Day 3

This is the day that they say is the hardest. I woke up pretty hungry and started making juice first thing this morning. I made up my own concoction and loved it. I call it Sweet Red Kale. It has three cups of kale, two medium apples, one orange, 1 1/3 cup of red cabbage, and 2/3 of a 2" beet. I was very proud to make up my own concoction and actually have it taste good. I didn't realize that leeks are like onions until I tried some last night. I bought a lot of it because it has a lot of calories, and now I am not sure what to do with it. I used some of it for my lunch drink today. I was going to take it to church, but I forgot it in the fridge. At church we took the sacrament (bread and water). It has all ready become unusual to chew food. I began to get really low in energy and felt very hungry. We didn't make it back home until around 13:40 and I was starving (even though I was really hungry, a small sniff of Mychelle's Snickers bar was enough to take away any temptation to eat one). I knew my lunch was going to be gross so I made sure to chug it fast. It was very hard to drink. It didn't taste good and it was oniony and peppery. I quickly began making a sweeter drink to counteract it. I used a recipe I found online and used pineapple instead of strawberries. It called for kiwis, but I forgot to put them in. It had 2 1/2 cups of kale, 1/2 lime, 2 apples, 1/3 cup of pineapple, and 3/4 cup of spinach. That drink tops it all as my most favorite yet! I feel much more tired and lethargic today. In my research of juicing I have found that you risk consuming higher amounts of sugar on a juice fast. Although it is the healthier complex carbs, juicing it takes away a lot of the insoluble fiber that helps slow down sugar uptake, preventing blood sugar spikes. When your blood sugar spikes you can become lethargic and dizzy. Mychelle asked if I thought it was healthy to keep doing this. I told it it was definitely not as bad as when I would eat ten of my famous Regina Tweed cookies in one sitting. I basically need to be more disciplined in keeping my juice at a 80/20 veggie to fruit ratio to prevent the high intake of sugar. Tomorrow I should be feeling like I have more energy. One thing is for sure - juice diets sure keep you from being dehydrated. Looking back so far I think the best things about this juice fast have been letting go of the desire to eat lots of foods, letting your taste buds get used to and like the taste of fruits and veggies, allowing your digestive system to take a rest from digesting gross things, and sticking to a healthy goal. I feel like I won't want to eat as big of portions and as much meat when I am done with this. I feel this has definitely been a good experience for me. Day three down, four more to go.

Day 2 - much better

I think this day will be much better. With all the free time of a Saturday I have time to properly cut, wash and prepare the produce before juicing. Mychelle wanted some too so she helped out. For breakfast we used a recipe from rebootwithjoe.com called "Morning Sunrise". It called for 4-5 large carrots, 2 oranges, and 2 beets. It was very messy with the beet juice getting everywhere and staining things, but it was worth it. That was the tastiest drink. It was only around 344 calories so I will need to drink a lot more to make it close to my calorie limit. I feel good though and am enjoying myself this morning. For lunch I had a Mean Green (a drink that was made on Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead). It has cucumbers, lemon, kale, apples, ginger, and celery. Mychelle called up my sister and her family, as well my parents and we all had a juicing/blending/BBQ party. My parents brought their new Vitamix, and we tested out our new juicer. I also had a rack of ribs to BBQ up and so we had smoothies, juice, and ribs. I did a great job not even licking my fingers while cooking the ribs. I made sure to only stick to the veggie and fruit juice. I think it is always a good idea to surround yourself with the foods you are not going to eat so that you get used to being around it without giving in. I am feeling great, and am not craving much fatty or sugary food. I had another mean green for dinner since my brother-in-law wanted to try it. It wasn't bad to have it twice in one day. Day two goes down much better then day one. Two days down, five more to go.

Day 1

The day of juicing started off great. I am only glad that I had a later workday today them usual or I would've been late. This juicer is awesome and very efficient. The downside to that is that it is not super fast. I didn't even wash/peel the veggies and it still took 25min. to make breakfast, not including the cleaning. Then I had to make lunch before going. I am glad this juicer is so easy to clean. I had one orange, one tomato, four cups of kale and four carrots for today's breakfast. It was sweet and tasty, but I think the carrot flavor in these drinks is going to get old fast. Lunch had two cucumbers, four cups of spinach, one and a half cups of romaine lettuce, one apple, four cups of kale, and two carrots. This drink sat in the fridge all morning so it was very cold to drink. I began shaking it a lot, like a protein drink, and realized that it was probably oxidizing the juice and killing the nutrients, so I stopped. That was the worst tasting drink! It wasn't an instant gross taste, but I don't care for cucumbers and this tasted like watery cucumbers. I'll remember not to do that one again. The one I made last night to test the juicer was very good. It had red cabbage, mustard greens, apples, and carrots. It had a good zing in the aftertaste. When I got home from work today I went to work on dinner. I had 3 1/2 cups of Kale, one orange, a red apple, a green apple, 1 1/3 cup romaine lettuce, and one cup red cabbage. It was very tasty compared to lunch. But even with a good taste it was very hard to drink. I didn't strain it so it was somewhat pulpy, and it was pretty hard to finish and keep down. My stomach was not happy and I was not happy. But they all say it takes a few days to get the power boost and used to the taste. I went shopping for more produce this evening. Last time I shopped I had someone compliment me on my healthy eating, this time a worker gave me a $3 off coupon since I was buying so much produce. It is nice not having to walk through the whole store. Vegetables take up a lot of space. For $68 I got a grocery cart full of greens. While shopping I found some POM Wonderful pomegranate juice that was advertised on The Best Movie Ever Sold. I had to get some. It was a good ending drink to the day. Day one down, six more to go.

BRING ON THE JUICE

Here I am on day one of my juice fast. As many of you know I do not condone, accept, encourage, believe in, or like diets. I do not think they help or are important. So why am I doing this? Well, to be quite honest, it was a good excuse to buy an expensive toy (our sweet Omega J8004 juicer); and because it seemed like a fun challenge. Even though I was weighing more then I ever have (180lbs.), it is not too bad of a weight, and is only 5-7lbs. more then what I usually weigh. I do believe in eating more fruits and vegetables, but I hate the taste of vegetables, and I have to go to the store a lot to get them since they don't last long. I thought juicing would be a great way to get them into my body and encourage me to sacrifice the multiple trips to live healthy. After I spend seven days living of veggie and fruit juices I plan to eat a "Word of Wisdom" diet. I will not be on a diet, but my diet will be more in line with what The Lord has revealed to His servants in these last days. It will be using the Asian and Vegetarian food pyramids, as well as Doctrine and Covenants section 89 as my guides. Mychelle was going to do a juice fast, but we both agreed (after researching it) that it wouldn't be healthy for her or the baby while she is breastfeeding. The kids seem excited about the new toy so we plan on letting them drink as much as they want and give them healthier foods to eat. Both Mychelle and I will refrain from desserts unless there is a big occasion or it is offered to us. So here I go!