A little while back, a couple of our friends had began juicing and they were singing its praises. They brought us a sample and it was love at first taste. Me, loving the taste of any and all fruits and vegetables, decided that it might be fun to try it. Ryan also thought it would be a great way to begin the long road to a healthier "us." So low and behold, a few months ago Ryan and I decided to purchase a juicer.We were very excited.....at first. We had a little bit of juice everyday. But like many things, the excitement soon wore off. Before we knew it, we were back in our processed and fried routine.
It wasn't until about 2 weeks ago, when another friend mentioned she was interested in drinking only juice and water for 2 days to be a catalyst for her weight loss, that I got into the idea of a juice fast. I got a wild idea in my head to have nothing but juice and water for 2 whole days. At first, I thought I could never do it. That it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to complete. I didn't just like food, I LOVED food. When I mentioned this idea to Ryan, surprisingly he was on board! And so began our first juice fast.....
The rules of the juice fast were pretty simple: No eating food, and drink only juice and water. You buy all the fruits and veggies you want, juice them using any combination you desire, and drink the juice throughout the day.We decided that we would make six 12 ounce jars of vegetable juice and six 12 ounce jars of fruit juice for each of us to last us throughout the day.
Day 1: Our first day was fairly easy for the both of us. I rarely eat breakfast. And when I say rarely, I mean basically never. On any given day, instead of having a balanced lunch I usually just snack on whatever we have around the house (Popcorn, crackers, etc..) So I was feeling pretty good until that night. Night time is my usual "snack time," so I was getting a little nervous. We each chugged a 12 ounce jar and went to bed. I am a girl who appreciates her sleep. I go to bed late, and I wake up
late. It's what I do. Most nights, I have trouble falling asleep and end
up tossing and turning for a few hours, and checking Facebook and
Twitter a dozen times before I actually doze off. But not this night. THIS night was different. I fell asleep almost immediately. Day 1 completed!
Day 2: By the time I woke up, I didn't even have time to be excited about how fast I fell asleep, because I woke up feeling better than I have felt in as long as I can remember. Also earlier! I felt energized, and ready to start the day. Which believe me, is NOT the norm! Not long after we woke up, we went to Sunflower Farmers Market here in Orem, and stocked up on a bunch of fruits and veggies to try out some new juice recipes. Juicing was not only healthy for us to do, but it was actually kind of a fun family activity we could all enjoy together. Although Jaylinne was not joining us in our juice fast, she was still involved in the preparation process and even had a few glasses throughout the day with her meals. We were doing good! Until the terrible headaches began. I didn't realize how much CRAP I ate until my body was detoxing off of it. I had been warned about the headaches, but I never thought I would get them. Well, I did. But thank God, drinking a lot of water got rid of them almost as fast as they came. We did really good that day, again, until later on in the evening. I was a wreck. I had a headache, I was hungry, and worst of all...I was emotional. I was ready to quit, but luckily I had Ryan. He was going strong. We decided to sit down and watch a documentary on juicing called, "Fat, sick and almost dead." I didn't have great expectations of the doc, but after it was over, I was recharged. I was INSPIRED. It talked me out of doing anything I would regret, and we even decided to go another day and do 3 days of juice fasting. Again we chugged our 12 ounces and went to bed. Falling asleep-for the second night in a row mind you- was not a problem AT ALL. I was out like a light.
Day 3: I woke up and felt no less than amazing. I felt like a new person and I was loving every minute of it. Ryan was feeling those same effects. I lost over 4 pounds in 2 days, but more importantly I felt like a new person. I felt GOOD. Early on in the day, we decided we were again going to extend our fast to 7 days, as we had our anniversary dinner at the end of the 7th day. We thought that would be a great reward and and provide some incentive to stick to our guns. That day, we both went to the gym and we both worked out. I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but I honestly cannot remember the last time I was on a treadmill. Before I knew it, 2 miles were up and I was very excited! Now this is where this fantastic story ends unfortunately. We caved that night and ate dinner.
We both felt TERRIBLE. It was depressing. Sure, we did above and beyond
the 2 days we initially committed to, but that wasn't enough for us. There was a quote in the documentary that stuck with me along the way. "It's not 'You fail for not going as many days as you planned' it's 'Good on you for trying.'" The next morning, we decided to do another 3 days, and we did it! So were there a few bumps along the way? You betcha. Was it hard? You betcha. Some times were easier than others. But was it worth it? YES. I was never really a believer of the affect that processed and fried food had on our bodies until I went without it. I'm not saying everyone should run out and try it just because a friend of a friend said it was the "cool thing to do," or even use it as a weight loss tool alone. I think it should be used as a tool to re-train your body and mind to eat healthier. I know that this will not be the end of my juice fasting days, it's is only the beginning. And for that, I'm very excited!
For anyone interested in viewing the documentary, here is a link to view it on Hulu:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/289122/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead
It is also available on Netflix!
