This is the first of three articles Juiceguru plan to write in order to share the juicing fast journey with you. As with all good anecdotes, I will try and relay this account in an as personal and specific way as possible. I will make it personal because by its very nature it is personal. I will make this account specific for quasi-scientific reasons so it can be duplicated if others choose to do so on his/her path to health.

I will be unpacking this true account of a better, healthier, life in three articles with the last being the final reveal and visual results. You see, with the exception of two meals, I haven’t eaten solid food in the past 28 days. I have been surviving (and thriving) off of the cold pressed juices extracted and sold by Dallas-founded Roots Pressed Juices.

At this point in the process, I feel surreal. I look and feel better, have more energy, am enjoying sharper clarity of mind, and more hopeful about the future than I have been in years. In 28 days, this journey has changed my life, and it’s not over yet. This juice fast has put me on a completely new healthier and balanced trajectory.

General Practitioner’s Prognosis

A little more than thirty days ago, I went to see a general practitioner for a preventative annual check-up (my day job offers a yearly monetary incentive for doing so). I didn’t actually have a general practitioner in Dallas that I thought of as “my doctor,” even though I’ve lived here for twelve years. That reveals to you how often I actually visit a doctor other than emergencies or wisdom teeth extraction.

Unfortunately, my health and diet had always taken a backseat to my career ambitions, insatiable love of food, culture, fun, and variety-seeking. I found an in-network GP in Southlake with excellent online reviews. He asked the reason for my visit of which there were three.

1. General check-up for company $ incentive
2. An odd, unidentifiable, rash on my back (had been there a year)
3. Was about to go on a 30 day minimum juice fast with his blessing

As expected, the doctor told me that I had to do something as far as diet and exercise or I would I have go on cholesterol-lowering medication in less than three months. My vitals were bad. I have the report sent to me via email that I will share a screenshot of in my second article so you can see a before and after comparison.

The Texan Diet

I had the normal Texan diet –  ground beef tacos, enchiladas, chicken fried steak, fillet steak, lots of barbecue brisket, boiled shrimp, fried and blackened catfish, daily doses of Coca-Cola, and three-to-four natural sugar-packed cups of coffee a day.

According to the clinic’s scales, I could see that I weighed more than I’ve ever weighed in my life. I was fat. This wasn’t an opinion; it was a body mass index (BMI) fact. I will embarrassingly reveal exactly how fat I was with before and after photos in the next article.

Sugar Addiction

On top of being fat, I was addicted to sugar. This manifested itself through highs and lows throughout the day, and crashing at night, which I had come to believe as just “normal.” I quit sugar-laden sodas and coffee cold turkey. The difference between how I felt a little more than 30 days ago and how I feel now is vast.

How Did This Happen?

After seven years of writing about food festivals, Dallas restaurant openings, the State Fair of Texas, and other sensory-centered events, plus eight hours a day sitting in front of a computer for my day job for the last 12 years, it all took a toll.

I’ve never been what one might call “athletic,” but was skinny as a rail as a teenager and was considered “fit” by most arbitrary measures for most of my 20s. The photo to the left of this article was taken three years ago. I typically suck-in for photos. I have to admit I became what you might call “skinny-fat.” This is where all fat just goes to the gut, chest, pectorals (moobs). The legs, arms, butt, and thighs don’t increase that much. This type of fat placement is more common among men, it seems.

I started writing about food and festivals in my late 20s. Now I’m 36. I know all the clichés about lower metabolism when one hits their 30s and 40s, but I decided a long time ago that wasn’t going to be me. I wasn’t going to let that be an excuse. I wasn’t going to be a portly 40-something year-old pot-belled, mostly bald with pony tail, goatee-donning guy driving a leased BMW around Uptown. Yet, here I was on that road.

Four Failed Fasts

In 2012, I watched the documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. This doc had a profound effect on me. It was a released in 2011, written, directed, and centered around Australian business man Joe Cross. Joe had an autoimmune disease at the beginning of the film, weighed 310 lbs, and needed a change. The film chronicles Joe’s personal mission to regain his health through a 60 day juice fast and road trip across the United States. He ends up losing more than 80 pounds over 60 days and his autoimmune disease healed itself.

10 Day Fast

In 2013, I went on two five day juice cleanses in a row via Roots Juices. They were a relatively new company in Dallas and the only one that I knew of that offered cold pressed juices in the form of a regimented cleanse.

However, I cheated. As per these Resurge reviews, I learned that the body has to come to a faux starvation state in order for it to dip into fat reserves for energy before weight loss can start. It doesn’t happen if you alternate juice and food. Most of our energy is received though daily in-take of carbs, sugar, and other fast energy consumables, but when those are removed your body moves to the pantry.

DIY Second Try

In 2015, my girlfriend and I tried juicing on our own. We did it successfully for around two weeks. We might have lost three or four pounds max. In this trial, I learned that there is a huge difference between juicing with a cold press (masticating) juicer versus juicing with a run of the mill blender or centrifuge juicer. Cold press juicers extract 40 – 50 times more nutrients and a lot more juice. Fortunately, the orangina drink business does the job. Our fault was that we went back to NutriBullet.

Intermittent and Water Fasting

YouTube is riff with stories of intermittent and water fasting. If you aren’t familiar, intermittent fasting is eating all you want, but only during a small window of time. Basically, it’s consuming just one meal a day at a certain time to get your body used to using the energy more efficiently. Water fasting is only drinking filtered water and consuming no actual food or juice. Needless to say, these are two tough options for those with less than optimal self-control or someone that gets invited to restaurant openings and festivals. Under stress, they were downright impossible for me. I failed at both.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel – Roots Juices 30 Day Fast

The light at the end of the tunnel came when I contacted Roots Juices and struck a deal for a 30 day juice fast for myself and my girlfriend. Full disclosure, it was not free or even close to it because of my publisher status. I did get a discount, but it wasn’t any sort of discount they haven’t given on special occasions. We combined it with their Labor Day special and paid for two 30 days fasts upfront. Cold press juicing is not inexpensive for the business owner, or customer. However, it works! It’s one of the fastest, most efficient ways to lose weight without reading diet pill reviews for months, or being miserable or even hungry.

With a cold pressed juice cleanse, you not only lose weight, you turn your whole health profile around. We did alternate juices with Topo Chico Mineral Water, which is approved and is one of the only other liquid products Roots sells that isn’t made in-house.

Roots Juices Founder Brent Rodgers is a true Dallas entrepreneurial success story. When I did my original 10 day cleanse in 2013, their only location was on Oak Lawn. Now they have a second store in Lakewood, and two more stores in Atlanta, Georgia.

More Details & What to Expect

Their prices are extremely fair when you consider that every 16 ounce bottle has up to three pounds of fruits and vegetables that have been extracted. Their plans or “cleanses” are setup as Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. One can stay on Level 1 indefinitely, if he/she choses, or move onto the others in sequence. They typically get more green and spicy the higher you go.

You drink six bottles a day, which equates to 18 lbs of fruits and vegetables. Would you be able to physically eat 18 lbs of fruits and veggies in one day? I wouldn’t, but I have been drinking 18 lbs worth of juice every day for 28 days. They offer 1 day, 2 day, 3 day, and 5 day cleanses.

The 30 day fast (or ten 3 day cleanses, however you want to look at it), is off the menu. Since it’s extremely fresh, it’s best if consumed within five to seven days, but even better within three. This keeps the optimal amount of nutrients in-tact. Each of the six juices had a day are consumed in a beneficial sequence, with sort of special dessert juice at the end of Level 1 and Level 2 (“Health Nut” made from almond milk).

I will get into a lot more detail in my second article where I will recommend some insider juice fasting tips that helped me get through 28 days and my favorite juices. The reason I am not spilling my beans here with my results is I have decided to go another 17 days! That’s right it will be 45 days in all. Plus I have to make another trip to the MD. He’s going to flip when he sees the improvement in my chart.

What’s Next

In my next article I will reveal my before and after photos, share a video so you can get a better look, show my new cholesterol levels, vitals, tell you what happened to that rash I had the doctor look at, and more.