My Healthy Weight Loss Odyssey
My name is Ian, and at age 35 found myself 60 lbs overweight and miserable. It happened slowly, over time, and I just didn’t realize how many unhealthy decisions I was making until I looked in mirror one day and just didn’t recognize myself anymore. The signs where there of course- I was always tired, lacked motivation, my confidence was not what it once was. I had thought about dieting or taking an appetite suppressant to lose weight but just never did it. I was aware of what was happening to me but it was like I was looking through a window at someone else’s life and I was powerless to do anything about it. I started to feel trapped by my own body but was really just afraid to do anything. It was my fear of being happy that was holding me back from regaining control over my life…until one day.
I was going over to a friend’s house to pick up some tools for a project I was working on when I walked into his living room and he had a movie playing. It was a documentary called “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead”. It’s the story of a man who is diagnosed with a rare disease and goes on a fresh green juice only diet for a month. I sat down and watched as the story unfolded. You see the man’s entire life change before your eyes. He loses a ton of weight, begins to look and feel amazing, and he beats the disease. The movie ends and I am completely blown away. The premise is simple enough; you just make and drink this juice only for 7 days, then continue on for another week or start to integrate healthy whole foods into your diet along with juice. So the next day that exactly what I did.
I bought a $100 juicer from a local big box store, then stopped off at the grocery store and bought 1 day worth of fruits and veggies. I can’t lie; I was pretty excited as I made my first batch of green juice- seeing all of the nutrient rich ingredients extracted from the veggies made me feel like I was going to turn things around. Plus the Juice is GREEN, what’s healthier looking than that right? I drank it and it was really good. I followed the recipe from the movie and it was fast and easy. Here is a little time line of the next 7 days events as they unfolded:
Day1: Drinking the juice was fun and enjoyable- I actually felt drunk at times from the potency of the vitamins and minerals- I later did some research and found out this was normal.
Day2: Started getting some food cravings at different times of the day- mostly sugar cravings. Overall feeling was good though.
Day 3: Total energy crash. I had been drinking coffee everyday for many years in the morning, and on day 3 no caffeine hit me hard. I felt really lethargic and had trouble focusing. My bowel movements were green in color which through me a little.
Day 4: I had lost 4 lbs which was great motivation, but my caffeine withdraws were still really bad. My food cravings were also bad, less for sugary foods and more for savory foods. I would have killed for a cheeseburger or some pizza.
Day 5: The original green juice recipe was getting old. I threw in some different ingredients to change up the flavor, which helped a lot. Another pound lost and I was starting to feel my energy levels begin to normalize.
Day 6: Another energy crash day, I could barely stay awake at work. I could tell my body was mad a t me for no coffee. It really hit home that the habits we develop are like programs for our body. I was reprogramming my body to metabolize food differently, to create energy in a more natural way- without stimulants.
Day 7: I had made it a week, and it felt great. The weight loss tally was 8 pounds. I started to crave the green juice and looked forward to drinking it. My processed food cravings had all but disappeared and I was really starting to feel better. It’s hard to describe but I could definitely feel a difference in myself. I had more energy, had better moods, and had lost a significant amount of weight. I decided right then to go a full 30 days.
In the next three there were some ups and downs. I had some low energy days, some days with bad cravings, and some days where I wanted to hurl myself at a McDonalds, but I made it through. The truth is my body was the healthiest it had probably ever been, at least in terms of what it was running on. I lost a total of 19 pounds in 4 weeks, and it was done safely and naturally without any prescription drugs or fad diets. Just a ton of fruits and vegetables and some discipline and self control.
I have now begun to integrate healthy food choices into my diet, only drinking the green juice WITH my meals rather than instead of them. For anyone who has had trouble losing weight or lacked the motivation to make it happen, I hope you can learn from my story and will try the green juice method. It’s not about calorie restriction; it’s about boosting nutrients to your body’s cells the natural way. Try it today and feel the difference tomorrow!