I want to start a sensible eating plan, but I decided that for a few days I’d do nothing but all liquid (water, coffee, chicken/beef broth). For the first 24 hours I was starving but now I’m actually doing fine. How long can I keep this up? (safely?)
By the way – I’m taking vitamins, so my body wont be starved of nutrition, And I’m over weight, so I can definitely live off ‘the fat of the land’ for a while.
I thought maybe I could eat a piece of boneless skinless chicken a day, or half a sandwich, or a hard boiled egg, once a day, so I’d get protein too.
You see, the point of fasting is to "detox"–you’re removing all the toxins in your body because you are giving your body a break from digesting. (I don’t remember where I read this, but somewhere it said that when we eat, our body puts digesting as its first priority, and will abandon whatever else it was doing. It will store it away to "save for later." However, often they never get to later, because we keep putting stuff if!) By giving it a break, our body has the time and capability to clean out all the "bad stuff" from our liver, colon, kidneys, etc.
When you have a piece of chicken, or a sandwich, or a hard boiled egg, you’re just undoing the whole purpose of the fast. You’re kind of either going to do it or not. Don’t worry about nutrition deficiency, you’ll be fine with how long you’re doing it (I would recommend anywhere from 3-7 days the first time, and then 10-14 days another time down the road, should you decide. This is adequate time without doing harm to your body. I think 7 is a good time to shoot for.)
But *your* liquid diet isn’t that good for you. Caffeine is full of acid, and dehydrates the body. Broths are FULL of sodium, which just retains water/leads to bloating. If you are to do a liquid diet (better than a water fast), do 100% fruit juice (meaning no added sweeteners; if you have a juicer juice away, it’s even better!) and water it down so you don’t get as many sugars as normal. And, of course, water. But please, no coffee, it’s terrible for a fast!
Also remember that coming off the fast is just as important as getting into it. The longer you’re on the fast, the more time it will take to reintroduce your taste-buds and stomach to foods. For the first few days, stick to raw foods. They recommend raw vegetables the very first day, and then fruits the next day. Keep with this for about 2 or 3 days (say you’re doing a week fast); then introduce a new food group a day. I’d start with milk/dairy first, and then meat last (since it takes a lot to digest).
Good luck!
Have you tried the Lemonade diet?? I tried it and only lasted for 4 days. But the 1st day i wasnt hungry but after that, oh boy!!! But the thing with liquid diets is that you have to do (or at least with the somes i’ve read) salt water flushes and they are horrible. Because you are only taking in liquids you’ll get constipated and wont poop. So you have to drink a laxitive tea at night and do the salt water flush in the morning. From experience, your’ll need about 2-3 hours before you feel safe to go out of your restroom and a 4 pack of toilet paper.
References :
I would fast for spiritual reasons, typically going 7 days at a time.
For weight loss I would also do about 7 days of fasting. The #1 most important rule is drink water! Drink, drink, drink, you do not want to dehydrate yourself!!
Coffee is crap, stay away from that. I only drink water, but I would suggest V8 Fusion juice, Oh man is it yummy! Plus it has a full serving of fruit and veggies!
Good luck, and remember, stay hydrated!! Drink lots of water
References :
You see, the point of fasting is to "detox"–you’re removing all the toxins in your body because you are giving your body a break from digesting. (I don’t remember where I read this, but somewhere it said that when we eat, our body puts digesting as its first priority, and will abandon whatever else it was doing. It will store it away to "save for later." However, often they never get to later, because we keep putting stuff if!) By giving it a break, our body has the time and capability to clean out all the "bad stuff" from our liver, colon, kidneys, etc.
When you have a piece of chicken, or a sandwich, or a hard boiled egg, you’re just undoing the whole purpose of the fast. You’re kind of either going to do it or not. Don’t worry about nutrition deficiency, you’ll be fine with how long you’re doing it (I would recommend anywhere from 3-7 days the first time, and then 10-14 days another time down the road, should you decide. This is adequate time without doing harm to your body. I think 7 is a good time to shoot for.)
But *your* liquid diet isn’t that good for you. Caffeine is full of acid, and dehydrates the body. Broths are FULL of sodium, which just retains water/leads to bloating. If you are to do a liquid diet (better than a water fast), do 100% fruit juice (meaning no added sweeteners; if you have a juicer juice away, it’s even better!) and water it down so you don’t get as many sugars as normal. And, of course, water. But please, no coffee, it’s terrible for a fast!
Also remember that coming off the fast is just as important as getting into it. The longer you’re on the fast, the more time it will take to reintroduce your taste-buds and stomach to foods. For the first few days, stick to raw foods. They recommend raw vegetables the very first day, and then fruits the next day. Keep with this for about 2 or 3 days (say you’re doing a week fast); then introduce a new food group a day. I’d start with milk/dairy first, and then meat last (since it takes a lot to digest).
Good luck!
References :
I’ve done fasting and a lot of reading on this subject.