Why Juice Cleanses and Detoxes Are Complete and Utter BS!
What if I told you that juice cleanses and detoxes are complete and total BS, and that there’s a BETTER way to boost both your chances of success and your health on your weight loss journey?
Before I get into my rant, I hope you enjoyed your Father’s Day weekend! Do anything fun?
Mine was pretty good :-) Went to the Mets game with a couple of buddies Friday night, worked on Saturday, and then played not one, but TWO softball doubleheaders yesterday, followed up by a Father’s Day dinner with both of my parents.
Now that it’s Monday, it’s time to get back to work…
It seems like every week, I’m bombarded with ads, articles and posts across social media about the next big cleanse or detox. Whether it’s for a few days, a few weeks, or even a few months, people will dish out serious coin for things like industrial juicers, tons of organic produce, and these detox programs that will allegedly not only help them to lose weight, but to give their systems a restart in order to boost vitality.
I’m going on record to tell you, right now, that if you’ve fallen for that in the past, please do NOT fall for it again… And if you’re contemplating doing a cleanse in the coming days or weeks, then let’s not ;-)
Now, juicing in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing!
If you’re not a fan of most healthy vegetables, and you’re more apt to drink them in a liquid form, then by all means, get your veggies in that way. That being said, the skins of most fruits and vegetables contain MANY essential vitamins and minerals that you’re just not going to get from just the juice.
While the notion that ‘something is better than nothing’ may be true, let’s just face the fact that we’re no longer six years old, and that palates can change…
Case in Point: When I started my 100 lb weight loss journey, I had the WORST sweet tooth. Growing up, I ALWAYS ate either a sleeve of Oreos, or a milkshake before I went to bed, and I’d usually already have had one or the other right when I got home from school each day!
When I discovered how bad sugar was for me, I knew I had to quit cold turkey… There was no other option! And a few months later, after being sugar-free that entire time, I decided to go out and get ice cream with my girlfriend.
The result?
For starters, the ice cream tasted DISGUSTING! Something I used to genuinely devour and enjoy just a few months prior was now something that I could barely stand due to how incredibly sweet it was. To make matters worse, I have a dairy allergy, and since I’d also minimized my dairy intake during this period, as well, let’s just say my stomach wasn’t having any of it!
In other news during this period, I also began to ENJOY foods that used to taste bland when I first started minimizing my sugar consumption. Organic, raw nuts, for example, began to taste GOOD to me, when just a few months prior, it was like eating something that was completely tasteless! The same holds true for dark, leafy greens like kale and spinach… I didn’t have to smother these in olive oil or a healthy dressing like Tessemae’s to add some flavor to them — I genuinely enjoyed eating these foods once my palate adjusted!
Back to juicing and going on one of these cleanses or detoxes, it’s important that we understand our body’s needs. Human beings (whether you like it or not) are OMNIVORES! This means that in order to insure optimal health, we have to eat a nice combination of plant and animal-based foods.
By eliminating animal-based foods, and even healthy fats like avocado, nuts, or seeds from our diets during these ‘cleanses,’ we’re taking away quite a bit of vital nutrition from our daily lives. While we may lose weight on these liquid diets due to this deprivation of essential nutrients, it’s essentially like calorie counting — A commonly accepted way of starving yourself to reach a desired short-term result!
The last point I want to make about why juice cleanses and detoxes are complete and utter BS is that it’s essentially a liquid diet! Like these supplement companies that ask you to forego a meal (or two!) each day in place of a shake, it’s a commonly known fact that these types of diets are UNSUSTAINABLE!
I understand the brevity with which we’d like to lose weight and get to our goals, but why go about doing it in a way that’s NOT going to set you up for sustained success? Why not eat the RIGHT WAY from the get-go, so that by the time you’ve reached your goals, eating a healthy, well-balanced diet is just second nature? I never understood this method of thinking…
As my parting words, all you have to do to set yourself up for both health and weight loss success is to memorize these two sentences, and apply them to EVERY nutritional decision you make from here on out: “Eat meats, vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no (added) sugar. Eat ONLY when hungry, and just to satisfy — NOT to stuff your face.”
That’s healthy human nutrition right there! There’s no counting calories, counting points or watching portions. There’s no tracking of your macronutrient ratios, and making food decisions based on these well-intended but incomplete series of dietary metrics.
Our bodies know when it’s time to feed them, and they also even know what KIND of food is needed at that particular moment. All that needs to be done is to reestablish the mind-body connection that we’re born with, and meet its demands every single day!
Until tomorrow :-)
Sincerely,
Pete Weintraub
pete@weightlossbypete.com
P.S. If you feel you need more help on the nutritional side, then you’re definitely going to want to invest in my Food Guide and Healthy Recipe Book!
The Food Guide lays out the three phases of nutrition I use with my Permanent Weight Loss clients. Phase 1 gets you in the habit of making healthier choices, while Phase 2 really cleans up the frequency with which you eat healthier. Phase 3 is a strict macronutrient breakdown that will help expedite the process of weight loss, all while improving your health and making your body a well-oiled machine!
My Healthy Recipe Book includes 72 recipes spanning breakfast,lunch, dinner, snacks, appetizers and desserts. I’m constantly adding to it, but these recipes are easy to make, simple and enable you to have your cake and eat it, too!
Normally, I sell each of these books for $10 a piece, but because I’m feeling generous today, you can get BOTH for just $13.99! :-)
To get your copies, please go to www.weightlossbypete.com/foodguiderecipes.
