So Let's 'Juice Fest', Shall We?

So you've decided to embark on a short program of cleansing and rejuvenation. Preparing properly for a Juice Fest will increase your likelihood of success by a huge margin. And by success, I mean that you will complete the full 10-day program.

Why is the program 10 days long?

It is very popular to complete a cleanse, often called a reboot, once or twice a year. The choice to focus on good, clean, fresh, vibrant, live food for 10 days can revitalize your energy levels, and re-set your commitment to your health and longevity.

I want you to be successful on this first step of your health journey. Most of us can do anything (within reason) for 10 days. Skip the office birthday cake. Forego the Friday night dinner and drinks with friends. Enjoy a family gathering for the love, not the food. And 10 days is enough time to give your digestive system a much-deserved rest. It's also enough time to shed up to 10 pounds, without feeling hungry.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Thus we will give ourselves 7 days to prepare for the Juice Fest. During these 7 days, you will:

• Talk to your family about your plan. Explain to them that, although you don't expect them to join you on the Juice Fest, you would appreciate their support. Ask them to please refrain from bringing tempting foods into the house, as much as possible.
• Talk to your friends about your plan. Explain as above. You might ask them to participate in activities that don't involve food for the 10 days.
• Clean out the cupboards. Either eat, share, or toss foods that are likely to derail you during the Juice Fest, eg. chips, rice cakes, crackers, cheese, breads, meats, pasta, cookies, desserts, chocolate, etc. 
• Plan your shopping for a wide selection of fruits and vegetables, coconut water, and a few select supplements. Map out your route, stores, and best prices. Good sources are No Frills, Sun Rise Market, Whole Foods, Famous Foods, Superstore.
• Find/clean your blender and/or juicer. Sometimes these appliances sit in the cupboard unused for long periods of time. Give the removable pieces a run through your dishwasher. Test to make sure that everything works. If you need to buy a new blender, do so now.
• Shop for containers. You will be taking juices and smoothies with you wherever you go, so you will need a small selection of to-go-cups of your choice.
• Shop for a thermal lunch bag, if you won't be using a thermos.
• Plan for contingencies. For example, let's say you run out of time to make your juice/smoothies for the day. You must know where the nearest source of these things is, in a pinch. Good sources are Whole Foods, Jugo Juice, Orange Julius...Organic Lives, Gorilla Food.
• Start a journal, either hardcopy, or on your SmartPhone. Each day, you'll be logging your intake and output, and possibly your weight. For the record, this is a private journal and you never need to share the contents with me or anyone else.

Our Planning Workshop will take place on Saturday July 15th, from 2-4pm (exact location in Burnaby will be given to you by text). You'll then have a week to get everything ready for the 10-day Juice Fest. Stay tuned to my Facebook profile for updates and discussion. 

This project is very exciting for me! Last year, I gained 5 pounds on vacation, that I just couldn't seem to get rid of. Thanks to the 10-day Juice Fest in April, I was able to shed an entire 10 pounds. And, while I was often face-to-face with my food attachments, I was well-fed, well-nourished, well-slept, and had loads of energy. Your results will be similar, yet unique, so prepare to get excited too!

It's a juicy world out there!
Billie

Facts About the Fresh Food Diet

We've often heard that we should increase our intake of fresh foods. In her book, The Living Foods Lifestyle, Brenda Cobb presents an inspiring guide that is a must read for everyone seeking knowledge about a natural way to heal the body, mind and spirit. It's not just a diet, but a whole new way of thinking the really changes lives. From her book...

"Every living organism on planet Earth eats 100 percent raw or Living Foods - not 99 percent, not 70 percent, not 50 percent - but 100 percent! There's only one organism that tampers with its food - man. We're the only animal on the planet that has decided to cook its food.

You might ask, "Why does the body function so much better on a fresh food diet?" and "What does cooking (and processing) actually do to the nutritional value of the food?"

• Heating food beyond 105 degrees Fahrenheit destroys the enzymes that all foods contain. These enzymes help us pre-digest our foods and, without them, we must manufacture them internally. This robs the body of energy and reduces our capacity to manufacture enzymes for other vital functions, such as maintaining our immune system.

• Heating food destroys many vitamins that were originally present. Vitamins in pill form are a poor substitute for the real thing.

• Heat processing reduces the oxygen found in fresh foods - oxygen we need to resist disease. Many physicians claim that cancer and AIDS-causing viruses thrive in blood with low oxygen levels, and in the cells of people not in good health. Fresh foods contain hydrogen peroxide, which provides oxygen to kill these viruses.

• Eating heat-processed foods triggers leukocytosis, a massive release of white blood cells, by the body. A similar response occurs when we have an infection or are poisoned. Fresh, uncooked foods, however, do not cause such a reaction. While there is no consensus on exactly why this happens, it's clearly not a natural reaction. If the immune system is continually preoccupied with fighting off the harmful effects of consuming cooked and processed foods, its capacity to sustain optimal health is greatly reduced.

Here are Brenda's 4 steps to healing:

1. Expect to heal.
2. Stop worrying and relax.
3. Clean out your colon.
4. Eat organic, raw, Living Foods.

Watermelon juice is the most alkaline of any fruit or vegetable, and it can help overcome acidic conditions of the body. It is rich in protein, vitamins A, B, and C, enzymes, minerals and chlorophyll, and is easy for most people to digest - even those with poor digestive systems. Watermelon juice can help eliminate uric acid and dissolve accumulated deposits from a poor diet. ref: pg. 145

• Peel the outer skin from the melon.
• Juice the entire remaining melon, including the white rind, which is the most nutritious part.
• Option: cut the watermelon into chunks and place in a blender, with coconut water. Blend!"

It's a juicy world out there! Billie

The Why of Juice Festing!

You will have your own reasons for wanting to try a Juice Fest. Your reasons might include:

• to give your digestive system a break,
• for temporary weight loss (as in to slim down for a special event),
• cleansing and detoxification,
• just before or just after a colon hydrotherapy treatment,
• to break the chains of food attachments, or
• to jump start a permanent weight loss program.

There is no right or wrong reason for participating in a Juice Fest. For one thing, your health will not suffer...in fact, it's quite the opposite (please refer to my disclaimer below, and always seek professional medical advice). You'll be nourishing yourself to the maximum for the entire 10 days! 

Let's break down each of the above reasons, to help you consider if your logic is sound.

1. Giving your digestive system a break...in his book, Eating Alive, Dr. John Matsen, MD, says, "From morning till night, from childhood to death, we put into our mouths more or less whatever we feel like having, whenever we feel like it. Whatever is within arm's reach may be consumed: Foods, liquids, stimulants, relaxants, chemicals, drugs. Anything and everything goes down the old hatch at some point in our lives. We expect our system to somehow magically grind it all up, sort it out, use the good, eliminate the bad, all without any noise or complaint, and still leave us lots of energy. That the human system can withstand the abuse it does has to be one of the miracles of life."
2. Temporary weight loss...if you want to effect some temporary weight loss, perhaps for a special event coming up, this might be a healthy way to accomplish that. But, once your event is behind you, it'll be time to ask yourself if you want to continue on the path to better health, or if you want to go back to your old ways.
3. Cleansing and detoxification...there are many cleansing programs on store shelves, which include herbal supplements and specific diets. Participating in a 10-day juice fest is a simple and natural way to clean out some of the gunk of the past! When we're feeling sluggish and low on energy, we may benefit from a period of mild detoxification. This can allow for improved absorption of nutrients and, as the organs start working better, we usually feel much better.  
4. Before or after a colon hydrotherapy treatment...if you're planning on having a treatment, it makes sense to loosen up the material in your bowels. If you've just had a treatment, you may want to keep that wonderful, light feeling a little longer.
5. Breaking the chains of food attachment...there may be times when you make your food choices about flavour, not health. Your husband brings home potato chips and, knowing how tasty they are, it's hard not to join in. Your office has a donut-Friday policy and you tell yourself that you never buy them, so you imbibe. Your friends want to eat at a large chain restaurant and it's hard to choose a salad over the pasta and fried-food dishes. These are good signs that food attachments are at work in your life. By choosing to do a juice fest, your food attachments will likely rear their ugly little heads, giving you the opportunity to deal with them in a straight-forward manner. I recommend the support of a motivated friend or team-member for these moments.
6. To jump-start a permanent weight loss program...some people find it hard to start a diet and stick with it, eating a little of this, and a little of that. But after 10 days of juice festing, you'll be more equipped to decide which eating plan is best suited for you. And you'll definitely want to hold onto the weight loss that you've achieved over the 10 days.

Next time, we'll talk about how to prepare for a 10-Day Juice Fest. It does take some careful planning, if you want your experience to be successful. 

Stay juicy! Billie

Welcome to the 10-Day Juice Fest!

Freedom from Food


Introduction:

What does this mean? We all have to eat, don't we? How can I ever be free from food?

Most of us will freely admit that we eat things we know we shouldn't. We'll lament later that we wish we hadn't eaten this or that. At the buffet table, at the office party, at the family picnic, or scrounging around in our own kitchen. Oftentimes, we tell ourselves that we'll maintain more control next time.

When I say 'shouldn't', that's not me saying so. Maybe eating a certain food makes you feel sleepy. Maybe a certain food makes you feel groggy in the morning. Or maybe you can't seem to stop, once you start eating a certain food. Maybe you can't figure out how your hand got to the bottom of the bag. Maybe you look in the fridge, full of fruits and vegetables, and you tell yourself that there's nothing to eat.

Maybe you've justified eating something you know you shouldn't, by telling yourself that you're 'having a craving'. I know I should be eating more fruits and vegetables but I'm craving something salty, so I guess I have to eat these chips.

Or you convince yourself that the food you're eating is a healthy choice, even when you know it isn't. For example, Mixed Nuts, they have lots of protein, right? Well, they have some protein, loads of salt, and tons of added oil...so no, that isn't a healthy choice at all.

Maybe you've been on numerous diets and you still haven't gotten rid of that spare tire or that muffin top. You know the extra weight isn't healthy, and it's not attractive. You're tired of buying larger sized clothing, but you just can't seem to get into your smaller sizes comfortably.

And you're tired of trying to figure out what to eat and what not to eat. You're tired of the internal dialogue, and tired of the feelings of guilt and shame.

Addicts have it easy, you say. At least, they can be abstinent from alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs. But me, I have a problem with food...and I can't just stop eating, now can I? And so the drama continues.

Food Attachments

What I'm talking about is something I call Food Attachments. They're not cravings. They're not your body calling out for some ingredient it's lacking. They were likely developed over many years. They can be hold-outs from your childhood. They can include cultural and familial influences.  They are deeply ingrained habits, in combination with your taste buds, as well as clever marketing by the food industry.

I've been aware of the concept of food attachments for some time. If you've listened to any of my nutrition talks, I've used the term The Yumminess Factor, in reference to how we often choose our foods based on how they taste, not on how good they are for us. We'll even justify eating a certain food, by calling it healthy, when really we're choosing it for the flavour.

I'm here to tell you that you are simply attached to many foods, most likely attached to the flavours, regardless of which of the many influences is responsible for creating that in you. And it's time to break that chain, so you can be free.

Free to choose foods that make you feel good, foods that strengthen your immune system, foods that turn back the clock of aging, foods that allow your body to burn fat, and foods that allow you to have a great night's sleep. The 10-Day Juice Fest will introduce you to that freedom.

The 10-Day Juice Fest


"So how do I know if I have food attachments?" The 10-Day Juice Fest will bring you face-to-face with what has been operating under the surface of your food decision-making. For 10 days, everything you consume will be served in a glass. You'll be creating fresh, live food, teaming with vitamins, minerals, and phyto-nutrients. It will be colourful, delicious, and rich in flavour variety. You'll be choosing your favourite fruits and vegetables, as well as experimenting with some new choices.

You'll be cleansing, detoxing, and flushing...naturally. You'll be building new food behaviours, while you watch your food attachments dance before your very eyes.  And you'll be on the road to freedom.



Stay juicy! Billie