Wednesday, May 15, 2013

60 Day Juice Fast


So, as you can tell from the title, I am doing a 60 day juice fast. "60 days!!" You say in surprise. Yes. 60 Days.

Why am I doing this?

I am overweight for one. I have been overweight for all of my adult life. I have a few health problems due to the extra weight: plantar fasciitis, lower back pain, knee pain, dizziness, foggy-underwater feeling/pressure in my head (especially when I lay on my stomach)....just to name a few. I am also doing this for spiritual reasons.

What about protein?

Majority of fruits and veggies have protein in them (most likely all, but I don't know that for sure). Skeptical? One particular juice I drink called Joe's Mean Green Juice, has 8-9 grams of protein per juice. That is just one juice. Do a little research and you can find out how much nutrients, fiber and vitamins are in any of the fruits or vegetables you are curious about.

(I add more celery and apples.)
Juice Recipe:
6 Kale Leaves
1 Celery Stalk
2 Cucumbers
1 Green Apple
Ginger Root

Am I taking Vitamins?

No. After my research, I believe that I am getting all the vitamins I need from the juice I am drinking.

Why 60 Days?

I needed a drastic change and quick. I wasn't sleeping well, my headaches from 10 years ago were back, I was having indigestion and heartburn from just about anything I ate; I just all around didn't feel good. I couldn't get up in the morning because I was SO tired. I had serious problems focusing at school or in any task I was trying to accomplish. I may change my number of days. I don't know. At this point, 60 days is the magic number for me.

What Did You Do To Prepare?

I didn't "prepare" per say. Although, I DID change the way I was eating about 2 months prior. I stopped, almost completely, eating out at drive thru restaurants, drinking soda or juice (yes even the ones claiming to be low in sugar), started drinking more water (usually about 60-80oz/per day, although I should have been drinking at least 100 oz.)
I started listening to my body more, experimenting with the different foods. Seeing that if I ate meat for lunch, even in a salad, it made me tired and groggy, so I chose sushi instead (yes it has fish in it, but I noticed, for me, that I didn't feel as tired as I did before).

Most Important

I DID MY RESEARCH. I have been watching documentaries, reading articles, etc. to prepare myself and my mind for this fast....for the past 3 years. (SAY WHAT!?!?) Ok, confession time. It has been 3 years because I didn't have the courage to take on such a task. I was scared. Why? It would take to long to tell my back story, but bottom line, change for me is like jumping off a cliff into a deep pool of water. You know you will be safe because others have done it, but you just have to get over your fear and jump. Take a leap of faith.

Day 3

Today is day 3. It is the end of the day. Let me tell you. Day 1 was ok, not that bad. Yesterday, Day 2, was a little harder....then I got home. Being sedentary is NOT my friend. The cravings were horrible! And MAN am I cranky! The upside: I am thinking more clearly. I have this problem where I say junk that should just stay in my brain, example: today at school. *sigh* My brain told me, "Shut Up! Don't say ANYTHING!" I should have listened. Whether I was right or wrong, there is a place and time to share your opinion...today was not one of them.
Don't cast your pearls before swine. a.k.a. Don't give your opinion if it won't make a difference.
Got home and the hubby tells me he is going to make himself an omelet. I tell him to keep it in the other side of the house. Our house is RIDICULOUSLY small. That smell didn't take long to waft into the bedroom where I was. And would you know it, those hunger pangs/craving pangs I was feeling left for half a second when I smelled that. Weird, right? I thought so too.
I went and made myself a juice after he was done cooking, let me tell ya. =)

Weight Loss

So far, over the past 2 months, including the past 3 days, I have lost 12 pounds. Minor, I know. In the last 3 days I have lost 3 pounds. Pretty good, I think.

Something I was told that would happen, that didn't was bowel movements. I was told to expect A LOT of them. 1st day, a little bit of craziness, day 2 a little less. Today, 1 1/2. I say 1/2 because they were so minor. (Eeeew! Gross. Why are you talking about BM?)
BMs are how we get rid of all the toxins in our body. You don't want it coming out of your skin. That amount of poison coming out of the skin is dangerous, I think.

Recommended Sources Of Information

Documentaries:
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (Available on Hulu, YouTube (free) & Netflix)
* Forks Over Knives (Netflix)
* Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue (Netflix)
* Hungry For Change (Netflix)
* Food Matters (Netflix)

* Theses documentaries are primarily about changing the way you eat and why. Not just juicing.

Other Documentaries

The Gerson Miracle (Netflix)
Dying To Have Known (Netflix)
The Beautiful Truth (Netflix)

These documentaries are about people using Gerson Therapy (Nutritional Therapy) to cure cancer, heart disease, tumors, diabetes, and a myriad of other ailments, via eating organic fruits, veggies, juicing veggies and high doses of specific vitamins.
HIGHLY RECCOMEND

JUICE ON!