<p>No protein is NOT a good idea.</p>
<p>If your goal is to eat more healthfully or if a significant part of your goal is to lose weight, as it really is for many who embark on these changes, then I don’t think your 2 week stint (not really a fast I see) will likely have no long term benefits. There are all kinds of studies and anecdotal evidence indicating that extreme temporary changes yield just that - temporary changes, and that once off of it the person tends to rebound like a rubber band back to where they were before with there often being an ‘overshoot’ where they gain even more. You said you’ve already done this before so unless you enjoyed that temporary ‘good feeling’ you had from it and are seeking another temporary feeling, then what’s the point of it? If it’s to ‘cleanse the system of toxins’ I don’t buy it since it’s not logical that a 1 or 2 week ‘cleansing’ will somehow have the body recover from the 50 or 51 weeks of mucking it up.</p>
<p>Doing the 2 week reduction in input is fine as long as you do it in a healthful way but as ‘abasket’ asked, what then? A much better idea would be to determine a more healthful eating lifestyle that you think you can live with long term. This might mean giving up several foods for the long term (i.e. reduced to occasional eating of them at most). You might even be better off just starting to forego some of those foods you feel are unhealthy for you and substituting healthful ones and seeing how it goes. If you feel that meat is unhealthy then give it up after doing the research on adequate nutritional substitutions. If you want to keep the meat but reduce calories, just learn more about what calories are really in various foods and adjust. It can be surprising what’s in white bread, white rice, pasta, muffins, candy bars, etc. Making a few adjustments can yield long-term sustainable benefits but a short term fast will probably accomplish nothing unless you follow it up immediately with another plan and you’d likely end up more satisfied with a long term benefit rather than a short term one. - JMO</p>
<p>I second musica. What you’ll end up doing is “dissolving” some of your lean muscle tissue. We, females over 40, lose 5% of lean muscle annually if we don’t do any weight-bearing exercises. If we don’t eat protein, we are doomed. Add lean chicken and fish to your veggie “fast”, and you’ll be happy.</p>
<p>Sensible information:</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.webmd.com/diet/fasting]Fasting[/url”>Are Fasting Diets Safe and Effective?]Fasting[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Excerpts:</p>
<p>Can fasting detoxify the body?
Some fasting diets claim that they can cleanse the body of impurities. However, there is no evidence that fasting detoxifies your body, or that your body even needs to be detoxified. It is naturally designed to remove toxins through the skin (through sweating), liver, colon and kidneys.</p>
<p>Is fasting safe?
Fasting for a day or two probably won’t hurt people who are generally healthy, provided they maintain an adequate fluid intake. However, fasting entirely for long periods of time can be harmful. Your body needs a variety of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from food to stay healthy. Not getting enough of these nutrients during fasting diets can lead to symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, constipation, dehydration, gallstones and cold intolerance. It is possible to die if you fast too long.</p>
<p>Even short-term fasting is not recommended for people with diabetes, because it can lead to dangerous dips and spikes in blood sugar. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, or anyone with a chronic disease, should not fast. </p>
<p>Before you go on any type of new diet, particularly one that involves fasting, talk to your doctor to find out whether it is safe and appropriate for you. Also ask your doctor to refer you to a registered dietitian, who can show you how to design a healthy eating plan.</p>
<p>All those vegetables are not the fast I was envisioning! You’re right, no calcium deprivation with all those greens. Sounds great, and far closer to how we all should eat than most of our daily diets.</p>
<p>We should do fasting together! I dont do it for religious or spiritual reasons but i have done it sometimes and i love it. Once i did for 11 days and i lost 15 pounds!!!</p>
<p>oh and it makes me feel super good about myself and makes me get up earlier in the morning. and makes me feel more light-headed and in my own world 
but in a good way</p>
<p>Kelowna, have you talked to your doctor (or dietician/nutritionist) about this? Would you consider talking to him/her about it? The reason I ask is because if for some reason you DON’T feel comfortable about talking to a physician about it, then maybe it’s because a doctor would not recommend it. And if they don’t recommend it…</p>
<p>I probably should stay away from the thread now…this type of thing really does kind of upset me - last word: why wouldn’t you want to find a balance that lets you feel “good” most of the time instead of for a short period after fasting??? Maybe part of the “feel good” is that you accomplished a major goal - that of fasting - satisfaction goes a long way. You can achieve that feeling in other ways that will still have a healthy lifestyle in mind and be long-lasting.</p>
<p>I know you didn’t want a lecture. Good luck and I hope you find some of your answers here.</p>
<p>I don’t eat animal products everyday and I don’t eat enough raw foods ( now that summer is over especially) however- raw food can assist you in " spring cleaning".
[PCC</a> Sound Consumer | Raw food vitality](<a href=“http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/sc/0906/sc0906-rawfood.html]PCC”>http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/sc/0906/sc0906-rawfood.html)
I think some of the things that have been cited are problems from eating foods we are allergic/sensitive to. Cutting out foods like soy, wheat, dairy and red meats if you are sensitive, can reduce inflammation which seems to be at the base of much illness.
<a href=“http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/sc/0505/sc0505-allergies.html[/url]”>http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/sc/0505/sc0505-allergies.html</a></p>
<p>Fasting to me means a strict fast as with Ramadan, or as when I have fasted before, only taking water with a little lemon in it for several days- then over a period of several more days, slowly increasing the amount and type of food eaten.</p>
<p>I do know someone who regularly goes on a health kick- he gets facials, eats lots of raw food, gets massages etc, but that is to make him feel better after touring and drinking two bottles of wine a night.
Better that he didnt drink that much in the first place I think.</p>
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<p>This isn’t my idea of fasting. To most people, fasting means taking nothing by mouth, or nothing but water. This is a modified diet, and a fairly healthy one. </p>
<p>A few weeks ago one of my friends was going on about how wonderful she felt after 2 days on a total fast/colon cleanse. Ummmm, those of us over 50 have done that… it’s the prep for a colonoscopy. Cleaner than the day you were born!</p>
<p>^^Right. That ain’t fasting. That looks like a fairly well-balanced, healthy vegetarian diet. A little light on protein maybe, but could go more or less forever on a diet like that. Toss in a little soy to boost protein and you’re there.</p>
<p>OP’s plan looks nothing like a healthy vegetarian diet–there’s no protein, no fat. I think it is indeed, a fast. Two weeks of this would be debilitating and possibly dangerous. If a teenaged girl started eating that way, she be evaluated for anorexia immediately. OP says she is basing this plan on material she has read. There’s a huge amount of junk science out there, books that push fads and aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. Why adopt such an extreme and unorthodox diet that no physician or dietician would ever recommend? This is voodoo nutrition.</p>
<p>I am with hmom about the cravings, I cut down on meat years ago and really have no interest in it most of the time. If some one has a great prime rib, yeah, I will try a bite or two, but that is really all I can eat, I just don’t find it appealing. I am really not a vegetarian, yet I eat almost no meat, I eat everything else in the meal instead and that is enough. And lots of non-meat protein, too, always protein with nuts, dairy, and legumes.</p>
<p>Same with fast food, we very very rarely eat fast food, maybe in desperation on a trip and I feel greasy and unclean afterwards, even if I like the taste I don’t like the way I feel.</p>
<p>This has not happened, though, with cookies :D</p>
<p>I agree with the protein point. In my case when not enough fish and legumes in a day. I use whey protein powder shakes.</p>
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<p>You’re right. It’s too light on the fat too. I should have said add soy and peanuts. Then you could go a long time on that diet. Wouldn’t be to my taste, but no one eating all that stuff should kid themselves that they are “fasting.”</p>
<p>If merely cutting out certain kinds of food qualifies as fasting, then I guess the Atkins low-carb/heavy-on-the-meat-and-eggs diet could be considered “fasting” too.</p>
<p>Add olive oil and vinegar - your veggies will taste so much better :)</p>
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<p>So eat better all the time. Eat less if you eat too much, eat less meat, eat more veggies, eat more greens. 50-60% of your calories should come from carbohydrates, 20-30% from protein, 20-30% from fat. </p>
<p>If you want to eat a more healthful diet, eat a more healthful diet; no fasting necessary.</p>
<p>Do as the Okinawans do - apparently, they stop eating when they feel 80% full. It works :)</p>