Posted on October 14, 2014

CAUTION: Extended juice fasts are an extreme and unsustainable form of dieting; while I'm describing my own experiences in this post, you should not undertake an extended juice fast without medical approval and supervison!

Last Sunday (October 14 2014) was the 61st and final day of my two-month juice fast (see my first blog post here for some background information and first month stats). After a couple of days of re-acclimating to solid foods, I'd have to say that I consider the fast an unqualified success -- my health (physical and mental) remained well through out, I lost the weight I was hoping to, and I'm set up well to use conventional diet and exercise to continue my weight loss journey.

Fast Weight Metrics

Starting Weight	226.6 lbs
Goal Weight on Fast Completion	180 lbs
Weight after One Month	196.7 lbs (loss of 29.9 lbs)
Weight after Two Months	180.5 lbs (loss of 16.2 lbs the second month, 46.1 lbs overall)
Eventual Goal Weight	160 lbs

Nutrition Next Steps

When I started my fast, I knew that I'd continue for a maximum of two months, and gave myself permission to quit earlier if I ever felt that my health was at risk (or under other extenuating circumstances). Which isn't to say that I began the fast half-heartedly; I REALLY want to lose (and keep off) the weight this time.

Accordingly, I've decided to move to a "Personal Paleo Code" (PPC) approach to nutrition, based on the book "Your Personal Paleo Code", by Chris Kresser. What I like about PPC is that it's based on the Paleo (aka caveman) diet, but allows everyone to experiment with more "modern" food (e.g. dairy, legumes, etc.) to test whether they personally can include that in their nutrition.

I'm NOT excited that PPC starts with 30 days of "rigorous" Paleo -- effectively another fast -- but am embracing the program to move me towards permanent changes / improvement in my nutrition. Plus the initial 30 days gets me safely through my nemesis, Halloween, while positioning me well for Thanksgiving :-) .

Thanks again for all the support to my game mates in the Fitness Warriors and Transformer (Aug 26 - Feb 25) games!

Comment Now!

Deady Bear

12/25/2014 8:26AM

Good job on your juice fast, Dave. = ) I agree that it's surprising how much hunger you lose when you're juice fasting. I do a small amount of it every time I'm about to clean up my eating to jump start some progress. I usually go between craving salty, meaty foods in the beginning to just wanting to gorge on pineapples, so it's interesting how much personal tweaking there needs to be in your own personal juicing plan, between whether you need to make a salty homemade V8, or put a little more fruit into your green juices. But yeah, it's not sustainable. Not even the most prolific of raw vegans will stick to it for longer than 90 days, and it's not that you can't keep yourself fully loaded on calories and nutrition, but that the act of actually eating and consuming food is of social significance, and having food to chew on is a primal comfort.

Chrissy

11/24/2014 3:31PM

Wow Dave,!!!
I have to first congratulate you on your success ;))
I just read both your blogs & comments on the fast.
So glad to hear you did your homework before hand, as did I .....
I did see & even tried Joe's juice fast...but, it was a year to the day I found & joined DB, & I just wasn't ready to make the life change then.

I too would really like to hear all you tips, experiences, & just overall feelings about your fast. ;) I've been doing so well with the support here, not sure if I'd give it a try again, but it would be nice to understand it better ;)
Again congrats on all your progress I'm sure your feeling amazing ;))

Dave M. likes this comment.

Dave M.

Thanks Chrissy, appreciate your comments.

I'm still hoping to follow up to these two juice fasting posts, so look for more shortly (?).

While I did enjoy the benefits of the juice fast, I'm glad to be past it and working towards sustainable, life-long nutrition!

Cam

10/20/2014 9:22AM

Wow, I have done a juice fast for 10 days before and I must say I was hungry. I started seeing food signs I had never noticed before. I wanted to try foods I had never found appealing previously. I did lose weight. I did feel great, but I agree that it is absolutely unsustainable. I wonder though, for someone that has more weight to lose, like myself, if it is a good way to get to a goal and then be in an encouraged position to maintain. Or, would it set me up for discouragement and failure? I'm not sure.
I must say a 2 month juice fast says a lot about you and your discipline. The discipline is half of what it takes to be fit. This post is encouraging. How was your activity level at this time? Energy?

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Dave M.

Thanks Camber, appreciate your comment.

I did go into the juice fast thinking that I could reset some eating habits and drop a fair amount of weight, to set myself up to use more conventional nutrition and exercise to achieve my ultimate goals -- so I think it could work for you to get to a goal / maintain. Two suggestions before starting into any extended juice fast: 1) consult your doctor; 2) give yourself permission to re-evaluate your target number of days, as necessary -- not permission to quit at any time, but to know that there might be extenuating circumstances that make you reconsider the length of your fast. That way, you can celebrate your achievement, rather than be discouraged.

My activity levels were good; I continued to workout, although for periods of an hour or less. I definitely had less / limited energy available for workouts. Overall, I felt good (even normal).

Marcie

10/16/2014 5:13PM

Congratulations on making your goal and sticking to what must have been a challenging journey! I am curious what the first 30 days of "rigorous" Paleo is? But perhaps having that frameworks will be helpful. GOOD LUCK DAVE!!! and keep us posted - pun intended. :-)

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Dave M.

Thanks Marcie, appreciate your support throughout. With respect to the "reset" portion of the Personal Paleo Code -- here's a page that effectively boils the book down into one (big) page -- my "first 30 days" is their "Step 1":

http://www.chewfo.com/diets/your-personal-paleo-code-by-chris-kresser-2013-food-list/

Having the framework / "absolutes" HAS been extremely helpful to me -- I'm NOT good about having a very limited quantity of the foods that I (used to) enjoy (desserts, sugars, etc.); much better for me if they're just completely verboten.

MandiLynn

10/15/2014 7:18AM

I, too, agree with Paula and yourself - about wanting to lose the weight badly enough. When I let myself get heavy, there's always a turning point where I get so frustrated/bummed that it's like a light switch turns on all my motivation. I think the same goes for a lot of similar life changes: quitting smoking, ending a bad relationship, etc. It takes a tipping point to give you the extra 'umph' you need to make said change.

But that's a small point in your post. To comment on the main message: what an amazing accomplishment, Dave! Your commitment and willpower is inspiring! Can you maybe write a post about dealing with cravings/willpower/saying no to solid foods and how difficult (or maybe not difficult!) you found that to be? I'm curious as to how you dealt with social gatherings/busy days/out-of-the-ordinary events/travel/time when you might not have had access to a juicer and produce?

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Dave M.

Thanks MandiLynn -- I've got a few posts that I want to write about the fast, including a "Tips" post, a "Why (I think) I was Successful" post, and a general tips post -- I'll add your points to that collection!

potameid

10/15/2014 5:47AM

PS If you want any help with the transition, you could check out the links I gathered specifically for that phase of maintenance on this Big Page of Links - it never hurts to start thinking about maintenance before you get there.

http://tinyurl.com/maintenance-links

Dave M. likes this comment.

Dave M.

Thanks (again) potameid.

For others approaching / in maintenance (Craig M. ? ), I'll recommend potameid's linked page; strikes me as a great group and collection of information on maintenance, one that I've already bookmarked for that stage of my journey :-)

potameid

10/15/2014 5:45AM

Will the PPC ending coincide with the most dangerous part of "Food Season"? (That's what I call the time of year that starts with Halloween, peaks sometime between Thanksgiving and New Year's and then finishes around Easter.)

I'm just asking because for me when I am strict with myself for a prolonged period of time I tend to build up resentment and frustration, and when it finally releases I find myself making really bad choices as a sort of rebellion.

I hope that the transition they use will help you avoid that part - especially with all of the temptations that appear in November and December.

Dave M. likes this comment.

Dave M.

Thanks potameid -- Stage 1 of PPC (reset / elimination) will take me through November 15th, Stage 2 of PPC (reintroduction of dairy, legumes, some grains) can vary but will probably take me through the end of the year.

I'm actually anticipating being able to eat some of the "non-Paleo" foods (e.g. mashed potatoes) at Thanksgiving.

Paula E.

10/15/2014 5:09AM

Well done Dave! It sounds like you had a great plan with the juicing and executed it perfectly. Now it also sounds like you are set up with another great plan which I am sure you will follow through with just as much success! I think one of the key items you touched upon is "wanting" to lose the weight and keep it off - so crucial. I have all the confidence in the world that will succeed! Go do it!

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Dave M.

Thanks Paula -- so appreciate your support throughout!

Tomiţă M.

10/15/2014 1:14AM

Congrats Dave! But I'm curious, how did you feel during juice fast period? Any significant body changes?

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Dave M.

Thanks Tomi?? ! Overall, I felt surprisingly well throughout the two month fast. I didn't suffer any "withdrawal symptoms" the first few days as some have reported, and I was rarely hungry throughout (even less so than I've been on restricted calorie diets in the past). The last point is the most surprising to me, as I was definitely dropping a lot of weight (almost consistently, although I did have one plateau around day 10) and only consuming about 500 calories (gross, before exercise) daily.

YES, I REALIZE THAT SOUNDS INSANE, AND WOULD'VE PREVIOUSLY DISMISSED / ATTEMPTED TO DISSUADE ANYONE ELSE MAKING A SIMILAR CLAIM!

w.r.t. body changes -- yes, I'm carrying a lot less body fat :-) . My "wheat belly" is greatly reduced, "barrel-shaped" fat around heart and shoulders is reduced, etc. I don't have accurate body fat % numbers, but the rough numbers I have from my scale indicate that the vast majority of weight loss was indeed fat.