I made it through the first day of my juice fast and it went pretty well actually. Although I do have to wonder if part of that is because of this cold I’m carrying around and the fact that it’s probably dulling my appetite.
I picked up my mom’s juicer on Sunday afternoon, so I’d have time to make sure I knew how to use it and play with a little. Sunday evening I made a really good carrot-ginger-orange juice. It only took that first glass of juice for me to see why the Jack Lalane doesn’t get great reviews (or moreso why the Breville juicers get way better reviews). The thing is kind of a pain. The JL has more parts to clean (based on videos online of the Breville being cleaned) and is harder to take apart (especially when it’s messy). Also the JL doesn’t come with a catch-cup for your juice. You just use whatever cup you want to put the juice in (and it needs to be no taller than a 16oz solo cup). And, occasionally, just for good measure, the juicer will feel the need to spit your juice completely over your catch-cup, making a mess. So, I ordered a Breville before the night was over, but it won’t be here till Thursday.
I realized too late, that I didn’t plan well in regards to when I wanted to start this fast. I forgot that most everything is closed on New Years Day (including CostCo and the local health food/veggie store). So I ended up paying way too much for my produce (probably twice what I should have). If I’d been smart I would have just bought enough on Sunday to get me through Monday morning and then went back out. But, at the time I really didn’t know that the prices I was paying on Sunday were that much more. I also didn’t plan well, because I forgot that Paul was off work on Monday. I knew it would be harder to stay on my fast with him home, but the reality was he didn’t have that much affect.
I got up on Monday and went straight to work making a batch of “green juice“. I hadn’t tried juicing kale or celery yet and I found out that those are not easy tasks. Especially the kale (although I did learn some tricks). It ended up taking me about 30 minutes to make 2 glasses of juice. I drank one immediately and put the other away to drink later. Juice does lose a lot of its nutrients when stored and it is best to drink it right away. However, I know that I can’t use the juicer to make juice every single time I plan to drink a glass… that’s just too much work. So, while I’ll do my best to ensure that most of my juice is fresh, it’s not all going to be.
After that I did some Tai Chi, then we headed out to check produce prices at CostCo and the local store (and to pick up a few more things). While we were at the local store we both realized we were hungry so I grabbed a bottle of fresh carrot, beet, celery juice and wished I’d waited till I got home (it wasn’t as good and it was expensive, even though it was fresh). Later, I went to meet with the pharmacist at one of the local compounding pharmacies. We talked about my meds and supplements and what I was doing diet wise. She was very positive regarding my diet plan and thinking that getting off of gluten and dairy would help me. She also said that food allergies/ sensitivities can cause the kind of sinus symptoms I’ve been having, and I may see an improvement there once I’ve been off for a few weeks. She also pointed me to a couple of versions of supplements that she felt were better than the ones I was already taking as well as suggested a couple of new ones I might want to try (although suggested I wait until after I go through this dietary revamp before I add one of them). She did something called a “strength test” to help determine which brands or versions of different supplements would be better for me. It was rather interesting to see how my body reacted to different things. In some cases there was very little difference between brands. In others, it was quite obvious that one was better than another, for me.
Related Link : Heal With Hope: Applied Kinesiology
I admit, I’d never heard of this before she did it and I had no idea what was expected to happen. She just had me hold my pinky finger and thumb together, and she would pull them apart. In the other hand I held onto different things (water, sugar, nothing, various supplements). The idea is that the items that my body most needed would make me “stronger”. I saw quickly that sugar made me weaker. Water didn’t really affect me (which she said was atypical – but possibly because I actually do drink a lot of water – I was on my third liter for the day at that point), and then she checked my supplements against other brands that she would typically suggest. In some cases, my brand responded better (Iron), in other cases, hers did (Magnesium – she suggested Magnesium Glicinate over the Magnesium Malate I’ve been taking).
I don’t want to change up too much while I’m playing with my diet, as I want to know what is actually working and what isn’t. So, I won’t start any new supplements till sometime next month, if then. While I was out, I got hungry again so I grabbed a bottle of Bolthouse Farms C-Boost. Later, I had a second glass of green juice with a snack of orange-carrot-apple juice. My hubby tried the latter and agreed that it was yummy. Although, he also commented that I’d found “another expensive habit” and that he needed to find a way to eat less produce so we could save money. Or something like…. men! LOL.
Don’t think that I made it through the day without wanting to eat. I did. But, it wasn’t because I was hungry, I wasn’t. I just am so used to eating. I had to fight the urge to just grab a handful of almonds. And I really had a craving for MEAT! I just had to keep reminding myself that I’m doing this for a reason, and that reason is that I want to feel better. I’m great at self-sabatoge. But, in much the same way that we jumped on the Dave Ramsey wagon and followed through on that to put ourselves in better financial health, I know that if I make these changes for myself now and sacrifice I’ll be much happier for it later.
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Becky says
lol…I can totally relate to you with your husband, mine is the same way! They are funny 🙂