The Epic Post-Juice Fast Blog

So here I am, two days after the end of my juice fast and finally ready to spend the time writing this blog. Yesterday was our third wedding anniversary, so I was otherwise occupied 🙂

I’ve got a few friends who are big into stats (baseball fans, as you can imagine) so here is the final break down:

Total Number of Juices Consumed: 45

Total Number of Pounds Lost: 9

Total Number of Fruits/Veggies Consumed:

• Concord Grapes: 18 cups
• Blackberries: 1.5 cups
• Ginger: 10 knobs
• Golden Delicious Apples: 10
• Carrots: 60
• Gala Apples: 30
• Kiwis: 3
• Romaine Lettuce: 12 leaves
• Kale: 86 leaves
• Cucumbers: 11
• Celery Stalks: 48
• Spinach: 15.5 cups
• Lemons: 8.5
• Tomatoes: 4
• Garlic: 6 cloves
• Basil: 40 leaves
• Sweet Potatoes: 5
• Beets: 17
• Oranges: 14
• Plum Tomatoes: 20
• Parsley: 22 cups
• Radishes: 44
• Clementines: 18
• Swiss Chard: 32 leaves
• Parsnips: 6
• Pineapples: 2.5
• Yellow Grapefruit: 4
• Green Grapes: 2 cups
• Blueberries: 1 cup
• Strawberries: 6

A few parts of this journey that lead to success:

1. A plan. I could not have accomplished this without planning ahead. I firmly stand behind my previous statement that you cannot just “wing it” with a juice fast. I knew what my plan was each day and what I had to look forward to. I had tried most of the juices before my fast and knew that I would like them. 

2. Adding a little humor to an otherwise tough situation. I had to wake up an hour earlier than normal each day (which if you know my love of sleep should show my dedication) to prep three juices for the time that I would be at work. So, I made this my alarm:

3. The constant influx of support I received from friends and family. Knowing people are rooting for you can really help to keep you going.

4. My partner in crime, Chris. He and I would check in every day and compare notes as to how we were feeling, what juices we really liked and how much weight we’d lost. It helps to have someone going through it with you who understands exactly how difficult it is and who you can complain to when you’re surrounded by temptation. A special thank you to Sandi and Nikki for joining us for a few days and encouraging us through it.

5. My husband. He got up early to help me make juice on his days off. He helped me make my plans and went shopping with me. He put up with me not cooking dinner so that I wouldn’t be tempted. He cleaned the juicer for me many times. He constantly encouraged me and kept me going on my hardest day. As always he was everything I needed.

Other awesome side effects:

• For the first time since I was probably like 12, I have no zits on my face. 
• The weight I lost was mainly from the stomach & hips, meaning that my pants are too big.
• I’m feeling really healthy. Good amount of energy. Feeling light.
• I know that my body is FULL of vitamins, minerals and nutrients that have been healing my body from the inside out. I feel like I’m in a really good place to start trying for kids again.
• Not eating gives you time to think about your eating habits and how they could improve. I’ve been researching ways to eat better and how Stephen and I can make changes that will fit into our budget. We’ve watched a lot of documentaries lately that will help us to determine what we would like to change and how to implement those changes. We’ve also been reading about it too.

The biggest take away? Realizing that I am capable of so much more than I thought. If you would have asked me 2 months ago if I would do a juice fast and eat nothing for 10 days I would have looked at you like you were crazy. The only acceptable reason to not eat for 10 days in my book was a survival situation in which you’re hopelessly lost in the wilderness, stuck in your car (which obviously has no gas), surrounded by polar bears that are starving and ready to eat you. (Don’t ask me why polar bears.)

I’ve been asked what my hardest day was. Honestly, it was Day 8. Work was a little crazy, so I didn’t get to drink my juices on schedule. This caused me, for the first time in 8 days, to be actually hungry. It threw off my day. Then, the tragedy in Boston happened. I just really wanted some food. It was cold and snowy and I wanted something warm, filling and comforting. As my friend Kelsey said, “The days where there’s the emotional aspect as well we realize how dependent we are on food!” It’s so true. Never more clear to me than that moment. But, I pushed through. It wasn’t easy, but I made it.

A lot of people have expressed interest in doing some juicing or maybe even a reboot of their own. It’s been interesting for me to assume this new role of “health guru.” Who ever saw that coming? It encourages me that people are inspired by watching my fast. It discourages me that most people are only interested for weight loss reasons instead of focusing on the cleansing and healing aspect. It really bothered me when people would ask about my fast that the assumption was that I was, and I quote, “trying to fit into a special dress.” Society trains women to always be on a diet and to only take healthy measures for the purposes of losing weight. Yes, I am only drinking juice for 10 days. No, I’m not on a diet. Yes, I am being proactive with my health.

I have to say that I surprised myself in a lot of ways through this experience. I surprised myself by even deciding to do it. I am shocked that I was the first in our family to try it. Of all the people in the Rabon family, I am the least health conscious and the least likely to try new things. My in-laws are much better at every aspect of healthy living than I am. I was surprised that it wasn’t harder. I anticipated suffering through it, but I was fully functional and didn’t get any crazy mood swings. I do recognize though that I had a lot working in my favor that eased this (I don’t eat a lot of sweets, no caffeine in my regular diet, regular fruit & veggie intake, no major pre-existing health problems).

Overall, I would say this was a positive experience. I can see myself doing another “reboot” in the future. I’m going to be focusing my energy on other pursuits for the time being, but I think that I will revisit this method of cleansing and healing.