Juice Fast Day 5

So I made it through day 4 without any problems and was smart enough to make the big vat of green juice and have one in the evening and save the rest for today so I wasn't scrambling to make something to drink this morning!

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I have come across a few things that annoy me on this juice fast. But first, the reason I am doing this juice fast is two-fold: to be healthier and to shed excess weight. I have some genetic disorders and autoimmune issues that cause pain, digestive issues, fatigue, and a whole lot of other symptoms. It also has made losing weight an extremely difficult challenge, despite the fact that I'm a gluten-free, grain-free vegan who trys to eat at least 50% raw and goes on all-raw diets for 30 days at a time. And I do green smoothies. And I juice. So since both conventional and holistic medicine have not been able to help me, I'm on a journey to try to heal myself as many others have done before me with this type of juice cleanse.

That being said, I'm really tired of my family trying to sabotage me! Now, some family members support me and cheer me on; some don't understand, express their worry, and let me go about my business; but a select few family members deliberately try to sabotage me no matter how I eat! I suspect they don't believe I should be a vegetarian, let alone a vegan. And going on a juice fast and not eating food for days at a time goes beyond comprehension as something healthy to do. (Despite the fact that this person seriously considered going on an all-liquid, non-natural cleanse because the Western doctor recommended it.) It annoys me that when I say this is what I'm doing and here's why, this person goes and makes stuff for me that I choose not to eat at the moment and then asks me to come eat it! Supposedly it's done out of love, but where's the support? Sadly, this is common among vegetarians, vegans, and raw foodists and their family members.

The second thing that's annoying me is that I bought this "state-of-the-art" juicer and it definitely has downfalls! As I mentioned previously, the prep takes forever because you have to cut all the food in small portions. It does wonderful for greens and hard vegetables and fruits, but doesn't do so well with soft fruits. While I was juicing today I had to stop, disassemble, and clear out the machine on many occasions just to get through the juicing session. It's extremely annoying.

The third thing that's annoying is the expense of juicing! Today I decided to make a red, white, and blue juice in honor of 4th of July. I used blueberries, raspberries, jicama, and rosemary to make sure I got some greens in. The cost for this one-serving juice drink was $8. If you go out to a restaurant, that is what you'd pay, but that's a pretty big expense for one meal when you add it up! And if you screw it up and it doesn't taste good, you can either add more to it or just drink it down, because it's too expensive to throw out.

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So enough about the negative and onto the positive! My taste buds have definitely changed. I was getting hungry on just the green juice so I decided to do a quick watermelon juice (with the rind) to shake things up. It was too sweet! I used to be able to eat almost a quarter watermelon as a meal before with no issues! So I ended up adding spinach to tone it down, although it was still a little too sweet.

I am a little disappointed that the weight loss has plateaued for now - hopefully there will be a breakthrough soon!

So on the menu for today:

Green juice - cucumber, celery, ginger
Watermelon cooler - watermelon with rind, spinach, ginger
Red, white, & blue juice - blueberries, raspberries, jicama, rosemary

I went to the grocery story yesterday and have all the produce purchased and planned for tomorrow's drinks, but I will have to go back to the store tomorrow to buy the produce for the next day.

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If anyone wants to try juicing but is afraid to do it on their own, I will be joining a doctor-led juice cleanse starting July 15. The deadline to sign up is this Sat, July 7.

Here's the link to the Be Juicy 10-Day Juice Cleanse.

Wishing you peas and good health,

VeggiePatti

Happy Fourth of July!

Juice Fast Day 4

So it's the beginning of day 4. A few things I'm noticing:

I think I could really use another juicer! The juicer I have is great to get the most nutrients out of greens, but it takes a long time and doesn't juice all fruits as well. When you're hungry and you need something fast, it's not the juicer to go to! This morning my body was saying "you need food now" and it took a half hour to prepare a simple juice. So with this juicer, it's best to do a bulk batch in advance, and not first thing in the morning!

The first 3 days weren't as bad as I thought. I did lose 5 pounds in the first 2 days but nothing yesterday, so we'll just have to wait and see on the weight loss aspect. Some sources say you should lose at least a pound a day on a juice fast but I'm sure it's variable for everyone. (And yes, yes...I know you can average...)

Juicing is also very clean in the sense that your elimination channels aren't on overload. There's very little perspiration or odor for that matter, unless you have lots of ginger then it kicks it up a notch! Don't expect to go to the bathroom like normal either - you pee a lot more but don't have bowel movements as often.

Water is also extremely important! Juice does not replace water and you have to make sure you're drinking a lot of water. I try to change between juice and water, with some coconut water thrown in to help make sure electrolytes are balanced.

My juicy breakfast this morning was 2 small colanders of spinach, 2 pears, and a ginger "thumb". It's actually pretty good. Normally I can't taste the ginger but it's very evident here! I'd make this one again but maybe add parsley. I did want to make my standard cucumber/celery for the day, but that takes an hour and my body needed something right away so I whipped up this one - although this still took a half hour as I mentioned.

I'll be making the rest of the day's juice a little later - BEFORE I get hungry!

I'm also very tempted to try tomato juice at this point although I've never liked it in the past. I'll just tell myself it's tomato soup! Maybe tomorrow!

Until then,
Wishing you peas and good health,

VeggiePatti

Juice Fast Day 3

So day 3 of the juice fast went mostly smoothly until the end of the day...then the hunger set it! Coconut water to the rescue! Also the detoxing emotional side effects started to come out...hope that's over with!

So today I had more of the usual green juice but decided to have a fruity drink in the middle of the day - a virgin pina colada (fresh pineapple juice mixed with coconut water).

Once I made the decision to do the juice fast it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be, but I don't want to speak too soon! I still have a ways to go!

Wishing you peas and good health,

VeggiePatti

Juice Fast Day 2

So I made it through the first day of juice fasting which has always been the hardest for me in the past. And in case you're wondering, yes, I drank all of the juice I made! I went to a graduation party in the middle of the day and the smell of food was just so tempting...but I survived.

This morning I decided to use up some cartons of berries I had before they went bad. So in went blueberries and most of the blackberries, but sadly the raspberries couldn't be saved. :( Note to self: Juicing blackberries produces a sludge so do it last! There wasn't much output so I added an apple, some ginger, and some fresh mint. It was pretty good, but there was not a whole lot so I knew I'd be hungry later.

Later in the day I made the regular green drink:  6 cucumbers, 2 stalks celery, and ginger. The celery made a lot more juice than normal so it threw off the taste a bit and I added a kiwi, which really didn't have much effect. That's what I'll be drinking for the rest of the day (and some coconut water!).

I've done some more research and everything says once you get past day 3 it gets a lot easier! Day 2 hasn't been too bad, so let's hope day 3 is the same!

Oh I also stocked up on raw coconut water to help with the electrolyte balancing in case I feel I need it.

I'll post more tomorrow about how Day 3 goes!

Wishing you peas and good health,

VeggiePatti

Juice Fast anyone?

I am so horrible at blogging! It's one of those habits that needs some work!

So I FINALLY watched Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead - it was really inspiring. There is a corresponding website - all free - www.jointhereboot.com. I was surprised because there was so much fruit juicing going on! I've always been told to juice with mostly greens. But, I also realize you can't do a 60-day juice fast on just the same thing! (Although I'm sure some people do that - especially with wheat grass.)

So I've been putting off juicing for quite some time for several reasons. I think it's not going to be fun is probably number 1...lol  But I was so worried about doing it correctly - getting the right juicer, doing the right program, etc. that I realized if I kept worrying about doing it perfectly I would never do it!

So here's to trying! I'm going to start a juice fast. How long will I go? I guess as long as I need to.

I'm starting with the green juices as I have been told those are necessary for maximum detoxing, but I'm not going to be so vigilant about it that I can't have fruit juice now and then.

Here's how I started my morning...

 It took me an HOUR to make this much juice! It's not the juicing part per se, it's all the prep work! This juice contains about 1-2 cups of spinach (what was leftover), 6 very large cucumbers, 2 stalks of celery (the whole thing, not individual stalks), and some ginger. So I'll see how long it lasts! I've had 2 big glasses already and will just keep drinking it until I'm not hungry!

I've heard the first 3 days are the hardest, so hopefully I can get through that and it's smooth sailing!

If anyone wants to join me on my juice fast, just drop me a line and we can be juicing buddies!

Wishing you peas and good health,

VeggiePatti

Update on juicing

So I've been juicing away with the green juice. I just have to wonder...why does the juice from the raw food restaurants taste so much better? LOL I'm thinking I better keep experimenting with the amount of each veggie to put in! Anyone have any good recipes to suggest?

Also, I have some exciting changes to VeggiePatti.com coming soon - I will be making an announcement this week! Stay tuned!

In peas and good health,

VeggiePatti

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