My 7 Day Juicing Experience

It started when a passionate juicer coworker of mine was working on my computer.  We got to talking about juicing because talking about computers would be boring.  He has done a couple of 60 day juice fasts.  The first fast was due to a bet on who could lose the most weight in the IT department here at work.  Funny how that works--like my vegan friend who became vegan on a bet and chose it as his lifestyle.  Good for them.  My coworker did his research and was filling me in on details.  I got really interested in giving it a try.  I said, “Why not? Sounds like fun…”  Okay, I didn’t say “sounds like fun,” but I wanted to challenge myself to try it.

Before the Cleanse

 

I've never seen the show,
but these BPA 32 oz bottles were
on clearance for $7 each!

I choose to call it a cleanse versus a fast or a diet.  I wanted to focus on cleaning my system out and starting fresh for the holidays of gorging and feasting.  My goal was not to lose weight or choose to do this longer than 7 (ish) days.  Heck no was I going to do this for 60 days.  I love food too much.  I love mac n cheese, garlic bread, broccoli, tacos, chicken.  Oh, sorry, getting off track.  Moving along, I read more of my coworker’s blog (which can be found here) and glanced over Joe Cross’s Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead website.  I printed recipes and made a grocery list and borrowed my mom’s Magic Bullet with her juicer attachment (not the regular magic bullet).  I talked to the husband about it and let him know I was interested in giving this a try.  He must have been taking the crazy pills that night because he said he would accompany me in this juice cleanse adventure.  Nevertheless, we were in it together and I appreciated that support.  Plus it was nice I didn’t have to juice while making dinner for him.  Not that I always have to make dinner for him.  He’s a big boy and this is modern times.  He can make his own food.  Sorry, off topic again. 

The week before, I went to Salt Lake City, Utah for a conference (I’ll work on that blog post next!) and gorged on yummy meals.  Mostly vegan ones, but again more on that in another post.  I also drank a lot of bourbon.  Don’t tell my acupuncturist that though.  When I got home, the next day I ate Indian food for lunch (naan, chicken tikka masala, saag paneer and some rice… oh so yummy!!) since I didn’t have anything to bring and knowing the husband was probably not going grocery shopping while I was gone.  I wonder what he ate all week?  Then after the gym, I visited our local Costco (one of three within a 10 mile radius of where we live) on my way home to check on my grocery list for juicing!

·         Apples

·         Carrots

·         Spinach

·         Kale

·         Strawberries

·         Blueberries too expensive

·         Raspberries

·         Celery

·         Cucumbers

·         Grapefruit

·         Oranges

·         Lemons

·         Bell peppers

·         Watermelon

·         Pineapple

·         Jalapenos, habaneros

We got home, went through my print of recipes and got to juicing for the next day!

During the Cleanse
I felt like the first few days were maybe the 2^nd toughest.  Just getting over the fact that juice is all I get throughout the day and thinking “how is this going to keep me full all day?”  I don’t know if I just psyched myself out or what, but even after working out on my lunch those days I didn’t feel so bad.  Day 4 I felt great.  I even got complimented on looking good that day.  I felt my skin was less oily, I wasn’t as bloated, I didn’t have as much gas (TMI?  We’re all friends here now), and I wasn’t falling asleep at my computer in the afternoons.  I thought, “Ok, not bad.  I can do this!”  Then Day 5 came…

It was a Saturday and we had decided to go to the beach to get some exercise and walk from Balboa Pier to the Newport Beach Pier.  Something we have done numerous times before.  However, since we took Friday night off juicing for the following day, we didn’t have anything in our stomachs except water.  BAD MOVE.  I couldn’t even make it all the way to the pier just knowing we had to walk back.  I was starving and getting lightheaded and my head started to hurt (enter sad face here).  We stopped by Mother’s to get a small 12 oz juice to share and I took one sip and almost threw up.  It was disgusting!  It was called Beet Me Up which has a carrot base, beets, parsley, and garlic.  I usually love beets roasted… and when I am chewing them.  But in juice form with garlic?  It was too weird for me.  Of course, the flavor grew on Tim and he had the rest.  We got home, my stomach still growling and my head still spinning.  Unfortunately since we took Friday night off from juicing, we still had to juice for the day.  It felt like eternity before getting something in my stomach.  Sharp pains started poking in me.  Ok, that’s a little dramatic, but you get the idea.  I got cranky and angry and light headed even more.  Finally I got the breakfast juice in me and I bottled up my lunch juice for later.  I felt fine after getting something in me and I learned I will never do that again. 

Day 6 was a challenge as well.  We had San Diego Wild Animal Park tickets and they expired soon so we packed our breakfast and lunch juices along with a juice snack bottle.  My husband is the best because he carried the 2 lunch and snack bottles along with a bottle of water in his backpack all throughout the park.  There were definitely a large number of temptations all around the park: donuts, popcorn, sodas, ice cream, cotton candy and more.  However we stayed strong and didn’t get anything.  We drank our juices for lunch at this Elephant Talk Session thing and all was good.  However by around 3 pm I was definitely getting tired and weak.  It is interesting to recognize the difference when your body feels it’s weak and hungry from the lack of nutrients while juicing versus feeling weak and hungry from not having food to eat throughout the day.  That doesn't make sense... I’m not quite sure how to explain it.  Perhaps as my coworker mentioned, “think of the juice as fuel for your body” and not as something to enjoy or experience.  So during the juicing, I could feel my body needing the fuel to energize myself versus feeling like I need french fries because they sound good. 

Our juices to-go for a day at the Safari Park

Day 7 we made another little mistake.  We juiced a watermelon for breakfast (with basil and lime) and while delicious, I felt like it didn’t have any nutrient substance to keep me going that morning.  I was sluggish and hungry and all I could think about was fooooooood.  I drank my lunch which was mistake #2 that day because it wasn’t a “green juice.”  Instead of the usual greens we used for lunch such as kale and spinach, we used some small sweet bell peppers.  I continued to feel whacked all day with even some light headedness again.  However it could have just been all in my head and I was going crazy knowing 7 days was the minimum I was going to do.  Speaking of, as just mentioned, I knew I wanted to do at least 7 days with the possibility of 8 or 9 total just to get through all the rest of our vegetables and fruits we had purchased.  But by the end of the work day on Day 7, I had had ENOUGH.  I was tired of juicing and so hungry.  I texted my husband and said let’s eat tonight!!!

After the Cleanse
I won’t go into too much detail about the aftermath of not easing into eating solids after 7 days of juicing.  But let’s just say, please don’t do what I did and eat half a burrito after 7 days of cleansing.  You will NOT feel good I promise you that.  For the record though it was not my idea to get a burrito for dinner that night.  Anyway, let’s look at the positive side of things:

·         Ended up losing 8 pounds (let’s remember though weight loss was not the goal)

·         My skin felt smoother and brighter and definitely less oily

·         Didn’t have as bad as breath (or gas for that matter!) as normal

·         Didn’t feel as bloated

·         Had more energy on the days I made the right combination of juices for myself

·         Didn’t have to cook anything for 7 days

 

 Here's a snack I bought from nekter, a trendy juice bar around the corner from my work.  If I could afford buying my juices from here every day, I would a happy camper!















Here are my cons:

·         We went through the fruit and veggies quickly especially not having a high quality juicer (it did the trick though for 7 days).  We went to the grocery store probably around 4 or five times in the 7 days (8 days including the night before for the initial purchases).

·         Some of the juices were gross.

·         The cleaning of fruits and veggies, the prepping, the actual juicing and the cleaning were the worst parts of this whole thing.

Would I do it again?  Yes.  Definitely.  Anytime soon?  No.  Maybe at the beginning of the year to cleanse myself from all the holiday gorges.  Here are a couple of my favorite recipes from the week:

Morning Fruit Juice via http://blog.theproofisinthejuice.org/:

·         1 large grapefruit

·         6 oranges

·         4 apples

·         1 pound of berries (I preferred strawberries while the husband preferred the raspberries

 

Juice these ingredients, strain and bam!  Scrumptious!

Green Lemonade via http://www.rebootwithjoe.com:

·         1 green apple

·         2 cups spinach

·         2 cups kale leaves

·         ½ cucumber

·         4 celery stalks

·         ½ lemon

Juice these ingredients, strain and bam!  Slurp, slurp, slurp!!!

 

Random Thoughts

·         Yes, juice is all I had for 7 days.  No food, no anything else (except supplements)

·         Speaking of supplements, invest in a good trustworthy brand or your big sister will give you sh*t about it (my parents can agree with me there).

·         Don’t tell me you had a smoothie for breakfast and think that’s the same thing.

·         Yes, I did get full off the right combinations of juices (fruit blend for breakfast, green juices for lunch and dinner)

·         Yes, I peed every 25 minutes, but not throughout the night which was nice.  I slept very well too.

·         Day 3 I experienced two very awful and painful “Charley Horses” in the morning.  This was due to not consuming enough water.  I made sure to drink so much water I was peeing every 15 minutes instead.  (I’m exaggerating)

·         The idea of mixing your lunch and dinner juice recipes with spicy peppers to change up the flavor is a great concept.  Executed… not really for me.

·         Double straining the green juices makes it for a much better experience.  No one wants to be slurping up bits and pieces of kale.

A photo of some baseball cookies I made

for a 12 year old birthday boy. 

Random, I know.

 

·         Because I love food so much (the experience of flavors and the act of eating itself along with the social aspects of getting together with friends and family for a meal), I really had to remember whatever I consume is to fuel my body.  My coworker friend told me on the first day—don’t smell the juice just drink it.  You’re not drinking it for enjoyment; you’re drinking it for nourishment and fuel.  So then that got me to think…French fries can be good fuel too right?  J

Disclaimer: If you want to try juicing, please don't use my blog post as real medical advice or anything like that.  I know nothing.  Consult your doctor and all that jazz.

P.S. I saw this today from a buzzfeed.com post and thought it would be fun to share:
 


Image Taken From:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/kristinchirico/things-youre-only-afraid-of-if-you-live-in-los-angeles