’re welcome! Well, whenever you’re hungry/thirsty while juice fasting, drink a fresh juice! There are detox symptoms and you may have days where you feel more tired than others, etc., but then you’ll have days (most folks do anyway) where you’re thinking more clearly, resting better at night, feeling energetic, and are loving the fact that you’re juice fasting. Oh, and once I’m through like the 3rd day, I’m not even hungry!
Good luck on your juicing journey, Mysti! If you have questions, you know where to find me!
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