So many posts - so little time to respond.

[Guest guest]

You will all have to excuse me, I am new here and having trouble

keeping peoples names straight right now. I will get better as time

goes on, I promise.

As for the juice fast - I married a man who is big time into herbs

and natural health and stuff like that. And I have to admit that

some of the stuff makes sense - but I am not all gung-ho like he

is. I have done some of the cleanses they recommended and have felt

better afterwards. He (my hubby) is also a big juicer - all he

wanted for Christmas this year was a Jack LaLanne juicer to replace

the cheap Hamilton Beach one we had. He has a special recipe he

calls " Beetle Juice " -because it is made of beets and for the past

year we have tried to make it 2-3 times a week. I could FEEL the

difference every time I made it. It was like my body was going

crazy for the fresh vitamins - and the energy from all that

natural sugar. Anyway, about 2 1/2 months ago, after a particularly

bad week of binging I decided to go on a juice fast. I just felt my

body needed a break from the junk food and unhealthy food choices

and I absolutely needed to do something drastic. I was going to

fast for a week and " only " made it 4 1/2 days. But I did feel much

better. Since I did that, I have been reading a lot of information

about fasting, especially juice fasting. The most reputable source

I found said that he recommends juice fasting for about 3-4 days.

It takes that long for our digestive systems to clean out. And even

then, we need to break the fast slowly - only eating fruits and soft

foods (yogurt, cottage cheese, veggie based soups)for a day or two

after ward. One source said that you could juice fast up to 20 days

(that was NOT recommended by the first guy I mentioned unless you

were fasting for spiritual reasons)

To the lady who doesn't think her mother will notice her weight

loss - I do understand the complex relationship. Don't be surprised

if she does notice and makes even worse comments. I am one of five

children. I am the only one who finished college and has a job they

love and a home I am proud of owning. I don't struggle to pay my

bills (anymore, I have had times when I was counting quarters for

gas money) It is almost as if she resents my being able to pull

myself out of an abusive situation and still be successful. I hear

through the grapevine (since she stopped speaking to me almost 2

years ago) that she constantly is saying nasty comments about me -

especially my weight - and comments about my husband. It has taken

a lot of healing and I have come to realize that she is a hurting

person herself and she doesn't know how (or maybe doesn't want to)

get past the pain from her past. That may be what is going on with

your mother. I don't know. All I know, is that you can't live for

her - you have to live for yourself. This is about winning a battle

for OURSELVES! No one else. I have found that the better I feel

about myself, the less I worry about what people think about me.

Someone had said that they could just eat and eat and even when

their stomachs tell them enough, eat some more. I have an

interesting tidbit I read in the " Abs Diet for Women " , one of the 20

or so diet books I have around the house. In it, it high-lights 2

different dietary villains we need to be wary of. The first one is

trans-fats. I am sure that we have all heard about those and how

harmful they are to our hearts.And even if something says on the

package it doesn't have trans-fats to read the label to be sure.

But another one we need to look out for is High Fructose Corn Syrup -

this is what this book says about HFCS. " HFCS is a man-made

sweetener that's cheaper and sweeter than sugar...... We're talking

about a processed sweetener that didn't even exist in the food chain

until the 1970's. And HFCS is really really really bad for you.

That's because it's packed with calories, but your body doesn't

recognize these calories. In fact, HFCS shuts off your body's

natural appetite control switches, so you can eat and eat and eat

far beyond what your body would normally be able to handle. You

probably know people who can down a 2-liter bottle of Coke in a

single sitting. Before HFCS, humans couldn't do that. Our natural

appetite control switches would kick in... " It says a lot more, but

you get the point. And when I read it, it was like a light bulb

went on in my head. When I make home made stuff (like apple pie) -

I can eat only a piece and be satisfied but if I buy something pre-

made I just eat and eat and eat. I now look at labels VERY

carefully. I really try to not eat anything that has it in it.

Anyway, I am sorry this went on so long. I just want to leave you

with one thought. In one of my many diet books, it says that we

don't need to look at it as " losing weight " but more as " releasing

weight " . When we say something is lost, it has an unlying

connatation that we will find it again. SO, hear I am getting

ready to release some weight!

[Guest guest]

> You will all have to excuse me, I am new here and having trouble

> keeping peoples names straight right now.

LOL I'm one of the listowners and *I* have trouble keeping everyone

straight!