To Juice or Not to Juice

So, I worked for the American Diabetes Association for the past 5 years and part of my job was to plan an annual fundraising luncheon.  Before I left, I secured this year's speaker, Joe Cross of the documentary "Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead".  I attended the luncheon as a guest and was pleased to see what a fantastic speaker Joe is - his Australian accent doesn't hurt either.

He shared his story of being very overweight and physically sick.  He realized at the age of 40 that he had been focusing on wealth and neglecting his health.  He knew his life would be dramatically shortened if he didn't make some major changes.  He decided to go on at 60 day juice fast while traveling across America and talking to people along the way.  He filmed his experiences and thus, "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" was born and with it this "juice to reboot" revolution among his devoted fans and Facebook followers.  It is worth watching if you haven't seen it.

Now, eliminating everything from one's diet except for juiced fruits and vegetables goes against all of my training (as a Weight Watchers Leader), independent research and knowledge.  It just does not seem healthy no matter how I try to justify it.  I know that if you drastically cut your caloric intake, your body burns muscle, not fat - so you may lose 10 pounds in 10 days, but it is mostly water and muscle.  However, overloading your body with micronutrients from the juiced fruits and vegetables is enticing.  It is suppose to give you a lot of natural energy and feel amazing, after day 3 that is.  I think on days 1-3, you go a bit Norman Bates.

So, I've decided to give it a shot in a modified way - I will juice my breakfast and lunch and then eat a regular vegetarian dinner including quinoa (a yummy grain if you haven't tried it) to get a complete protein into my diet for one week leading up to Thanksgiving.  Now for the really hard part - that means I will also be on a break (not giving up, I'm just not there yet) from my morning latte, Diet Coke (I just broke into a cold sweat just typing that) and wine.  I may have to have a glass of wine or two at my son's school's auction event this Saturday, so I am giving myself permission for that.

Wish me luck!  See you soon Lover... also known as Diet Coke.  Yes, I really am that addicted, I'm not proud.