First, let me suggest that you allow a full 30 minutes every morning to assemble your produce, juice, and clean up...it will definitely take 30 minutes, if not a bit more. This morning, it took about 45: fifteen extra minutes cleaning up the pulp that had flown all over my kitchen cupboards and counter tops! Flying pulp is not a usual occurrence with the LaLanne juicer...but if you forget to put the pulp-catcher back in place behind the juicer BEFORE you re-juice your first run of pulp, it WILL fly everywhere, trust me. It was even on my ceiling, and in my HAIR...<:{ . Awww, the joys... I'm sure the Breville has some amazing pulp-catcher system that would never allow it to fly, no matter what?? I will never know (unless you buy one and tell me :D! ). Take heed...always make sure your pulp-catcher is in place before you turn any juicer on, just to be safe.
Thanks for reading the blog, by the way, I hope it's helpful to you. Catch me on facebook if you have any questions you don't want to post here...otherwise, just enjoy, and hopefully learn from my mistakes (and successes??)
Before I forget...here's the "Dirty Dozen" list of food you should absolutely consider only buying organic if at all possible, and a couple of links to sites that explain why. Some of you have asked me about it, so I figured I would just post it here:
The List:
Special report: Toxic America
The group suggests limiting consumption of pesticides by purchasing organic for the 12 fruits and vegetables.
"You can reduce your exposure to pesticides by up to 80 percent by buying the organic version of the Dirty Dozen," Rosenthal said.
The Dirty Dozen (always buy organic)
Celery
Peaches
Strawberries
Apples
Domestic blueberries
Nectarines
Sweet bell peppers
Spinach, kale and collard greens
Cherries
Potatoes
Imported grapes
Lettuce
Not all non-organic fruits and vegetables have a high pesticide level. Some produce has a strong outer layer that provides a defense against pesticide contamination. The group found a number of non-organic fruits and vegetables dubbed the "Clean 15" that contained little to no pesticides.
The Clean 15 (not totally clean, but ok to buy non-organic if you are on a tight budget)
Onions
Avocados
Sweet corn
Pineapples
Mango
Sweet peas
Asparagus
Kiwi fruit
Cabbage
Eggplant
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Grapefruit
Sweet potatoes
Sweet onions
What is a pesticide?
A pesticide is a mixture of chemical substances originally marketed to farmers after WWII and used on farms to destroy or prevent pests, diseases and weeds from affecting crops. According to the USDA, 45 percent of the world's crops are lost to damage or spoilage, so many farmers count on pesticides.
The Links:
http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/dirty-dozen-foods#fbIndex1
http://www.organicitsworthit.org/quick/pesticides-101
I might just summon up my radical organic spirit here for a moment and say that even though the "ok" list is WAY better than the dirty dozen, it still has some contamination due to the wide use by commercial farmers of "systemic pesticides and herbicides" ,etc. : this is a process where the seeds are treated before planting so that the plant has pesticides in it's entire system (including in the produce we consume) to prevent bugs from liking it, etc. Corn is a major systemic pesticide product, for instance. (This is where you make a note to add "Vanishing Bees" to your Netflix que...and while you're at it, add these too: "Food, Inc." and "King Corn"... to learn all about this pretty disturbing truth. I'd never even heard of systemic pesticides before seeing Vanishing Bees, have you? It makes me mad that the FDA doesn't require any labeling on our foods or how they are grown/raised so we can make good decisions about what we buy for our selves). So, if something on the "ok" list is on sale, I buy it too!
Sorry for the tangent...anyway :)....my morning juice was wonderful, in spite of being time-consuming today.
And.....drum roll here.....I'm down another 2 pounds. That's 6 pounds in 3 days. I'm not kidding you when I say it's been totally fine so far. I mean, yes, my stomach growls now and then; but it was designed to do that. When it does, I just drink more juice! :)
Which brings me to something I want to encourage you with if you are considering a juice fast and one of your goals is to lose weight: do NOT get hung up on the calories in the juice at all. Seriously, we have all been on diets and have all been slaves to calories at one time or another: and how did that work for us? It made Joe, {me} and others fat, sick and nearly dead!! With juicing, you are getting the readily-absorbable micro nutrients that your body can use right away from the fruits and veggies...thus, your body is more efficient and your metabolism is higher because your cells are revved up, etc. Calories are not the issue when you fast on juice you make, believe me. You are burning them at a faster rate and using them efficiently, so they don't have the same weight-gain effect at all. If you drink up to 72-96 oz a day, you will still lose weight, no doubt...and 96 oz is A LOT for me and hard to drink it all in one day (my husband helps ;D) .
A friend's sister in law watched "F,S & ND", bought a juicer the next day and immediately started a juice fast on just the green juice without adding any fruit or stevia to make it taste really great. Why not? Because she wanted to juice to lose weight, to keep the calories down and be a purest about it (only drinking veggies, I guess). Well, needless to say, she called my friend in a couple of days and told her she stopped juicing because it didn't taste good. :( Here's my point: if you don't like the way it tastes, you won't juice or benefit from the amazing effects of adding juice to your life....so make it good tasting for you! My son doesn't like the way that the celery leaves make the juice taste - so where I put the whole stalk in, he cuts the leaves off... if Kale is too "green" tasting for you (I love it, but hey, you may not), then substitute spinach or even Romaine lettuce. Add whatever fruits and amount of stevia you want to make you LOVE your juice. The moral of the story is: When you love it, you will want it every day...and that's the goal, not cutting calories.
Not worrying about calories is just another perk of the juice fast...it's so convenient too, as is the American way. Think about it: you juice once in the morning, you have nothing else to prepare all day (other than tea or whatever), and when you get hungry you just drink more juice :D. Fail proof, convenient, and time-efficient.
My husband does not need to lose any weight at all...as he likes to say, he's in "peak physical condition" (haha! Maybe not exactly ;), but it's true that he does not carry any extra weight at all, darn him)...yet he has other issues having to do with sleep and digestion that made him want to try juicing, and now he is a convert as well! He tried the juice the first day I made it, and liked it...saw how it improved his issues overnight, and now he begs to share mine :). In other words, a juice fast for 10-30-60 days or at all is not important for everyone, just ADD it to your life and you will see the difference in health it makes. I might add that I do think that a 5-day fast is a good one for everyone, weight issues or not, just to "reboot" your body and to get it set on the right path.
Here's what my fruit juice included today...I buy whatever is on sale in the organic aisle and throw it all in, basically :):
Watermelon (~4 cups of chunks)
Lime (peeled)
Apple
2 carrots
Strawberries (handful)
Blueberries (handful)
3 stalks celery
Ginger (the wonder ingredient, I tell ya!)
Stevia (1 packet...but really, this was so sweet, I didn't even need to add it) Oh, and about caffeine...on the fast you are advised to cut it out completely...in regular life, it's suggested that you limit it to a "treat" now and then. But, hey...there's nothing I read that's against Organic Decaf coffee!! So, if you are like me, and enjoy the flavor of coffee but can do without the caffeine, do what I did this morning: brew organic coffee...add Organic Almond Milk (a plant-based product) and add a bit of Stevia and cinnamon for flavor: not bad. Not Dutch Bros., but pretty good ;D It was nice to change-up the flavors this morning from all sweet/fresh to something a bit different, and one cup did the trick. I could be wrong, but I think since it was all plant-based and organic, it should be fine to include. I would think the same would be true for a glass of organic wine every couple of days or so, in moderation....Beer, because of the wheat fermentation process, I'm not to sure of on the fast.
If you go to the Rebooter's website, you can ask the nutritionist there specifically about what you should and shouldn't have on the fast. And, she answers! She is also in the movie :)
If you haven't already, watch the movie this weekend...then tell me what you thought about it. And, no, I'm not getting any compensation for promoting the movie from anyone :) It's just that I have the general life philosophy that if you see a train wreck looming ahead, but have discovered an amazing detour to avoid it, why wouldn't you?...and then of course why wouldn't you urge others you care about to take the detour as well.
Think of juicing, and what you can learn from this movie, as the push toward a great detour toward health in your life for you and your family...that's all ;D
Carpe Diem!
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