Week 1 Of The Juice Fast

I'm gaining weight again.  Sometimes I do this.  I eat hardcore for a couple of months and then pack on 20 pounds.  If you average it out, I only gain 7 pounds per year, but over the course of 23 years........well, you can do the math.  I put a whole bunch of healthy eating and nutrition videos in my Amazon Prime watch list in order to educate and motivate myself into being a healthier person and started watching.  Eventually I got to "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" and saw Joe Cross and others improve their health through juice fasting.  I was pretty skeptical.  I didn't even know it was possible to go 60 days without eating and only drinking juice, but I came back to the movie a few more times and decided that I would give it a try.  

The week before:  Weight - 285 lbs.  I started logging my foods into myfitnesspal and started looking at nutrient deficiencies in my diet.  I really upped my veggie intake and tried to eat more vegan meals.  I even made and tried to drink Joe's Mean Green juice, but I made it in the blender so it was a smoothie that took me all day to get through.

Day 1:  Weight - 288 lbs.  I got some juice recipes from the reboot website emailed to me and started to juice.  I don't have a juicer so I used my vitamin blender to make a smoothie and then I filtered the juice out by pouring it all into a new knee high tight and squeezed the juice into a bowl.  It took 15 minutes of squeezing for me to feel satisfied that I got all the useful juice out.  I made it through the day.  It wasn't a happy day.  I was hungry and had tons of cravings that left me feeling emotionally deprived. I decided not to try and do housework or anything else for the first 3 days of the fast.

Day 2:  Weight - 285 lbs.  Bad Day!  The worst.  But I made it.  I have really developed a hatred for juices that include kale or cucumber and squeezing juice out of socks.   I was an emotional reck with a lot of hunger and HUGE cravings.  I allowed myself to lay around and feel the bad feelings, but did not cheat.  I was bummed that after trying so hard not to eat for the previous day, I only lost 3 pounds and not 100, but oh well.

Ugh!  No more kale!

Day 3:  Weight - 281 lbs.  Today was much better than yesterday.  I still get hungry, but I don't really care any more.  I usually get pretty panicked about being hungry, but I can shrug it off pretty easily.  I'm still getting bad cravings, but just take a moment to imagine eating the food I am craving and then I can deal with it better.  I could not stand another sock ringing session so I am now using a strainer.  It's annoying as it takes the juice several hours to completely strain out.  I really want a juicer, but have to wait another month until I get my tax return to purchase one.  Pineapple and yellow bell pepper make a tasty combination.

Day 4:  Weight - 179 lbs.  I felt a bit more energized today and so proud that I made it at least 3 days.  I'm noticing that I'm thinking more clearly as well.  Pear Pie juice was my favorite today.

Day 5:  Weight - 177 lbs.  I had lots of energy today!  I shampooed the carpets and was really diligent in my parenting.  The kids might not have been so thrilled that I was able to better keep up with their mischief, but it made for a cleaner house.  I was sick of the limited recipes I had so I splurged and bought the 101 juice recipes app and am loving it.  

Day 6:  Weight - 175 lbs.  Hunger is no longer an issue for me.  I just don't care.  I drink a juice every 3 hours like clockwork now.  Cravings don't happen spontaneously anymore either but I still get them when preparing meals for my kids or see an ad somewhere.  It's annoying to see so many ads when I'm out and about.  The pizza on the side of the gas station was particularly painful to be around.  My energy levels are still high so my house is cleaner yet, and the kids are getting away with less and less. I made one of them come up from the basement to shut the sliverware drawer that she left open.  Pineapple and jalapeño are delicious together.  I can't taste beets, but they add nutrition and make the juices so pretty that they are quickly becoming a favorite of mine.  I used the grocery list feature on the recipe app today before going to the store.  It was a great tool!  A friend stopped by to talk to me about using essential oils and found out about my diet and is going to let me borrow her juicer for a month.  Woo-hoo!  Can't wait! 

Day 7:  Weight - 173.6 lbs.  My favorite juice that I made today was based off a smoothie I frequently drink and involved my favorite fruit, strawberries.  I put a ton of spinach in the blender with a cup of water and blended it.  Then I added 2 apples and a bin of strawberries.  This made a very delicious, but UGLY concoction.  It looked like diarrhea.  So, I added a beet and it made it soooo pretty.  I can't taste beets in juices so I didn't even notice it.  

Delicious with strawberries and beautiful with beets