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juice feast

With so many detox programs, how do you choose what’s right for you?

There are many different types and ways of doing a detoxification program. I don’t really want to spend a lot of time going into a lot of detail about each of these. Instead I’m going to briefly describe them. If anyone has questions about any of these or any other type of cleanse, please comment and I will be sure to get back to you.

Many of you have heard of various types of programs for detoxification. There are colon cleanses, liver cleanses, gallbladder cleanse, Candida cleanses, and parasite cleanses. Many of these involve tablets, pills, and/or herbs. There are usually no dietary suggestions to go along with most of these types of programs.

Another type of detoxification is to use liquids only such as a juice feast, fasting with water or some other type of liquid, and using meal replacement shakes. All of these involve no food for a certain period of time. Then gradually adding food back in when you have completed the fast or feast.

The final and most gentle way to detoxify is by using your food choices to detoxify. This may involve eliminating animal products, caffeine, sugar, alcohol, certain grains, or other food categories that could be creating inflammation in the body. In can also include transitioning into a raw food lifestyle which is eating mainly fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

Most people when doing a detox also start to incorporate more local, organic, chemical and hormone free products into the diet. Using foods that are either organic, or locally grown without chemicals and that are not processed (come in a box or a can) can greatly enhance the benefits and help to detoxify the body.

As I’ve already discussed my personal favorite and the way I cleanse is to do a juicefeast. This is different than a fast as I’m drinking 1 gallon of freshly juiced vegetables and fruits daily. Most of them are green vegetable juices.

The 21 day program, mentioned before, is in my experience the most successful in restarting the body with out any deprivation of food. It is a gentle program that does not create a lot of side effects and it sets you up for creating a healthy lifestyle around food and the choices you make. I use this program for those wishing to jumpstart into a healthy more whole food based lifestyle in my SAD2FAB program.

All of these types of cleanses may create results; however, they are generally not long lasting. If you’ve eliminated food all together and weight loss was your goal you will more than likely gain back at least 5 lbs. The key to doing a successful detoxification program is to develop and maintain a lifestyle that will support the work you jut completed. This can be hard in a society that bases social activity on food and I will discuss this more in-depth later.

Why is it a JuiceFeast?

In my last post I mentioned that I was doing my 2nd 92 day Juicefeast and why. What I did not mention was what exactly is a juicefeast. I wanted to take a little bit of time to explain what it is I’m doing and the protocol I’m following. My main resource is a wonderful website put together by David Rainoshek called http://www.juicefeasting.com/. This website has tons of free information on a juicefeast, length of time, how to come off a juicefeast, how to make juices, etc… You can also buy a membership to do a juicefeast and get coaching. If you choose this option there is even more scientifically based material that is available. So how does this work? I begin my day with a quart of water containing the juice of one lemon and MSM. I drink this while I actually make 4 quarts of fresh, revitalizing, nourishing juice. This is why this is a feast and not a fast. I’m juicing 10 – 12 lbs. of produce daily. One quart is usually fruit based while the other 3 quarts are lots of fresh greens and vegetables. Occassionally I may add an apple in there. It usually takes me between 1 1/2 – 2 hours to completely make my juice, clean up the equipment, and clean up the kitchen. Then I’m done in the kitchen for the day. I will then drink a quart of juice every 3 – 4 hours just as if I was having a meal. Some of my juices may contain superfoods such as maca or a good quality greens mix containing algaes and chlorella. I also will often drink the water from a fresh young Thai coconut. A JuiceFeast can last anywhere from 1 day to 92 days and as I have previously stated can be very beneficial to the body. When you are doing a juicefeast you are basically letting your digestion system rest. This happens because for food to be digested and used in the body it has to be broken down and what can be used separated from what can’t be used. With juice there is no pulp or fiber to digest therefore, the nutrients are absorbed effortlessly. This allows the body to then kind of give itself a tune up. The body continues all the metabolic, catabolic, and other functions but at a much more efficient rate and effectiveness. The body can then kind of scan to see what is there that doesn’t belong and it gets swept away into the intestines and eliminated. An additional benefit is that with the amount of greens that you are juicing the body becomes more alkaline. You might ask what does this mean for me? The Standard American Diet is a highly acidic diet with all the refined carbohydrates, preservatives, food additives, etc. When one eats a diet consistent of these types of products it can increase inflammation, pain, and disease in the body. In fact many degenerative diseases and illness can be linked to poor diet. Dark leafy greens in particular help to make the body more alkaline. Therefore it is possible to see a reduction in joint pain, back pain, allergy symptoms, cysts, tumors, nodules, etc. Skin becomes more youthful, vibrant, and flexible. In addition to weight loss, there are many more benefits of doing a juicefeast. Also during a JuiceFeast gentle exercise/movement is encourage such as yoga, rebounding, and walking. It is important if feasting for a long time to not try to do any strength training because you don’t want the energy of the body to go into building. It is resting, cleaning, and rejuvenating itself. The most important thing to remember after doing a juicefeast is in order to maintain the benefits you have to nourish your body with healthy whole foods on a daily basis. A diet high in raw foods helps to do this.

I believe this covers the why’s, what’s, and how’s of the juicefeast. Feel free to leave questions and comments. I am also available for any juice coaching if you decide you would like to add more juice to you life!

Juice Feasting

As some of you may or may not know I decided to do a 92 day Juice Feast starting on April 1. My reasons for doing the juice feast are varied and I would like to share them with you.

First of all I did my first 92 Day Juice Feast in September 2009 not only because I had always wanted to but to support a friend of mine with bladder cancer. I will talk about her journey in another post. My goal during that feast was to clear my body of toxins and to reset my body both spiritually, mentally, and physically. It was such an amazing journey that I talked about doing another feast all of 2010 but because of my social and work schedule it was very difficult to carve out the time. So I started out 2011 thinking I would do another one either this Spring or Summer and after finding that I could no longer train for the triathlons here I am!!
My biggest reason for being here is very difficult to say but it is the reality of the situation. This past fall I found myself in several social situations in which I chose to eat cooked food rather than be uncomfortable or cause discomfort by speaking up about my Raw Food Lifestyle. I started out with very healthy choices and made conscious decisions about how I was choosing to fuel my body. However, the cooked food did end up triggering something that lead to making not so healthy choices. I even made choices that I knew would affect my health and cause discomfort but I did it anyway.
When January rolled around I decided that it was time for me to take back control and went back to my 100% raw diet. However, I found that I was having cravings and would often go out to dinner and find it very hard to stay raw. I did do better on the unhealthy choices. Therefore, my goals this time around are very similar to what they were in 2009. I want to reset my body so that I can maintain my raw lifestyle as I know that I feel so much better when I am eating like this.
I am also planning on taking this time to dig deep and look at what I truly want over the next few decades, what that looks like, and then laying the ground work for that to happen. To assist in that I’m also taking a media break. I have decided that I will not watch TV unless it is something highly educational, work related, exercise related, or spiritual. Today is my 4th day on this journey and my TV has only been on twice. That was to watch the semifinal NCAA games with VCU and Kentucky and to watch the DVD on how to use my juicer. It has been really kind of amazing how I don’t think about what is happening around me and that I feel more positive and up beat, better about myself and my life because I’m not hearing all the gloom and doom of war, the advertisements that tell us we are not skinny enough, pretty enough, or young enough. Not that any of that ever bothered me anyway but on a subconscious level it does get in there whether we realize it or not. I am also not using my computer unless it is for work purposes.
I will be spending a lot of time over the next few months talking about my journey. I invite you to stay tuned as I provide you with information about juice feasting, what that is, the benefits of a juice feast, and to answer the biggest question of all “why is it a juice feast?” I will also go more in-depth about a couple of things that I mentioned earlier; media influence on our daily lives from an emotional standpoint, food triggers and cravings and the cause of these and many more topics.
Any thoughts, questions, or comments please feel free to post.
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