“The biggest threat to your waistline this January? Your juicer!” says a so-called weight loss expert in an article I just finished reading.
Whilst there are some points in her feature in the Daily Mail that I could argue against, I want to focus on the part I agree with, where she says: “Sadly, when their ‘diet’ is over they have stuck to their old habits and won’t improve their health in the long run.”
If you treat juicing like a diet do not expect long-term results. Diets don’t work.
Very few people who talk about juicing will call it a ‘diet’, yet many people start juicing with a diet mentality.
What do I mean by a diet mentality?
I am talking about people who are juicing because they want to lose weight and want to do it as quickly as possible, yet are not looking to make juicing part of a permanent lifestyle change.
The Daily Mail article talks of how juicing “appeals to people’s desperation” suggesting it is used as a quick-fix.
From my experience, people looking for a quick fix will possibly get highly frustrated, or even angry, when their weight loss slows down, plateaus or their weight goes back up. This is despite the fact they may be feeling more healthy.
They may find juicing a chore but make themselves stick to their diet plan. Perhaps, they may consider themselves a failure if they eat any solid food.
They are probably committed to a short term fix, rather than a long term solution.
When treating juicing as a diet, people will typically have a period of time living on juice only (often an extended period of 2 weeks or more) and then rapidly return to eat the way they did before. Why are they then often surprised when weight and related illnesses return?
I encourage you to embrace juicing as part of your lifestyle and NOT as a diet.
When it comes to dieting, research suggests that every diet – from Atkins to Weight Watchers – has similar results.
Traci Mann, UCLA associate professor of psychology says:
“You can initially lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight on any number of diets, but then the weight comes back. We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more. Sustained weight loss was found only in a small minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found in the majority. Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people.”
“Diets are not effective in treating obesity,” said Professor Mann. “The benefits of dieting are too small and the potential harm is too large for dieting to be recommended as a safe, effective treatment for obesity.”
So What Is The Answer?
From my experience I have to say embracing a lifestyle that includes getting back to nature and consuming lots of plant based foods. I’m not saying you need to quit all processed foods, meat and dairy, but focusing on consuming a high levels of plants feeds our cells the nutrients they crave.
Juicing is a great tool for increasing your intake of plant-based nutrients and something that has been a major catalyst in my own transformation and the many success stories shared on this site, but you don’t have to do a juice fast / juice detox / reboot to get results. Even simply adding one or two freshly extracted vegetable juices per day can start to give great health benefits.
If you focus on health, weight loss is often a side effect.
Sources:
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4038378/The-biggest-threat-waistline-January-juicer-Avoid-latest-trend-want-stay-skinny.html
- http://naturaljuicejunkie.com/2016/08/dont-treat-juicing-as-a-fad-diet-diets-do-nothing/
- http://naturaljuicejunkie.com/2014/09/why-you-shouldnt-diet-if-you-want-to-lose-weight/
