The word of the day today has been "negotiation." Pretty much all day it's been my stomach v. my head in a very child-like back and forth that goes a little something like this:
"I'm hungry"
Have some juice.
"I already had juice. I'm bored of juice. How about Dante's 3 layer fries?" (fries, cheese, bacon, jalapenos, sour cream)
You already know the answer to that is no.
"Fine, what about potstickers, you know, the ones from Lily's Garden...they've got ginger in them, sort of like those juices you keep drinking."
Um, no.
"Alright, what about Doritos. You' haven't eaten Doritos in ages. All that cheesy crunchy goodness...don't you miss crunching?"
No and no.
"Roast beef with potatoes?"
You don't even like beef.
And then my stomach deals a low blow...
"Vietnamese spring rolls? You don't even need to put the noodles on them, just veggies, green apple, herbs, and that delectable peanut sauce???"
Oh crap...
I've been bugging my nutritionist friend for support a LOT today, to the point where I'm sure she's amused and mildly irritated at the same time. She's been a great deal of help with talking me off the ledge over the past 4 days, and she told me that 60 days is a really long time to subsist on juice alone. We talked about my motives and my 2 upcoming races that I should start training for soon...60 days is a heck of a long time to go without chewing and crunching.
So here's the revised deal: 15 days (so my stomach is just going to have to suck it up and stop thinking about food other than fruits and veggies) of pure, unadulterated juice. I'm going on vacation for a long weekend at the end of the 15 days, so I'll be transitioning into eating some solid foods (again, fruits & veggies only, with maybe a little protein in the form of eggs). Then for the remaining 11 days (so 15 more days total), I'll be juicing for breakfast and lunch and eating a nice solid scrumptious salad for dinner. She suggested this would be a great way to transition back into the land of the living (er...eating). A 30 day juice/raw veggies & fruits stint sounds doable.
So for now, back to the juicer I go.
Cheers,
Dorothy
Showing posts with label juicing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label juicing. Show all posts
Monday, July 23, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Juicing Day 1
Breakfast this morning was a carrot/orange/grapefruit/beet/ginger juice, which has been very tasty. It's a little bitter, which I'm guessing is from the 2 white grapefruits that I juiced. Note to self: use ruby red grapefruits next time. They are sweeter. This juice is fantastic, and I haven't really been hungry at all. Ok, I lie, I drank 8 oz of the juice at 8, and I was really hungry around 11. Apparently I'm supposed to be drinking at least 16 oz of juice per sitting...oops. I'm currently sipping the second 8 oz jar that I have & I'm feeling a lot better.
I've also made a juice for later on with strawberries, rhubarb, kale, carrots, and beets, which I'm excited to try. I used an entire stalk of rhubarb and a pint of strawberries, so I'd imagine it's going to be a whole lot like drinking a strawberry rhubarb pie...yum.
I have also noticed that I'm very cold. I'm so cold that I've got goosebumps and everything from my toes to my nose is cold, which usually doesn't happen to me unless it's the dead of winter. I'm not exactly sure why I'm feeling cold, but I suspect that only drinking cold juices has got to lower your body temperature or something. I've been told that people who are transitioning to a raw diet experience similar feelings, so I find comfort in the fact that I'm not an anomaly here.
Other than the constant cold feeling, so far, so good.
Cheers,
Dorothy
PS if you're as out of your mind as I am and are thinking about embarking on a lengthy juice fast (or even just a weekend juice fast), here are a few tips:
* Please juice as organic and local as you can. When you juice fruits and veggies, you're essentially concentrating all the nutrients and pesticides that are in the produce. I recommend printing out (or at least saving in a handy place) the Environmental Working Group's 2012 dirty dozen (& clean 15) list of veggies and fruits that is categorized by pesticide level. It's a great quick guide to help determine what's ok to buy conventional and what you should steer clear of when you're grocery shopping for the juice fast and beyond.
* If you're more of a night owl than a morning person (like me) and are planning on juicing the night before so that you can savor a few more hours of sleep, invest in 8 oz. wide mouth mason jars to store the juice that you've made. Make sure to fill them to the top so as to slow down the oxidation process.
* It is best, of course, to consume your juice right after you make it, but that's not always an option. Juice usually keeps for about 24 hours, so you will have to make more at least once a day.
* Invest in a good quality juicer. This doesn't mean that you have to blow this month's rent on the most expensive one, but look around at reviews and ask friends for suggestions. I've got the Breville Ikon juicer, which I picked up for about $180 (normally $200, but I had a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon), which isn't terrible. I'm told that Breville is a great juicer brand though.
I've also made a juice for later on with strawberries, rhubarb, kale, carrots, and beets, which I'm excited to try. I used an entire stalk of rhubarb and a pint of strawberries, so I'd imagine it's going to be a whole lot like drinking a strawberry rhubarb pie...yum.
I have also noticed that I'm very cold. I'm so cold that I've got goosebumps and everything from my toes to my nose is cold, which usually doesn't happen to me unless it's the dead of winter. I'm not exactly sure why I'm feeling cold, but I suspect that only drinking cold juices has got to lower your body temperature or something. I've been told that people who are transitioning to a raw diet experience similar feelings, so I find comfort in the fact that I'm not an anomaly here.
Other than the constant cold feeling, so far, so good.
Cheers,
Dorothy
PS if you're as out of your mind as I am and are thinking about embarking on a lengthy juice fast (or even just a weekend juice fast), here are a few tips:
* Please juice as organic and local as you can. When you juice fruits and veggies, you're essentially concentrating all the nutrients and pesticides that are in the produce. I recommend printing out (or at least saving in a handy place) the Environmental Working Group's 2012 dirty dozen (& clean 15) list of veggies and fruits that is categorized by pesticide level. It's a great quick guide to help determine what's ok to buy conventional and what you should steer clear of when you're grocery shopping for the juice fast and beyond.
* If you're more of a night owl than a morning person (like me) and are planning on juicing the night before so that you can savor a few more hours of sleep, invest in 8 oz. wide mouth mason jars to store the juice that you've made. Make sure to fill them to the top so as to slow down the oxidation process.
* It is best, of course, to consume your juice right after you make it, but that's not always an option. Juice usually keeps for about 24 hours, so you will have to make more at least once a day.
* Invest in a good quality juicer. This doesn't mean that you have to blow this month's rent on the most expensive one, but look around at reviews and ask friends for suggestions. I've got the Breville Ikon juicer, which I picked up for about $180 (normally $200, but I had a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon), which isn't terrible. I'm told that Breville is a great juicer brand though.
Creating a New Reverence for Food Preface
I have decided to undertake a major challenge and tackle a 60 day juice fast. That's right, 60 days of cozying up to my juicer with a bag of produce, drinking it exclusively, and liking it. So many people take food for granted, they eat junk because it tastes good or because they have decided that they are to busy to prepare and consume healthful food. Others hold food in such high regard that they practically worship artisinal, vegan fed, nitrate free, bacon anything. They are more interested in the culture of food snobbery than the origin and purpose of their food. My aim is to understand the fundamental nature of food, the interplay of flavors of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and spices as well as the important nutritional role that fruits and vegetables have my body.
Food, in its purest form is nourishment both for the body and soul, and I am hoping that by completing this juice fast, I can gain a better understanding of the food that I grow and consume. All the fruits and vegetables that I am going to be juicing are going to be local and organic whenever I can find it. I will be purchasing the bulk of my ingredients from local farmer markets so that I can have a better understanding of the hard work and passion that goes into the foods that I eat. I will be documenting my progress here in the form of daily updates (well, most days) as well as photos and recipes of my tastiest juices (as well as produce combinations that just don't work for me).
I will be regularly consulting a nutritionist in order to monitor my nutritional intake as well as to talk about the effects of the fast on my body. I will also review the process approximately every two weeks in order to gauge my progress, in case something happens and I can't continue with my journey. I welcome any and all questions that you might have, as well as any funny comments and words of encouragement for me. Here's to a journey of culinary enlightenment.
Cheers,
Dorothy
Food, in its purest form is nourishment both for the body and soul, and I am hoping that by completing this juice fast, I can gain a better understanding of the food that I grow and consume. All the fruits and vegetables that I am going to be juicing are going to be local and organic whenever I can find it. I will be purchasing the bulk of my ingredients from local farmer markets so that I can have a better understanding of the hard work and passion that goes into the foods that I eat. I will be documenting my progress here in the form of daily updates (well, most days) as well as photos and recipes of my tastiest juices (as well as produce combinations that just don't work for me).
I will be regularly consulting a nutritionist in order to monitor my nutritional intake as well as to talk about the effects of the fast on my body. I will also review the process approximately every two weeks in order to gauge my progress, in case something happens and I can't continue with my journey. I welcome any and all questions that you might have, as well as any funny comments and words of encouragement for me. Here's to a journey of culinary enlightenment.
Cheers,
Dorothy
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