Here to introduce myself

debbieannbuck

My name is Debbie and I have had great success with juicing.
I have been on a break since August 2013 because my husband was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and suffered 6 simultaneous strokes. So my diet has been on the back burner while nursing my hubby back to health.
It is April 2014 and I am back on the weight loss track.

My original diet consisted of no breakfast, snack during the day and then eat dinner.
When my friend introduced me to juicing, I was not thrilled. My thinking was "If I can't lose weight without eating, why would I add calories to my diet by juicing?"
I decided to give it a go and began making smoothies that I would drink all day until dinner time. The theory was that my metabolism would kick in and process the liquid quickly. I had no weight loss.
Then I ran across a website that explained that while juicing is popular, most people make the mistake of using yogurt in their juice.
After some more research, I found that even a newborn baby can have stools on a milk only diet. So using yogurt was working against me.
I decided to juice with veggies only and the weight came off in a steady rate.
Now I know that exercise is a vital part of weight loss, but with all the care of lifting and ambulating my ill husband; not to mention my knee, back, and neck arthritis....I was exhausted. But..........I still lost the weight with no exercise.
The trick for me was to kick start my metabolism with carrot juice and to avoid milk products so that when my metabolism kicked in, it would HAVE to take from my fat reserve (because the milk/yogurt was being processed as a solid and that's not what I wanted.) AND IT WORKS!!!

After the first 48 pounds came off, I hit a plateau.
I then changed my protein intake.
For dinner, we eat fish Monday-Friday and boneless/skinless chicken breast on the weekends.
We still have two side dishes but they are fresh and frozen vegetables only.....nothing canned!
An example is a side salad and boiled cabbage. No more processed carbs for me (like rice, noodles, etc).

So even though I am losing three pounds a week without exercising, I know I have to start getting some cardio in.
Perhaps when my hubby is a little healthier and less needy. But so far, it's working for me and I was able to maintain my weight when I was off the diet for eight months.
This gives me assurance that after I reach my goal weight, I will be able to keep the weight off.
This diet I'm on is not merely for weight loss but is also a lifestyle change.
I feel great and not hungry during the day.

sranney2

You are awesome ! To stick to a diet and take care of yourself, AND the big one, eat better while being a caretaker, is just not easy.
I have three siblings who have all had brain tumors. My Mom also takes wonderful care of herself while being a caretaker of sorts to them. It is a worthwhile endevor