Detox/Juicing Plans...realistic?

mazmataz

This topic has come up with me and my three roommates recently. All three of them are and always have been a normal weight without ever having to think about it, and recently one of them came across a detox diet kit and they have all decided to give it a go. It's pretty extreme with no fruit, caffine or any processed foods for 10 days. They are pretty much only allowed to have raw veg and a little fish.

I have declined several times, and have decided that I would rather stick to my TDEE-20%, macro monitoring and workouts thank you very much!

Now from the outside it would seem that out of everyone, I'm the one who needs it the most...being the chunkier of the four! However many years of trying everything to lose weight, I know how unsustainable and pointless such ventures are. I know I wouldn't stick to it, and I know them very well and I'll be extremely surprised if they see it through! But it's their first time doing anything like this, so I'll let them learn from experience!

I guess I'm just looking to find out if anyone has actually managed to complete an fairly extreme diet plan like a detox or juicing program? Did it help or did you find you just went straight back to your old ways afterwards?

AmyRhubarb

I'm with you - I wouldn't do it either, so can't offer experience. But I have seen this subject come up in threads here before, and the majority of responses from those who try these things are that the lose weight while on it, but it all comes right aback (usually with a few extra pounds) when they stop. Pretty much all they are losing is water weight, unless they stay on it for too long, and then they risk losing lean body mass, not fat.

Carol_L

Why on earth would you want to do something like that to yourself?

The side effect of most of these so called detox plans is to leave you lighter...in the wallet. You're essentially starving yourself for a fixed period of time, because any caloric intake on those plans is usually rivaled only by the North Korean diet (Grass and anything remotely edible you can get your hands on).

The scale might move, but what is it you're going to be losing? Water weight (probably), lean muscle mass (most definitely), fat (not so much). At the end of the day, once you go back to eating normally, not only will you see an inevitable rebound as your body re-hydrates, but you'll be in a worse place because you've just sacrificed some of your more metabolically active tissue. Net result, you've just lowered your base metabolic rate and upped your body fat percentage.

I wouldn't do it.

mazmataz

I've gone though too many of these things to even consider it, and I whole heartedly believe that whatever path you choose to get healthier has to be sustainable, realitic and work with your lifestyle.

I just found it amusing that my diet newbie roommates who have absolutely no experience in diets and nutrition contrast so much with my 'trust me when I say this will not work!' attitude. No biggie for them though, like I say they are just trying to undo too many weekends of partying, none of them actually need to lose weight!

Don't worry I wasn't planning on doing it, just doing a little bit of research to see if anyone had actually found that something like this changed their life in any way. Just curiousity really!

Capt_Inzane

I watched a movie called Fat Sick and Nearly Dead and decided to juice for a while after that.

I did it for 8 days in which I felt fine the first couple days then kinda rough but a lot of toxins were leaving my body. On the 7th and 8th day I felt great! Unfortunately the person I was living with didn't approve and would intentionally sabotage me and as usual I failed and ate a meal and after that just went back to eating full meals.

If I had a full frigerator (only a mini-frig at the moment) I would probably juice every now and then especially for breakfast (juice the night before and let it sit overnight)