The 7 Day Juice F(e)ast Final Day: Mission Accomplished!

I came, I starved, I conquered!  Yes, I have eaten at last.  I do apologize for not updating ya’ll last night on this delightful new development but it completely slipped my addled mind.  Perhaps I was so overjoyed about filling my stomach that I forgot to let everyone know I was doing so.

Anyway, the soft boiled egg was the yummiest I have ever eaten, and the plum… and cucumber… and spinach… and banana almond smoothie… and salmon… and broccoli… and sweet potatoes… Okay, so my appetite did not suffer through this fast.  I may have eaten smaller portions of all these foods but I did indeed consume some amount of each!

Although our rashes/hives have not left entirely, I do feel perhaps a bit healthier, and mama and I lost 9 and 5 lbs respectively by the time we finished.  I will have to see what the lasting effects of this fast will be.

Well, much to everyone’s relief, this little adventure is over and I’m on to whatever the next may be!  Don’t worry, as I said, all of my posts won’t be this crazy!  = )

The 7 Day Juice F(e)ast Day 6: So Close I Can Taste It…

A disclaimer here: this blog post may or may not make any sense to you as my brain is a pile of mush.  But, I’m almost there!  Just hours away from a beautiful soft-boiled egg…
This whole fast really made me realize how much I need/enjoy food and how much I take it for granted.  It certainly has given me a whole new sympathy for people who are truly hungry and really can’t eat enough or at all.  It’s sobering to realize that I’m melting down because I’ve been relegated to juice for a week, when there are people with hardly anything to eat indefinitely.
Anyway, it’s the end of day 6 and I’m still alive; looks like I’m going to survive after all.

Unfortunately, this fast really has impaired my cognitive and somewhat my social capabilities, which I have definitely noticed over the past few days.  I have backspaced and retyped more words and sentence in this post than I can possibly remember (which isn’t saying much I guess, considering the state of my memory, but you get the idea…)  Not only have I been switching out unrelated words, but I’ve been drawing complete blanks and feeling like my mind is stuffed with cotton.  It makes me a wonderful conversationalist… when talking with a 4 year old… or someone in need of amusement at another person’s expense.  Hopefully no one else observed this too extraordinarily, but I certainly felt a difference in my typically fairly resilient temperament.  I never realized how much affect what I consume has on my mind.  It’s kinda scary, actually.  Of course, what I’ve been consuming has been highly beneficial; I think the issue is that my body just wants/needs MORE.

Well, until tomorrow then!  Only one more post of juicing madness before ya’ll are liberated from my insane ramblings (at least about juice!)

The 7 Day Juice F(e)ast Day 4: We’re Gettin’ There!

I’m posting earlier today because I probably won’t be home until quite late tonight and probably would forget to do so.  We’re off to the beach for the afternoon and evening, which, as always, makes me super duper happy.

However, this time it also means that we have to juice enough for 4 ‘meals’ AND pack and keep it all fresh alongside our Whole Foods’ salmon plunder.  The most we’ve ever had to juice for was 2 ‘meals’ so this could be interesting.  I have a feeling chaos is about to creep into our kitchen very shortly.

Just to give ya’ll an idea of the volume of produce not only going through our kitchen, but also into our bodies, check out the pictures!  These were from our Whole Foods trip Monday and lasted us only a few days before we had to restock at least a good part of our stash.  For example, it takes 2 cucumbers, 8 celery stalks, 4 apples, 1 lemon, 12-16 leaves of kale, and 1 tsp ginger to make 30 ounces of ‘Mean Green’ juice.  And that’s just 1 ‘meal’ for 2 people out of 6 ‘meals’ for the day.  Crazy stuff!

The 7 Day Juice F(e)ast Day 3: Pressing Onward…

Well, nothing groundbreaking happened in juicing land today, except for a new blend of butternut squash, apple, and cinnamon juice, which was pretty exciting… for juice.  Unfortunately, mama’s stomach didn’t agree, so it looks like I’ll be left to finish off the colossal squash on my own.  Seriously, that thing was HUGE.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a squash that big in my life; it was as big, if not bigger, than a newborn baby.  I’m pretty sure I burned off more cutting it up than I consumed while drinking its juice.  However, despite my long struggle with Mr. Squash, let it be known that I did indeed win in the end.

On a different note, my soul and mind are dying to go for a run, but I have a feeling that if I tried it, my body would not like (or let) me.  I did get to exercise today though, even if it was only a brisk walk in the lovely evening air.  And, on the up side, my rashes seem to be improving, so this f(e)ast appears to be accomplishing its goal thus far.

Oh, and happiest of all, Whole Foods seems to be reading my blog, or at least my mind.  Last night I expressed my intense craving for salmon, and today they sent an email saying it would be on sale tomorrow.  Needless to say, I’m super happy about this and will be stocking up on Wild Alaskan Salmon tomorrow on the way to the beach.  Not that I’ll get to have any yet, but it’s something to longingly look forward to.  Yes, it’s the little things in life…

The 7 Day Juice F(e)ast Day 2: I Will Survive!

So what’s the worst thing to do while on a juice f(e)ast?  Hmmm… go to Olive Garden!  Yes, I pushed my self-control to its limits tonight as I sat in a booth there, savoring the smells of my friends’ decadent dishes and pitifully sipping my juice.  As they bit into spaghetti, calamari, and ravioli, I zipped open my little cooler and broke out the juice.   Never mind that I was drinking odd colored liquid from a plastic container in the middle of a nice restaurant.  Anyway, I must say, it wasn’t as bad as I feared and I was able to actually enjoy my juice and the company, filling my stomach on the savory smells surrounding me.

Despite my Olive Garden trial, today was much better than yesterday as far as hunger goes.  I felt less ravenous and actually felt full after each juice ‘meal.’ Unfortunately, I am now craving seafood.  No idea why, but I am… salmon, rainbow trout, flounder…

As for my speaking capabilities… well, they’re even worse than usual. I found myself unable to think of commonplace words, or, even more amusingly, replacing them with completely unrelated ones.  On the upside, it has been entertaining for everyone else…

Here’s hoping a good night’s sleep will aid me in regaining control of my speech!  = )

The 7 Day Juice F(e)ast Day 1: I think I can… I think I can… I think I can!

So, it’s about midnight on the first day of this new quest and I’m not (quite) starving.  All day, it’s been all we could do to keep enough juice in my rumbly tummy!  Five juicing sessions later, our tastebuds have explored everything from a delightful sweet potato blend to a not-so-delightful juice ‘supper’ of tomato, beet, carrot, lime, and broccoli.  Let’s just say we wrote the last one off as a learning experience and just hoped it was extra good for us or something.

Surprisingly, I still have managed to keep up my energy and even went roller skating tonight without really noticing a difference in stamina.  Altogether I’m not doing too bad, minus the temper tantrums my stomach keeps throwing.  Despite these annoyances, I do believe we can conquer these last 6 days!

Well, my bed is calling my name and perhaps I shall dream of steaks and avocados… until tomorrow world!

The 7 Day Juice F(e)ast Prep Day of Madness!

Okay, just a disclaimer for those of you panicking as you read my title that reeks of health-foodiness: I don’t plan to make this a health blog by any means, this just happens to be what I’m doing right now.  So, if you are disinterested, disgusted, or disturbed by numerous posts regarding mass consumption of fruits and vegetables, come back in 7 days when I’m done starvi-I mean, f(e)asting.  By then, my posts should have returned to the realm of the half-way sane and omnivorous world once more.

But, I digress. So today, my dear mother and I made the official decision (after watching the documentary, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead) to consume nothing but the fresh juice of organic fruits and vegetables for 7 days.  We chose to do this for, what I would consider, good reasons.  I have dealt with skin rashes and allergies for years, she has dealt with allergies her whole life, and since November she has struggled with chronic hives.  The man in the documentary had dealt with similar skin issues, which is what led him on his quest for health.  Because of his incredible turnaround, we are now going out on a little limb and trying the same technique.

This new adventure began with a colossal trip to Whole Foods, which we finally left with 2 loaded carts amidst many stares, bags and bags of fruit and veggies, and a chat about juice fasts with the friendly cashier.

I mistakenly thought the challenge had ended when we got home.  However, I failed to take into account the new obstacle that involved fitting it all in the fridge.  Thankfully, after much strategical stuffing and an organized inventory list, those 2 carts worth of produce were shoved in.

Now, as I sit here typing, I am running on a glass of Mean Green juice, consisting of cucumber, celery, lemon, and apple juice, along with a blend of apple, carrot, and peach juice for dessert.  Crazily enough, I am satisfied and not starving!  Let’s see if I’m saying the same tomorrow night.

Well, enough of these ramblings… until tomorrow m’dears!