Day Eleven

Ok the voice from the internet was right.  Yesterday I replaced my juicer with a Breville Juice Fountain Elite.

It wasn’t because prep time or juicing time took too long.  Although I am amazed how fast the new one is since it can take several whole carrots at a time.  With the old juicer sometimes I had to cut grapes that were too big to fit in the chute (seriously). 

The problems were several fold.  I found that I had a lot more digestive activity than expected.  Sometimes seriously churning intestinal issues with frequent trips to the bathroom.  Secondly, while it wasn’t anything I couldn’t cope with, every day I was experiencing hunger before meals.  Which all the resources say that means there is too much pulp in the juice.  But the big turning point was each of the two days previous I gained one pound a day.  Believe me when you are making this kind of adjustment to your lifestyle you expect to at the very least maintain your weight.

So my loving and supportive wife said stop fighting it and go buy a professional grade juicer.  There are so many reasons I love her, but her unfaltering support for everything I attempt is certainly high on the list.  I hope this juice fast helps me stay healthy so I can be around and with her longer in life.

After preparing several meals now with the new juicer, I am amazed at the difference.  Think about the difference between drinking commercial orange juice with pulp, and a glass without pulp.  The juice liquid now is.. well… liquid, lol.  It tastes better being more consistently blended, and it’s made in a fraction of the time.

Day Ten

Starting out I wasn’t sure what quantity of juice intake was going to work for me.  But from the beginning I’ve been doing three 12-16oz. glasses a day, spread out over the normal meal times.  That has been adequate to keep me “filled up”, and other than those odd and end days when I was feeling quite a bit more tired than usual, I think my energy has been ok.  I’ve been surprised how infrequently I’ve been truly hungry.  Breakfast is always fruit juice, one of the other meals is always green (spinach, lettuce, green beans, broccoli, celery) and one of the other meals is always “yellow” (which for me means any veggie that isn’t green- red bell peppers, sweet potatoes, yams, beats, bean sprouts, carrots, squash, tomato).  My theory is by having one glass of juice from all three categories each day I’m getting the best rounded nutrients possible. 

It’s a good theory, but of course I have NO idea if it has any merit, lol.

Day Nine

One thing I should stress to anyone considering doing a juice fast is the importance of drinking water.  We all know the minimum recommended is eight 8oz. glasses a day.  From what I read doing at least that much or more is critically important while juice fasting.  It helps move the nutrients through your body, and aids in the removal of the toxins that continue to flow.  I’ve been making an effort to do quite a bit more water than that every day, and I think it’s helping me feel as good as I do.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom again.

Day Eight

Target one:  Locked and destroyed sir! 

Today was the first milestone I set for myself – no matter what make it 8 days on a no exceptions juice fast.  My energy has been fairly good albeit clearly less than normal, there have been relatively few headaches and dizziness, I’ve not had to deal with serious hunger issues.  And I’ve lost 5 pounds.   For the record that doesn’t include the 5 pounds we all carry around in our digestive system that goes away the first couple of days, and is of course immediately regained as soon as you start eating again and the system fills up.  So my scale weight is down that additional amount, but I’m not counting it in my tracking because it’s temporary.

This weekend I have experienced more tiredness than expected, as well as a bit of an unsettled digestive tract.  It isn’t anything major, but if it persists I would have to consider if the benefits of the juice fast were worth it.  Think I’ll give it another week and take stock then.

Onward through the fog!

Day Seven

While doing my research somewhere on the web I read about a person who had a momentary lapse in willpower during her juice fast.  She ended up snacking on a handful of tortilla chips.   In the name of full disclosure I will say that as far as I’m concerned tortilla chips are just about the best snack food in the world, and in fact the reason God invented salt and tomatoes (took us a long time as a species to realize tomatoes’ only real purpose in life is to be used in salsa). 

But that account of her slipping just amazes me.  If I was going to fall from grace, it would be from stuffing a handful of succulent grapes into my mouth, or doing a face plant in a freshly cut whole pineapple.  Or even nibbling on broccoli.   Happily the urge to eat is hardly an issue at all, and not something I seem to think about that much.

…other than when I’m washing that firm, juicy, deep purple skinned, luscious grape that would feel SO good exploding between my teeth. <grinning>

Day Six

Interesting event today.  Mid-afternoon my mouth became totally coated for no external reason, it felt all covered and slick (have you EVER heard such a technical description???).  And I was just a little light headed.  I read that as your body goes through different stages of detox it does that.  Your mouth and tongue are natural first receptors to anything from the digestive tract.  So I’m assuming I must have just hit another plateau in the detox process.  It only lasted a couple of hours so sounds positive to me!

Day Five

On the first day I mentioned details about the salt and soda soak prescribed by Energy Medicine expert Victoria Brill.   I used her technique each of my first three nights of the fast just before bed.  Not sure when I’ve ever felt so much like “pickled douglas“, but I suspect those brine sessions went a long way toward helping me keep from getting as stiff and sore in the joints as a lot of juice fasters talk about. If you are considering doing a juice fast, I would recommend you add this to your routine.  Plus, if I ever want to pick up a secondary job holding a sidewalk sign advertising Picklehaus, I’m a shoe-in!

Day Four

Feeling some mild aches today in my back and legs.  Lots of literature says when the toxins are coming out of your system they settle in joints, particularly in your legs.  So that might be it.. but yesterday I had my annual flu shot which of course can give you aches with flu-like symptoms.  And I worked harder than normal on the exercise bike in the gym last night, and everyone knows that WILL give you aches.  so… I have a hunch I would feel the same soreness if I would have eaten a Big Mac and Super Size Fries for dinner last night.  Funny how introspective you become about your own body when you do something like this.  After years of neglect it’s a bit ironic. 

No headaches today, no dizziness today… overall I have to say I feel great.

Day Three

Another lesson learned – psyllium husk is the only “additive” I’m planning to use.  It’s a natural source of plant fiber.  According to the Gastroenterologist I spoke with before I started, he strongly recommended I add some every day to keep everything down there working.  Started doing that, but it makes the juice almost gritty and not very pleasant.   So from now on I’ll have a glass of water with the psyllium before my juice and just get it over with.

Decided that even peeled pomegranate is too bitter to drink when you juice all the white inside rind.  Will try later using just the red seed fruit inside.  Good thing this fruit has so many hot-shot nutrients or it wouldn’t be worth it.  I read on a web site that pomegranates are “sexy”.. that’s the funniest description of produce I’ve heard. 

Had a very mild headache part of the afternoon, but other than that I’m feeling fine today – better energy than yesterday for sure.  Everyone says day three is the hard one… I’m almost nervous about how easy today was.  Maybe my body lost count of the days so I’m sneaking by it.  ohhhhh I like that idea

Day Two

Lesson learned – do NOT juice the rind on a pomegranate.  It sticks in the machine to the point I had to clean the juicer twice before I could get through it.  Now you would think an intelligent person would figure out he’s doing something wrong? (don’t answer that).   The rind makes the juice taste so bitter and “rind like” that it was awful to drink.  Actually I couldn’t get through more than a few sips and dumped it out.  Will try again minus the rind tomorrow.  So I treated myself to a pear and plum juice breakfast as a replacement… it was so tasty it felt decadent lol.

Experienced a period of light-headedness this afternoon but it didn’t last more than a couple of hours.  Did the gym and then walked 2 miles this evening, but my energy level is WAY down.. I feel like someone let the air out of my tires.  Anyone seen a spare air pump around?