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| Me writing this article. |
If you had the opportunity to read the first and second installments of this series (or if you're a sane, rational human being), you already know how I feel about taking extreme measures to lose weight. Adherence over the long-term is what makes a diet/lifestyle change work in your favor, and when something is a drastic departure from your normal behavior, you are effectively decapitating your chances of success. It's a law of human nature; we don't want to change so your best bet is to try to avoid making it obvious. What could be a greater jump from eating a normal diet than ONLY DRINKING JUICE FOR A WEEK?
They call it "juice fasting". It's become popular recently thanks to a film titled "Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead" which chronicles the adventures of an obese truck driver who loses several hundred pounds by not eating and establishes a sort of "juicing cult" in his home town to help other morons lose weight through the same method. It's almost like turning water into wine and giving sight to the blind, minus the part where they talk about vitamins and minerals and cleansing. Gag me with a juicer, for Christ's sake.
In all honesty, a morbidly obese person might want to lose some weight REAL god damn fast if they expect to live much longer and I'll be open-minded and say that maybe juice fasting could work, as it did for the film's protagonist, Phil. HOWEVER, when a person of a healthy weight, without the supervision of a doctor, decides they're going to juice fast, and they do so based on the merits of a movie they saw on Netflix, they are (in my opinion) on a one-way ticket to gaining another 10lbs by the end of the year and developing an eating disorder.
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| Obviously not. |
It's not the element of "fasting" that makes "juice fasting" insane. Everyone fasts, every single day of their lives. There are (again, in my opinion) a ton of health benefits to engaging in daily intermittent fasting ala Martin Berkhan's LeanGains. The problem is that people view juicing as a means to quick and effortless weight loss, irrespective of exactly *what* is being lost. Chugging down a gallon of fruit/vegetable juice every day for a week doesn't exactly leave you with a ton of protein or fat to make any of the hormones that actually burn fat. You waste tissue, including muscle and bone (which I hear is important to maintain as you age). While there may be some benefit to protein deprivation once in a while, there are no quick fixes and no magic pills.
Anyway, without further adieu, the aforementioned status. This shit is INSANE. I can't even make it up. It's kind of long but I've highlighted the important stuff.
Juicer: guess who lost 6 lbs and an inch in 3 days on her juice diet?! meeee! c:
Person 1: That doesn't sound healthy.
Juicer: but it is just look it up! thats what sold me on this whole juicing thing. its healthy and super effective.
Person 2: What's a juice diet consist of? Lol
Juicer: welllll you just drink fresh juice 4 times a day. it fills you up, you never feel hungry, and it works super fast. but its kinda expensive. the juicer alone was 99.00
Person 2: Oh jeeze. You don't eat food?
Person 3: What she said^ do you eat?
Juicer: well for 8 days you just drink juice. and then you drop weight super fast. it doesn't sound healthy but it is. you're giving your body all the necessary vitamins and nutrients, you're just not forcing your body to digest food so it focuses on burning your fats. but in the first 5 days its cleansing your body of everything you've eaten in the previous couple days. so you're really only going without food for 3 days. and thats not too bad.
Person 4: ^Technically, the juice is food. It's rich in vitamins, and essential nutrients, while the pulp provides more than a sufficient amount of fiber and roughage for the day.
Juicer: after the 8 days you go on a 75% raw food diet. meaning you eat fresh fruits and vegetables and nuts and seeds and yogurt and you can throw in some cooked pasta or bread or something.
Person 5: what do you make into juice? just fruit or everything?
Person 3: Oh okay.. lol well good luck even though I don't think you need the diet keep us updated(:
Juicer: exactly. it takes a little while for your stomach to get used to digesting solid foods again so you have to start light and work your way back to heavier foods. but the whole idea is to not go back to eating so much heavy food so often. you're kinda retrainging your body. you need fruits and vegetables. like greens and things with fiber like pears and apples. i feel really good and very energetic. i'm happier in general.
Juicer: (to person 3) thanks! people keep telling me this but i'm doing it for me. its not just for the weightloss, its really healthy and makes me feel good.
Person 5: could you send me a condensed list of how you go about this diet? ive been trying to switch over to healthier foods since i found out all the shit it food.
16 hours ago · Like
Juicer: well, my boyfriend watched the documentary "fat sick and nearly dead" and told me about it and it interested me. its on netflix. then i bought a book called "the complete idiots guide to juice fasting" it has diet plans and recipes. not just juice recipes but recipes for the 75% raw food diet also. its not hard, you just have to make sure you get fruits and vegetables in every juice and something green. i use spinach or kale. also you're supposed to drink 4 32oz juices a day. but not if you have to force yourself. they're very filling and i find it hard to drink a whole 32oz drink at one time. its also good to drink a lot of water.
Juicer: and if you don't mind the diluted taste you can do 16oz of water and 16oz of juice and its just as effective.
Juicer: btw person 5, i rang up your mom the other day at work. i dunno if she told you lol
Person 5: i guess ill go torrent that right now. thank you very much
Person 5: yeah she told me (• ◡ •)
Person 6: Why not just exercise? And eat a protein rich diet so while your burning fat through exercise your also gaining muscle and a healthy figure, not that you don't already have a healthy figure which is why I find your dieting redicuous
Juicer: well, there are a ton of reasons why i picked juicing. the main reason is that its not hard to stick with. its a lot faster than working out and eating right. also, i don't have to count calories. its easy. not saying that i don't plan on exercising after the fast, because i do, its just not advised to exercise while fasting. also, juicing cleanses your body and retrains your cravings. so in a way i am eating healthy and exercising, just not for the first 8 days lol
!!!
Person 6 (The only sane friend that this girl has): Fair enough, your goals and mine in terms of healthiness are quite different, however I have often found that the easy way is normally not the best way. Also I am still baffled at the fact that you are concerned with your form, in the first place lol
Juicer: its really healthy. people don't just do it for weight loss. its good for a lot of things. even reversing chronic illnesses. also it helps you gain weight if you need to. i read about this a lot, it intrigued me so i decided to try it out. i didn't expect to lose 6 pounds in 3 days, it just happened and I'm not mad at it haha.
16 hours ago via mobile · Like
Me: I will never understand why people believe in this cockamamie bullshit about how depriving yourself of food will turn you into a glowing ball of vigor. Vitamins and minerals facilitate all kinds of chemical reactions in the human body, but they are by and large unimportant when it comes to weight loss vs. macronutrient intake.
Hear me out: You're a beautiful girl. You're not fat. If you're not satisfied with how you look, okay. I want to have a different body too. There are a million other ways you can change your diet and lifestyle for the better, that you can sustain for the rest of your life, that will actually change the way you look rather than simply emptying your digestive system and flushing water/sugar out of your liver and muscles.
Seeing a smaller number on a scale satisfies the same part of your brain that is satisfied by doing a line of coke off a hooker's ass. The sheer excitement of engaging in such an extreme behavior justifies whatever end may come. Combine some lunatic telling you it's healthy with the fact that calorie deprivation increases the amount and rate at which you produce natural painkillers (endorphine) and you have an explanation as to why you feel good about what you're doing.
I can refer you plenty of studies and plenty of anecdotes to confirm what I'm telling you; science refutes the notion that what you're doing is healthy.
So stop it. PLEASE.
Me: Oookay. If you don't see the irrationality in basing any element of your life on a movie starring a fat ex-figure skater and a morbidly obese trucker, where they magically (OMG!) lose a ton of weight by not eating, then you go for it.
Person 7 (a family member): U already have an awesome figure girl! U are a hottie, cuz you don't need to lose weight. I know u think ur family has to say ur beautiful and all that crap but its true! U really are so don't go getting too skinny on us. Love u!
Person 8 (an idiot): Haters gon hate.
Juicer: (to me) thanks for the essay.....
(to person 7) i won't get too skinny, just trying to get rid of my holiday weight lol.
Person 8: Omg you are being anorexic.
So unhealthy.
Allyson Robinson PLZ STOP
IM BEGGING YOU.
Juicer: lmao i don't see why people i don't know give a shit. i'm happy and i lost an inch around my waist and hips.. i didn't ask for anyone's input and nobody is changing my mind.
Person 8: I will pray for you........
Juicer: lmao
Person 8: I love you and i'm happy for yaaa!
Person 2: I've seen this diet before! Sounds awesome. Let me know how it goes(:
Person 9: Why are you even on a diet, your perfect baby<3
Me: I'm not saying this out of hate. I know what I'm talking about, I'm going to school for nutrition science. I study it formally and independently on a daily basis. I wrote you an essay because I'm intelligent and educated enough TO write an essay. What you are doing is like pouring sugar into the gas tank of your car upon the observation of a new rattling sound, because you read on the internet that sugar fixes rod knock. Then a mechanic came by casually and said, "Uh, that's not going to work..." and your friend Allyson popped in to say, "OMG HATERS GON' HATE.".
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| Tchyeah. |
I think it was important to include the entire thread so that you can see the reactions of other people and the rejection of any opposing ideas on the subject. When a person embarks upon an extreme fad diet like juice fasting, they don't care about the negative implications. They don't care what anyone else has to say on the matter, regardless of their background or relationship. The only thing that matters is superficial and ultimately meaningless weightloss. As long as the ego is satisfied, everything is okay. This girl had made up her mind: a movie she saw holds more credence than the objections and reassurances of her friends and family. Anyone who seems interested or supportive is just adding fuel to the fire. It's really sad.
I'll get back on track and talk a little more about this later, but until then, here is a picture of some cats hanging out and relaxing after blogging.
I'll get back on track and talk a little more about this later, but until then, here is a picture of some cats hanging out and relaxing after blogging.
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| Ah, cats. |
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