{Update} Juicing

Yesterday marked the beginning of my 3rd week juicing.

You can read up on my original post HERE

This whole journey has been a fun learning experience for me!

I've had a lot of people concerned about that fact that I wasn't getting enough nutrients,

but I drink when I'm hungry,

and I don't feel at all malnourished!

If you saw the plate of vegetables that I juice every morning you would be amazed!

Here are some things that I've learned along the way.

Be Prepared!

Make sure that you know what fruits and vegetables you are going to need for the week!

There is nothing worse than getting up early in the morning picking out your recipe and realize that you don't have the ingredients!

Be Flexible!

Don't be afraid to change the recipe up if you don't have exactly what the recipe calls for!  And don't be afraid to make up your own recipes as you go!  I've learned what my favorite things to juice with are, and things that I really don't like (tomatoes, onions, and ginger are at the top of the things not to juice!)

Think Ahead!

If you are doing a juice cleanse and know that you'll be going out to dinner that night, make sure you plan in time before you leave to juice, or have a juice ready from earlier.  It's no fun to have to rush around right before you leave to get a juice together, and you REALLY don't want to have to sit there starving, and drooling over everyone else's food because you didn't get to "eat" anything beforehand!

Drink Water!

Let me say that again.  DRINK LOTS OF WATER!  I don't have a specific amount for you to drink, but you need to make sure that you are drinking enough!  You body is cleansing itself, give it water to flush your system out! I've been drinking about a gallon of water a day.  That might not be the right amount for you, but it seems to be the right about for me!

Know what you are juicing

Figure out your different fruits and vegetables & what they offer you!  I got The Juicing Bible when I got my juicer.  It tells you what fruits, vegetables & herbs are good for what.  And it gives you recipes for whatever ails you!  But also know which vegetables are sweet, which are bitter, etc.  Carrots & beets provide a sweeter juice, chard is a little more on the bitter side.  Onion will over power everything.  Too much jalapeno and you won't be able to drink it!  Pineapple is by far my favorite fruit to juice!  Grapefruit is going to give your juice the very distinct grapefruit taste!  Cucumbers provide a lot of juice, but you're going to taste it too!  Red Peppers also have a very distinct flavor, same with celery.  A little bit of ginger goes a very very long way!  I just decided to not juice with it anymore because I don't like it! 

Try not to use too many fruits

My general rule of thumb is 1 fruit per serving.  Sometimes I use a little more.  But if you get too many fruits then you get too high of a sugar content.  This will cause your Blood Sugar to spike and then crash!

Here are my favorite juices so far!

Sweet Potato Dream

1-2 Sweet potatoes, depending on the size

4-5 carrots

1/3-1/2 pineapple

This is my all time favorite!  It's on the sweet side though! 

{Sorry for the lack of a picture, just know it's very orange!}

Fruit Juice

2 plums,

1 beet (with the greens)

4 carrots

1 bunch of grapes.

This is very tasty & sweet!  The plums give your mouth a "dry" feeling though!

This was my very first juice!  It's a great one for beginners!

Fruit and Veggie Blend

3 carrots

2-3 stalks celery

2 Apples

1 yellow pepper

2 kiwis

1/2 cucumber

2-3 sprigs of parsley

1 Grapefruit

1/2 bunch Swiss chard

I can usually get 2 servings! 

Sweet Ruby

Everything but the kitchen sink

This is one I made up at the end of the week when I had an array of veggies left!

1/2 bunch Swiss chard

1 lemon

3-4 stalks celery

1 orange, red, or yellow pepper

1 cucumber

1/4 pineapple

1 red apple

1 green apple

4-5 carrots

Berry Delight

{This is the recipe I made up this morning!}

1 small container blueberries

4-5 strawberry's

(more would be good, but I'm not supposed to have strawberries!)

1/3 pineapple
1 grapefruit

1 colored pepper

1 cucumber

3-4 carrots

3-4 stalks celery

1-2 beets

1/2 bunch Swiss or Rainbow Chard

YUM!  This made 3 pint jars, plus a little bit!

Weight Loss Juicing: 6.6 lbs (average 3 lbs a week)

Total Weight Loss: 17.2 lbs

Mood: GREAT!  The Mr. says I am way less moody (and he didn't even get punched!)

Energy Level: Moderatly High, I'm even waking up a lot easier in the morning, and am not a grouch!

Mental Clarity: Clear

Headaches: NONE!  Halleluah!

Over all well being: I have never felt better!