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