Juicing with a DASH

I will admit to feeling a bit hypocritical: I am a nutrition student and am overweight.  I can admit this – if not, then how can I ever ask a client to?  I could make excuses about quitting smoking (which is a REALLY good thing), changes in my hormones, and my long hours of sitting/computer time that have caused me to get where I am weight-wise.  The reality is, however, that I needed to decide to take the steps towards healthy eating.  There is no doubt that I know what they are.  Not so different from smoking cessation, I have to be ready for change. 

So, where does my path to change start? I have decided to mix a bit of alternative with a mainstream-eating plan: I will do a 3-day juice detox and then move into the DASH diet that will include juicing.

I really enjoy juicing, and I believe in the benefits of a detox.  Whether or not we want to believe that the natural filtering process of our bodies needs the additional detox-boost of a juice fast, we cannot deny that fresh vegetable juices provide us a concentrated source of phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals.  If nothing else, a juice detox can give us a really good jump-start on healthy eating plan for the New Year.

When we juice and detox, we are essentially giving our bodies a break from the processed foods, alcohol, and/or high-fat richness of the holidays.  We become immediately more aware of what we are consuming. When we move out of a detox it is a great time to identify how our bodies react to foods, we can begin to identify sensitivities and reactions that we may have been overlooking or masking with a bottle of OTC medication.

The DASH diet is the mainstream diet that is often recommended to reduce high blood pressure and LDL cholesterol – while I have neither of these I have adapted it as a weight loss diet.  I will most likely be prescribing this plan to clients in the future so it seemed prudent to work through the plan myself.  I will be adding fresh juices into the plan as meals and snacks.  DASH is not that different from an exchange diet, Weight Watchers or calorie counting.

I am one to use what I have, and am a member of a winter CSA so I am getting fresh apples and veggies to incorporate into my juice plan.  I own 2 juicers: an Omega 8006 ~ a masticating juicer and a WaringPro ~ centrifugal juicer.  I will share more with you about these in the next few days.  If you are a beginner and would like to try a juice plan you could refer to Dr. Oz’s 3-day plan or you can also order a fresh juice kit: Root Juices for example.

Juice with a DASH: detox is set to begin Friday January 4^th – stay tuned.