Completed 14 days of Juice Fast

It's been a couple of weeks now since I completed my juice fast.  I drank only fruit and vegetable juices for 14 days.  When I began, I didn't know how long I would juice for and had a sense that my body would let me know when it was time to eat solids again. I was right, my body was loud and clear when it was time to have regular food.

First, I should say that juicing was a great experience.  I've never done a fast that lasted longer than 24 hours before.  I did very well with only having high concentrated vitamins and nutrients in fluid form.  It's amazing how many carrots it takes to make a 20 oz glass of juice.  Ray and I were going through enormous bags of carrots, apples, ginger, kale and celery.  After about 3 day, we began to make up our own concoctions.  Ray was craving tomatoes, so we came up with a tomato, celery, scallion and sea salt juice.  I tried to make a banana and avocado drink, but realized very quickly that they don't juice very well.  They just squish.  It didn't taste very good either.

I especially enjoyed, and still do, picking kale from my garden to juice in the morning.  So far, my favorite juice is Kale, carrots and granny smith apple juice.  We were spending about 2 hours a day standing at the juicer to produce 6-8 20oz glasses of juice for each of us.  With one glass taking ten carrots, three apples and a handful of kale, we were going shopping every other day.  The time spent was well worth it, for me.  I was happy to be drinking juice because my digestive system didn't have to work very hard.  It gave my tummy a well deserved break.

After about 12 days, I began to get hungry.  Part of it may have been because I had a full schedule of doctor's appointments that week and kept forgetting to drink, until I was famished.  By then, some carrot juice really wasn't satisfying.  It's very important to drink juice every two hours so the body doesn't reach that point of feeling hungry.  At day 14, I had this intense craving for meat.  I didn't care what kind it was, I just wanted to sink my teeth into some protein.  That's was the sign from my body saying, "Ok, we're good now.  Can you please give me something with substance!?"

As I slowly got my body back on solid foods, I realized that I truly don't know what foods work best for my body.  Over the past two years, I've had so many health issues, I just began to cut things out of my diet with hope that I'd feel better.  I stopped eating all dairy, coffee, gluten and finally all meat.  At about the same time period, I was in touch with an old friend who had seen a Naturopath for some health issues and she raved about the treatments she received.  That's when I decided it's time to get some real answers, from a trained professional, about the foods that will work best for me and carry me to a state of optimal health.

The juice fast had its challenges and its great benefits.  I will do it again, as well as continue to have fresh juice once a day.  It seems as though this fast was a catalyst to have me look closer at the nutritional aspects of healing.  I'm looking forward to my first appointment with the Naturopath, tomorrow morning.  I'll be sure to share my experience.

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8 Day Juice Fast, So Far

So, as I mentioned in a past post, my husband and I decided to do a juice fast.  We saw a wonderful documentary about juicing and all it's benefits and Ray was all for it.  As for me, due to my illnesses, I've been wanting to do a juice fast for quite some time.  What held me back was that we didn't own a juicer and we hadn't decided, yet, to invest the money into one.  I'm a big fan of the Gerson Method and knowing that the nutrients in our fruits and vegetables, today, are much less than the nutrients in fruits and vegetables 50 years ago, makes juicing all that more logical.  The amount of vegis we'd need to eat, in one day, to meet our dietary needs, is overwhelming.  When we juice, we can make a 20 oz drink from 12 kale leaves, 8 carrots, two apples, four handfuls of spinach and two thumb size pieces of ginger.  I can't even imagine sitting for a meal and eating that, but the juice is good and good for us.

It's been 8 days, so far.  My husband wanted to do a juice fast to lose some weight and feel healthier.  I wanted to juice to cleanse my cells and create a better flow of energy throughout my body.  Ray has lost 6 lbs, which he's thrilled about and he seems to be feeling good about the process.  He says he's feeling hungry every day, but he's not willing to stop juicing yet.  I'm feeling more energetic, much less brain fog and yesterday, I even offered to drive five teenagers to the beach (on the 4th of July in 98 degree weather).  As you can imagine, everyone was heading to the beach and a 20 minute ride turned into 2 hours.  The teens were thrilled.  They had their iPods, good conversation and we can't forget the favorite radio stations.  I was all set with my bottle of water, juice and ear plugs.

Each day of this fast, or cleanse, I feel there are challenges and benefits.  So far the benefits are totally outweighing the challenges.  I didn't even have a hard time when we brought the beach buddies to get pizza after our sandy, hot day in the sun.

I've never done a fast before, but I've heard a great deal about them.  One of the things I've heard, that intrigued me, was the spiritual connection.  My process, during this fast, has gotten me to thinking more about food and how I relate to it.  When I'm bored, anxious, upset, angry or even celebratory, I want to reach for food.  In the past it's been less about the fuel my body needs to function, at a high level, every day.  Now, I see and feel the connection to fueling the body.  I'm also much more aware of having to find other, healthier ways to manage my emotions.  There is food all around me.  Even unhealthy foods, in the house, that the kids snack on.  I made pancakes for them this morning and not once did I want one.  I could smell bacon later in the day and it smelled good, but I told myself that I can enjoy these things through my other senses.  I enjoy cooking meals for my children, that they'll eat.  I can enjoy comfort foods, without ingesting them.  I use my sense of smell.  The first couple of days, I missed the sensation of chewing or crunching on some type of food, but that seems to have subsided.

This has been a great experience, for me.  Everything from going out to purchase the foods to juice to spending the time washing and cutting and sending them through the juicer.  It's about a 2 hour process every day to prepare for our total of 12 drinks for the next day and it feels good.  I'm doing something positive for my body and I'm getting wonderful results.  I recommend a week long juice fast for everyone (check with your doctor first).

I believe the body has the amazing capabilities of healing itself.  We've just gotten so far away from trusting and listening to our bodies that we've lost the belief that this is true.  The outside of our bodies can heal on their own.  Why not the inside?  Good nutrition, an awareness of what works for the individual, exercise and belief that the body is an amazing bag of bones 'n stuff, that is capable of things we can't even understand.  We just need to allow it to do it's job.

Thanks for reading, forwarding and following my posts!!!