Day 4 of my 60 Day Juice Feast

Yes, I'm posting early today. I made some large jugs of watermelon juice last night. All I can say is, wow, there is a huge difference in the taste of a real watermelon with seeds over one of the seedless hybrids. They are just so much sweeter. It is probably the most cost effective juice to make as they are mostly juice. There's very little pulp left once you extract the juice. So if you are on a budget, it's a great choice. I cut up half of my massive watermelon, gave a large plate of it to the kids and made two large jars of juice. What's left of the melon will probably make another four jars of juice and the melon was only $5.

Watermelon is also one of the best juices to drink. It's really good for cleaning those long chain acids from your kidneys and getting them filtering again. And with that comes more movement in your lymph system, which is the key to health and vitality.

My watermelon juice is 1/3 of large watermelon, 2 lemons, 2 apples, a couple of mint leaves and ice. Yum! And today isn't a hot day, but it would be even better in the heat.

If you aren't on a juice feast, and you want to actually eat your watermelon, try squeezing lemon juice on it. It enhances the taste and makes it impossible to stop eating. Well, until you get full that is.

I will share a tip with you today.

Chew your liquids and Drink Your Solids

I know it sounds weird. Basically, if you are drinking a juice, you should move it around your mouth as if you are chewing. This activates your saliva and helps you to absorb all of the phytonutrients and it allows your brain time to realize you are eating something which makes you feel full faster.

If you are eating solids, chew a lot--until it is liquid in your mouth. It takes time to change a habit. Try to chew each bite 50 times. This will slow down your eating, but will also help you to digest your food better so that your body can extract the nutrients from what you eat. Our bodies are so beat up from eating an omnivorous diet that it is very difficult for us to get our nutrition from the food we eat. Blending or juicing green leafy veggies is the best way to supply these in a form that allows your body easy access to the nutrients. But if you are eating your greens, chew them well.

I didn't do very well with getting to bed earlier last night. better luck tonight.

I'm off now for a walk to the library with my daughter. I'll be back later with a recipe.

See you later.


Okay, coming back at the end of the day to check in. Today wasn't easy. My body was screaming at me to eat something--mostly it was the salad that tempted me--and avocado. I have an addiction to avocado--probably because that's the only fat I've really been allowing myself. But I managed to keep juicing.

I find that I turn to food when I'm not feeling well. I was achy today, mostly from detox and partly from the yoga I did yesterday. And I was really tired. I went for a couple of walks but wasn't able to walk as fast as I normally would. I think it's because the watermelon is such a powerful detox. I'm going to try to include one day a week where I just drink one kind of fruit juice--watermelon, grape or diluted orange juice or lemonade (a mix of lemon and apple). The rest of the week I'll try to have at least two kinds of juice in the day--a vegetable based one and a fruit one. I've still got a lot of watermelon to finish tomorrow, but I'll pick up some other stuff to juice as well so I can have something different as well.

I'm off to bed now--at lest to lie down and read. I'm hoping to be asleep by 1:00 tonight, if I can get Sandy to cool it with reading on the computer all night. It's difficult to get my husband away from the news...

Night all!

Day 3 of 60 Day Juice Feast

People who do juice feasting who only have themselves or their husbands or wives to worry about have it easy. It makes it so much harder when you have to prepare food for your family. So there are no excuses for any of you out there who are interested in trying a juice feast. If I can do it, anyone can.

I made cookies for the kids today--peanut butter cookies. It's rare that I treat them to something like that these days, but I managed to do so without even tasting to see if they were good. I followed the same recipe I always do, so they should be good. And, by the rate at which they disappeared, they must have been.

I've had a pretty easy day as far as cravings go. The hummus was much more tempting to me than the cookies. But I managed to get through another day. I feel good and have plenty of energy for what I need to do.

I do feel a bit tired and my head feels fuzzy. It's detox no doubt. As weight is released, so are the toxins that was stored in the fat. So, more rest is in order for me. It's also rainy here which doesn't help a lot.

One of the best things I've found for when I'm feeling icky is to get outside and go for a walk, even if it's a short one. Just being outside surrounded by trees and grass in the fresh air helps a lot. I'm lucky here as I walk a half a block and I'm in the park, then I can follow the path all the way to the river, and I'm practically in the woods the entire way. There's a creek along side the path with wildlife and running water. It's gorgeous. A little piece of heaven.


I bought a massive watermelon today.

So, tomorrow looks like a watermelon juice day. I swear it weighs more than 30 lbs.

Today I'm still drinking the juices I made yesterday. I know fresh is ideal but sometimes it's nice to make some ahead so that I don't have to do it as often. I am drinking juices with a strong fruit base in the morning and then the more vegetable based ones later in the day.

The green juice I made yesterday is: dill, parsley, kale, celery, cucumber, carrot, fennel, apples, wheat grass and a lemon. The citrus helps to preserve the juice, so if you aren't going to drink it right away, it's good to add some lemon or lime. No, it doesn't taste as good as the fruitier juices, but it is palatable and it helps to alkalize the GI track. It also provides amino acids and vitamins and minerals.

As promised here are some before photos, though I really hate posting pictures of myself. I tend to shy away from cameras--always have. No, I don't wear makeup and I seem to have inherited my mom's tendency to look half asleep or drunk on camera even when I'm not. So yeah, here they are.

This was me back in March when I started juicing. Yeah, I know. A lot of weight to lose. And no, I'm not pregnant here.

And this is me now. Still a long way to go, but you can see that I've lost a couple of bowling balls. I've been tracking my weight and measurements and will post them at the end.

So I've done one walk today. It is raining here, so I'm not sure how much more I'll get in tonight, but I'll try to do one more and some of my yoga DVD.

I'm down 3 lbs since I started on just juice, so I hope that momentum continues.

My goal for this first week or two is to go to bed earlier. It's something I have a really hard time with. But I'd like to get to sleep at 1:00 rather than 2:00 or later. So I'll see how that goes over the next couple of weeks. I'd like to eventually get it back to 11:00 so that I have more of the day to get the things done that I need to do.

A call-out to my friend, Roger, who is doing 30 days along with me. He is feeling a lot better since he started juicing and I'm happy to see him doing so well. Juice on, buddy. 

That's all for today. Hope you have a great evening and I'll see you tomorrow.

Day 2 of 60 Day Juice Feast

I felt pretty good today. I had quite a bit of energy and wasn't tempted to eat too much. That is until I made little Greek pita breads and hummus for my children's snack after their piano lesson. The hummus smelled so good, it was difficult to resist. I'll post some recipes of stuff I like and stuff that I make for my kids as I go.

My energy was really good and I went for a long walk (5 km) this evening. I felt a bit flagged out by the time I got to the last trail on my way home, but made it back okay. Maybe I need to take a bit of juice with me next time. I usually do a few shorter walks (around 2 km) a few times a day. The longer ones pose difficulties when I'm juice feasting as it's hard to make it there and back without stopping at a restroom. :)

I did some EFT on the pita and hummus cravings I was having and it helped a lot. I have to remember to do that when cravings strike. I'll probably have to do some more EFT to deal with other emotional links to food as we go. I'll keep you updated on that.

Okay, I'm off for another short walk with the hubby. See you tomorrow.

Day 1 of 60 Day Juice Feast

Today was pretty uneventful. I made a lot of watermelon juice (a watermelon gives you a lot of juice). I added some lemon and a pineapple. I also made a juice with honeydew, celery, cucumber, kale, pineapple, orange and apples. This is my favorite juice that I make most days.

I did pretty well with the juices, had lots of energy and wasn't physically hungry. My spinach salad was calling to me though in the evening. I went for a walk and ignored it until it stopped. I'm used to feeling a fullness in my stomach that the juice just doesn't give me. The juice is a light feeling that takes some getting used to.

I'll do one more post today for day 2 and I'll be up to date.

Preparation

I'll keep this one short.

I wouldn't suggest anyone do this without first preparing for it mentally and physically. Also, if you are on medications you most certainly should consult your doctor before embarking on a juice feast. But anyone can benefit from adding juices to their life.

I have prepared my body for this experience by eliminating all meat, dairy and grains from my diet for a couple of month. I wouldn't suggest going from a typical omnivorous diet to juice feasting without any transition. You will just make it more painful. Detox symptoms aren't fun.

I've also been walking a lot--2 or 3 times a day for the past 11 weeks, so I feel fairly fit for my size. I intend to keep walking throughout the juice feasting, though I realize some days I'll have more energy than others and I intend to listen to my body.

I've practiced EFT for years now and I'm sure this will be a very helpful tool to help me deal with cravings and emotional issues. If you don't know about EFT, look it up. There are lots of instructive videos on youtube. It is quite easy to do and involves tapping on meridian points like you'd see in acupuncture while tuned into an emotional issue or physical discomfort. It moves energy through the body.

I will spend some time meditating each day and will practice some yoga 4 or 5 times a week.

My nutrition will consist of fresh fruit and vegetable juices and an herbal tea or two each day. I will post some before pictures when I get the hubby behind the camera tomorrow.

Introduction and Background

This is the blog that I'm starting for my 60 day juice feast. I will be drinking freshly extracted juices of fruits and vegetables for the next 60 days and avoiding all solid foods.

Why? I did a shorter, 14 day fast a couple of months ago and lost 25 lbs. Since then, I've been drinking juices and eating spinach salads as well as some fruits and dates and the odd raw food vegan meal. But I've plateaued and cannot seem to drop the extra 60 lbs that are still hanging around.

So, I've decided to kick it up a notch and commit to doing just juice for 60 days and I thought that blogging every day would help me to stay committed to my goal. I started yesterday and will catch you up with my progress in another post. That puts my 60 days at Saturday July 28th for the last day of my juice feast.

I also thought that an honest look at the juice feasting process would help others who are on the same path or thinking of starting. I'm aware that it won't be all smooth sailing. I have many years of emotional eating connections to sever and I'm going to miss my spinach salad for sure.

I'll give you just a bit of background here. I've eaten a typical unhealthy diet my whole life and I'm 41 this year. I didn't realize how unhealthy meat, dairy and grains were to the body. I won't go into the particulars that I've discovered here. If people are interested, I will share what I've learned. But I imagine that those who are here are like minded and already understand these things.

Back in Mid March, I cut all meat, dairy and grains out of my diet. I did a short juice feast and continued to eat a raw, vegan diet since that time. In April, my husband decided to join me and I took my kids off of all processed foods, white sugar, meat and dairy (though they are still eating a little cheese). I've noticed a huge difference in my children. They are generally more agreeable, more confident and happier--and they don't fight as much. As a homeschooling mother of 4 kids aged 7 to 13, that's a big selling point.

After 11 weeks on raw fruits and veggies I still have a few complaints which I'm hoping this juice feast will correct.

1. My blood pressure has come down quite a bit. I stopped taking my meds and it's still a bit high, though. I'd like to see it in the normal range. I'll test it tomorrow and track my results. 
2. Sinus congestion. This is something I've suffered with my whole life and I know now it's from milk and dairy products as well as suppressing the symptoms with medication. I know it will take time to correct, but am hoping that I see an improvement in 60 days.
3. Foot pain--I've had terrible cramps in the bottoms of my feet--sometimes to the point that it is difficult to walk. 
4. Weight loss--I'm hoping to lose most of those 60 lbs by the end of the feast. 

I'll sign off now, for anyone who is actually still reading. Onward!