If you are thinking about using a juice cleanse to help you lose weight, or on the start of a healthy way of living I hope this information helps. I love putting myself through a juice cleanse now because it is a great way for me to give my body a break from processing foods and to get some time out. It wasn’t like that at the beginning though – it was a lot of false starts and nasty tasting juices! I hope by reading this site you will get the information you need on how to plan a juice cleanse for yourself.
The History Of Vegetable Juicing
Extracting the juice from a range of vegetables, particularly green vegetables, and adding a piece of fruit to sweeten is juicing. It isn’t a fad. It has been around for years. The history of juicing belongs to Max Gerson: a German scientist who developed a therapy using raw juices and a vegetarian diet in the 1920s. Other people who promoted juicing for health:
Dr Norman Walker – 1936 – published a book on raw vegetable juicing
Dr Bernard Jensen – 1960 – Promoted NUTRITION as the most important aspect to be used in healing the body
Jack Lalanne – 1970 – Exercise and Nutrition expert who promoted the power of juicing
Jay Kordich – 1989 – He has been promoting juicing since the 80s
I used vegetable juicing three times a week at first for faster weight loss but eventually just 3 days once a month.
Once a month for 3 days I drank vegetable juice and in the evening had a light CLEAN meal of something like wild salmon and vegetables. This was enough to help me lose 4lbs and that was my 1lb a week. Many times I lost 6 or 8lbs after the three days.
The rest of the month I ate whatever food I had in the house but my mind was always focused on healthy options.
As my weight loss continued I GAVE UP PROCESSED FOODS. Cakes, chocolate, pizza, burgers and processed foods ended. I made my own food all the time from scratch using live food (e.g. vegetables) as much as possible. I gave up dairy and wheat (most of the time) and spent time eating a plant based diet.
ON THE DAYS WHEN I WAS NOT JUICING I used intermittent fasting. I STOPPED eating at 7pm and only drank fluids after that time (Rooibos tea, green tea or herbal tea) and I didn’t start eating until 11am the following day. That gave my body a 16 hour break to digest my food and repair my body.
Using The Juice Pulp…
If you think you are missing out on fiber when you juice then use the juice pulp in recipes. For your evening meal you can make up a pattie using juice pulp. Click here to read my blog post on using juice pulp. You can find other videos on youtube that will provide you with recipes so nothing is wasted.
Water…
I drink three liters a day. I should drink closer to four but I have trouble fitting it all in. Drinking water helps with flushing out toxins and ensuring elimination is smooth and easy!
Read: Staying slim and regular with H20
Fiber…
I mentioned using the juice pulp (above) if you are worried about missing out on the fiber you lose from juicing. I have to say when I juice I never have a problem in that department. There are two types of fiber – insoluble and soluble. Read about it in this article – The facts about fiber and juicing
Easy Way To Start…
Start by introducing more green foods into your meals. Eat a salad with your lunch and dinner. No dressing unless its home made. Take a green smoothie or vegetable juice with you to work and have that instead of snacks.
Try to eat more green vegetables and fruit. I have made videos on clean eating and included some of the things I enjoy eating so take a look at those and see how you can make something new or swap food. E.G. Eat cauliflower “rice” instead of rice.
Intermediate – When You’re Ready…
Swap ONE meal a day for a green smoothie or vegetable juice. Doesn’t matter if it is breakfast, lunch or dinner. One of those meals becomes a juice.
Challenging (but worth it)…
Swap breakfast and lunch for a green vegetable juice (or smoothie if you prefer). This is what I did when I first started. For six whole weeks I replaced my breakfast and lunch for a vegetable juice.
Then I replaced either my breakfast or my lunch with a vegetable juice every single day.
After about four months my vegetable juicing became a 3-day cleanse.
Once a month for 3 days I would juice all day and eat clean in the evening.
Now, sometimes I juice for 3 days in a week, sometimes I juice every day until I run out of veg or am tired of juicing and some times I juice just once a month. It all depends on my budget and my mood.
Make a plan…
That’s it. You are ready to go. Sit down and write out RIGHT NOW two or three potential juices and a meal plan for next week then get started. Give yourself a couple of days to get organised. Start thinking healthy right NOW. Healthy food, healthy green vegetable juice and healthy lifestyle.
Decide on how many pounds you want to lose and then work out what the date will be to lose one pound a week then take an active part in this one pound a week challenge.
I find myself moving between the three different areas. Sometimes I am hardcore and I juice my breakfast and lunch. Other times I increase my greens but eat whatever I have at home and there are times when I do something that is a mixture of the two. It all depends on my budget, how I am feeling and the weather!
When I am not juicing and for the rest of the week I simply eat whatever I would normally eat but I am mindful of eating healthy foods and avoiding processed food.
I HAD TO LEARN TO LOOK AT INGREDIENTS: If a container has more than 5 INGREDIENTS I don’t eat it. If it contains ingredients I can not pronounce I don’t eat it.
Once you are ready to start vegetable juicing just choose your vegetables and fruit and put them through your juicer. Do your best to use no more than 2 pieces of fruit.
Take time out…
I had to learn how to distract myself on a juice cleanse and found myself doing simple tasks like clearing out cupboards and writing in my journal. One of the things I loved to do is sit and meditate. I wasn’t very good at it so I got myself some help and had to learn how to do it properly. Learning how to de-stress is important because research has shown that stress can contribute to weight gain.
Sleep…
I went to bed by 11pm and SLEPT until 6-7am in the morning on most nights. When carrying out a juice cleanse I found it beneficial to go to bed early to avoid thinking about foods. Once I got into regular juice cleanses that wasn’t really a problem.
Exercise…
In an effort to avoid loose skin and become toned I took up rebounding, walking, swimming and my fitness DVDs as exercise, eventually introducing strength training/weight lifting.
It has been two years since I started using a juice cleanse for weight loss and nowadays I like to work out using the treadmill in my gym (hated gyms when I first started on the road towards getting healthy) and lifting weights. I have even started buying weights that I use at home too and it all happened slowly but surely, one step at a time.
Clean Eating…
Understand why refined sugar is bad for you so you can start building your mindset towards GIVING UP SUGAR.
If you know you want to take part in a juice cleanse (or use smoothies) then check out my vegetable juicing recipes for ideas.
In terms of eating focus on CLEAN EATING – which is eating food as close to its natural state as possible. No jars, and packets containing more than five ingredients and/or containing ingredients that you can’t pronounce.
Limit tins when you can. That does not mean you throw away what is in your cupboard. Use it up and transition slowly. Things are so much easier when we transition.
If you want to know how to focus your eating use Michi’s Ladder – it is a “ladder” consisting of the best things to eat for your body and some of the worse things you can eat. By focusing on the First and Second Tiers of Michi’s ladder you are eating at your best. Things on the 5th tier should be avoided as much as possible. Use this to “grade” your meals. Ask yourself, how much of what is on your plate falls in the top tiers.
Create a plan so you stay focused and know exactly what you will be eating each day. It really does help.
More Useful Information
To start you don’t have to go out and buy fancy veg. Just use what is in your fridge right now. To save the extra expense always juice what you would normally eat. That way it is either juiced or eaten but not wasted. For example I dislike radish. I never eat it.
When I buy it to juice I usually end up throwing some away. DON’T PANIC! You can’t go wrong with this – if you make a juice you don’t like just never make it again.
Bare in mind if you are a sugar addict and eat loads of food with processed sugar in it juice will taste “NASTY” so give your tastebuds time to adjust. Depending on how often you juice it might take a month but it will be worth it. Your body will thank you.
Plants are life affirming for our body. They heal us and they prevent sickness in us. God did not make a mistake when he put plants on this earth. They are our natural source for fantastic health. If you want to regain your health and your figure focus on the life affirming abilities of plants rather than the fact it might not taste great to you in that moment. Eventually it will. I promise.
Zestizm 