My Vegetable Juicing Journey

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Ok, so first off – I think doing detoxes and cleanses are stupid. I think your liver and kidneys eliminate toxins from your system just fine and there is no reason to have to go to drastic measures. Starving yourself, cayenne pepper, cabbage soup – I don’t buy in to the need for any of it. I also think that any weight loss you see is from emptying your system and a reduced calorie diet. And as always, if you are going to do something drastic, consult your physician.
 

Now. My vegetable juicing journey.

I’ve been drinking ONLY vegetable juice for the past 5 days and I’m hoping to go another 5… we’ll see. Many people do it to lose weight and others use it to give their bodies a break from all the processed, pre-packaged or difficult to digest foods (dairy, meat) that we typically ingest. Yes, many people call it ‘detoxing’ but it’s not that your body is getting rid of toxins, it’s that you aren’t taking them in during this time. Therefore, your system can take a breather and get realigned. Let’s call it a’Reset’ instead of ‘cleansing’ or ‘detoxing’ because those terms are overused. The idea behind juicing is that you are only consuming raw vegetables and some fruits in its simplest form so that the body can absorb all the available nutrients as quickly as possible.

I did this whole crazy experiment because 1) some friends wanted to try it for weight loss and I was curious and 2) I watched the documentary “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” and was curious. After doing lots of research and purchasing an affordable kickass juicer, we set out on our journey.

The Goal: 5-10 days of only vegetable juice.

According to what we’ve read, your body is adjusting for the first 5 days and then in tip-top shape for the last 5 days. Everyone seems to struggle with Day 3. The claims are weight loss, mental clarity, better skin, more energy, happy digestive system, etc.

My Experience:

Pre-Juice: Instead of easing into the juicing thing, I went out with a bang eating everything I wanted because I knew I’d be deprived for 10 days. This was probably not my best idea because it made Day 1 harder. However, it did cause me to gain weight, which was then easily lost in the first couple of days – a mental boost!

Day 1: This was an OK day. No, I was not running to the bathroom, but I didn’t feel awesome either. I was extremely tired (maybe just a tough weekend?) and then became light-headed and very yucky. We later attributed this to taking all of my usual allergy and asthma medications on an essentially empty stomach. I slept most of the afternoon and then felt better. Weight: 109 (usually 105-6 but thinking the junk food and carb-alicious weekend did me in!)

Day 2: Felt a little flu-ish. Might just be the lack of allergy medication in my system (plus the withdrawal of meds and hot tea)! Every time I was hungry, I drank a juice. They really seemed to taste like lawn clippings on this day. Ugh. 10 days is a long time but somehow I felt good at the same time. Weird. (Don’t stop taking your meds unless you speak to your Dr. first!) Weight: 105.6

Day 3: I was expecting to be yucky on this day. However, surprised to find that I felt pretty good. Of course, I did end up sleeping for 10 hours the night before, crazy! My body needed the rest, I guess! Not hungry. Pretty energized. Did manual labor for a few hours and this was better than having to think. My brain does seem to have adjusted though and the flu symptoms have subsided. This isn’t so bad after all. The biggest thing is that it’s annoying not to eat food. I’m not tempted to cheat, I just want to eat very specific, fresh, delicious foods. Weight: 104.8

Day 4: I’ve been working out pretty hard this week and yes, was able to even on juice alone! However, I was hungry on this day. I thought I was drinking enough but at the last count, I didn’t take in enough, especially for as much as I was burning. Thinking I need to do a schedule instead of waiting to be hungry. My brain is back to working although I do go in and out of focus with the hunger. Weight: 103.8

Day 5: Might’ve been the worst day yet. Woke up hungry and whenever that happens, I can never catch up, especially on juice alone! Felt light-headed and almost caved in at lunchtime but had a stalk of celery with peanut butter and it helped immensely. Yes, it’s cheating but it wasn’t a burger and fries- it was a STALK OF CELERY WITH PEANUT BUTTER! Was still hungry most of the day. Been complaining a lot today and I’m sure everyone is tired of hearing it but I really didn’t feel awesome today. However, the one thing that kept me from bailing was the when I had some juice, I did feel awesome. So once again, we are thinking that I’m not drinking enough juice or water. Ugh, so still my fault. It’s so weird. I want to bail and yet, when I feel good, I feel REALLY GOOD. I skipped a workout today just because I think my body is repairing and doesn’t need any additional stress. Weight: 104

I won’t do another day like today. If I feel the same tomorrow, I’m done. However, maybe I’m really close to getting to the good stuff?! I don’t know but I do know that I’ll cave if I think it’s an actual health problem and not just my mental state dealing with my apparent food addiction! I’ve always said, “I eat to live, not live to eat.” After this week, I think that I’ve been lying to myself for a couple of years. I use to eat plain, boring, healthy foods to survive, but in the last few years, I’ve enjoyed excellent cuisine and gourmet ingredients and have really grown to appreciate them.

Everyone else seems to be feeling about the same. Some weight loss, some flu-ish symptoms, highs and lows for sure. I would strongly recommend teaming up for an experiment like this because the accountability is ridiculously awesome! We have an ongoing group text that has kept me off the ledge a few times!

Here’s my take so far:

I think juicing is powerful and awesome. I think that incorporating it into my daily life will up my energy, make me look and feel better and maybe even help me focus without caffeine. I might even juice all day for a day or 2 every now and then to reset myself and maybe drop a couple of pounds (holiday weight – never again!).  It would also be great before a photo shoot or special event! I’ll keep you posted on the rest of our journey. Now, someone cue Bon Jovi!

Update:

Day 6: It was a Saturday and I never realized how much eating has to do with our weekend! We had plans for dinner, a hockey game, after game drinks… and we were juicing. Depending on how you look at it, we cracked. Or maybe we just decided to live life, who knows. But, we decided to take 24 hrs off from the juice and enjoy our plans. It turns out, when you juice all the time, food tastes absolutely amazing. We had SMALL portions of everything, savored every bite and it was a complete win. We decided that we enjoyed juicing so much that we were going to do juices all day (when we can) and then eat a light dinner. I’m also having a small lunch. Then, when we eat out or have plans, it’s no big deal. We enjoy it and then get back to the plan.  Weight: 102.4

Day 10: While our house cracked on Day 6, our amazingly hardcore friends made it to Day 10 and we had the healthiest splurge meal I’ve ever seen to celebrate! Fish, kale salad, salad and tabouleh, with delicious energy bite no bakes for dessert. Everything was amazingly fresh and delicious. Weight: 104

Today is almost a week after our 1st splurge and I’m amazed at how we’ve incorporated ‘the vuice’ into our daily lives and yet still aren’t those weird people that can’t be social… you know who I’m talking about! :) We’ve continued our 2x day workouts, we’ve been eating a bit of food, me more than Nik because he really wants to lose more weight. I made an amazing vegan chili and we even broke down and ordered a pizza one night after a very thought-intensive brainstorming day! Overall, though, our bodies are nutrient happy and the lack of calories has Nik losing weight and me holding pretty steady at 102.6 – lower than I’ve been in years without being hungry! It’s just crazy. I think we are really going to just keep on with this as a lifestyle and I’m sure we’ll drop off for a week or two every now and then and have to reset ourselves so we can get back on track but we feel better, look better, sleep better and all food smells and tastes better so I just can’t find anything wrong with this scenario!

Find more health and fitness tips at WithAmyMac.com

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