Day 21 Juice Feasting

Day 21

 

I have had a plateau for awhile but have lost another pound, so I'm down 13 lbs. ;)  I was hoping to have more of a loss so far into the feast but oh well.

 I made a strong green drink yesterday and am still working through it. I made 4 quarts and put them into the fringe. If you plan on saving juice for more than a day fill the glass jar to the very top and apply lid. This way there is very little air to oxidize the juice and it will keep a little longer. I used Swiss chard and Pac Choy for the greens and the juice turned out a little greener than I'm used to and a little salty. I mixed it into a V8 but it is still potent.

I know people will look at the Vita Mix container and think, what the? But I only use it to hold all of the juice to re-mix it then I divide it into jars. If anyone has noticed I went back to my Omega 8002 juicer. I don't have to cut up the greens so much and sometimes at all. I also felt like I could juice quicker with my old one so, back to the store the Omega VRT went. I used the money to buy more fruit and veggies.

Enjoy!!!



Day Eighteen

So today is day eighteen of my juice feast. I had a break out on my neck of acne yesterday, just another nice detox symptom. Another reminder that my body needs to keep healing and I need to stay the course. I've had some head cracking headaches in the evenings. I need to buy an enema bag. Yes, an enema bag. I've heard a lot of detox symptoms can be totally relieved by doing some enemas. The toxins just get stuck and need help being removed so they aren't taken up by the body again. I've never done them before but many juicers and raw foodist recommend them. I know, who wants to do them but, I will if I have to.

I've read a little about Ann Wigmore and she had her patients do them to help the bodies natural healing to cure disease. I am all for taking your health into your own hands and finding relief somewhere besides a little blue pill and a hundred side effects. Have you ever heard that Jeff Foxworthy bit about taking I think it was eye drops for dry eyes. It's hilarious he says they work great for dry eyes but the side effects are like headache, hair loss, runny nose, bad breath, hives and anal leakage. That sums up our pharmaceutical industry to a T.

I have started getting into essential oils and find they help me sleep and when needed help with stress. I use the Young Living oils once I read about their processing and products. I don't want something that potent to be contaminated with pesticides or be genetically messed with. I get them for my own use I don't sell them. After I get my health squared away I might look into doing something more with them. I've used other essential oils with out them helping at all.

 

I have to say, I have had a tomato or 1/2 cantaloupe here and there to help slow down some of the healing crisis I've been having. Usually once a day every couple of days or more. Nothing like a meal.

 

Today I started with watermelon juice, one quart for breakfast and one for lunch. I have noticed I don't drink near as much as when I first started. I'm still pushing myself to drink more water. I'm just not thirsty and I forget. I need to slow down on the fruits and that will slow down my detox symptoms. But they are so delicious and really help with the wanting anything else.

 

Weigh in; I've lost a total of twelve lbs. which is the reason for the giant smiley face at the top.



Day 15 Juice Feasting, 10lbs Lost, Why I started

My juice feasting has been going pretty well. Yesterday was a little difficult. I made my husband and son some pork chops and they smelled so good. Then they wanted breakfast for dinner so eggs and sausage. I wanted to eat the sausage so bad. I just kept telling myself the juicing is only temporary and I can eat later. It's been working well. I made a delicious V8 last night and it was very satisfying. I weighed in the morning and have finally hit the ten pound mark YEA!!! I've been having to mix organic produce and conventional when I can't find what I need. I hate to do it but I'd rather stay on the feast.

 

Detox symptoms:

More headaches and my lymph glands have been hurting here and there. I watched some videos on-line about detoxing. A lot of people say there are a wide range of detox symptoms from mucus pouring out of every orifice, to pus, headaches, fatigue. So I don't have much to complain about. I am getting more mucus in my throat and nose but not much anywhere else, thankfully. I get really tired by like seven o'clock and went to bed last night at eight thirty. I care more about fixing my healthy right now then staying up late. My jaw has also been aching everyday by about four o'clock. I've been doing some homepathic meds for symptoms that are more than uncomfortable.

 

I am loving my pineapple juice mix. Just to re-cap it's a pineapple, zucchini, cucumber and a lemon. I add stevia to sweeten and water to dilute. I crave this one often.

I have been able to keep my mind focused on this juice feast better than the last one I did. My cravings for food have decreased so much I'm sometimes flabbergasted.

 

Anyway, I was going to do a post on why I started this juice feast in the first place.

1. Detox my body

2. Increase energy levels

3. Relieve Headaches and migraines

4. Relieve chronic fatigue

5. Lose weight(this is the first one really)

6. Relieve depression

7. Increase nutritional levels

8. Stop muscular cramping

9. Help PMS symptoms

10. Improve Skin

11. Relieve chronic inflammation

12. Relieve muscular and joint pain

13. Re balance body

14. Get rid of toxins in body(this is ongoing process)

15. Help with brain fog and recall problems

16.Help with severe menstrual cramping

 

So far, I have noticed an increase in the day with my energy levels. My brain fog has gotten better and so has the depression. I posted on how much better my PMS was and my cramping was the lightest it has ever been. My skin definitely has improved and so has the muscular pain. Also can I say again I LOST TEN POUNDS!!!!

Day Thirteen

Day Thirteen! Wow, I'm shocked I made it so far and look forward to celebrating two weeks tomorrow. The longer I do this the easier it becomes. It's funny how your focus changes from all the things you can eat to other things you could be doing. It takes about half an hour to juice everything but sometimes I do extra so I won't have to juice again till the next day. I have been doing my basic juice with some add ins. This morning was watermelon juice with zucchini and stevia to taste. I'm trying to get all the watermelon I can before the season is gone :(

 I've also purchased several pineapples to use over the next week or so. They're  cheaper right now and give a lot of juice. Last time I mixed it with cucumber, zucchini and lemon and it was sooo delicious. I added water to thin it a little and of course stevia.

 On to the detox symptoms. I have had several days of late day headaches and a lot of tiredness. My husband has been great and letting me get to bed around eight o'clock. I have noticed that all of my muscles are much more relaxed and loose. I know it's from being grain free. Before they were hard and tight. My chiropractor had said it was like trying to adjust a table.

I have been having some mucus in the morning and evening recently. When I have been dairy free before that had gone away completely. I thought I had allergies to seasonal stuff, but it was just the dairy. Dairy is very mucus causing not only in your sinus' but also in the gut.

I have also noticed some aching in my joints and in past injuries which I here is normal during this kind of detox. I hurt my ankle 15 years ago and really haven't ever had any issues except it being a little wobbly. It's been more sensitive and hurting at night. 

 

Several cool things have been, my face and neck have lost weight. My husband commented the other day. I have noticed loss in my waist, hips and feet. I'm on the tail end of my cycle so I should start to lose more soon. I was down another pound yesterday. I think this will really start to improve soon.

 

It is more expensive sometimes to juice depending on what I juice. On my watermelon days it's only about six dollars for one from the store. I've stripped down my garden using everything to juice and have been really happy doing it. Sometimes in the past I have thrown some stuff out or had to give it away so it wouldn't go bad. Juicing may be something I do every summer to use up produce and lose those extra winter pounds. After this juice feast I may do a green smoothie feast to transition into whole foods again. 

Color Me Impressed

I am so impressed! Wonder why? I am a woman who has had horrendous PMS and menstrual cramping since I can remember. Just ask my husband! I know I'm a terrible person to live with during that time. Otherwise I'm in pretty good control of myself and what I say. I get mad like everyone else but, during that time I just lose it. My hormones are nuts. I also have very strong cravings for sweets, grains and high fat. I bloat, have headaches am fatigued etc. I have every PMS symptom there is.

 

So, today is day nine of my juice feast and I "started" and really didn't even know I was going to. Sometimes I'm a week early but man do I know I'm going to start and so does my DH. This time I've been a little tired but, we went for a five mile bike ride yesterday and with pre-school starting I just thought it was normal. I haven't had almost any of the normal PMS stuff. I contribute that to the juice feast.  I'll have to update tomorrow about the cramping but, I haven't had any of the strong cravings, bloating or extreme fatigue. The cramping usually keeps me up at night and is so terrible the first day and sometimes the second day.

 

Anyway, I made a juice this morning with collard greens. I have never had them before and they were on sale so I decided to try a bunch. I mixed them with my standard base for juice and added, grapes, lemon and parsley. It was really filling and I just needed a quart to start. Then later in the morning I had the second quart and liked it even more than the first. For lunch I had a basic V8 with more thyme and rosemary. I have to say I really like the stronger thyme but probably couldn't do it all the time. It reminded me of Thanksgiving and sage stuffing? I have another quart that I think I'll save for tomorrow morning and I'll juice the other half of my watermelon. I wanted something for a small snacks so I did eat a half a cantaloupe. I figured it's mostly water anyway and really hard to juice so, I just ate it.
I'm lovin the watermelon with the extra stevia. I went out to the garden and found I had about five more. I'm gonna let them get bigger for the next couple days, maybe pick one for now. ENJOY!!!

Day Eight and Doing Great

Wonderful day eight! I was having a little trouble yesterday because I had to cook for my Dh and son. I cooked last Sunday and made enough for the week breakfast, lunches and dinners. So yesterday I had to do it again and the whole house smelled like yummy meatloaf. Ugh! I'm better today.

 

I juiced a half a watermelon from my garden yesterday before bed.

 It was an heirloom yellow watermelon.  Don't you just love the green color. I like the juice really cold and wanted it for the morning. The rest of the day will be V8's and maybe I might try that fruit lemonade I mentioned in another post. If you don't remember here is the recipe.

 

Fruit Lemonade:

3 Lemons or Limes peeled

1 Pineapple skin removed

3 Pears
1 Zucchini

water and stevia to taste.

 

With the whole lemons I like to dilute it a bit just like lemonade. Also it's better for the teeth if it's diluted. I have been brushing more and will be drinking more water. The first recipe was apples but, I have pears to use up and I may substitute limes for the lemons. I'm still doing the fish oil and coconut oil. I do the coconut if I'm going to be out for awhile because it helps with hunger. I usually do 1 tsp to a tablespoon. My detox symptoms are much better and I have more energy. I haven't re-checked my weight yet, I may wait a couple days. After my juice feast is over I will continue to do green juices daily. ENJOY!!!

Down 6 lbs, Unbelievable Juice Recipes

Today is day 6 of my juice diet. I was a little bummed the last day or so because I hadn't noticed any big changes in my weight. Well, today when I weighed myself this morning, I was down 6lbs YEAH!!!

I was thrilled and the last time I did this I was desperately ready to quit by the sixth day and I don't feel like that this time. I feel like I could keep going for who knows how long.

 

Last night I made something a little sweeter, I was feeling down and wanted to indulge a little. Here's the recipe:

1 pineapple, chopped and diced with core skin removed

1 large zucchini

1 large cucumber (which was more like 2)

Stevia to taste

 

This came out sooooo good. Very yummy, but I know to keep losing I have to stay with the veggies.

 

The one for lunch today was unreal. Usually it's hard to say that for a veggie juice. I really like V8 juice and at the health food store they have some good ones, but this was sooo good.

 These are the herbs I used.

 

V8 Recipe:

1/4 bunch basil, parsley

4-5 stems and leaves of cilantro

1 stem rosemary, thyme leaves removed

10 stems if chives diced

3-4 flower heads from garlic chives

1 head romaine lettuce heart

1 lemon peeled

5 carrots

the stops from 3 of the carrots chopped up

1 large zucchini

1 large cucumber

About 2 lbs of heirloom tomatoes

I mixed yellow and red tomatoes

1 orange bell pepper

celery salt to taste

garlic salt to taste

 This is the carrot tops

My beautiful heirloom tomatoes

 

Now this made about 70 ounces so I put the extra in quart jars and sealed them up tight. The great thing about this juice is it tastes a little like salsa which I have missed doing a juice feast. You could also add some cayenne but, some people find that irritating on a feast so maybe when I'm off.  Everything except the lemon came from my back yard garden. I'll really miss my garden when the season changes :(

This is what I will probably finish the day with. ENJOY!!!