How to Fast to Lose Weight

Unfortunately the typical North American diet consists of too much refined foods and too little exercise. This combination has resulted in a society where it’s almost impossible to maintain a normal and healthy weight. Add to this the vast number of fad diets on the market and the result is a lot of confusion and frustration for anyone attempting to lose weight. Ideally the best weight loss methods include a combination of a healthy diet plus exercise, the proper amount of sleep, and reduced stress and anxiety. One way to kick start your weight loss program is to perform a fast. Fasts will help cleanse your body of toxins and mucous before the longer term diet is started, which will help make you more successful over the long term.^[1]

Steps

Method 1 Using a Weight Loss Fast

1. 1 Determine how long the fast should take. This weight loss fast needs to be performed for at least 5 days to be effective in the long term. But it should not be performed for longer than 20 days. You can repeat this fast more than once, but you should have 10 day breaks (at least) in between.^[2]
2. 2 Obtain or make a psyllium mixture. The following psyllium mixture is designed to help your body through the fast. It is a liquid mixture that contains psyllium husks, comfrey, whey powder, marshmallow root, slippery elm bark, echinacea, powdered bentonite, Shepherd’s purse, wild yam, kelp and bayberry bark.^[3]
   • You can make the liquid yourself (if you’re familiar with herbal remedies) re you can purchase it at a natural health food store.
   • The psyllium husk, which is the main component of this liquid, causes a bulking reaction in your digestive system.
   • Comfrey, whey powder, marshmallow root and slippery elm bark all help to control the quantity and quality of the mucous in your intestines.
   • Echinacea, Shepherd’s purse, bayberry bark and powdered bentonite help detoxify your body and digestive system.
   • Wild yams help control the spasms and cramping in your intestines.
   • Kelp helps to regulate the minerals in your digestive system.
3. 3 Start your day with the psyllium mixture and a protein powder mix. For breakfast every day of this fast, you must consume 2 tablespoons of the psyllium mixture and 2 tablespoons of protein powder.^[4]
   • The 2 tablespoons of psyllium mixture and the 2 tablespoons of protein powder should be mixed in any type of liquid. The psyllium mixture tastes best in tomato, apple or pineapple juice.
4. 4 Include vegetable soup with lunch. For lunch every day of this fast you need to consume 1 tablespoon of psyllium mixture and 2 tablespoons of protein powder. You can also add a bowl of clear vegetable soup with lunch, as long as it’s made from non-starchy vegetables.^[5]
   • The psyllium mixture and protein powder should be mixed in liquid. The psyllium mixture tastes best in tomato, apple or pineapple juice.
5. 5 Add a salad to your dinner. For dinner every day you need to consume 2 tablespoons of psyllium mixture and 2 tablespoons of protein powder. You can add a salad of non-starchy vegetables to your dinner as well.^[6]
   • The psyllium mixture and protein powder should be mixed in liquid. The psyllium mixture tastes best in tomato, apple or pineapple juice.
   • You can switch the soup and salad between lunch and dinner if you want.
    
6. 6 Drink at least 12 cups of fluid every day. For every day of your fast you need to drink at least 12 cups of fluid. What fluid you drink doesn’t matter. These 12 cups is in addition to the fluid you mix the psyllium mixture and protein powder into.^[7]
7. 7 Make sure to include 20 minutes of exercise every day. In order to ensure your diet is effective and well-rounded, make sure you include 20 minutes of aerobic exercise every day. This 20 minutes should be all at once and not broken up throughout the day.^[8]

Method 2 Trying the 3 Day Juice Fast

1. 1 Drink 8 ounces of prune juice. When you get up on the first day of your juice fast, drink 8 ounces of prune juice. Wait 30 minutes and drink another 8 ounces of prune juice.^[9]
2. 2 Have as much apple juice as possible. Until 6pm on day 1 of your fast, drink as much diluted apple juice as you can. Diluted apple juice is a 50-50 mixture of juice and distilled water. From 6pm to 9pm do not consume anything.^[10]
3. 3 Make a special mixture for 9pm. At 9pm on the first day of the fast, make and drink the following mixture. Once you’ve had this mixture, don’t consume anything until 8am the next morning.^[11]
   • Pour the juice of 2 oranges and 1 lemon into a blender.
   • Add 5-10 tablespoons of olive oil to the blender.
   • Add 1-3 cloves of finely chopped garlic to the blender. (Optional)
   • Mix in the blender until smooth.
4. 4 Start day 2 with a warm water enema. When you get up on day 2 of your fast, perform a warm water enema on yourself. Once completed, drink 8 ounces of prune juice.^[12] A warm water enema can be performed using the following instructions:^[13]
   • Purchase an enema bag from a pharmacy or drug store in advance.
   • Fill the enema bag with approximately 2 cups of warm tap water.
   • Lie on your left side with your knees bent in towards your chest.
   • Before lying or sitting down, hang the enema bag approximately 12-18 inches above where your rectum will be.
   • Remove the cap from the end of the enema tube and insert the tip 3-4 inches into your rectum.
   • Open the valve on the enema bag and allow the water to flow slowly into your rectum.
   • Hold the water inside your rectum for at least 15 minutes before releasing it into the toilet.
5. 5 Repeat day 1 instructions on day 2. After your morning prune juice, start drinking diluted apple juice until 6pm — the same as day 1. Then fast between 6pm and 9pm. Then drink the special mixture at 9pm again.^[14]
6. 6 Continue the same process on day 3. The third day of your fast should be exactly the same as your second day. Start with the warm water enema. Drink 8 ounces of prune juice. Drink as much diluted apple juice as you can until 6pm. Fast between 6pm and 9pm. Consume the special mixture at 9pm.^[15]
7. 7 Take 2 lower bowel capsules 3 times a day. On each of the three days of your juice fast, take 2 lower bowel capsules 3 times a day (morning, afternoon, evening). Do not take any other vitamins or mineral supplements during these three days.^[16]
   • A lower bowel capsule contains cascara sagrada extract, buckthorn, ginger root, goldenseal root, raspberry leaves, fennel seeds, turkey rhubarb, lobelia and cayenne pepper.^[17]
   • You can make the capsules yourself (if you’re familiar with herbal remedies), or you can purchase them at a natural health food store.
   • Cascara sagrada extract, buckthorn and turkey rhubarb help control the motility of your colon, similar to a laxative. However, cascara sagrada extract also helps tone your colon.
   • Ginger root and fennel seeds reduce griping or nausea in the intestines while performing a cleanse or fast.
   • Goldenseal helps make mucous membranes stronger.
   • Raspberry leaves are a demulcent, which soothes the intestines.
   • Lobelia helps control nerve reactions in the intestines.
   • Cayenne pepper increases blood circulation.

Method 3 Performing a ‘Lemon Aid’ Cleansing Fast

1. 1 Determine how long to perform the fast. This fast can be performed for as long as 10 days. However, in addition to the fasting days you also need to schedule days to break your fast. If you decide to do this fast for 10 days, you’ll need 5 days to break the fast. Therefore you’ll have to plan for 15 days of structured eating and drinking.^[18]
   • Absolutely no food can be consumed during the fasting period.
   • If necessary you can drink a cup of mint tea or some vegetable broth in the evenings of your fast, if you need some variety.
2. 2 Make the ‘lemon aid’ mixture. The main part of this fast is the ‘lemon aid’ mixture used everyday. To make things easier, make up enough mixture to last for one day at a time.^[19]
   • Mix together 2 cups of lemon or lime juice with 1 cup of maple syrup and at least 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
   • The lemon or lime juice must be from fresh lemons or limes, not bottled lemon or lime juice.
   • The maple syrup should be either grade B or C as these grades have a higher mineral content.
   • You can add more than 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper if you wish.
3. 3 Drink between 6 and 12 glasses of ‘lemon aid’ mixture every day. Three tablespoons of the ‘lemon aid’ mixture should be combined with 8-10 ounces of purified water for drinking. The 8-10 ounce glass of water mixed with the ‘lemon aid’ is considered one glass of the mixture. You should drink at least 6 glasses of this mixture, but you can drink as much as you want.^[20]
4. 4 Perform a warm water enema for the first three mornings. On the mornings of the first three days of your fast, perform a warm water enema on yourself.^[21] A warm water enema can be performed using the following instructions:^[22]
   • Purchase an enema bag from a pharmacy or drug store in advance.
   • Fill the enema bag with approximately 2 cups of warm tap water.
   • Lie on your left side with your knees bent in towards your chest.
   • Before lying or sitting down, hang the enema bag approximately 12-18 inches above where your rectum will be.
   • Remove the cap from the end of the enema tube and insert the tip 3-4 inches into your rectum.
   • Open the valve on the enema bag and allow the water to flow slowly into your rectum.
   • Hold the water inside your rectum for at least 15 minutes before releasing it into the toilet.
5. 5 Take 2 lower bowel capsules 3 times a day. On each of the three days of your juice fast, take 2 lower bowel capsules 3 times a day (morning, afternoon, evening). Do not take any other vitamins or mineral supplements during these three days.^[23]
   • A lower bowel capsule contains cascara sagrada extract, buckthorn, ginger root, goldenseal root, raspberry leaves, fennel seeds, turkey rhubarb, lobelia and cayenne pepper.^[24]
   • You can make the capsules yourself (if you’re familiar with herbal remedies), or you can purchase them at a natural health food store.
   • Cascara sagrada extract, buckthorn and turkey rhubarb help control the motility of your colon, similar to a laxative. However, cascara sagrada extract also helps tone your colon.
   • Ginger root and fennel seeds reduce griping or nausea in the intestines while performing a cleanse or fast.
   • Goldenseal helps make mucous membranes stronger.
   • Raspberry leaves are a demulcent, which soothes the intestines.
   • Lobelia helps control nerve reactions in the intestines.
   • Cayenne pepper increases blood circulation.

Method 4 Breaking Your Fast

1. 1 Know how long you need to spend breaking a fast. All fasts need to be broken carefully and slowly. Breaking a fast, in general, should take half as long as the fast itself. Therefore if you fasted for 10 days, you need to spend 5 days breaking the fast.^[25]
   • Fasts longer than 3 days are harder to break than short fasts. This is because your body gets use to not having food and begins to feel really good. Consuming food at this point can actually feel wrong (but necessary).
2. 2 Start breaking your fast in the evening. The key to breaking a fast slowly is to make sure you don’t suddenly consume a large amount of food too early. In order to help yourself break a fast slowly, start in the evening so your sleep interrupts you and prevents you from eating more than you should.^[26]
3. 3 Break your fast with melon. On the first day of breaking your fast eat a small amount of melon (or another really juicy fruit) for breakfast. Drink diluted apple, grape or orange juice throughout the day. Have another small amount of melon for dinner.^[27]
4. 4 Eat three small meals. On day two of breaking your fast, eat three small meals of fruit for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Drink fruit juice throughout the day.^[28]
5. 5 Add vegetables to your meals. On the third days of breaking your fast, eat fruit for breakfast. Then have a raw vegetable salad for lunch and dinner. Drink fruit juice in the morning and vegetable juice in the afternoon and evening.^[29]
6. 6 Perform the ‘inner cleanse’ diet for the remaining days. Starting on the fourth day of breaking your fast, plan your meals based on the ‘inner cleanse’ diet.^[30]

Method 5 Following the ‘Inner Cleanse’ Diet

1. 1 Avoid eating certain foods for the duration of the diet. For the length of this diet you cannot eat the following (unless specifically mentioned): dairy products, potatoes, avocados, dried fruits, grains, beans, tomatoes, baked goods, eggplant, sugar, honey, maple syrup, bananas, pasta, preserved food, meat, coffee, black tea, or alcohol.^[31]
   • You should also eat as little salt as possible.
   • Do not consume any vitamins or mineral supplements while on this diet.
2. 2 Start your day with yogurt and fruit. Before breakfast every day, drink a glass of hot water with the juice of one lemon in it. For breakfast, drink at least 8 ounces of apple or grapefruit juice. Eat up to 5 tablespoons of plain yogurt and at least half a pound of fresh fruit.^[32]
   • In the case of the fruit juice and fruit, you can eat more than specified, but you must eat at least the amount specified.
3. 3 Have vegetable mineral broth with lunch. For lunch drink 2 cups of vegetable mineral broth with a salad of at least 8 tablespoons of raw vegetables. You can put olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, ginger or kelp on your salad if you want.^[33]
4. 4 Cook vegetables for dinner. For dinner drink another 2 cups of vegetable mineral broth. Also eat at least 3 different types of cooked vegetables (either steamed or stir-fried). You can have another salad with dinner if you want, or you can have one medium slice of whole grain bread with butter.^[34]
5. 5 Drink as much juice as you want throughout the day. This diet allows you to drink as much fruit juice as you want throughout the day. It also allows you to eat as much raw vegetables or fruit as you want in between meals.^[35]
   • Do not eat the vegetables and fruit within 30 minutes of each other.
6. 6 Make your own vegetable mineral broth. The vegetable mineral broth is easy to make and includes the following items: 2 cups of carrot tops, 2 cups of ¼ inch thick potato peels, 2 cups of beet tops, 3 cups of celery (including leaves), and 2 cups of fresh parsley.^[36]
   • If you can’t find one of these vegetables, you can just leave it out or increase one of the other items to make up for it.
   • Put all the vegetables into a saucepan and cover with distilled water. Simmer the mixture for 20 minutes on the stove.
   • Strain the broth from the vegetables and discard the vegetables.
   • You can add garlic, onion, other vegetables, miso or other seasonings if you want.

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