What I Miss about Juice Feasting & a New Blog

It's been over a month since I ended my 65-day juice feast. In hindsight, I wish I'd done a full 90+ days. Still, I'm glad I was able to pull off what I did.

What I miss most about juice feasting was the incredible lightness I felt. (There were also these moments of crazy peacefulness that are hard to describe.) I can somewhat recapture that lighness by eating high raw-vegan, and many days I go 100% raw. I've definitely kept a significant amount of juice in my daily diet, and I've turned a lot of friends on to juicing--especially green juice. Nothing makes me happier than my kids requesting kale/pineapple juice. It's such a fan favorite I try to prep some whenever we're having guests.

I'll incorporate some all-juice days and some mini-feasts, and at some point I'd like to do another long juice feast.

If you're interested in a raw food lifestyle for health, weight loss, increased energy, or just to be a little kinder to the planet, check out my new blog, The Raw Difference. And no, you don't have to be 100% raw or give up any particular food forever in order to benefit from raw foods.

See you on the new blog! (Check out my new running shoes!)

Day 52 - Supplements

Over the last few weeks, I've added some supplements to my juice routine. My spirulina arrived in the mail, so I take a tablespoon of that when I'm having a straight fruit juice.

Bee pollen is specifically recommended for protein. I've added it back in, especially since I've been working out a lot, but I don't really like it, so it's tough to get down. I have a basic rule about not consuming foods Idon't enjoy, so rather than push myself so hard to get the pollen down, I try to up my greens and get more protein that way. Pollen has lots of other great benefits, but it's not working for me.

Hemp seed oil has a perfect balances of omega-3 and omega-6. Under normal circumstances, I'd much prefer the nutrition of the whole seed, but on a juice feast, this supplement helps prevent my fat consumption from going too low. 1 tablespoon each day.

Kelp granules are pleasant tasting, and provide iodine and other nutrients. MSM is a sulphur compound, which supports healthy skin, hair, and nails.

I still take my daily supplements of probiotics, DHA, and Vitamin D3. I normally take a multi with B-12, but I need to restock on that.

It seems like a long list of supplements, but they're all fairly unobtrusive. Pop a tiny pill or take a teaspoon, and I'm done. I'm not a huge fan of pills and potions, but I accept that my diet is always imperfect, and select supplements can shore up any weaknesses

Day 49 - A Juicy Buzz

Not too long ago, a SAD-eating friend came over and we discussed my juice feast. After a round of questions and good natured objections to the whole idea, he jokingly asked, "Can it get you drunk?"

Well, no, but it can get you buzzed. Seriously! I don't know anyone whose intention is to juice feast so they can "get high," --that would be sad--but I've occasionally found I do get a slightly-out-of-myself feeling when I drink certain juices. A few days ago, I made an apple/beet/beet green/ginger/lemon combination for my cousin, and she asked me what I put in it. She was having a similar buzzy feeling.

The beautiful thing about the juice feasting buzz is that there's no sense of being out of control, sick, or destructive. It's more of an appealing lightness.

All buzzes aside, I'm blissed out with my current juicy state. I prefer not to contemplate the end, which is only 11 days away.

Today's juice:

pineapple/kale/spinach

pineapple/orange

watermelon

Final juice of the day TBD

Day 46 - Oopsie!

Another juice mishap today: I was running my mouth and sitting down to a beautiful cantaloupe juice when the jar slipped from my hand and spilled all over the coffee table. The girls sprang into action with towels. Even though I splashed a few files and papers, my laptop escaped unscathed. Thank goodness!

My energy is excellent these days. When I don't get enough sleep at night, I take a late afternoon nap, but I'm able to workout for 2 hours at a time and my work hours are consistently productive. I can honestly see why some people are reluctant to complete their feast at the 92 day mark. Even though I'm committed to 60+ days, I find the idea of extending often surfaces for me. Ah well, the timing's probably not right for that.

Today's juice:
watermelon
cantaloupe
orange
Vitamineral Green

I know. I know. I missed my green juices today. It's rare that I do that, but sometimes I have to be not so rigid with myself. I made sure to have a heaping spoonful of the Vitamineral Green, so I didn't have a mineral-free day. Tommorow I'm back to my pineapple green juice!

Day 45 - It's Contagious

Check out that green juice mustache!

There's not a lot to report on my juicing experience at the moment. It's become a pleasant routine over the last several weeks. While I'll certainly enjoy eating all the fruits of summer when I can, I can't say I miss foods or have any cravings these days. My current intention is to complete the feast at 60 days. I'd love to do the full 92-day protocol, but I'll be spending some of that time in a cabin with no access to a grocery store or farmer's market. We'll have just a mini-fridge and whatever foods I can bring along. I don't want to take what's been a very pleasant experience and make it stressful. I'll see how I feel at the end of June, but for now it looks like 60 days will do it.

I'm pleased to say that my super supportive boyfriend continues to have a juice for one of his meals each day. The rest of his day is high raw and high vegan. He's loving the results he's gotten from juicing, including a more balanced attitude about food.

My cousin came to stay with us for a while as she relocates to Atlanta. After a few days spent settling in, she surprised me by declaring she wanted to do a 15-day mini juice feast! I was happy to have her along for the journey. She insists that after just 7 days on the juice feast, she can see a significant difference. Her skin is clearer and she's down 5 pounds. It makes sense that she'd see remarkable changes given that she's coming off of a diet that included burgers, Chinese takeout, and fried foods on a semi-regular basis. She's a fruit and vegetable lover (thank goodness), but she's just starting to lean away from those health-harming foods.

Most wonderful of all, my 11 year old has started making her own juices. She's done smoothies for a long time now, and she still loves them, but every other day or so, she makes herself a green juice. How kick-butt awesome is that? Pineapple with ginger, greens, and lemon is her current fave. I'm one proud mama--just wish my older daughter were here to dive into all this yummy juiciness with us.

If you haven't started juicing yet, don't wait any longer. You don't need an expensive juicer, just your blender and a nutmilk bag. Go for it!

Day 32!

Just a quick note to say I'm still juicing! My original goal was 31 days. Going forward, I'll assess on a weekly basis. For now, I'm committed to finishing out this week, but I'll admit there's a voice in the back of my head whispering, "Just make it the full month." Obviously, I'm enjoying the feast. My energy and productivity have been great for the last several days!

Today's juice:

tomato/basil/spinach

cantaloupe

grapefruit/orange

broccoli/apple/spinach

Day 29 - Sharing the Juice Love

Our landlord and lady dropped by to fix some things today. We're lucky enough to have a friendly relationship with them, so they hung out to chat for a while. It was approaching noon, and because of my morning schedule, I hadn't made my first juice of the day. While we talked I blended apple, parsley, spinach, lemon, and ginger. Of course, I shared a sample with everyone.

Rarely do we have a house guest without one or both of us going off on a healthy eating tangent. There's nothing like a captive audience, especially when we can serve them some yummy-deliciousness as a means of swaying them to our way of thinking. This time we tag-teamed. I did my best to articulate some of the benefits I've experienced since going high raw/very high vegan and since starting my juice feast. I'm hoping we convinced them to replace one meal a day with a green smoothie as they transition to some healthier choices. Heck, I'd love to see just about everyone I know add a daily green smoothie to his or her diet!

Today's juice:

apple/parsley/spinach/ginger/lemon

watermelon/strawberry/apple

grapefruit/orange

Since I missed what would've been my 2nd green juice for the day, I supplemented with lots of chlorella. I should've had a green powder, but lately Vitamineral Green just tastes too strong to me, and that's the only one I have. I have a strict policy of not eating or drinking things I don't enjoy!