60 Day Juice Fast?

[dairyfreelife]

Cheryl and three of her daughters are doing a 60 day juice fast. It's supposed to be to lose weight and get healthier, but I can't help but wonder if a juice fast is healthy.

The juice included kale, turnip greens, spinach, dandelion greens, celery, ginger, lemon and lime. Yum! ☺ We've been drinking extra water and a cup of herbal tea has helped to stave off hunger. Dinner will be the same green juice.

Though I'm still a bit achy and sluggish (I've had to take a nap a couple of days this week), I feel optimistic and only miss eating on occasion.

They took a before picture and none of them look unhealthy. One especially doesn't need to lose weight. She's already thin. Another is slender as well and the other sister isn't slender, but she looks like she's a healthy weight, so I hope this doesn't damage them. She doesn't really write how the fast has affected her daughters so far.

treasuresfromashoebox.blogspot.com/2012/05/adventures-of-secret-society-week-1.html

[Loveday]

No protein, no fats. This juice fast is not going to last 60 days for the two who plan to go that far. :roll:

[Beeks]

I dunno. If they were existing on store-bought fruit juice I'd be a lot more worried, but it looks like they're getting a lot of variety in there and they can probably easily consume enough calories every day. It's only two months. I doubt it will hurt them.

That said I think the whole juicing fad is kind of stupid.

[Kitty]

These fad diets are absolutely not healthy, and humans need more than just different types of juice. We need, you know, solids. Their digestive systems will be... I don't want to think about that :?

They will lose weight, but the catch is, they'll gain it all back.

Adding that the reason Cheryl feels so shitty? She's not getting the nutrients she needs. The nausea and headaches are a result of lack of nourishment. Eat something.

[Visionoyahweh]

I don't get how juicing Spinach, celery, etc is really any different than eating it. Same calories, vitamins, etc., but you're depriving yourself of necessary fiber. I doubt anyone is going to die on their fast, but it can't be healthy.

[Jessica]

I loves me some juice and smoothies, but fasts? No. They're starvation diets with some vitamins, with the vitamins coming from fruits instead of a pill. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, eat well, don't eat TOO much, and exercise. Don't starve yourself.

[Muriel]

I dunno. If they were existing on store-bought fruit juice I'd be a lot more worried, but it looks like they're getting a lot of variety in there and they can probably easily consume enough calories every day. It's only two months. I doubt it will hurt them.

That said I think the whole juicing fad is kind of stupid.

Are you sure ? 60 days is a long time, they are going to lack a lot of nutrient, aren't they ?

[xDreamerx]

I think juice fasts are insane personally. I don't know how old these young women are but they look like teens. I think doing this with one's daughters just promotes low self-esteem, an unhealthy body image, and carves a path to and eating disorder. All of them look to be average size, except for the one in black and white who looks ever so slightly larger but I think most of that is because she's busty. Even she isn't someone I'd class as needing to loose a good amount of weight. None of them look like they need to lose weight, and even if they did such drastic and unhealthy measures would hardly be appropriate.

On a personal note, I had to have liquids for three days after getting my wisdom teeth out. That was enough. Why the hell would you want to do it for months?!

This video seems appropriate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejfnle5lggM

(Sorry, I don't know how to embed).

[Witsec5]

I agree. The weight will come right back on. And unless the juices are all from vegetables, consuming that much sugar in the form of concentrated fructose can't be good.

[Muriel]

I don't even want to imagine what is going to happen with their bowel with this "diet"

(sorry for the smiley, I couldn't help myself)

[Beeks]

Are you sure ? 60 days is a long time, they are going to lack a lot of nutrient, aren't they ?

I'm not sure because I don't know how much they plan to eat. But if you get enough variety in, yeah, I think it could be fine for two months. contrary to popular belief there is protein and fat in fruits and veggies (think bananas and avocados,etc). You just have to eat enough of them.

[Mela99]

This stuff is just stupid. I've done them before, and you gain all the damned weight back immediately. And you feel like hell during, and starting back on solids is HARD and nausea inducing.

It's just like the lemonade diet. You lose pounds like nobody's business, but you don't keep them off.

What I've learned after years of yo-yoing and dealing with thyroid disease is that the only thing that works is making lifestyle changes. Drink water, take vitamins, eat fruit and veggies and cut back on bad things. Go for walks or take up biking. That's all there is to it. Weight will come off.

[MalibusLove]

I wonder if they're supplementing with b12, I know plenty of vegetarians get by with supplementation, but exclusively juicing for that long if you are normally a meat eater could cause some issues.

[tropaka]

There are ways to get proteins and fats if you're juicing - I've known people who do it for a few days or week to "cleanse" (I am skeptical of this stuff) but for 60 days? Who do they think they are, Oprah (and btw she looked AWFUL when she did that).

[luckystone]

I agree. The weight will come right back on. And unless the juices are all from vegetables, consuming that much sugar in the form of concentrated fructose can't be good.

I was going to say the fructose thing - but their list does look like mostly vegetables.

I don't think it's that bad for you but I don't think it's healthy either. 60 days seems like quite a long time. You do lose stuff when you juice the veggies so it's not the same as eating them.

I wouldn't say they're slim/slender. Maybe the youngest one. The rest are not, though it is very hard to tell with the skirts.

[skrmom]

No protein, no fats. This juice fast is not going to last 60 days for the two who plan to go that far. :roll:

Good point and there is probably not enough calcium as well.

Som people do not know we need some fat on our diet.

[GeoBQn]

There are ways to get proteins and fats if you're juicing - I've known people who do it for a few days or week to "cleanse" (I am skeptical of this stuff) but for 60 days? Who do they think they are, Oprah (and btw she looked AWFUL when she did that).

My uncle was one of the doctors who supervised Oprah when she was on the liquid diet, so my mom decided to give it a try. She could only drink liquid (not sure if it was just water) with a nutritional powder mixed in. She also had to have her blood tested every two weeks to make sure there were no abnormalities. After a while, she started craving something solid, so she would suck on caramel candies. The very next blood test after she did that, her cholesterol had gone up 65 points. She stopped the diet after she fainted twice. The second time, she was in the bathroom and hit her eye on the doorknob, which left quite a shiner.

Bottom line: any diet that asks you to cut out an entire class of food is unhealthy and unsustainable.

[CynicMom]

Sounds like a pretty good drink - to refuel during a marathon. Also maybe as a nice cool snack. As 100% nutrition not so much.

[erunerune]

So rather than modeling sensible eating habits and consistent exercise, the mom is instead messaging to her kids that this extreme type of diet/fast/whatever is an acceptable and healthy way to improve themselves physically? I mean, short of a medical circumstance that might require some kind of drastic dietary measure, I just don't see this as a wise method for long-term weight-loss or general health.

[holothuroidea]

There are a lot of good reasons to fast, but loosing weight is definitely not one of them.

I've also never heard of any kind of fast lasting longer than 40 days, and those are generally fasts that only exclude one form of food. 60 days is an extremely long time.

I wish they'd admit the real reason they are doing this. They want to be members of the "secret society." Fundies will do anything to make it seem that they are superior to "normal" people, so it doesn't surprise me that they'd take on this ridiculous challenge.

I hope they don't suffer any ill effects, especially the girls who may have been coerced into this. It doesn't sound healthy, just survivable.

I also never understood the "cleansing" fad. If you want to clean your body, take a bath. The inside does a pretty good job of cleaning itself if you just treat it nice.

[Terrie]

Yuck. I will be shocked if this doesn't give them an awful case of the runs. And six pounds in a week? Not healthy.

[DarkAnts]

Sounds like they dont have the self control to make positive lifestyle choices. I think that they want an easy way to loose weight. Its all going to come back once they stop the diet. I hope that a doctor is monitoring them. If they are not careful, then their bodies will start to use muscle for energy.

The blog writers body has gone into ketosis. Her symptoms are extreme because she is not getting enough good carbs.

[dairyfreelife]

They've finished week two, so:

I'm down 5 pounds, for a combined loss of 11 lbs during these past 12 days.

and as for her three daughters:

The girls are fairing well too:

Haley: 12 lb loss

Stephanie: 12 lb loss

Emily: 15 lb loss

Yikes, especially as Haley and even Stephanie didn't look like they really needed to lose weight from the before pics. 15 lbs in 12 days would be 30 in 24 and 45 in 36. So, is a nearly 50 lb loss in a month a good thing? If at the same rate, that could be near 100 lbs in the 60 days if she sticks with it. Emily may not be slender, but I don't think she needs to lose much weight and definitely not 100 lbs worth. As for the other two, a pound a day would be 60 lbs total and I really, really don't think they need to lose that much weight. Sounds like it'd do them more harm than good. :?

*Note, not mocking them on the fast, but out of concern. The veggies are good and the juicing isn't a bad idea, but as a meal twice a day and how much weights they are losing on it and constant talk of hunger and constantly being tempted by smells says they aren't getting enough food. Now, smelling garlic bread or something and thinking how good it smells is one thing. I've smelled things like that and even though I just ate and wasn't hungry, it did smell rather appetizing. However, I don't get that from them. All the restaurants, Subway in the store, any food seems to trigger them.

As others have said, I think any weight they lose will be gained right back since they are already planning recipes for when the crash diet fast is over.

[Conuly]

Same calories, vitamins, etc., but you're depriving yourself of necessary fiber.

Indeed. At first I thought they were making smoothies, which I would think SHOULD retain the fiber, but a look at the actual link proves otherwise. All the "pulp" is FIBER being strained right out.

As far as calcium goes, they seem to be eating - um, drinking - a lot of dark leafy greens. That's calcium for you, especially if combined with vitamin c (all the fruit). But yes, they're very low on fats which we need, and yes, starving your body is counterproductive.

[Kailis]

The girls have been poring over Taste of Home this morning, choosing the meals they will eat after their fast is complete. As for me, I'd rather not look at food, talk about food, or think about food. 'Nuff said.

I think this portion disturbed me the most. As someone who did intentionally starve herself and would practice these behaviors while doing so, all I can say is that depriving your body of needed nutrients is going to be detrimental in the long run. It doesn't matter if you call it a juice fast or anorexia.

And she's letting her 16/17 year old daughter participate as well?! I don't care if she's "mature", this is not a diet for anyone, much less a teen!