36 day Juice Fast {30 by 30}

One of the items on my 30 by 30 list is to complete a 30 day juice fast.  When I originally made my 30 by 30 list, it was just something that I wanted to see if I could do...but it ended up being something that has completely transformed by life, and my perspective on food!

Yesterday, I completed a 36 day juice fast.  I realize that 36 days is an odd number, but I somewhat cheated.  See, Juicing every single morning for the entire day just wasn't feasible with the Mr's and my current schedule.  We are already too busy, and I already had enough on my plate trying to get our gym bags packed, and get myself out the door in the mornings, and in the evenings after we got home from the gym, my evenings are filled with preparing the Mr's Dinner and Lunch for the next day.  I also only go grocery shopping every 2 weeks since we live so far away from good grocery stores that my vegetables were going bad before I could juice them!  SO, I would spend an afternoon juicing and then freeze the juice in freezer bags, then thaw them out the night before!  Sure, I probably lost some nutrients in the juice along the way, but that was something that I was willing to sacrifice to keep some level of sanity!  So, had to finish the juice that was in the freezer!

This juice fast has been SO good for me!


I know that it seems probably odd to you that I would do a juice fast, especially after my post yesterday.  But, at this point in my life, my eating disorder didn't really have to with NOT eating or starving myself, it had more to do with having the control to use food to comfort myself, and having the control to make myself throw up, when I felt like the rest of my life was out of control.  I really feel like this juice fast has been what I needed to conquer my eating disorder once and for all.  It's not to say that I will never be tempted, or even fail in the future, but it has really helped change my perspective on a lot of things! 

This juice fast helped me to learn to NOT use food to comfort myself or deal with stressful situations.  Instead of turning to food to get me through stressful situations, I learned out to work through them in a healthy way!


It also helped change my perspective of food in general!  Food is meant to provide sustenance and energy for us!  Our bodies were created to tell us when we are hungry, and I'm hoping that as I start introducing food back into my diet, I can continue to eat mindfully and make wise decisions about what I choose to put into my body!

I feel better!  I can't remember the last time I had a headache!  I have a more energy than I have had in a LONG time!  My alarm goes off at 5 AM, and it's not a struggle to get out of bed in the morning.  Before, my husband would have a hard time getting me up  by 6:30.  Now, sometimes I'm awake before him!

Through Juicing, I found out that I have some food intolerances!  I won't pretend to tell you that I was perfect through out this juice cleanse.  Let's face it, you can't cook and NOT taste the food to see if it needs something else.  And asking the MR. to come taste it and then tell me what it needed just wasn't working.  I also one evening had a few bites of this delicious mixture of corn, cream cheese & rotel, which made my head break out 2 days later... And then, from the red, rashy stage, it turns into a scaly, dry itchy mess.  Finally, 5-7 days later, it clears up! It's NOT FUN.

Then one morning I had 1/3 of a latte, and my head broke out even worse.  SO, I'm continuing to cut out all corn, dairy & sugar for now, as well as gluten.

Juicing also nip my cravings in the bud.  I no longer crave sugar, junk food, or processed foods at all.  Once in a while I think, "Boy, a Mcdonald's breakfast would be good," but then I realize that I don't even really want it, it's just a bad habit.  The Mr & I even talked ourselves out of going to eat Mexican a few nights ago because we knew that we would feel TERRIBLE afterwards!

I was actually able to work out during my juice fast!  I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to, but I felt fine throughout all of my workouts!  I never once felt light headed or dizzy.  I would feel drained after my workouts, but that to be expected after any workout, at least in my experience!


Would I say that a juice fast is for everyone?  No, I sure wouldn't!  If you are interested in juicing, I recommend that you watch the movie "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead".  When I watched it 9 months ago, it was on netflix!  I don't know it if still is or not though!  It's REALLY insightful!

I'm a little nervous, because that last time I was juicing I completely fell off the band wagon and went hog wild.  I feel different about it this time though.  I feel more in control of myself and the situation.  I understand more about food & nutrition, and how my body reacts to it now!  This is probably THE WORST time of year to be avoiding all things sugar, flour and casserole, but I know that if I can make it through this season then I can make it through anything!  I'm also a lot more prepared this time around as far as preparing food and having TONS of delicious recipes to pick from!

Overall, this has been a very positive experience for me, and I would definitely do it again!  I AM looking forward to reintroducing food back into my diet!  It will be nice to actually get to EAT the food that I cook!  I've already been practicing cooking without all the foods that I'm avoiding on my MR, so it's not going to be any different now that I get to join him in eating!

I STILL plan to incorporate juicing into my diet because I think it's really good for me, and helps me get some added nutrients, just not for 3 meals a day!  

This Morning I had a delicious breakfast of some pomegranate seeds & a hard boiled egg!  It was the first time I have EVER tried pomegranate seeds, and I'm still undecided about them! I REALLY like the juicy part, but I'm still not quite so sure about the crunchy part.  It kind of reminds me of a crunchy, dried out corn kernel.

No!  I DID NOT eat the entire bowl!!!!

For lunch I'm having a salad with sautéed veggies, salsa, and a touch of seasoned ground beef from one of my MR's meals at the beginning of the week! 

Dinner is left over salmon, and probably some kind of salad or veggies!

If you hadn't eaten in 36 days, what would YOUR first meal be?

{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!



Juicing

 

Saturday after work I made my fruit & veggie list,

along with the things that my husband needs to survive,

and trucked up to Collierville to our not so local Aldi & Kroger.

 

(I live in the middle of no where people,

 the only grocery store I have is piggly wiggly,

and you feel dirty just walking in there)

 

I got most of my fruits and veggies from Aldi,

But had to go to Kroger to get a few missing items.

The cashier at Aldi looked at me kind of crazy when I had 8 cucumbers.

 

I stocked up the fridge and pantry when I got home,

and when the Mr. opened the fridge he said,

"Oh wow, our fridge looks like I'm married to a health nut,

oh wait.  You are turning into a health nut"

 

 

On Sunday morning I woke up with a fever, a stuffy nose, and eyes that won't stop watery.

So I spent most of my day sacked out on the couch.

 

I did manage to make my first juice though.

 

We call it

 

Fruit Punch

2 plums,

1 beet (with the greens)

4 carrots

1 bunch of grapes.

 

Put the "soft" fruits through the juicer,

if the pulp comes out feeling wet,

Run that through again.

Then do your hard veggies,

If the pulp feel wet,

Run it through again.

 

Stir the juice up,

and enjoy!

 

This really would have made enough for 2 servings,

but I was a greedy gut and drank it all.

The Mr. tried it,

He wasn't so sure about it,

But it's my favorite so far!

It had a stronge taste of plums and was pretty sweet.

 

Since that juice was more of a brunch meal,

and I was a greedy gut with it,

I didn't juice again until dinner.

 

We call this

 

LEMON ZINGER

 

 

1 lemon, peeled

2 Cucumbers, peeled

1 knob of ginger

1 bunch of grapes.

 

I added in some mint because I thought it was add a little zip to it, but I didn't add enough to actually make a difference,

I also don't think I put in enough ginger.  I ended up adding 1/2 a carrot to help push the pulp through a second time.  That would be the reason for the funny brown color!  It was ok.  The cucumbers over powered everything, so next time I'll add more ginger and mint!

 

This morning I was wide awake at 5:15, probably because I went to bed at 8:30.

I went ahead and started prepping the veggies & fruits for my juice today.  This made enough juice for 2 servings

 

We call this

 

Fruit and Veggie Blend

3 carrots

2-3 stalks celery

2 apples (i used 1 green, 1 yellow)

1 yellow pepper

2 kiwis

1/2 cucumber

2-3 sprigs of parsley

1 grapefruit

Handful of spinach

Serves 2

 

People with Hypothyroid or Hashimoto's thyroid disorders need to be careful of goiterous vegetables,

spinach is one of these vegetables, but you can have spinach, sparingly (2-3 servings per week, max)

I had a litle taste of it this morning, but I stored the rest of it for my lunch & dinner.

 

A note on storing Juice:  Apprarently, once you juice a fruit or a vegetable, it because it oxidize immedietly, and therefore begins loosing all it's wonder antioxidents and nutrients!  If you are using a centrifugal juicer, then you will need to drink your juice immedietly.  If you are using a masticating juicer, you will be able to store your juice in a (preferably glass) container, with a lid that seals tight, that is filled all the way to the top, for 24 hours.

 

You also need to be careful of how much fruit you are putting in, because they will increase the sugar content of your juice & make your blood sugar jump, and then bottom out.  Carrots and beets have quite a bit of natural sugars as well!

 

All in all, my first day of juicing has been a success.

Tomorrow I am going to try juices with less fruit in them!

 

 

Weight Loss since beginning of Master Cleanse: 11.6 pounds

Weight Loss Since Juicing: +1 lb

Mood: sick as a dog

Energy Level: Low, but I'm also sick

Mental Clarity: Clear-other than the congested sinuses

Headache: None:

Over all wellbeing: This cold makes me feel like poo, so this is a tainted response.



In Sickness & in Health

You know that part of your wedding vows when you promise to love each other forever. no matter what. even when your wife is some crazy person that likes to fix things naturally??? 

 

Yea.  I bet the Mr. is SERIOUSLY regretting that part of our vows.

 

We found out that I have a thyroid problem this past week,

while not diagnosed by a Dr.

My blood tests came back with the results that resemble

Hashimoto's, which is an auto-immune disorder.

Which means my body is literally attacking my thyroid.

 

GREAT.

 

It explains a lot though.

 

Low Basal Body Temp 

Fatigue and sluggishness

Increased sensitivity to cold

Pale, dry skin

An elevated blood cholesterol level

Bloating.

Low libido

 

(You can read more about it HERE....)

 

Before I had blood work done, the Mr. thought I was slightly neuritic when I said I thought I had a thyroid problem,

Until I read him off a list (much longer) than this list about.  And I had like 95% of the symptoms.

 

The Problem is ...

 

Neither of us want me to be on Thyroid medication.

 

So I started doing a TON of research,

and I found that I can *hopefully* get rid of it through diet and exercise.

 

So I gave up coffee on Saturday,

and have started a cleanse.

 

So far, IT.SUCKS.

 

I feel like Poo.

 

I've had a headache since Saturday afternoon (Caffeine withdrawal)

and every thing is kind of foggy (DETOX)

 

I was supposed to start the cleanse yesterday,

but his parents took us out to dinner to my FAVORITE restaurant,

 

So I had to start again today.

 

The master Cleanse Consists of

 

Lemon Juice

Water

Maple Syrup

Cayenne Pepper

 

It doesn't necassarily taste bad, it just burns ALL THE WAY DOWN.

 

 

Before you think I've completely lost my mind, I did a TON of research on this.

 

So the Plan is to detox my body and give it a much needed rest.

I plan to do the Master Cleanse for 3-5 days,

Then I am going to do a Juice fast for a minimum 10 days.

 

I knew that I was going to do the Juice Fast BEFORE I watched the movie

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead,

but that just reinforced my decision.

 

You SERIOUSLY need to watch it.  It's on Netflix, and Hulu.  Watch it TONIGHT.

 

So after the Juice Fast,

I get to start reintroducing foods back into my diet

(they call this an elimination diet),

 

I'll have to start out slow,

but I still won't introduce "The big 5"

 

Corn

Soy

Eggs

Dairy

Gluten

 

The Plan is to slowly introduce these back into my diet.

1 week I'll eat a corn based food, then take it back out of my diet

and see if I have any negative reactions for the next 2 days,

if I do, I know that food is something that my body doesn't like,

and I'll continue to eliminate it from my diet!

Then the next week I'll test another food for a day, and so on & so on.

 

And I'm going to start YOGA.

Are you laughing?  Cause the Mr. did.

 

This is all VERY new and VERY overwhelming to me,

and I'm still doing a TON of research on it!

This is just the beginning of my journey,

and I'm sure I'm going to make a lot of mistake along the way!

It might be easier for me to go to the Dr

& Have them put me on Meds,

But isn't that just slapping a band aid over it instead of solving the root problem?

Even if it is harder,

I'd rather fix it naturally

than to be on a pill for the rest of my life!

 

**note:  I AM NOT a Doctor, I recommend you seeing your doctor before starting any of the above.  Please do NOT take any advice from me without researching it out for yourself and making the decision for yourself!  I'll be glad to share some of my sources with you, feel free to send me a FB message, or e-mail me at hillaryfay8606 at gmail dot com**