Review of My Thirty Day Juice Fast

I’m feeling a little apprehensive now that I’ve reached the end of my 30 day juice fast. My weight is close to where I want it to be, and I’ve far more energy than I did last month – I feel wonderful, look better, and I’m getting more work done, but I’ve been here before. I know how easy it would be for me to undo my progress, and I’m determined to prevent this from happening this time.

Goals at the Start of My Juice Fast

My main goal with this 30 day juice fast was to increase my energy levels. I’ve been in a good place emotionally for the last six months, but overindulging in food has made me feel sluggish, and I seem to catch every virus going. I felt bursting with energy for about 2 months following my last 15 day juice fast, and I was looking for the same result here – it looks like I got it.

There is a definite connection between my body weight and my energy levels. At the start of this fast I was 87kg (192 pounds) which is probably the heaviest I’ve been in my life. I function at my best when I’m around 73 kg (161 pounds), but I’ll be happy to stay below 75 kg (165 pound). When I was doing Muay Thai full-time a couple of years ago, I managed to get my weight down to 67kg (148 pounds). This would have been my normal weight when I was in my twenties and early thirties, but I don’t think it is a realistic goal now. I was training hard for six hours a day two years ago to maintain this weight.

My weight is now close to where I want it to be, but I know that this 30 day juice fast has not been enough to sort out my weight problems. Now is when the real work starts. I could easily put all the weight back on in a few weeks unless I take action to prevent it from happening.

30 Day Juice Fast Statistics

So my starting weight when I began the Juice fast was 87 kg (192 pounds) and I am now 76.8 kg (170 pounds).

This means that I lost 10.2 kg over the course of the 30 days. I was hoping for 10 kg so that’s fantastic.

I lost 3.9 kg (8 pounds) in the first nine days and 6.6kg (14.5 pounds) in the first sixteen days. I only lost 1kg (2.2 pounds) in the last week, so maybe when it comes to weight loss, the optimal time would be three weeks of juicing.

I spent 4,340 THB ($133 or €96) on ingredients over the 30 days, and this works out at 145 THB ($4.44 or €3.22) per day. I’m delighted with this because the last time I was averaging 360 THB (€8.50 or $11) per day https://paulgarrigan.com/juice-fasting-in-thailand/!

My Experience of a 30 Day Juice Fast

My brain felt fuzzy for the first few day of my juice fast, but it felt great to be doing something about my health. The fog lifted around day 6, and I began to notice that I was getting more done. It was so nice not to feel so sluggish in the afternoons, and I also felt more creative (this is important considering that I write for a living). I ran into a bit of trouble around the middle of the fast. I picked up a tummy bug, and I had diarrhea for about 48 hours. The juice was just passing through me, and I worried that I’d have to give up the fast. I started to think more about food in the last week, but I never felt hungry.

What Happens Now That the Juice Fasting is Over?

I’m determined not to allow the weight to creep back now that I’ve worked so hard to bring it down. From tomorrow, I’m going to attempt permanent 18:6 fasting. This means that I only eat for a six-hour period every day. This is similar how the monks here in Thailand eat (they have their last meal of the day before noon), but I know that it is no magical solution because some of these guys are overweight. I also came across an article written by a guy who did this type of fasting for a year, and he actually put on a bit of weight.

I am going to combine 18:6 intermittent fasting with mindful eating and regular exercise. I enjoy skipping (although when I was doing Muay Thai it became obvious that I skip like a girl), and I’m going to try to make this my main cardiovascular exercise – maybe 30 minutes per day. I’ll also continue going on my walks on the local beach here in Rayong.

My goal is for the 18:6 intermittent fasting to bring my weight down to below 73kg (161 pounds) and then to keep it there. I expect it to take a couple of months to reach that target. If this doesn’t work, I will try juice fasting for 5 days every month (maybe spread these days over the course of the month).

Would I Do another 30 Day Juice Fast?

I love juice fasting, and I definitely expect to be doing more of it in the future. I don’t intend to ever be in the position where I need to do another 30 day juice fast, but I meet do it as just a way to reboot my system. I think the ideal length of a juice fast for me would be 5 to 15 days.

Update 2020 (this post was written in 2014 and a lot has changed inmy life since then): I struggled with issues around my diet from my mid-thirties until my mid-forties (about five years ago). Juice fasting was just one of the options I resorted to in an attempt to control my weight, and it did help at the time, but ultimately, I discovered that the problem wasn’t really my diet but my relationship with myself.

It was insight practices, heart practices, and imaginal practices that eventually provided the answer I was looking for. I now no longer feel the need to resort to extreme diets. I just find myself naturally making healthier choices without too much effort now that I’m at peace with myself. I don’t mean this as a criticism of juicing. I found there are definitely benefits to doing it (although 30 days might be a bit too much).

A big driving force behind my comfort eating was a feeling of emptiness inside. I talk about this more in the video below.

In recent years, I’ve shared my journey with clients dealing with similar issues, and I’ve seen what worked for me work for them too. If this is something you might be interested in, please visit my coaching page by clicking here.