PURPOSE OF JUICE FASTING:
Juice fasting has many health benefits, but here are my top 3:

1) detoxing your body
2) “re-booting” your body and changing the way it sees food (and eliminate cravings)
3) kick-starting your weight loss journey

#3 is important. After your fast, if you return to eating crap, you WILL gain the weight back and the juice fast will have been pointless. The main point of the fast, for me at least, was the beginning of a major change. If you can go 24 hours or more living off of fresh fruit and vegetable juice, then you are probably ready for a new, healthy lifestyle. 

MY EXPERIENCE:
I’ve been yo-yo dieting since I was around 14 or 15 years old, with my bad habit of late night binging always getting the best of me. THEN, I found out about juicing and it literally changed my life (I know that sounds corny, but it’s true). After detoxing with a 3 day juice fast, I lost 3 lbs and completely lost all of my cravings for junk food. I continued to lose weight and haven’t had processed sugar or white-carbs since (and haven’t had a single craving).

In ONE month after juicing - I stopped drinking caffeine, I’ve stopped smoking (and have no desire to smoke), stopped drinking alcohol, started eating clean, and lost a total of 13 lbs.

MORE INFO:
A juice fast for weight loss is an essential first step and can be used intermittently to regain control later on (if you chose to repeat the fast). The concept is the same in any addiction: You must break the patterns you have created in your lifetime, reset the hypothalamus (which controls hunger), thus reestablishing healthier habits to maintain.

Doing a juice fast for weight loss severs inappropriate appetite stimulation and detoxifies your body in preparation for better habits and choices. A healthy juice fast should be the initial step in any lifestyle and diet program.

DEFINITION AND METHODS:
Juice fasting is a type of fasting and “detox diet” in which a person consumes only fruit and vegetable juices. Being available only in digestible carbohydrates, these foods are digested rapidly. People choose to undergo juice fasts for various reasons and via various methods.

The most effective (and healthiest) way to juice is to buy a juicer and juice your own fruits/veggies. I bought mine for around $90 at Costco. You can also buy pre-made juice, like Naked juice from whole foods, but I really recommend a juicer. You can fast for as little or as long as you want; 24 hours or more. For me, 3 days did the trick. I know of other people who have gone as long as a month. In the documentary “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead”, two of the subjects juiced for 60 days (they were obese to begin with). I would say anywhere from 3-10 days should do the trick. But basically, just drink juice and water, and nothing else! You will be getting micro-nutrients, vitamins, antioxidants, etc. - so from what I understand, it is completely safe and VERY healthy.

I’ve been asking around to see if any of my friends have heard of juice fasting and a couple of them have. One of my friends juiced for a week and lost 10 lbs, her co-worker juiced for a month and lost 23 lbs. Another friend’s mom juiced for 10 days and lost 10 lbs.

On a side note - juice fasting can be difficult. The first day or so you might feel like sh**, to be honest. This is because your body is DETOXING. Stick it out and keep going, you’ll start to feel better. At the end of my juice fast I had more energy and felt better than I had before I started the fast. You’ll start to feel full from the juice alone.

JUICE RECIPES:













NOTE: To do a proper juice fast, you should be drinking FRESH SQUEEZED, NON-PASTEURIZED juice (no preservatives).

I’m not an expert or a dietician, but this really worked for me. So, if you have any questions feel free to ask :)

Resources:
http://www.juice-fasting.info/how-to-do-a-juice-fast/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juice_fasting

http://www.juicefasting.org/

http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/

**Consult your doctor before starting a juice fast**