Seriously, Day 1 was not as hard as I'd expected it to be after watching the movie and seeing what the guys struggled with the first 3 days of their fast. The only thing that was different (not necessarily hard, but maybe slightly annoying??) was the number of times I had to visit the bathroom <:}, and the triggers that made me feel like I "needed" to eat something solid.
The only time I was actually hungry was when I spent 4 hours shopping/doing errands without bringing along some juice. By the end of the 4 hours, all I wanted to do was get home and get my jar of green and gulp! After I did that, I felt totally fine. So, note to self: always take some juice along in a small cooler or something when you think you may not be home for several hours. That's when the "triggers" affected me: at the grocery store...seeing Fage greek yogurt on the shelf, or the whole grain bread (I was picturing it with some organic peanut butter on it and a glass of milk). But, it wasn't intolerable at all...I'm used to eating/chewing, so thinking about eating/chewing, makes sense.
The trick I found is to drink juice whenever you feel hungry at all...as soon as you feel hungry; or drink water or herbal tea. The juice is totally yummy and satisfying, so it's truly not been an issue so far. I think many of us are used to always having a "full" feeling and equate that to satiation...we eat to prevent our stomach from growling. When, in reality, it's healthier to wait until your stomach growls (or nearly so) and then feed it! I feel "empty", digestive-wise, but I think that is a positive! No bloating, or feeling over-full, etc.
The bathroom thing :)... let's just say that you do get "cleaned out" the first day for sure. I didn't experience any diarrhea, but I've read on the rebooting forum that many people do. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I have been integrating the green juice and drinking it twice a day for several weeks before I started the fast. My body wasn't shocked into the nutrient overload all at once, and I strongly recommend starting the process slowly because of that.
Today, I woke up with the sun (halleluyah!), slept incredibly well, and I feel energized. It's almost like my mind is clearing up. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I have this positive outlook on things and my brain seems to be functioning efficiently, more than usual, accompanied by a "go with the flow" attitude rather than an anxious "have to get it all done NOW" sense.
All in all, juicing makes me happy! I look forward to making/having my juice in the morning and throughout the day. A friend and I were talking about juicing this morning and how just the act of getting our vegetables and fruits out and prepared to juice gives a peace of mind or a pleasant awareness of the "rightness" of it all, that it's almost like meditation or prayer. There is a calmness of the spirit or something...it's so hard to explain, but we have both felt it (so it must be real!). Maybe it's just the way we feel as we realize we are finally doing something REALLY good for our bodies, and anticipating how drinking the juice will make us healthier? Who knows; if nothing else, it's just a great little health ritual that makes me happy, that's all I know :D
Before you start juicing, here are some tips that have helped me:
- Use a plastic bag to line your pulp-catcher to make cleanup easier. When you are done juicing, just pull out your bag and dispose. Or, like I do, feed it to your chickens, or freeze it to use in muffins or soups, or compost it, or whatever.
- To get absolutely every ounce of juice out of your produce, re-juice the pulp! Yep, just scoop it out of the pulp-catcher and send it through a second time...you'll get about 1/8-1/4 cup more juice :)
- Substitute any item for a like-item. If you don't like Kale, use spinach or Romaine lettuce ...any thing that is dark green and leafy. I even use the stems and leaves off of my beets! The point is to make your juice so yummy that you look forward to drinking it...so change it up however you'd like. Fruit for fruit, veggie for veggie. And you can always add an extra apple or Stevia to sweeten it (that's what I do every time)
- Make all of your juice for the day at one time, in the morning. It stores well for up to 24 hours, and can go as long as 72 (but no longer, they say). The longer juice is stored, the more the nutrients degrade...so try to make enough for only 24 hours.
- Stop drinking juice and/or water by about 8pm, or you may have to wake up to use the bathroom!
- I set out three 32oz canning jars on the counter and added 1/2 scoop of Raw, Organic vegetable protein powder (made from sprouts that I found at the organic market) to each one. This is not typical, but I wanted to boost the protein content of my juice so that I would not feel hungry and to make it so that I can still work out at the level I'm used to...since it is organic vegetable sprout protein, it acts just like the juice in metabolism
- I double the recipe and make my green juice first -mostly veggies with just a couple of apples and a lemon for punch. I add Stevia and fill up a huge pitcher I have to collect all of it before I distribute it to the jars. I send through an organic cucumber-with it's high liquid content- or a 1/2 cup of chilled herb tea to "cleanse" the juicer and sweep out any remaining pulp and nutrients. I mix it all in the pitcher, then fill 2 jars with this mixture...put the lids on and shake to stir the powder in. Refrigerate.
- Next, without cleaning the juicer, I start my fruit juice. This morning I added: Ginger, strawberries, blueberries, lime, 1 apple, 1 peach, a cucumber and carrot for extra vitamins and liquid. I poured this into my third jar, put the lid on , and shook it. At each "meal" I drink about 16 oz of green juice followed by about 8-10oz of my "dessert" fruit juice. Tastes yummy, and keeps it fun.
I'm still excited and feel great. Who knows, maybe tomorrow will be worse? But so far, this is no sweat :)
I read some great info on the rebooter site posted by the nutritionist that I thought I would copy and paste here below.
Carpe Diem!
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.....Quoted from the rebooters website:
Here are some of the reasons why fruits and vegetables are simply so good for us. One such reason is that a plant-based diet contains many anti-inflammatory micronutrients. This is a very hot topic and one that can seem rather complicated; but it is actually very simple to understand. Inflammation is an important process that allows our bodies to defend itself from foreign substances - especially those that can make us sick. For example, when we get a cut on our finger, our body’s inflammatory response begins right away. The area swells and white blood cells and other immune cells do their jobs to seal off the cut, and attack any pathogens trying to get into our bloodstream.
This same process happens inside our digestive system – every time we eat. Our body mobilizes its defenses to prepare for an invasion of a pathogen or disease so foods that are perceived as dangerous elicit a strong inflammatory response in the intestinal tract. When this is done, the pathogen is neutralized and the body is spared from infection.
So when eating fruits and vegetables that our bodies have seen for thousands and thousands of years, it's more familiar, and the immune response is mild compared to the response that we'd see after eating heavily processed foods. In fact, a significant amount of our immune defense system, called the lymphatic system, lies just behind our small intestine where we absorb most of our nutrients. Just like a country putting its strongest defenses at its ports and borders, our immune system has many of its 'big guns' at the intestine. Having an immune system that is constantly challenged by 'foreign' processed foods will wear it out over time, and make us more vulnerable to disease and infection as we age. Let’s take a closer look at this process from the micro level.
The cells that make up the border of our small intestine – called enterocytes – are lined up next to each other like a line of kids playing Red Rover. Like the children's interlocking elbows in Red Rover, the spaces between the cells, called “tight junctions," are the point of attack for anything wishing to get through. Over time, if we eat a lot of unhealthy foods, our tight junctions can become porous, weak or “leaky,” allowing things in that we don’t want in to get in and things we want to stay in to leak out. One result is less efficient absorption of nutrients as well as more efficient invasion by pathogens. Some research suggests this idea of “leaky gut” and inflammation can cause diseases and infection. Research on chronic conditions including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and obesity is highlighting the underlying inflammatory aspects shared among them.
This is a primary reason why eating fruits and vegetables, and avoiding foods like hormone-filled red meat, in your diet may not only help discourage the development of ailments but generally help reduce day-to-day aches and pains in our joints and muscles. Hopefully you have witnessed some of this day-to-day benefit first hand during your Reboot thus far. A Reboot can be a powerful vehicle to reap many significant health benefits and get you on your way to feeling well for life.
Pro-Inflammatory Foods
Processed foods
Fried foods
Foods with Saturated & Trans-Fats
Red meat
Whole milk dairy
Shortening
Omega-6 fats
Soybean oil
Corn oil
Vegetable oil
Anti-Inflammatory Foods
Healthy Fats
Olive oil
Canola oil
Nuts
Natural nut butters
Avocado
Fish (i.e. wild salmon)
Fruits
Vegetables
Whole grains Eat Well, Be Well,
Stacy Kennedy
MPH, RD, CSO, LDN
Reboot Your Life Nutritionist On Call
stacykennedy@jointhereboot.com
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