So here we are, almost three full days into my juice fast. I am drinking my last juice for today and have a cup of tea to look forward to before bed. I’ve been very surprised by my body’s reaction to this fast. Pleasantly surprised. Shockingly, I haven’t been hungry. By drinking literally all day, I have no more room left in my body for any food. The hardest part for me so far has been the breaking of the habit of eating. There are a few times a day where I feel the need to grab a snack: a handful of almonds or cereal or even some fruit or a pickle. I have to remind myself that no, I can’t do that right now. It’s also weird to come home from work and not cook dinner. My dear sweet husband has been eating a big, late lunch so that when I’m home he can have a smoothie or protein shake instead of eating in front of me. He’s quite kind.
Some reactions that I’ve gotten from people have been:
“10 days? Is that okay?”
“Are you sure this is healthy?”
“That’s a lot of damn juice.”
“I’m interested in juicing. What kind of juicer do you have? Where do you get your recipes?”
“I want some juice!”
“Whose cleanse is this? Dr. Oz?”
“Just promise me that you’ll be careful.” (This one was actually a Starbucks customer who overheard Stephen talking about my fast to a coworker and then proceeded to lecture Stephen about health and acted like he was trying to kill me by allowing me to do this.)
and my favorite…
“When you’re done, you’re going to look like a mermaid. So beautiful!”
So, for those of you interested in how this is all working, I’ve put together a list of juicing essentials that I think will be what helps me through the next 7 days.
Recipe plan: This is the key to making it through. This is not something where you can just “wing it.” Both from a practical standpoint (shopping) and a sanity standpoint, it is crucial to know what is coming next. Knowing when and what your next “meal” is helps to keep a routine going. Because I’m breaking the routines of my normal eating habits, I need to create new routines. So far I’ve planned days 1-4. I made day 1 & day 3 the same and day 2 & day 4 the same. This gave me the ability to shop easier but also to try some new recipes and make tweaks to “perfect” them. Tonight I’ll menu plan for days 5-8 and keep some of my favorites and maybe swap in some new juices to keep things interesting.
Bendy straws: Let’s face it, everything tastes better out of a straw that bends. Lucky for me when I asked Stephen to get me straws, he recognized this important fact.
Insulated lunch bag: For transporting multiple juices to work each day.
Mason jars: Also for transportation, but also as a vessel to drink from. They are particularly handy because the longer the juice sits, it will start to separate a bit. Having the lid on the jar allows me to shake them prior to drinking as well as to add some ice and use it like a shaker to make the juice nice and cold. I find it more enjoyable that way. I also take a mason jar full of ice to work for my second two juices. That and mason jars are just awesome. We got ours at Ace Hardware: 12 quart-sized jars for roughly $15 with tax.
So this is the routine I’m using (times vary for drinking juices give or take 30 min):
5:30am: Wake up and make two juices, cleaning juicer between (mid-morning juice & lunch juice) – put directly into the fridge
Drink mug of hot water, followed by 16oz of water (per nutritionist suggestion on rebootwithjoe.com)
6:00am: Back upstairs, shower & get ready for work
6:45am: Back downstairs, gather other items needed for the day (water bottle, jacket, put on shoes that have been left in various locations throughout the house, etc). Fill mason jar full of ice to take to work for two juices.
7:00am: Prep ingredients, juice breakfast juice (add ice to juice) & clean up juicer, leave on counter to air dry. Pack 2 juices and ice into insulated lunch bag.
7:30am: Leave for work
8:00-9:30 Drink Breakfast juice (I’m a slow drinker and work with kids, I’m constantly pulled in many directions)
11:00-12:00 Drink Mid-morning snack juice
2:00-3:00 Drink Lunch juice
4:30 Leave work & go see my favorite person
5:00 Mid-afternoon snack juice
7:30 Dinner juice
9:00 Cup of herbal tea before bed
Temptations faced successfully so far:
- Free breakfast burritos delivered to work on Monday
- Sitting in a restaurant to do trivia on Tuesday
- A co-worker bringing banana bread to work on Wednesday
So far it’s been an overall positive experience. It’s not easy by any means but it is easier than I thought it would be after reading some stories online. In many ways, I feel like I have set myself up to succeed by my previous life choices. I’m not a big sweets eater, so I don’t really miss the sugar. I don’t drink soda or coffee, so I’m not experiencing caffeine withdrawals. I don’t eat a lot of bread or pasta often, so my level of carb crash is not a big factor. I also really love fruits and veggies, so having eaten those with some regularity prior to this has been helpful.
I’ll check in again in a few days and let you all know how I’m doing. I hope to say that I am doing as well if not even better!
Quote the Rabon 