At first Detroit Firefighter Mark Myers didn’t really think he could benefit much from participating in a Three-Day-Juice Fast at Creative Health Institute.
He questioned how much he could learn because he’s a bit of a self-taught juicing aficionado. In fact he’d lost 45 pounds in the juice fast he under went for the sixty days preceding his enrollment in Creative Health Institute’s Advanced Raw Chef Level 1 Certification Program that began Friday, April 29.
He only decided to stay for the three-day juice fast that began Sunday night because he was offered a discount for participating in both programs. He figured he might as well stick around for the juice fast since he was making the trip to CHI anyway.
After losing five pounds on the first day of the fast, the Detroit Firefighter is a believer in Creative Health Institute’s methods. He thinks the fresh wheatgrass and sprouts made all the difference and helped kick his juice program into high gear.
“I was really blown away — especially because I made the really dark green juices,” Mark said. ” That first green juice (at CHI), within 15 minutes of drinking it, I started feeling more calm and relaxed. I guess it is because it had the sprouts in it.”
Mark said he learned lots during the CHI juice fast and he would like to come back in the future for a 10-Day Detox. But he’s not going to talk too much about it at the fire house. He said already some of the guys have given him some weird looks as they’ve seen him carrying large boxes of fresh vegetables to work.
“I probably shouldn’t have talked about it as much as I did. From now on I am going to say, ‘It seems to work for me. I don’t know, maybe it’s not for everybody.”
Mark smiled and continued his fantasy about addressing a resistant fire-fighting colleague: “Maybe you’re the one person who does better on potato chips; I don’t know.” He chuckled. “No, I am not going to say that.”
As far as juicing as a way of losing weight goes, Mark said he wouldn’t go for any other method. He had been successful with juicing for better health and weight loss in the past. Then he fell away from his healthy eating habits and slowly gained the weight back.
What he likes about juicing, he said, is that it’s so healthy — and fast.
“I didn’t really start doing it to lose weight. I was doing it to feel better,” he said. “I wanted to lose weight but I was doing it more as a way to cure any type of disease.”
And to his amazement, each time he undertook a lengthy juice fast, a fungus that grows on his toenail disappeared.
“There is no other diet that does that,” Mark said. “My toenail is growing normal again.”
Mark’s Juice Fasting Tips
(Note: Mark goes vegan and high raw during juice fasting. He is increasing his raw-food intake.)
- Start with a simple fruit juice in the morning — such as cantaloupe, watermelon, grapefruit or pineapple.
- Juice lots of carrots, beets and raw green superfoods.
- Drink Kambucha or Rejuvelac (Mark had been buying Kambucha every-other day for $4 a bottle but at CHI he learned to make Rejuvelac and he says he’ll be using more of that in the future).
- Use Sprouts and Wheatgrass (This is something he picked up at CHI).
- If you are undertaking a long-term juice fast, a hot tomato and vegetable soup made in the crock pot each evening can help you get through the snacking hurdle. Note: This is not advocated by CHI but it is a method that Mark found helpful to him.
- Walk every day.
Mark’s Fire House Energizer
Makes 2 medium-sized glasses
Ingredients:
- Carrots, 5
- Apples, 1 small
- Spinach, handful
- Parsley, handful
- Broccoli Sprouts, handful
Directions: Feed all ingredients through a juicer. Mark uses a Jack LaLanne juicer that he bought at the store for $100 but he has his eye on a Champion Juicer for future use.
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