Fasting? Experts please give me your input :-)
 

I'm going to start a cleansing FAST, can someone give me some insite/input. I'm going to try for 10-14 days.

When you say cleansing fast what exactly do you mean? No food, just liquid? or just fruit? I think 10-14 days will be much too long. You may want to try it for 3-5 days at first and be sure to take your supplements!! But you are so close to your goal, do you really need the fast?

Just water.
I'm not doing it for weight lose (although that would be a added benefit:-)) I just want to cleanse my body & detox.

This is pretty long but I thought I'd post it anyway..... This is an essay of a personal fasting experience, Self magazine, August 2003, page 102.



My “Hey, baby!” Weight
by Cindy Chupack, Executive Producer of Sex and the City

Is getting noticeably thinner worth feeling faint from hunger? Cindy Chupak tries fasting to find out.

“I am going on a 10-day Fast. In preparation for this, I have eaten most of the contents of my refrigerator. I now feel sick enough to abstain from eating for at least a day, if not longer.

This fast is called the Master Cleanser, aka, the Lemonade Diet, because each day you drink 6-12 glasses of “lemonade”, a bizarre mixture of maple syrup, cayenne pepper and other unappetizing ingredients.

I believe this fast is medically sound because I know people who have done it. Well, OK, I know one person who has done it, but he knows other people who have done it. And there is a booklet. Most diets, I know, at least merit a book. But the Master Cleanser is written by a man who, when he is not fasting,
survives on fruits, vegetables and seeds, so this is not a man who sends in a book to do a booklet’s job, if you know what I mean.

I tell myself this is not about weight loss. I know I can’t expect to keep off the pounds I shed while fasting. I just want to cleanse my system and get rid of the so-called toxins. Plus, after eating nothing for 10 days, it’ll be easy to make smaller changes to my diet, like eliminating cupcakes.

DAY 1

I prepare a pitcher of the lemonade, thinking that if I were to pick a drink to live on for 10 days, it would probably be something along the lines of a banana daiquiri. But I suppose that would be considered a problem rather than a fast.

By late afternoon I’m a little hungry, and I notice the place where I really have a Pavlovian response is my kitchen. I make a mental note that I’m not sure whether I go to the kitchen when I’m hungry or whether being in the kitchen makes me hungry. This is the kind of profound thought you have on a 10-day fast.

At night I go to see a Nick Lowe concert. I find that instead of watching Nick Lowe, I am watching the guy at a table in front of me who has ordered a large bowl of penne and eaten only half. He pushes the pasta to one side of the bowl and can’t seem to finish it. I can’t bear it. I don’t understand why the waitress
doesn’t take it away so we can all go back to enjoying the show.

DAY 2

You know how if you used to drink a lot at parties, and then you stop, you suddenly realize how stupid drunk people sound at parties? That’s how I am about food today. I can’t believe how many people say “I’m starving!” The truth is we are not actually starving when we say we are starving. I know this because
I’m not “starving” and I am essentially starving. The downside of this new enlightened me is that I am becoming one of those women I hate -- the ones who say food is not that important to them and who begin their sentences with “The truth is ...”

I did pass an important test tonight. I had my first dinner out without having dinner. I had hot mint tea (which is sanctioned) while my friends has Italian. My profound thought for the evening was this: Maybe conversation is like food. Maybe it can be just as satisfying. But then the food cam, and I remembered:
Conversation is not like food. Food is like food. Food is like eggplant parmigiana.

DAY 3

OK, it’s not about weight loss, but I have lost 6 pounds! My only complaint is that I am not being very productive. I spent most of my time enjoying my new favorite pastime: trying on clothes that didn’t fit the day before.

DAY 4

I lost another pound! I must figure out how to see the maximum number of people at this present and probably unsustainable weight. My friend mark invites me to a Yankees game. Perfect. Yankee stadium. Sold-out game; 56,000 people. Maybe I’ll get on the Jumbotron! By the second inning, thought, I realize that baseball games are not about baseball; they are about hot dogs and beer.

I didn’t bring any of my lemonade, mainly because I didn’t want to explain to some humorless guard that I had a ‘special drink’ in my water bottle. So I drink water for the first nine innings, but by the eighth extra inning (Oakland A’s, August 9, 2002; look it up if you want), I am wondering, What would one Cracker Jack do? Mark bought a box and gave me his prize. I thought: Maybe prizes are like food. But this prize was just a sticker. I am disappointed; almost depressed. I deeply wanted something three dimensional, like a ring. Or a Cracker Jack.

DAY 5

I am not only surviving this fast, today I make it through a Spin class. Then I go out for sushi without having sushi, and sushi is my favorite. I am extremely impressed with myself.

DAY 6

I have lost 9 pounds! I ask friends over to watch Sex and the City and tell them to bring whatever they want to eat. Nobody brings anything. They ate beforehand in deference to my fast. Except for Mark -- the same Mark who ate a box of Cracker Jacks in front of me. He ordered pizza.

DAY 7

Today, continuing to see as many people as possible at this weight, I went to Madison Square Garden for a Bruce Springsteen concert. Not only did I survive the concert and a four-tiered tower of shellfish without eating a bite, but I also made it through running into an ex-boyfriend. The kicker: I didn’t sleep with him! We went back to my place and just ... caught up. Profound discovery of the evening: If I can sit in a restaurant and not eat, I can sit in my apartment with my ex and not have sex.

DAY 8

I am down to my “Hey, baby!” weight. I know this because I was walking down the street and a construction worker said, “Hey, baby!” Apparently, for women there’s baby weight and then there’s “Hey, baby!” weight. The only side effect I’m suffering is trouble getting to sleep. And I need sleep, because tomorrow I am beaming my skinny self across America. Yes, in an amazing coincidence of timing, I was asked to be on The Early Show to discuss a story I wrote.

DAY 9

The bad news: I only got four hours of sleep. That’s the thing about The Early Show -- it’s very early. The good news: I have lost 10 pounds! The camera, however, adds 10 pounds, so I figure I’m even.

DAY 10

It’s now all about the weight. How to keep it off. How to keep my cheekbones. The booklet says 10 days is the minimum fast, but you can go up to 40. I consider this, which leads to my final profound thought: There are things from which we can abstain and things we can’t. Food, yes. Sex with an ex, yes. Obsessing about our weight, no.

I decide not to continue the fast, because I did what I set out to do, and I am not Ghandi. I’m pretty sure Ghandi didn’t jump on the scale and shout “Woo hoo!”

I didn't get any responses to this.....so BUMP!!!

It seems that you aren't getting a lot of responses but maybe thats because Atkins doesn't advocate the type of fast you are talking about so there aren't many "experts" on it here. Aren't you afraid it may mess up your metabolism if you do it for that long? I really wish I could be of more help. A long time ago I did a weekend fast where I just drink water with lemon juice in it (it was a fad at the time.) I lost 4 lbs. which I promptly gained back when I had regular food. As far as detoxing, what are you trying to detox from? By the way...your pictures in your profile show me a beautiful woman that looks great. Your weight and height are appropiate already so maybe you don't need to lose any more. Just my thoughts. That and $1.00 will get you a diet Coke most anywhere in town. :lol: I wish you luck and maybe someone will come along that can be of more help.
Lori

atkins05
 

i do know a thing or 2 about fasting. i will say this for sure...anything over 3 days should be supervised. and the fast can be very be beneficial if you eat properly afterward. i would recommend that you first learn how to eat properly and then begin your fast. not the other way around. also, the self article was not a true fast as there was sugar in her water. but you are supposed to rest as much as possible while on the fast. and things like driving etc is just dangerous because you will be weak. just make sure you are in good hands (preferably a dr who specializes and you should be ok)....good luck...

one more thing....you can detox plenty with lc and eating good organic foods and healthy fats. you wont lose as quickly but you also will not lose muscle and you will not have the problem of messing up your metabolism....you will probably increase your metabolism. after a fast, you have to eat very little and work up so you dont gain alot. i would not think it worth it unless you have some serious illness where it can benefit. otherwise i would just do a very "clean" locarb and see where that gets you....just some thoughts.....

For the life of me, I cannot figure out how you might have understood anything in that article that was related to any benefits to "detoxing" (whatever that means). Did I miss something?

Also--- and perhaps it was my frame of mind when I read it--- the essay seems to focus on how we can become slaves to our scales and to what extremes some of us will go to achieve a weight that we perceive to be desirable.

What was your reading of the essay?

Whammy

I don't see how nearly 2 week fast can help with detoxing. If your body is that full of poisons, you should not be eating at all. Realistically, your body may conclude that it is starving and you may put on weight once the fasting stopped. Also going that long without food may give you a loss of appetite and going back to eating will be hard. Fasting seems to be counter-productive IMHO.

Black57

That sounds like the Stanley Burroughs,
LEMON DRINK for Master Cleanse
Here's a copy of it I happen to have on my puter
You'll need:
2 TBsp lemon or lime juice (approx. 1/2 lemon)
2 TBsp genuine organic maple syrup, Grade B (the darker the better)((This is for vitamins)
1/10 Tsp cayenne pepper, gradually increase (the more BTUs the better)((many health benefits))
10-14 oz pure water (Water must be chlorine free, fluoride free, pollutions free)

Combine juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper with water. Drink every 1 to 2 hours. Take no other food, but do drink lots of water in between lemonade drinks.

Use fresh lemons or limes only, never canned or frozen lemon juice. Use organic and vine ripened when possible. Also, Mix your lemonade fresh just before drinking. Don't mix it up in the morning for the whole day. You can, however, squeeze your lemons in the morning and measure out the 2 TBsp when needed.

Burroughs recommends a minimum of 10 days on this. You can do 40 days safely and more.

This actually is supposed to be done in conjunction with salt water flushes every morning.

I have never done this as a fast. But I was using the drinks as a type of cleanse about three times a day along with eating light. I think they taste great. In the info I have he suggests breaking out of the fast gradually day by day.

From what I've heard it's supposed to be an excellent cleansing fast.

I'm going to put in my two cents here and ask you if you are truly not concerned with weight loss. Come on, be honest...Don't you look forward to those clothes feeling a litle looser each day?
If so, then why kill yourself with this fasting buisness? In DANDR he cites studies that prove a low carb diet loses more body fat than not eating at all!
Have a think about that before you shock your bodys metabolism into starvation mode and end up adding pounds in the end.

I've done lots of 'real' fasting in my anorexic phase, it gives you a great feeling of control but it totally messes up your metabolism, it will slow down your future weight loss/maintenance. Why do something so detrimental to your body???

hi atkins05,

what did you decide to do?

I'm considering a fast at the moment to get my system detoxed. I have been having a hard time with atkins and going on and off carbs for weeks now.

I know that evryone will say that this will mess up my metabolism, but it can also be quite healing.

thanks for the info :roll:

I am totally against a 10 day fast with a concoction you would drink for "vitamins".

There are other options listed in the tips and stall forums.

Here are a few:

Fat Fast

Meat Fast

Egg Fast

The Stillman diet (lean protein)

and the rotation diet which you can find at the very oldest of posts of Countdown, Buddies and Challanges in group journals.

One should be careful with excessive, extreme measures. One day may be enough to jump start the program, 3-5 days should be the maximum, except for the rotation diet which was a 4 week program (I think I only got through 2 weeks of it both times I tried it.)

For cleasing, some people like the Fat Flush Plan which may do some cleansing. I haven't read it myself.

How badly have you mistreated your body that you need to detox for 10 days? Have you been ingesting a lot of chemicals? Do you work in a toxic environment? Very few people do. Our bodies liver and other organs were designed to cleanse our blood and filter out everyday minor toxins.

Fasting can become addictive. It's called anorexia. There is an excellent book about the history of anorexia called "Fasting Girls". From saints and mystics, to 19th century spiritualists to present day people strange how people in a land of plenty, who never need fear starvation feel the need to starve themselves.

As that guy used to say "That's our opinion, we welcome yours."

Beth