Juicing: How It All Began For Me

Me before I started the fast. 230lbs.

On February 7, 2012, I began what I believed would be a 30-day juice fast. I had heard of fasting before, and I had heard of juicing before, and I guess I was vaguely aware that people juiced and fasted simultaneously. In the same way that I'm aware that some people are mechanical engineers, but couldn't tell you how they spend their day.

It began with a conversation with a film producer at the end of the shoot day in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. We were sitting at the bar of a very nice steak house on the property we'd been shooting for two days. We were having a cocktail, and later, after he'd left, I'd have a steak....it being a steakhouse and all.

He told me rather casually, that he'd been juicing. I don't know how this subject came up, but I must have said something about either wanting to lose weight, or quitting smoking, or something. Anyway, he told me he'd been juicing.

I said, "Juicing? As in steroids?"

"No, no," he said. "Fruits and vegetables. Like in a juicer."

His name was Marko and he had a pretty heavy Cuban accent.

He went on to tell me that not that long ago, he'd been close to 300 pounds. He was depressed. Then he discovered this concept of juicing from a film he'd seen. The film was Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. He said it changed his life.

I have to be honest with you. I was probably on my second or third cocktail at this point, and it had been a long day. I was tired. I listened politely, though interested. I had heard people's stories before about how they'd lost weight, and even when it was dramatic, I didn't go home and do anything about it.

I thought I'd heard of the film. It was a documentary, but other than that, I couldn't tell you.

The next day I flew home, a little hungover from two long days, a big steak dinner, and a little too much wine. Early that evening, I sat down on my sofa and watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It was so good, I followed that up with Food Matters. What both these films have in common is the sickly state of Americans with the point being that our food is killing us. And not all that slowly I might add.

It changed my life as well. Part way through the second film, I ordered a juicer online. I was going to do it.

The guy in Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead fasted, under a doctor's care, for 60 days. I figured I could 30 without blinking. What the hell. I was drinking at the time of course, so it all sounded doable.

That day was the last time I had any meat, alcohol or caffeine. Sunday and Monday, all I ate was raw fruit and vegetables. By Tuesday my juicer had arrived, and after that I didn't consume anything but the juice from several pounds of fruits and vegetables a day. The day after I started juicing, I also quit smoking.

Now a lot of people were surprised that I quit so many things at once. Also a lot of people thought I was crazy. I'll give you my rationale. When you first start a fast, your body begins to detoxify. As your body cleanses itself, this stuff is released and you feel like shit. When you quit smoking, the same thing happens, plus you go through withdrawal, and you feel like shit. When you quit drinking caffeine....you get the picture. For at least three or four days I was going to feel like shit anyway. Why prolong it? If I was going to feel like shit anyway, I might as well get seriously healthy.

Here's the funny thing. When you quit smoking, there are triggers that make you want to smoke, such as drinking and caffeine, which is why they advice you not to drink alcohol or caffeine when you try to quit smoking. Since I wasn't doing anything, and juicing, and the fact of not eating, was keeping me occupied, I didn't really have that hard of a time. Plus I was drinking about 4-6 liters of water a day, which was helping to flush me out. Point is, I never really felt that bad. I had a dull headache for a couple of days.

Now, that's physically. I was quite the crank, as anyone who works or lives with me can attest. Even more than usual.

Within 2 days, I'd lost 8 lbs. By seven days, I'd lost 13 lbs. By day 13, I'd lost 21 lbs. By day 21, I'd lost an incredible 27 lbs.

Me at the end. 202lbs.

Along the way, it wasn't just the scale that was showing dramatic changes. Of course there were many things, but I'll give you an odd, but very telling one. My wedding ring, which I wanted to replace with a new one, hadn't come off my finger in over 10 years. I had plans to have it cut off, I just kept forgetting. It had grown onto my finger. Now it's not like I was obese, but I weighed 230 lbs when I started all this.

About three weeks in, my other rings started falling off my fingers to the extent I couldn't wear them anymore for fear of losing them. It occurred to me that maybe my wedding ring...it just slid off.

By the end of my fast, I'd lost 28 lbs by my 27th day. I had meant to make it a full 30 days, but that week I finally had to travel for work and I wouldn't be able to continue juicing, so I called it quits.

Final count:

27 days
28 pounds

Now I was going to start the really important step of learning to eat properly. Not a diet, a life change. You can check in on me right here to see how I'm doing.