Juice Fast Completed

I finished my juice fast and didn't cheat once!  I was even in Laughlin, NV and still stayed on the fast--I had two days left.  I broke my fast in Laughlin with a banana...and then Mickey D's.  It was the cheapest and I was on a budget.  I know that wasn't ideal, but I continued to juice and eat fruits and veggies.  Even made a tomato, kale and avocado croissant.  Yum!

Juicing isn't really this messy--it's a double exposure photo.

Back home, still working on juicing for morning and afternoon and veggies for dinner.  Made bean chili, my daughter made an incredible vegetable soup, and we have been doing stir fry.  I never thought an entire plate of veggies would be so delicious, but it is. The fast was successful in helping me change the way I eat. The fridge still looks like a farmers market and my portion sizes have gotten smaller.

I still haven't had Diet Coke...or any type of soda!  I wanted something other than water to drink yesterday so I made lemonade.  It was refreshing, but of course it is loaded with sugar, so I'll keep that to a minimum.

I don't have the stats for my weight when I finished the fast, but on Day 8 I had lost 8 lbs.  I am now 163.5.  Not bad--especially considering that I ate junk food and drank alcohol (including a delicious fresh pineapple/orange juice with Malibu rum yum!) for a couple days on my trip.

Here are the before and after (a week after completing the fast) stats:

In/Lb Lost 4/5/2012      4/23/2012 Weight:   9 172.5 163.5 Chest:  2.5 45.5 43 Waist:   3 43 40 Hips:   2 45 43 Arms:   1.75 12 10.25 Thigh:   2 21 19 Calf  0.25 15 14.75 Total Inches Lost 11.5

Observations on Day 5 of the Juice Fast

I've made it half way through the 10 days!

It is quite interesting to observe the cravings and also the lack of cravings.  For instance, I haven't craved Diet Coke.  I might have thought about it once or twice the first day, but until Marisa mentioned it on day 4, i hadn't even thought about it.

I did however have a craving for Egg Noodle Dinner.  I loved that dish!  I haven't seen it in stores in a very long time.  I can't even remember the last time I had it, but my senses could almost taste it the other day.  That and 7-11 nachos.  I've thought about those more than once.

I have had a craving for grilled zucchini--go figure--and I can't wait to use portabello mushrooms as a meat.

Seems that everyday Marisa and I will talk about some sort of food and that gets us going.  We don't go on for too long though.  We do talk about what we will want when we break our fast.  I want a big salad with croutons and ranch dressing, (restaurant ranch dressing--I haven't found any ranch dressing on the shelves that is as good as restaurant ranch) at least that is what I want today.

Still not sure if I will be continuing the fast after 10 days.  At the very least, I do know that I will continue with juicing 2 meals a day and eating one at least until I reach my goal weight.  My long term goal is to continue to have green juice on a regular basis just to get the nutrients I need from vegetables without having to eat ginormous portions.

I am looking forward to making pulp crackers, fruit leathers, and adding the pulp to meatballs and hamburgers.  Heck, I might even try to make my own veggie burgers. Don't get me wrong, I love meat, but I want to have more veggies in my meals than meats because of the health benefits.

Juice Fast Day Four

This just might get boring talking only about the juice cleanse because it is going very well. No weight loss yesterday, but I am an inch down in my chest, waist and hips.  Again, I need to remind myself that I am doing this for detoxing my body and the weight loss is just a benefit.  I know I shouldn't be using the scale as a gauge, but I think it is only natural to want to do this.  My skin does feel a little softer.

Easter Juice - Carrots, Oranges, Pineapple, Strawberries, Ginger

Day four was Easter.  It was a little tough driving by restaurants (especially Lawry's) and seeing families out dining together.  By the end of the day we were both a little grumpy.

It seemed like Marisa was about ready to give up yesterday, but she found a juice that satisfied her craving, and all was right with the world.  She is calling it Caprese Juice. Tomatoes, basil and garlic.  She added a splash of balsamic vinegar to hers, and I added a half a zucchini to mine.  

We decided to use fresh veggies and not just pulp for some of our broths.  I made one to get a similar flavor to three flavors sizzling rice soup (without the meat juices of course) and it is delicious!  Marisa made one using the pulp from the dinner juice and it tasted like meatball soup, also delicious.  Really felt satisfied.

By the end of the day I still had about 6 oz of my green juice left (started with 28) and after my small dinner juice (about 6 oz) I was pretty much full, so I waited till bedtime to have my broth.

Here are the vegetables I used for the broth (guesstimating on the amount of veggies:


Three Flavors Sizzling Rice Soup Broth
1.5 C Mushrooms
1 C Snow Peas
1/4 small yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
2 t crazy salt (sea salt is fine)
2 t pepper
2 t sesame seed oil

Saute vegetables in oil then add 8 cups of water and spices.  Bring to boil and then simmer for 2.5 hours.  Perfection!

Juice Fast Day Three

Down 3.5 lbs!!  Woo Hoo!

Day three wasn't bad.  Seems that day 2 was the worst for me. If the first three days are the worst, then I'm cruising now.  I did have a mild headache off and off throughout the day.  I splurged on a Orange Mango juice from Jamba Juice. Not something I want to make a habit, but we were passing pizza shops (which smelled delicious) and other restaurants in Belmont Shores and I needed a pick me up (mentally and physically).

This isn't me--this body.  I struggled yesterday with my self image.  This is NEVER how I pictured myself.  I've battled with weight since my teens, but at this weight I feel so awful about myself.  My weight and my teeth.

Appearance.  Sure, people say it is the inside that counts, but when the outside is just so out of whack with the inside, the outside begins to overwhelm the inside.

Inside I am a confident, witty, outgoing (although a bit shy at first), and still a size 6.  Most days I think that girl is present, but days like yesterday, there is a voice or a force--the evil part of the mind--that reminds me what people are seeing is something very different.

This time around (weight wise) I have an added distraction--my teeth.  They are spreading apart and I am missing one in the front now.  Back when I had dental insurance my teeth needed serious work.  I didn't want 20 root canals and caps in my mouth and I couldn't find a dentist willing to give me dentures.  Now, that my teeth are in bad enough shape that dentists are willing to give me dentures (albeit reluctant), I can't afford the dental work.

So even when I forget that I am larger when I smile at people in public that evil reminder voice says, "hey, you are missing a tooth--don't smile," and then the contortions to hide the missing tooth begin.

Anyway, yesterday was a bad day for me in terms of how I felt emotionally about myself.  Perhaps it was the reality of the before pictures that I took on day one.  I will post them eventually, but not until I lose a little weight and can show some progress.  I never really understood people not posting before pictures, but I guess I can now.  A photo is very different than passing by a mirror.  Also, the clothes I chose to wear for the photo are very different than the clothes I would wear in public. Not that the clothes I wear in public hide the fact that I am larger, but they don't accentuate all the bumps and bulges.

Onto day four and feeling better about myself.

Juice Fast Day Two

Fast Juice

My daughter, Marisa, and I are doing the fast together and it is interesting to see the differences in how our bodies are responding to it.

The first day she was very tired and I had plenty of energy.  On day two though, the tables were turned--and worse!

I woke up with a headache, but nothing I couldn't handle.  We had planned to go the the farmer's market close to home, and run a few more errands.  I never made it out of the house--well not until about 9:30 pm to get toilet paper and movies.  She braved the real world and went to lunch at Chili's with a friend and took green juice as her lunch!  Not only did she chance going to a restaurant on day two, she also walked there.

My headache got progressively worse throughout the morning.  I tried to nap through it, put ice bags on my head, made it dark in the house, and then around 1pm I finally broke down and took some Excedrin because it was excruciating!  It didn't get rid of it completely, but it was tolerable and I could function again.

I read that sugar could make headaches worse, and the wonderful breakfast juice I made very possibly could have been the culprit.

Heavenly Pineapple Orange Strawberry Apple Juice
1/3 Pineapple
1 Sweet Apple (I used an Oh My Gosh Apple)
3 strawberries
1 Orange
1/2 inch ginger.

It was frothy and made about 18 ounces of juice. The rest of the day I drank 30oz of green juice and for dinner an 11oz salad in a glass that Marisa made.  I'll have to get the recipe from her.  It had beet, tomato, garlic, onion...and I'm not sure what else.

Juice Art by Marisa Zocco

I made another broth last night with yesterday's pulp.  I added a lot more spices this time.  My neighbor came over for a visit and she said, "if you guys are on a juice fast, why does it smell like hamburger helper in here." I don't eat Hamburger Helper much anymore (it's probably been at least a year if not two) but right now, the lasagna flavor sounds delicious.

It did smell lovely in the house all day yesterday. Marisa made a tea with the pulp from the morning juice and it smelled like we were baking apple pie.  The tea was nice too.  More flavorful than the herbal teas we bought at the store.

I was hungrier than I was on the first day of the fast.....but I also sipped on my juices rather than sucking them down quickly which may have been a part of it, but it also may just be the nature of the fast.

I am a little concerned about day three, since the headache from day two was so severe and day three is when you are supposed to feel most miserable.  I did increase my water intake--hopefully this will help flush out toxins an make me feel less bad.

We ended the day by giving each other head and shoulder massages which got rid of the lingering headache I had.  Thank you Marisa!

Onto day three!