3 Day Organic Juice Fast – REBOOT (Steph’s Experience)

After prepping my body for six days, I was officially ready to begin day one of the juice reboot. For the six days leading up to the reboot, I cut out all alcohol from my diet, lowered my intake of dairy, sugar (that includes food that turns into sugar after you eat it), meat proteins and cut my coffee intake in half.  Cutting back on those food items was supposed to help lessen the headaches that may occur during the fast that are caused from withdrawal. I also boosted my intake of fruits and veggies over the six days and generally ate less food. I figured this would help prepare my body for the lack of solids and the boost in vitamins it would be receiving in the days to come. My goals of the juice fast: to prove to myself that I have the will power to do it, to kick my coffee habit and to become more aware of the foods I put into my body and how they affect me.

I purchased 4 bundles of kale, 3 bags of apples (2 red and one green), 6 cucumbers, 2 pears, 1 pineapple, 2 tomatoes, 4 lemons, 2 jalapenos and a 5lb bag of carrots.

All produce is organic and was purchased from Whole Foods Market. Total spent – $60.00




Day 1:

First I began the day with warm water and fresh lemon juice. This is supposed to help cleanse your digestive system. I am an avid coffee drinker which I think has become more of habit than anything. I figured the ritual of drinking a hot drink out of a coffee mug would fill the morning coffee void.

Breakfast: An adapted Mean Green Recipe

Recipe: 2 carrots, 1 whole cucumber, 1/2 lemon, 2 apples and one bundle of kale (6 leaves). Num!

From this:

to this:

Always remember to dilute your juice with one part water.

Around 11am some family stopped by and I juiced a quick snack for them. I drank the small bit of leftovers.

Recipe: 2 carrots, 2 apples, 1/2 lemon, 1 large cucumber. Delish!

By 1pm I was feeling pretty hungry and tired. I’m not sure that I was more tired than I usually would be, but I felt very unmotivated. A nap would have been helpful but I had work to do.

Midafternoon I started getting a terrible headache that lasted through the rest of the night. It may have been the worst headache that I have ever had.  I juiced once more for dinner.

Recipe: Bundle of kale, 2 carrots, 1 cucumber, 2 apples. I was so out of it I forgot to take a “before” photo.

Here is the after:

Although I did not cheat on the juice fast, remember that if you are suffering from excess hunger, you are allowed to have a light snack (fruit or veggie). Eating an avocado will not interfere with your diet so definitely do what your body tells you to do. I also drank several glasses of water throughout the day and always drank a hot water with lemon in between each juicing.

Day 2 –

To my surprise, Day 2 was a total breeze. From what I read, I was expecting Day 2 to be the worst. I didn’t have any hunger pangs, no temptation of having anything other than juice and no headaches (THANK GOODNESS!). However, I did have an odd dream that I cheated on the diet and I felt really bad about it.

I only juiced twice on Day 2 and here are the recipes:

Breakfast recipe: 1 four inch chunk of pineapple, 3 carrots, 1/2 an orange and 2 green apples. This is by far my favorite drink!

Fruit-only juices are best consumed in the morning as it is easier on your digestive system. Apples can be added to any veggie juice and will not interfere with digestion though.

Lunch/Dinner Recipe: 1 whole cucumber, 2 green apples, 1/2 lemon, 2 carrots, chunk of ginger.

Day 3 –

I felt great waking up today. I made the same juice for breakfast as Day 2 since it was so delicious.

For lunch I headed over to Kris’ house and we made the “Bloody Mary” juice to share.

Recipe: 4 ripe tomatoes, 4 stalks of celery, 1 jalapeno

We rimmed the glasses with celery salt. It was a tasty treat, however it did make me miss Vodka for the first time in 9 days.

Dinner juice recipe: Keepin’ it simple with carrots and apples.

Dinner juice

___________________________________________________

The day after the juice fast, I had a light healthy breakfast, made a healthy soup for lunch and had sea food and veggies for dinner.  Throughout the fast, I did not end up in the bathroom more than usual, as many people report, in fact I was in the bathroom less often. If you experience constipation while you are juicing, I’d recommend picking up some Smooth Move Tea. It works wonders!

From this point on, I intend to juice a veggie drink in place of my lunch. I was surprised at how much longer I felt satisfied after juicing vs. eating a meal. Ideally I’d like to replace dinner with a veggie juice, but I do not want to take that special time away from my family.

Although weight-loss was not a reason for doing this fast, it is always a perk right? Most people that juice experience frequent trips to the Loo and lose a lot of water weight. Since that was not my experience I felt comfortable counting my weight-loss as weight lost. 3 days of juice fasting = 5lbs lost. After a day of healthy eating and a couple glasses of wine, I am happy to report I am still at the 5lbs lost mark.