Question:  You look fit, so why did you come here?

Lisa:  I came really because I am recently divorced and it was the time that I was in the parking lot, was almost a year that my marriage had ended and I thought what a great way, the weight loss is a bonus, and I had weight I wanted to lose. But really I thought what a great way for me to end that year that was not a good year for me, is to clean out my body, mind and spirit, kinda of just spiritually, mentally, physically do a wash and start new.

Question:  So your prime thing was really not to lose weight when you came here but just to have a healthier body?

Lisa: Yes, healthier outlook, just again kinda of a renewal, a you know stopping.  This is over now and I can start fresh, from every piece of me. (Laughs)

When I came in that day for a walk in I was given a tour, and then I had an in body and of course what I learned about the in body I didn't, hadn't never seen the level of detail before, but again I was faced with this huge body percent fat, that was you know that was clearly in the obese area from a body fat percent stand point, which has huge implications with regard to my health and of course because I'm not really a fat person and even then, even though I had weight to lose, I wasn't, didn't consider myself a fat person.  But that really stuck as out as I was a fat person.

Question: So when you first heard about what the program was about, and what you had to do to go through it, what did you truly think of? Did you think of oh my god I won&'t be able to do this, or how difficult this is going to be, will it really work?  What was going through your mind?

Lisa: When I first heard about the program and got the orientation, and actually sat down with the doctor and went over the program.  I was hesitant, it kinda of was intriguing but I've been dieting long enough in my life to think, to know, myself well enough to know that when I don't eat I'm cranky, and I'm not pleasant, and it's just really not a fun experience. 

The idea of doing that for two weeks, when I've tried to do it before and can maybe last a couple hours, wasn't a very doable thing.  But I was pretty committed to again, why I was there in the first place, and with the notion that you know, not everything is easy in life and you just have to do this. 

I think it was the whole package of where I was in my life, and what I wanted to do, that I was going to give it a shot.  And all a long, even with the pre-fast, they explained the pre fast and they wanted me to start my fast concurrent with my menstrual cycle. 

And so I had two in a half weeks that I pre-fasted, and the pre fasting was a very positive experience for me because I found that I was eating foods that were really enjoyable for me and new foods for me at some level, because I had gotten into a habit, just because of my schedule of eating such processed foods, that to really take the time and plan and eat fruits and vegetables and grains, I found that I really liked them, and it was really enjoyable.

The prefast was a wonderful experience for me and I lost nine pounds in the pre fast, which was a surprise.  Although I will say that that first nine pounds I felt great, I loved what I was eating, and no way felt like I was dieting or deprived, I felt like I was eating wonderfully.

Felt great, high energy, and even though I was losing weight and I knew that from my in bodies, that I didn't, my clothes didn't fit any different, I was kinda of surprised. 

It was something different and I think, I don't know this to be true, but this is my story about that, is that’s because I was losing fat and not water.  And I was, and that's what the in body told me, is that when I first started losing weight I was losing big fat weight.  Not water weight, not the wrong kind of thing, I was losing fat weight.

Question:  And how were you feeling?

Lisa: I was feeling great, and really really again, really liking, and I know that sounds crazy, because how can you be detox, or how can you be kind of dieting in a way and feel good about it.  But I have dieted in every kind of way  that there is possible, and this was the first time that I didn't feel I was on a diet, and I didn't, and I also for the first time felt that I could sustain this kind of eating, that it could be a life change kind of eating.

Question:  And the fast part, the first part of the fast part, what was the most difficult thing for you?

Lisa:  The actual juice fasting? When I started the juice fasting the most difficult part was again my believing myself that I could do it, that it wouldn't be difficult because I had history and so on that would tell me that it just wasn't going to happen. 

My children told me that they knew I was going to be cranky, they were not looking forward to the idea of me fasting.  So the first couple days, I will say, that what I missed most was actually the physicalness of eating, the chewing and sitting down at the table and eating.

And it was, I didn't know quite how I felt about sitting down at the table and not eating, although I did that because I like to eat with my family.  So it was that you know actually lifting the fork and chewing part that I missed. And I was hungry, and I would characterize the hunger as its time for dinner right? Because I'm hungry, hungry, and not beyond that, so it was fine.

Question: That was great! yea I went through the same thing.

Question: Towards the end of your second week tell me how you were feeling?

Lisa: I was feeling good, and I will tell you that every time I would come in here to sauna I would read about the fasting, there is a book that they have hanging out in the lobby that I would pull in the sauna and read.

One day, I think I was like twelve days into my fourteen days, and it was the first time that I started paying attention to food, cause I didn't crave food, I didn't really miss, which again is characteristic of me dieting is that I am thinking constantly of the foods I'm missing, and I didn't do that with this and I didn't have a problem with other people eating, I didn't, the foods just didn't bother me, but that I noticed that that day I was at work and people eating like, and I'm like, sniff, what is that you're eating? What is that, that sounds good. And I was actually reading that in the fast book that that's your body's way of telling you that you are ready to start eating again.

I thought that was really interesting, because it was kind of bizarre, and then I read about after I had the feeling rather than before, so it wasn't power of suggestion.

Question: Now when you started eating again, what did you start eating and did you know what to eat when you go back to eating? How did you go back into the process?

Lisa: When I finish my fast, of course before I finished my fast, I met with them again and was given the materials about what to eat, and there is a fairly prescriptive program in terms of what foods, and they had me introduce foods back almost as if like you introduce a baby to foods.

So that you are limiting, not necessarily in quanity, although I didn't have a need to eat quanity, introducing foods, so I think the first day I only ate fruits, and the second day I ate fruits and vegetables, I don't remember exactly what it was but it was introducing foods at a certain time and because again, I had done this and been successful I wanted to make sure, and I had a little fear through reading the books and so on that eating in a bad way would cause pain to me, that my body would react and so fruits and vegetables and I think you know on the fourth day you know I had some grains and very prescriptive, and I didn't eat very much, continued to drink a little bit of the juice, and it was pretty simple that too.

Like you spinach, and squash. Whats my new favorite food? I can't think of it right now, humice! Trader Joe’s humice, it has low sodium and low calories.

Question: Yea we do the same thing.

Lisa: Yea, it's my favorite.

Question: What was the first bad thing you ate and did you feel it affect your body?

Lisa: Yes, since I've been, I've now been what 3, 2 months off of my detox and off of my recovery eating, and my eating habits have changed dramatically.

I do, for the most part, eat low sodium foods; I eat much less processed foods. I'm checking now instead of just the fat content, which is what I have been checking for years, I look at fat, fiber, and sodium. And so I making soups, instead of buying soups and doing things like that, and what I notice is right around Thanksgiving when I was on vacation, I kind of fell off the wagon in terms of my eating and my body doesn't like it.

I don't drink anymore sodas at all. I have had maybe one or two cups of coffee since I started, since I've been on the fast. I really didn't wasn't eating any chips or candy or, and the quantity of food I wasn't out of control.

Over Thanksgiving I had an opportunity to do all those things, (Laughs) and it doesn't, my body doesn't react well to it. I feel bad when I eat that way and not an emotional bad, a physical bad it doesn't react well to it.

Question: So, did you continue that way or did you go back to eating healthy again?

Lisa: No, I go back to eating healthy of course, yea. I appreciate, well I don't like feeling bad, I appreciate the heads up that my body has given me that that doesn't work.

Question: Just about like two more questions here. So many people say that it's unhealthy to lose weight so quick and that you'll gain it right back. At any point did you feel terrible on this program and once you got back into regular eating, have you gained all your weight back?

Lisa: Okay, I also, I'm one of the people that believe that one, it wasn't sustainable and that as soon as I started eating it would come back. I was willing to take that on faith, I was worried about that once I was in it, and after I was doing it, when I started eating again.

And I think that drove me a little bit to manage my eating when I came off of, when I started my post fast eating and recovery eating. But I don't, in retrospect;

I don't think lost weight fast. I lost 25 pounds, and of that 25 pounds I think 19 pounds of it is fat pounds, and again because of the way I lost it, I lost 9 pounds in my pre fast, another 11 something in my fasting, and then after when I started eating I lost another 3, 4 pounds.

So I didn't have that experience, I'm now what three months out of it, and I haven't gained weight. Now I did gain some Thanksgiving weight, but there's a reason for that. And I have been eating in no way do I feel like I'm on a diet, but my eating has changed.

I don't look at it as being dramatic weight loss over a short period of time, and yes it is and when it happens over six weeks, but my eating habits changed and my habits in general changed, so it didn't feel to me like it was unreasonable weight to lose at the time.

Question: Last question I have for you is when you have friends and family members would you ever suggest this program to them?

Lisa: I have, a million people I've… and people were very interested as I was doing it and… They could see I mean because again, I had energy I was in a good mood, I had kind of a euphoric state about it, and I will tell you that I was in therapy during part of it, because of my life circumstance and my therapist told me that sometimes that will happen, that because you're just cleaning out everything, that you do…

  I felt wonderfully. And I will say this also this, and this isn't the question you asked me but let me answer it. Anyway is that, eating has been an emotional event for me in my life, and its a way for me, that I have used to comfort myself, to reward myself, to make myself happy, or to acknowledge my sadness, all of those things. 

And when I wasn't eating, so what was really interesting about the juice, the actual fasting, is that I processed through my emotions pretty quickly because I didn't have anything to prevent me from dealing with them.  So I got through them pretty quickly and that was really beneficial and has given me a willingness to continue to do that.  Is to not have food be the thing that stuffs or gets rid of my emotions for a time being.  And that's a long lasting impact.

Question: That's very interesting, it's very true too.

Lisa: Yea. Yea.

Question: Yea, I was always an emotional eater too.

Lisa: Who isn't? Yea.

Question: Anything else you don't think I have covered that you really think has impacted you or how you would refer this to other people or anything like that?

Lisa: Okay, well let me just say that my experience overall was wonderful, and one of the things that was great, is actually coming into this center almost everyday, because I saw everyone almost everyday, and being able to talk with people along the way. 

People that were just beginning, people that were talking about starting, people that were pre fasting, people that were in there fast, people were post fasting, and people that are well beyond that.  And hearing the same kind of things overall, is people being kinda being excited about it, and I think there's an excitement also about people being able to do something good for themselves, just that commitment level I think is…

So that was encouraging and of course the staff was wonderful and always available, and always checking in and it felt like a very personalized program.

Question: How are the cupping treatments and the saunas?

Lisa: The saunas are great, the cupping things are great too, I love those.  I loved, it was very interesting, did you have them?  I had six cupping treatments when I was there and its just a weird thing, its kinda of a funny thing, and of course the first time I had like, what, a hundred hickeys on my back (Laughs).

But the doctor made some comments about where I was more red, where the marks showed up more is that my circulation was bad, and also for instance I had a lot of marks on my lower back and did I have lower back problems… and I do. 

And so I have neck problems and back problems sometimes, those kind of subsided so those were the physical things, other than those I  don't really have any physical things and even those things were eventu...  I mean they were more kind of stress related for me.

So as I went I could see the physical ness of my circulation improving, because I stopped marking.  But I love the cupping I think its very interesting, and fun, and kind of feels good.

<< Go Back to Success Stories