Just Juice May 2014: Days 4, 5 and 6

Uhm first let me just say... TOMORROW I EAT!  :-)

Days 4-6 were fairly uneventful.  I felt fine but not great or very energetic.  I survived making cinnamon rolls for Jordan, free pizza from Papa Murphy's, making a double batch of giant chocolate chip cookies for a dear friend's bake sale fundraiser, and a BBQ cookout with tons of yummy food.

BUT TOMORROW I EAT! :-)

Day 4 weight: 109.8
Day 5 weight: 109
Day 6 weight: 108.6


Whenever I fast and I lose those few pounds that always seem to come back, I reflect on how I can keep them from creeping back on.  This time I am going to try an old strategy that really works if you can follow through and stick to it.  It's so simple too.  You don't count calories, you don't lower your carbs, or anything else. In fact, you can eat whatever you want and whenever you want as long as you follow these two rules:

1. Eat ONLY when you are hungry. Not when you think you are hungry or when the clock says you should be hungry, but when you are actually, for real hungry.... guess what... no you DON'T have to eat breakfast if you aren't hungry.  God gave your body trustworthy signals... the problem is we have gotten used to ignoring them.

2. Stop when you are satisfied.  Now satisfied doesn't mean stuffed.  It means comfortably full.  When you are satisfied you stop, even if there is only one bite left to eat on your plate.  Your body is not a trash can.

It is simple but it works.  Every time.  And like juice fasting, the battle is in your mind.  Some people have a hard time reading their bodies signals and confuse head hunger or actual hunger.  For those folks it is best to wait for a good, strong, tummy-growling hunger before eating.  With practice you will get better at listening and interpreting your bodies signals.

Just Juice May 2014: Day 3

Day 3 was up and down.  I went back and forth between feeling good and feeling tired.  Hunger was moderate.  I made cinnamon rolls with Jordan for his teachers... tomorrow is the last day of school.

It seems kind of crazy but I actually enjoy cooking and baking when I am juice fasting, and it is not as difficult as it seems like it should be.  Here's why: I treat fasting just like marriage.  I have been happily and successful marriage for almost 24 years, because divorce is not an option.  It's the same thing with fasting... once I decide do it, I tell myself that quitting is not an option.  I think it is probably the only way for me to succeed.  If you are going to do any sort of fast, don't think about what you could have if you weren't fasting.  Just don't go there.  If you must, tell yourself that you will make that thing for your end of fast celebration.  Heck, if you want you can make whatever it is every day for a week... AFTER you are done with your fast.  And I just might.  :-)

Just Juice May 2014: Day 1 and Day 2

It's been a long time!!!  The last juice only fast was last July and as you can tell, I never even finished blogging about it.

I started my Jr. year of college last August and from that point forward everything has been rush, rush, rush, work, work, work and eat on the run and slowly gain several pounds over the course of the year.  It's nearly impossible for me to "just juice" when life is busy.  It's a very mental battle, and I have to be prepared for it to be successful.

Day 1-   Day 1 is always the worst, but this time it was the hardest ever.  I felt like throwing up, even with drinking coffee I had a headache and major brain fog.  I almost gave up and told myself I couldn't do it anymore.  Your brain can think of lots of reasons why.  But I didn't give up, thankfully.

Day 2- about mid day on Day 2 or about 40 hours after eating the last solid food, things take a turn and I start to feel better, and the hunger feeling is not as intense.  I still feel hungry (or more like an "empty" feeling) but it is nothing like Day 1 hunger.  I don't know if this is factual, but I read that at the beginning of your fast, digestion is still taking place, which causes your hunger to be stronger.  After your body clears all the food it has been digesting, then you don't feel as hungry.  Whatever the reason, Day 2 was much better than day 1.

STATS:
Morning Day 1: 114 (UGH!!)
Morning Day 2: 111.4
Morning Day 3: 110.4

July 2013: Just Juice Day 3 of 5

This morning my usual juicing insomnia hit and I was wide awake much earlier than I would have liked.  This happens often when I juice.

Our church picnic about did me in... what was I thinking doing this when we had a picnic in the schedule??  The food, so. much. food. and as hungry as I was, every stinking bit of it looked delicious.  Even the hotdogs. (GAG)

Tomorrow is the last full day of just juice.  YAY.  This morning I weighted 102.0 even.

July 2013: Just Juice Day 2 of 5

Day 2 is always a good day.  The hunger is not as intense and I start to get my juicing groove. :-)

I weighed 102.8 this morning.  I usually have a big drop from day 1 to day 2 and then it goes much slower after that.

I felt good all day today, but am currently feeling wiped out.  I usually have a slump after dinner whether I am juicing or not, so it's normal for me.  I'll get a second wind later probably.

I got to use squash, tomatoes, carrots, and cucs from my garden for today's juice.  That's pretty cool.

July 2013: Just Juice Day 1 of 5

Time to Juice Again!

This time I will juice 5 days again.  My weight in the morning was 105.0.  I have successfully kept my weight around 103-105 since my juice fast in January.  This is a weight I am very comfortable and happy with so that is why I choose to do a 5 day fast as opposed to a longer one.

There are two reasons, I believe, why I have not gained weight back this year.  The first is I stopped drinking soda.  I was a one a day girl and on bad days, maybe two.  I always do a 40 day soda free fast at the beginning of the year, and this year Mark said let's go longer... so we did... and kept on going.  I haven't had any soda this year.  I mainly drink water, but will occasionally have a sweetened drink.  Probably not even once a week though.  The second thing I have done, as I have mentioned in previous blog posts, is cut my carbs.  Less breads, less pasta.  These two things are all I have done differently, but it has been enough.

Today I made 32 oz of green juice and had 12 oz of warmed spaghetti juice for dinner.  Mark and I went to a movie at the cheap theatre and the popcorn smelled heavenly.  The first day of a juice fast is hard because hunger is pretty strong, your sense of smell increases, and you are breaking the habit of eating mindlessly.  So many times today I had to catch myself before grabbing something and putting it in my mouth without even thinking.

I realized today that I have to go to a birthday party tomorrow, and our church picnic is on Sunday.  There is just never a "good" time to do the fast.  There is always a reason to put it off.  There will be more parties and more picnics, Lord willing, many more.  That's another part of the fasting process for me.  Realizing my ability to avoid food, even at special events, and not suffer from it.

May 2013: Just Juice Day 5 of 5!

Finished my fast today at 1pm.. a little early, but I was DONE.

I weighed in at 99.8 this morning.  Today I had two pieces of apple pie, so I won't be weighing that tomorrow.  And, I don't much care. LOL.

A 5 day fast is not difficult to break.  I did forget my stomach has shrunk and ate a bit too much at dinner.  Actually, it was the amount I would normally eat, but felt like too much after a 5 day juice fast.

It's so funny to me that this 5 day fast was probably the hardest of all!  Stop back Sept. 1 when I plan to do my next fast.  Most likely another 5 day-er.

May 2013: Just Juice Day 4 of 5

Still starving!  I think this time has been hard because the weather is dreary, I am home alone with the kids and there's nothing to do but sit around, put together puzzles, play connect four, and watch bananas in pajamas.  That would make you want to turn to food too!!

I can't wait for tomorrow!!  Apple pie is on the menu.  Nice thing about a 5 day fast is that it shouldn't be too hard to break it.  A banana after church, then if I feel okay, a salad for dinner followed by pie for dessert.  Just a small piece. :-)

I'm also looking forward to catching up on facebook.  I have peeked at facebook occasionally, but refrained from using it personally.  Even with blogger I can post to facebook without USING facebook.

This morning's weight was 100.2

May 2013: Just Juice Day 3 of 5

Today was just wrong on so many levels.  Would you look at this????

Yes, my very very sweet neighbor just happened to have an "extra" one of these laying around and he just happened to bring it by while I am in the middle of a stinking juice fast!

I was already feeling weak in the will power department.  Mark is out of town so I bought the kids pizza for dinner.  It looked and smelled delicious.  Then the kids had ice cream for dessert... my mouth was watering.  Then a few minutes later the pie was brought to my door.  UGH UGH UGH!

But this illustrates a great fact.  It's so easy to forget that there will always be more pizza, more ice cream, more pie.  I am lucky enough to be able to get any of the three pretty much whenever I want.  It's okay to pass it up sometimes.  There is always more.

This is my 5th extended juice fast, if you add them all together I have fasted 36+ days and today was by far the hardest.  I really really wanted to EAT!  But I didn't.  And I won't.  Because if I do it once it will be all over for me.  It will be that much harder to stick with it the next time.  For me the hardest part of sticking to a fast is not the physical, it's the psychological.  And you can bet I am keeping a piece of this pie for Sunday!!!  YUM.

Morning weight was 100.6.

May 2013: Just Juice Day 2 of 5

Today I was my last day of school for the semester.  I had a final today so I didn't get to make juice until after 12.  Made 3.5 cups of my usual combo.  Then for dinner I made this warmed "spaghetti" juice (pictured below).  It's a lot like a tomato soup.  It's really good.  

One thing I love about juice fasting is how well my nose smells food from a mile away.  This used to be difficult, and would make me want to give in and eat.  Now I just enjoy the heightened sense of smell.  Just like everything tastes good when you are hungry, it smells good too!

My weight this morning was 101.8.  I might break into the 90's this fast.  Remember I am super short, so that is not really a big deal.  I always weighed 97-99, while eating anything I wanted, when I was nursing Katie and Luke.  Gotta love breastfeeding!!

If you have never fasted, I highly recommend you do a short fast just to see that hunger doesn't kill you.  It is really important to stop telling ourselves that feeling hungry is something to be avoided at all costs. Did you know that experts say most of us could go up to two months without food and live?  A day or two is certainly not going to hurt any healthy person.  

One of my goals now that I am at an ideal weight is to work on gaining muscle.  I plan to get back to the gym now that life has calmed down a bit.  Now hold me accountable. HAHA.

May 2013: Just Juice Day 1 of 5

This morning I was off and running so there was no time to make juice until around 11am.  This is not a big deal since I typically do not eat breakfast anyway.  I used to always eat breakfast, but after my very first juice fast in April 2012 I never went back to eating it.  When I was eating breakfast I used to always wake up hungry.  Now I don't typically get hungry until around 10am.  

Let me just stop right here and say that if you have believed that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" or "you should never skip breakfast" or some other such nonsense... just google something like "never skip breakfast myth" and read up.  Besides.. what do most people eat for breakfast... most likely something loaded with CARBS and SUGAR.  The absolute worst thing to start your day.  If instead you skip breakfast, your body takes a nice meal from your own fat tissue.  Win-Win.

Anyway, I had already had a couple glasses of water and a cup of coffee (I drink coffee when I am juicing... it helps me get through and keeps me from getting massively cranky) before I remembered to weigh myself.  I don't typically weigh more than once every week or two, so I am not in the habit.  I weighed 104.0 pounds exactly.

Around 11am I made juice: 1 cucumber, 1 rib celery, 2 huge handfuls of spinach, 2 carrots, 2 apples and 2 handfuls of strawberries.  This gave me 3 cups of juice.  In my opinion strawberries make everything taste good.  If you use strawberries add them to your juicer last, because the seeds will clog the screen and you will yield less juice on anything put in after them.

This is what my juice looked like today.  So interesting how it formed in layers with the strawberry juice in the middle.  I shook it up before drinking.

So because today was crazy I only drank 3 cups of juice.  I would have made 1.5 to 2 cups "spaghetti juice" but I just didn't have time until after 7:30 and by then I was too tired to want to do all the clean up involved.  I did drink plenty of water, and hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Time to JUICE again

I missed my regularly scheduled juice fast due to the busyness of life.  So starting tomorrow I have planned 5 days of just juice.  I'm soooo looking forward to it.

Why just 5 days?  Well since my last fast I made some permanent changes to my diet.  Up until this time I had always gained back all the wait lost during my fasts.  This time I have actually lost 3 lbs.  That's right.  My weight has been hanging out comfortably between 103-104 and it feels RIGHT.  I don't need to or want to lose any more weight.  I think a 5 day fast will be just right for giving me a recharge, but I shouldn't lose weight permanently from just 5 days.

So here I go again.  :-)

4 weeks out...

So I am four weeks post juice fast and I have not had any trouble maintaining my goal weight!!

1-18-13: 106.6
1-25-13: 106.6
2-01-13: 106.0
2-08-13: 106.0

What is different this time?  Well, I am a reformed carbaholic.. sort of.  I am definitely not as "low carb" as I would like to be, but I have changed up my diet, swapping out carbs I would normally eat for fresh fruits, veggies, even nuts and meat.  I eat as much or more than I used to but my tummy is not bloated, and I am not putting on weight.  The lack of any tummy bloat is the most amazing part of eating less carbs.  Even "that time of the month" did not cause me to puff up like I used to. ;-)

Whenever people would talk Atkins, or Paleo, or just Low Carb in general, I always said I like bread, pasta, and sweets too much to go there.  I'd die.  Guess what?  I was wrong.  Swapping out has not been as awful or hard as I imagined it would be.  I feel good too.  I actually don't deprive myself, I still eat sweets, and bread and rice... just smaller amounts and less often.  

For me this is not a diet, these are permanent changes I am making for my health.  Last year the focus was on getting rid of as much of the "food-like products" from our diet as possible.  We have done pretty well except for the blasted vanilla creamer, and so this year my goal is to increase veggies and reduce grains in our overall menu.  It's going okay, but the littlest two are a hard sell.  Nikki is enjoying salad now though, which makes my heart happy. Baby steps, baby steps.  

Weekly Update...

Three weeks after my juice fast and my weight has remained steady...

1-18-13: 106.6
1-25-13: 106.6
2-01-13: 106.0

Besides doing a couple fast days a week where total fast time is around 20 hours, I have tried to sub other foods for the carbs I used to eat.

For YEARS my go to lunch has been: 1 PB&J sandwich on whole wheat bread, 1/4 cups popcorn air popped with 1TBS coconut oil (used to be spray butter, but subbed the coconut oil a while back).  As you can see... carbs and more carbs.  Now I have cut the sandwich down to one slice of bread and the popcorn down to 2 tablespoons AND I don't eat it every day.  I have tried to sub fruits, veggies, hardboiled eggs, etc. in place of the carb fest.  As you can see, it works.

This week I rewatched an awesome documentary on Netflix called "Hungry for Change".  If you have Netflix, I highly recommend it.

2 Weeks Post Fast

It has been two weeks since I ended my just juice fast.  Breaking the fast was hard.  The first day I mainly ate strawberries.  The second day we took Kloe out for her birthday and I managed a few bites of a salad.  It was the fourth eating day before I felt like I was ready to resume normal eating. 

This time I decided to make a concerted effort not to gain back the weight I lost while fasting.  I really feel like 103-107 is my ideal weight.  I have been successful at staying within this range using the 5:2 intermittent fasting method.  Two days a week I fast for 20-24 hours... dinner to dinner.  The goal is 24 hours but anything past 20 and I call it a good fast day.  On my two fast days (or down days is a more accurate description) I end up eating 500-750 calories.  On my five up days I average between 1200-1500.

One week post fast I weighed in: 106.6
Two week post fast I weighed in: 106.6

I think I've found my balance in order to maintain at this weight.   Now my goal is to gain muscle and reduce body fat percentage.  I am also working on reducing the percentage of my food that comes from carbs.  For a carbaholic this is no easy task, but I've made some progress.

Great reading on Intermittent Fasting

 If the idea of intermittent fasting interests you, here's a couple great articles that give you a good overview and answer some common myths as well.  Happy Reading...

http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2012/12/14/occasional-starvation-why-fasting-is-good-for-you

http://musclepyramid.com/fasting-101-fasting-for-fat-loss

Jan 2013: Just Juice Day 10

This morning  I broke the fast with 1/2 of a strawberry (no lie) when I woke up this morning.  I then proceeded to eat one strawberry every half an hour until around noon.  I also drank lots of water.  From noon until 3 I ate 2-3 strawberries every half an hour.  All together today I ate 2 cups of strawberries, a banana, one small piece of home made naan bread, two bites of curry rice, and a chocolate chip cookie.  I wanted more curry rice but knew that I would regret it so I just stuck to having a taste.

This morning's weight: 104.8


So what now??  For a year and a half I have been researching and reporting the benefits of intermittent fasting, but I haven't always been good about doing it.  This time around I have renewed my interest in using Intermittent Fasting to maintain my weight.  I have talked about Brad Pilon's "Eat Stop Eat" before.  Basically he recommends that you fast from eating for 24 hours (usually dinner one day until dinner the next) once or twice a week.  I have also found another approach of Alternate Day Fasting (ADF) that allows you to eat a reduced number of calories on alternate days.  The amount you reduce depends on whether you want to lose or maintain your weight.  The website for this idea gives you lots more information:

Alternate Day Fasting: Up Day Down Day method


So as soon as I am back to eating "normally" I am going to try alternate day calorie restriction to maintain my weight at about 105 ish.  I plan to blog about my successes or lack thereof.

Jan 2013: Just Juice Day 9

Day 9 of the fast is over!  Tomorrow morning I will allow myself to eat fruit.  In fact, I don't imagine I will eat much other than fruit tomorrow.  Perhaps a small salad at dinner time.  I actually felt pretty good today, much better than the last two days.  I didn't make juice, but I had one cup leftover in the fridge from yesterday and I did drink a couple cups of 100% not from concentrate orange juice and 100% grape juice.  I don't normally include store bought juices when I fast, but overall it was such a small portion of what I drank the last 10 days, and at times it was just easier.  Looking forward to eating the yummy fruits in the bowl above tomorrow!!

Today's weight: 105.6
Juice drank: about: 3 cups
Water: about 3 cups
Coffee: 2 cups

Jan 2013: Just Juice Day 8

I felt better today and was not as tired as I was last evening.  However,  both yesterday and today I have been majorly irritable.  I was not irritable at all until yesterday, even though people commonly complain of irritability even in the first days of a fast.  I guess I should be glad it didn't show up until yesterday.

Tomorrow I sub again and am really kind of tired of juice, so I am planning to do just water, and perhaps some not from concentrate orange juice.  I probably won't break out the juicer though.  The 10 day mark would technically be Friday evening, but I plan to begin eating raw fruits earlier in the day.  I want to begin the break-fast process so that hopefully I will be ready for a small salad when we take Kloe out to dinner for her birthday on Saturday.

VERY VERY ready to end this fast.  I think 7 days is a good length fast for me.  I remember the last time I did a 10 day that days 8 through 10 were not pleasant.  I do like to push past my comfort zone now and then however, and I am not sorry that I decided to do 10 days this time.

This morning's weight was 106.0
Juice drank: 5 cups
Water drank: 5 cups
Coffee drank: 1.5 cups

Jan 2013: Just Juice Day 7

I spoke too quickly about how great I felt and how I didn't have hardly any detox symptoms this time! As the day wore on I began to feel very fatigued today. Not just your normal fatigue, but the "I can't move a muscle" fatigue.  In the fasting world they call this a "healing reaction" or "herxheimer reaction".  Basically it's when an influx of toxins is released into your bloodstream and your body can not eliminate them fast enough.  You can get muscle aches, cold or flu like symptoms, or experience extreme fatigue.  Because I am TIRED I am not much interested in making juice.  I only drank 4 cups today.  Didn't feel like making my dinner juice.  Drinking lots of water instead.  I'm not having any issues with hunger.  Basically I get a small twinge a few times a day and it quickly passes.

The last time I juice fasted for 10 days I was surprised at how difficult it was breaking the fast.  This time I am much more prepared.  I imagine that days 1-2 post fast will be raw fruits and veggies and still a lot of juice.  Gonna be taking it nice and slow!

This morning's weight: 106.4

Today's juice: 4 cups
Coffee: 1.5 cups
Water: 4 cups

Jan 2013: Just Juice Day 6

Today I could not juice until after 3pm because I was called to work as an office sub at a local school.   Somebody has a strange sense of humor, because the only thing for me to do when things were slow was flip through some Rachel Ray magazines... think YUM-O!!  After 5+ days of not eating you would think this would be torture, but really it wasn't too bad.  Thankfully there was no smell to go along with the pictures!!

I honestly felt great today even without having any juice for most of it.   I do not get weak when I juice fast.  I feel energetic and strong.  I just did 20 boy-pushups to prove it... haha.

I am trying not to think about this: if this was a 7 day fast I would be eating tomorrow.  Really though, this 6 days have flown by and I haven't struggled with anything this time around.  No energy lags, no headaches, my only complaints have been a few minor muscle aches, and lots of fur on the tongue and teeth.

Today's weight: 107.0

Juice drank: 30 ish ounces

Coffee drank: 15 ish ounces

Water drank: 32 ounces

Jan 2013: Just Juice Day 5

HALF WAY!!  WOOT WOOT!

I had some more muscle aches last night... in my hips area, which is also another problem area for me.  All my aches and pains seem to happen during the night and I tend to feel fine during the day.  Someone asked me in church this morning if I was hungry.  Really, I don't get hungry for more than a few moments at a time and it is usually when I am preparing or smelling food.  Your nose works really really well when you are fasting by the way.

Tomorrow is going to be tough.  I took a subbing job working in the office at a local middle school and I won't be able to juice until I get home... around 3pm.  I'll probably drink a glass of OJ in the morning and then just water until after work.

Today's weight was 107.4

Juice: 32 oz.  (I didn't drink any until after church so not as much time to get more in than that)
Coffee: 30 ish oz. (BAD GIRL!)
Water: 24 oz.

Jan 2013: Just Juice Day 4

Day four... doing fine.  Last night while sleeping (or trying to) I had a little detox going on in the area of my lower back where I have certain muscles that always get tight and form a knot.  I have never felt this feeling except during my first juice fast and then this time.  (I didn't get it during my 2nd and 3rd fasts).  It is believed that when your body gets a break from digestion it can then put some extra energy into repairing your body at the cellular level.  Hopefully that's true :-)

My juicing is down to a regular routine.  

3 cups of regular juice containing: 

1.5 cucs, 

2 ribs celery, 

1 rib kale, 

2 carrots, 

1 red apple, 

1 orange, 

Handful of blueberries.

2 cups "spaghetti juice" containing: 

2 carrots, 

2 ribs celery, 

1/4 yellow onion, 

1 clove garlic, 

2 tomatoes

The "spaghetti juice" is heated gently on the stove and eaten warm.  It's really good!  See for yourself!

This mornings weight 108.0
Juice consumed 42 oz
Water consumed 32 oz
Coffee consumed 16 oz

Jan 2013: Just Juice Day 3

Three days down and seven to go!  My heart did not go as crazy today as yesterday so that's good.  I still feel great, no issues at all with energy or aches or pains.  I get hungry, but I don't dwell on it.  It's kind of like my marriage... divorce has never been an option so it isn't something I even give any thought to ever.  Same with fasting, eating is not an option so it's not something I let myself think about.

I love fasting once I actually get into it.  It reminds me that I am in control of my appetite, it saves me money, it frees up my time for other things... it helps me maintain a healthy weight.  But I sort of fell of the regular fasting wagon and was not doing my intermittent fasting like I should.  That's gonna change after this juice fast.  Not sure exactly which IF plan I am gonna go with but I am getting back on the wagon.  

This morning's weight was 108.8

Today I had 52 oz. of juice, 16 ish oz. of coffee, and 32 ish ounces of water.

Wanna know a secret...?

Last night I watched a documentary called Eat, Fast, and Live Longer and it totally confirmed everything I have been learning through my research over the past year and a half.  The secret to a healthy weight and a healthy life is not in counting calories, or carbs, or fat grams.  It's not in taking this pill, or reading that book, or following that diet plan.  I'm gonna tell you a secret...

YOU PROBABLY EAT TO MUCH! 

(And so do I)

And not just sometimes... nearly every day!  The simple solution to a healthy weight and a healthy life...

EAT LESS FOOD (A lot less!)

It's not as hard as it sounds.  There are so many ways to accomplish this without depriving yourself all the time.  Here are some ideas I have seen in my research.

You can eat every other day (and fast every other day)- best if you have a lot to lose or your cholesterol and blood sugar numbers are looking really bad.

You can do an alternate day fasting where on your "fast" day you eat only one small meal (500 calories or less) and on your feast day you eat whatever you want.

You can fast 2-3 times a week from breakfast to breakfast, lunch to lunch or dinner to dinner- this is easier because you get to eat at least one meal every day even though you are going without food for 2 or 3 24 hour periods each week.

You can restrict your eating to a smaller window each day, for example only eat between 10 and 6.  This gives you a 16 hour fast window every day.  Your results won't be as dramatic as with the other methods, but you will lose weight.

Fasting gets easier with practice, and it gives you a feeling of control over your appetite and a sense of well-being.  It also contributes to good health and longevity.  Watch the documentary and see for yourself!

Jan 2013: Just Juice Day 2

Not a bad day... went to the gym this morning and worked out with the hubby, just a light workout since I hadn't any solid food for 36 hours.  It was no problem though.

Ever since I was pregnant with Nathan I have suffered from heart palpitations which get worse at certain times of the month.  A cardiologist told me that hormonal fluctuations make this a common problem for women.  Anyway,  it is the normal time of the month for me to have palpitations but they are SO MUCH WORSE with fasting.  They increased during my other fasts too, but not quite this much.  I am going to keep an eye on it and stop the fast if it gets worse.  Normally palpitations are harmless, so I think it's ok.

Today I weighed 109.4 lbs

I drank 40 oz of juice, 24 oz of water, and about 12oz of coffee.

Jan 2013: Just Juice Day 1

This is my fourth round of "just juice" fasting and this was far and away the most comfortable first day I have ever had.  I am convinced that the key to "just juicing" is to be prepared psychologically.   Since I have done this three times successfully my mind could not convince me that I was dying of starvation or that I was gonna die if I didn't get something to eat. LOL!  So anyway, I actually did not have all of the things I needed to make juice this morning so ended up not having anything until about 1:30 when I drank 6 oz of pure not from concentrate OJ.  I didn't get to make juice until 5:30 after I finally got to the store.   I made some famous spaghetti juice for my dinner. YUM!

Another thing that was totally different this time... my energy level... I felt GREAT today... no headaches, very little hunger, and lots of energy. 

This morning's starting weight: 111.2 (Thanks to the holidays!)

Total Juice: 22 oz
Total Coffee: about 20 oz
Total Water: about 32 oz

It's that time once again!!

It's time to do another juice only fast!!  I have done 3 fasts of 10,7, and 7 days respectively.  I think it is time to do another 10 day.... we really fell off the healthy eating wagon during the holidays.

Up until now my fasts were purely for health and physical reasons.  Having done three fasts previously, I am now confident that it can be done.  Having proven to myself that I can do it, I am now adding spiritual reasons for fasting.  I probably won't talk much about those, but I did want to mention it.

So the juice only fast began after my last piece of birthday cake this evening and will end on Friday Jan. 11th at dinner time.  Tomorrow morning I don't have everything I need to make juice, but I will drink water and not from concentrate orange juice and head out to the store in the afternoon.  Looking forward to that extra energy boost that comes after the first couple days, cuz this house needs some applied energy before I go back to school on the 17th.

7 days of just juice (Days 6 and 7)

Got busy and forgot to update yesterday.  Yesterday was a really hard day.  I made homemade rolls and they smelled soooo good.  I was hungry a lot and kept thinking just one more day and I can EAT!!  I weighed 104.6 in the morning.

Today was BREAK-FAST day!  WOOT WOOT!  I weighed 104.2 making the total loss 4.8 lbs.  Around 3:30 I had planned to break the fast with a banana, but gave in to temptation and had a Reese's Cup and a homemade dinner roll with butter.  I made sausage, egg burritos for supper and had one very small one.  BIG MISTAKE.  My tummy has been protesting every since... and is still not happy with me 6 hours later.  Note to self... next time break the fast with fruit!!

Next 7 day fast will be Jan. 6-13.

7 days of just juice (Day 5)

Tomorrow is the last full day of juicing and then Sunday afternoon I get to eat food.  Woot Woot! 

This morning I weighed 105.2.  I am not hungry until later in the morning, and the hardest time is mid afternoon until after dinner time.  I am so looking forward to eating on Sunday!! 

Not much else to report, except I am so excited about the addition of the "spaghetti juice" to my juicing routine.  It's so nice to have a warm sort of savory option. 

Homestretch here we come!!

7 days of just juice (day 4)

Today I weighed the same as yesterday... 105.6.  I had a little bit of a "heavy" head feeling off and on all day.  Without a doubt every time I juice fast, I have more physical energy than usual.  It's one of my favorite things about doing the fast.  Tonight in my American Lit class we had to do presentations and this one student brought tons of chocolate candy for everyone.  I want chocolate soooo bad!  LOL.  4 days are done, 3 more to go!!  Once I finish this fast I will have spent a total of 24 days this year NOT eating any solid food.  I never imagined I could do this, or that I would want to keep doing it on a regular basis, but I am glad I discovered that I can do it, and I am glad I want to keep doing it. 

7 days of just juice (Day 3)

One thing I love about juicing and the empty stomach that comes with it, is how much appreciation I gain for food.  We don't often let ourselves get really hungry.  But let me tell you that when you are hungry, food looks better, smells better, and tastes better.  The "spaghetti juice" that I have made the last two nights was amazingly good, but I bet on a regular eating day, I wouldn't be the least bit interested in it.  Try it for yourself, let your body get hungry.  And I don't just mean a few hours since you ate hungry, really hungry!  I promise you will look at your food in a whole new way.

Today I had good energy, was hungrier than yesterday and had a slight afternoon headache.  My morning weight was 105.6.  Tomorrow when I wake up I will be half way done!

7 days of just juice (DAY 1 and 2)

As usual day one was rough... hunger is the strongest on the first day and I also had a slight headache.  Day 2 was much easier, I hardly felt any hunger and had a very slight headache for just a couple of hours this afternoon.  Other than that I felt great!

I weighed 107.2 this morning and today I drank about 48 oz of juice.  It's a little more than I usually drink because I made "spaghetti juice" for dinner and heated it up on the stove. YUMMMMM!!

My spaghetti juice recipe:
2 tomatoes
2 stalks celery
2 carrots
2 cloves garlic
1/4 yellow onion
1 small (REALLY SMALL) green pepper from our garden.

Guess what time it is??

It's juice fast time!  I can't believe it has been 3 months already, but it has!  It is time for my third 7 day juice fast.  I will be blogging about it daily, not because I think it is super exciting for people to read, but because it keeps me accountable!!

So, this morning when I got on the scale I weighed 109 lbs. even... which is ironically exactly what I weighed last time.  In the three months since I last did this, I have not pulled out the juicer at all.  I am also sad to say that I have not made it to the gym even ONE time!!  Summer was too crazy, then I hurt my back, then school started, I am just full of excuses!  But, the truth is, I have not juiced and I have not exercised, but I still haven't "gained" past the point of where I started last time.  I am happy with that, although I am planning to get back into a gym routine after this fast.

So here we go... Sunday dinner to Sunday dinner... 7 days of nothing but freshly juiced fruits and veggies.  I already have the day 1 headache... do you think it is psychological?  :-)  It's okay though, cuz better days are coming!!

Yummy "Olive Garden" breadsticks

Tonight for dinner I made my version of "Olive Garden" breadsticks.  They came out perfect!  I used a couple of recipes and my own bread sense to come up with the recipe...

1/2 Stick Butter melted
1 cup + 1T. warm water
2 T. Sugar
1 t. Salt
3 C. Bread Flour
1.5 t. Yeast

I put all of this in my bread machine on the "dough" cycle.

After the dough cycle is complete take out the dough and shape into 16 bread sticks about 7 inches long (For me this is the distance of my thumb to my pinkie with my fingers spread).  Cover and let rise again about 60 minutes or until doubled.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.  Half way through brush with a butter mixture:

1/2 stick butter
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt

When breadsticks are done brush a second time with leftover butter mixture.

PERFECTLY YUMMY!!

How much juice does that make?

A one pound bag of organic carrots makes almost exactly 1.5 cups of carrot juice.

Zucchini Pizzas! (Thanks Julia!)

Today I made spaghetti sauce from scratch (later post) and zucchini pizza.  I got the idea from one a friend... shout out to Julia!  It's pretty self explanatory, but here is what I did.  Slice the zucchini and lay them out on a tray.  Brush with olive oil add a little garlic powder, salt, and pepper (probably not absolutely necessary), add sauce, cheese, toppings.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Enjoy!

Day 7 of 7 (Juice Fast Round 2)

It is finished!

Those are some great words.  I ended my fast at 2pm.  As much as the 5th Avenue candy bar was tempting me, I know my body would rebel if I put that in my tummy.  Wisdom prevailed and I ended my fast with a banana and a handful of peanuts.  It is enough for now.  I remember last time I fasted I was surprised with how slowly I needed to reenter the world of food.  This time I am prepared.

Speaking of last time, I have a few thoughts on the differences between the two fasts for me.  I found the second time around to be exponentially easier than the first time.  Perhaps experience and knowing what to expect helped.  I also did not have nearly as many side effects of fasting this time around... a furry tongue and some postnasal drip were about the extent of it.  I had no headaches or fatigue past the first day.  I had some slight insomnia but not like last time.

What will I do now?  I am throwing around a couple ideas.  One is to fast one day a week, the other is to do what I have been doing and fast for a two day period each month.  I also plan to do an extended 7 day fast once per quarter.  (April, July, Oct, Jan).  I have some blog posts planned to talk about the research and health benefits regarding fasting.  Contrary to popular opinion, it will not sabotage your metabolism, it is not merely water weight you lose, and you don't have to gain it all back again.  :-)

I will finish with some stats from my two fasts.

My first fast in April(10 days), I started out at 113 lbs. and weighed 106 on the final day of my fast. I immediately gained back a pound or two once I started eating again and for the next 3 months I fluctuated between 107 and 109.  

My second fast (7 days) I started out at 109 and this morning I weighed 103.4.  My hope is to stay below 107 this three months.

Day 6 of 7

Day 6 has been rather uneventful.  I cooked a lot today and felt good, not hungry much at all during the day.  I tend to feel more hunger in the evenings.  Tomorrow I get to EAT!!  woot woot!

 

One thing I love about juicing is Nathan's excitement when he hears the juicer running!  He comes running and begging for me to give him some. 

Day SIX notes:
*Weight- 104.2 (first thing in the morning).
*Energy- Really good!

*Hunger- I really wasn't hungry today
*Headache- None
*Coffee- 1.5 cups

Making Naan Bread!

Today was Jordan's day to pick his favorite meal for me to cook.  I let each of the kids do this as a reward for reading 10 books at their level.  Jordan picked Curry rice.  As I was making it I was thinking about how yummy it would be with some naan bread.  So once again I went to allrecipes.com and found this recipe.  I followed the directions almost exactly, but I recommend reading the "most helpful" reviews for some good tips.  I cooked my naan in the cast iron skillet rather than grilling it.  The kids have taste tested and wholeheartedly approved!  (The entire batch cost less than $2 to make)

Rolled golf ball size and raised until doubled

Roll it out pretty thin.

They cook quickly on preheated pan.

Made about 30 pieces... you can freeze them.

Day 5 of 7 (Juice Fasting Round 2)

For me by this point in my fast I am really just in cruise mode.  Everything is basically the same, I feel good, I have energy, I am hungry occasionally but it isn't killing me.  Two more days until I eat... what am I craving?  PEANUTS!  LOL.

Although today was rather boring and uneventful I did have sort of an epiphany regarding the lack of hunger in our lives and its consequences.  I think I mentioned that I do a LOT of cooking while I am fasting.  I am not sure why but I just love being in the kitchen and doing things with food even if I can't eat it!  So today while I was cutting up fresh garlic, onions and peppers to make fajitas, my mouth was actually watering over the vegetables.

What I suddenly realized is that when I am hungry EVERYTHING looks and smells so good.  This might be a no brainer, but think about it for a minute.  When we are not truly hungry it takes a lot more "umph" to appeal to our appetite... normally in the form of high sugar, high fat foods.  But when you are hungry, really hungry, a fresh vegetable salad looks just as delicious as a bowl of peanut butter cup ice cream!  (I am not exaggerating here!)  Our problem as Americans is, we rarely experience REAL hunger, so we are not often craving salad or fresh healthy foods, instead it takes "more" to appeal to us.  Here is an example...  when was the last time you ate a dessert when you were already full?  We do it all the time, don't we?  Now think about this, when was the last time you were full and said to yourself "just one more carrot stick"?  It just doesn't happen very often.

So it dawned on me that real hunger is actually a blessing.  It allows good, fresh, healthy food to appeal to my appetite as much as the junk that I would most times rather be eating.  I have learned over the last year to see occasional hunger not as something to be avoided but rather as something that enriches my life and makes me appreciate good food more.

Day FIVE notes:
*Weight- 104.6 (first thing in the morning).
*Energy- excellent!

*Hunger- I've come to embrace it.
*Headache- None
*Coffee- 1.5 cups

Day 4 of 7 (Juice Fasting Round 2)

Day four!  I am officially past the half way point on this fast.  I really really love juice fasting.  Going into this fast I was starting to feel tired a lot and my energy was pretty low.   But juice fasting gives me energy, a sense of well being and control over my body.  I am not a slave to my appetite(s), but sometimes I forget that fact!  

This time around, by day two I was feeling great and still do.  I am composing a blog post in my head... something like "How diet 'rules' kept me from losing weight and how rejecting them was the best thing that I could have done."  Seriously... I could elaborate now, but just wait for the post! :-)

Amazing juicy goodness!

 

Day FOUR notes:
*Weight- 105.4 (first thing in the morning).
*Energy- excellent!

*Hunger- Not much... when I see or smell food it makes me aware of my hunger, in a good way.
*Headache- None
*Coffee- 2 cups

Garden fresh tomato and zucchini casserole!

After I made bread crumbs I needed to figure out a way to use up some of the veggies from our garden.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com (awesome website!)  I used mozzarella in place of the cheddar.  Here is the result, which Mark and Kloe highly approved!

 

Make your own bread crumbs!

I think I have stated that our family has set a goal this year of removing much of the "junk" from our at home diet.  By junk I mean anything that is not really food.  Chemicals, artificial flavors and sweeteners, preservatives and the like.  So many times I have wanted to buy bread crumbs for a recipe and then I look at this...

THIS IS NOT REAL FOOD FOLKS

So, today I decided to figure out how to make my own bread crumbs.  And it was easy peasy.  Here's how...

 1)Take a few slices of homemade bread (I LOVE my breadmaker!)

 2) Toast them in the toaster or in your oven at 300 until dry and slightly brown

 3)Place them in the blender

 4)Once again, let the 2 year old run the power tool

5)You now have plain bread crumbs

Store in the freezer and add seasonings as you use them.  These 6 slices of bread made almost 1.5 cups of bread crumbs.  Stay tuned for the yummy zucchini, tomato casserole that these bread crumbs were used in.

Day 3 of 7 (Juice Fasting Round 2)

 Day three of my juice fast was pretty good.  My juice was fabulous, both the cucumber based one and the carrot based one.  The cucumber one is my old standby of cucumber, celery, kale, 1/2 green apple, 1/2 red apple, and a slice of lemon.  The carrot based one was carrots, celery, just a smidge of kale, 1/2 green and 1/2 red apple, a slice of lemon and a few strawberries.

For some reason juice fasting brings out my inner cook.  Today I made homemade bread crumbs. (Have you ever looked at the ingredients in the store bought ones? WOWZERS!) and then I made a zucchini and tomato casserole with fresh veggies from our garden.  I will talk about both of these in separate posts (complete with pics).  I don't know why I get the urge to make all this yummy stuff when I can't eat any of it.  I think it is all the time and energy I have from not eating. 


Day three notes:
*Weight- 106.4 (first thing in the morning).
*Energy- awesome until about 2:30 when I needed a short nap.
*Hunger- today is the first time my tummy actually growled.  Hunger was stronger than yesterday but still pretty low overall, probably a 5 out of 10.
*Headache- just slight, dull one later in the day
*Coffee- 2 cups

Day 2 of 7 (Juice Fasting Round 2)

This morning I ran out for some kale and made some Romans 8:28 juice.  This time all things did not work together too well, but it wasn't awful, just a bit sour.  This juice has cucumber, celery, tomato, kale, orange, apple, lemon, strawberry and carrots.  I told you it was "all things" lol!

Day 2 of juice fasting is feeling really great!  I have plenty of energy, even made some home made pizza sauce with tomatoes from our garden.  My hunger is for the most part non-existent and it just comes on occasionally for a few short minutes and that is it.  My mood is much, much better than yesterday!

This time it seems like my body entered fasting mode much more easily.  Aches and pains have been minimal, hunger too has been minimal.  I have some post-nasal drip that started and my tongue is furry, but that is the worst of the detoxing so far.

Day two notes:
 *Weight- 107.2 (first thing in the morning).
*Energy- awesome! ... more than I have had in a while!
*Hunger- almost non existent
*Headache- none
*Coffee- 2 cups 

The hard thing about juicing...

When my family gets this....

I get this...

Day 2 full update coming later tonight!

 

Making Pizza Sauce from scratch!

This morning the tomatoes from our garden were adding up and I could not bear to see them go bad, so I decided to try to make the pizza sauce for dinner tonight.  When I try to make something I usually look at the ingredients and directions from several different recipes and after I have the basic idea, I wing it.  Most times it turns out well, but sometimes it is a flop.  This is what I did for today's recipe. 

  

STEP 1: Gather 6-8 ripe Roma tomatoes, place them in boiling water for 30 seconds each, remove.

 STEP 2: Core the tomatoes and slice in half lengthwise, the skin will then peel right off.

 STEP 3: Let your 2 year old run the power tool.  AR AR AR!

 STEP 4: Place in sauce pan and add ingredients to taste.  I used some fresh garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, salt, pepper, olive oil and a dash of honey.  I didn't like the light color and the thinness of my sauce so at the last minute I decided to add one can of tomato paste.

STEP 5: Let simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes and TA DA!  Since I am juice fasting, Mark tasted it and said it was good.

Day 1 (Juice fasting round 2)

Day one of my second juice fast started off really really really badly. I got ready to make juice and every single one of the 11 cucumbers I had bought Tuesday night were squishy and rotten. I think I damaged/bruised them by shoving them into a bowl standing them upright, and then I left them unrefrigerated because we had so many foods from the 4th in the fridge. Regardless of how it happened it DID, and they were all ruined. Boo.

Then to make matters worse, as I took the cucumbers out to the compost bin, Nathan decided to let our dog Max out. I did not know it until several minutes had passed and by this time Max was G-O-N-E. We walked the neighborhood on foot, by car, and by bike and no Max. By the time all this had happened it was past 11 and I still had not had the chance to make any juice. I ran to the local veggie stand, bought more cucs, and some other produce and was back home around noon, and finally able to make some juice. (I still need some greens for my juice but that will have to wait until I get to the grocery store... the veggie stand didn't have any greens)

Since it was so late in the day already, I only made 4 cups of juice (32 oz). I was in a bad mood so I wanted to make sure it tasted really good. The recipe was 3 small cucs, 3 ribs of celery, a small tomato from our garden, 3 apples and an orange. It was good.

Day one notes:
 *Weight- 109.0 (at midday- I forgot to check first thing in the morning).
*Energy- depleted! ... stress + lack of stress eating = one tired mama.
*Hunger- moderate
*Headache- slight- just later in the day.(possibly stress or all the whiny kids haha)
*Coffee- 2 cups

It's time to do it again!

Wednesday after the fourth's festivities I will start my second (this time 7 day) juice fast. I plan to make it a quarterly habit. Last time I started out at 113 and dropped to 106 (it was a 10 day fast). Since then I remained in the 107-109 range consistently. For me the juice fast is like a reboot that gets me back on track nutritionally and also seems to give me energy from the cleansing that takes place. I am excited. :-) Here is the grocery list for the week: 14 Cucs 2 bunches celery 2 bags green apples 7 lemons 2 bunches Kale 2 pints strawberries 3 bags carrots Going to ALDI's tonight as they usually have the best prices on produce. Will post the total cost of the produce for one weeks fast when I get home.