Juice Fast: Day 1

Well if you have been reading my posts on Facebook, you know I am starting a juice fast. The plan is to post here every day of the fast (and hopefully continue on after that), but we all know sometimes life gets in the way of blogging, so I'll do my best!

A little background...up until my move (on May 15th) I was doing pretty well with the healthy eating and exercising. I had some off days or maybe a week here and there, but for the most part, I had stayed very consistent since I started on February 1st (aside from the break from exercise when my leg got hurt before the half marathon). Since the move, however, I have been pretty awful. A change in routine always makes it tough to get back on track, but more than that, I think it's the emotional stuff I am going through that has caused me to completely fall off the wagon. I did join a gym and I've had days here and there in the last month where I've eaten well and exercised, but they have been few and far between.

So I've been searching for something that would get me motivated again. I've been seeing commercials for the documentary "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead," which you can watch for free here. It's a pretty interesting documentary and made me want to try a juice fast.

So today was day 1. I was pretty excited to start just because I really felt the need for a fresh start. And what I was doing hadn't kept me motivated, so I thought something more hardcore might get me into the right mindset. The first day was not too bad. Honestly, the juice completely filled me up. The guy who made the documentary suggests drinking juice 6 times a day, but also says you should let your body guide you and drink when you feel you need it. I only drank three juices and had some herbal tea in between. Now, the fact that I was full did not mean I didn't want to eat! The guy on the movie says for the first few days he didn't watch TV because of the food commercials. It definitely makes it tough! And I made the mistake of watching Gilmore Girls, where they are pretty much eating junk food ALL the time. More than anything, I think I wanted to eat out of boredem. I definitely tend to use food as entertainment and it's been way worse since I moved and have very few people around that I know. This weekend the only people I know are out of town, so not being able to use my old fallback entertainment was really tough. But I stayed strong.

The plan is to do a 10 day fast and see how I feel. If I'm really ready to be done, I'll move on to a day or two of juice as well as eating fruits and vegetables (which is what the website for the documentary suggests), and then transition into what I was doing before the move - lean meats, vegetables, fruits, etc. If after the 10 days, I'm feeling great, then I will probably continue for another 5. We will see.

Anyway, here's a quick photo spread of my day! The link to the website for the fasting information is below. They have tons of juice recipes, and so far they have been pretty good!

My fridge after a trip to the Farmer's Market and the grocery store this morning!

Before shot: Breakfast! Watermelon, pineapple and ginger.

The result!

Lunch: Apple, orange, sweet potato, carrots, and beets.

A very pretty juice!

Dinner: Mean Green juice - cucumber, kale, celery, apple, lemon, and ginger. (forgot to take a before picture of this one.)

I was a little scared of the last juice because it was primarily vegetables and I wasn't sure how it was going to taste. It actually ended up being my favorite of the three! Although the breakfast juice was pretty delicious, too!

If you'd like to take a look at the juice programs and recipes, you can go here.

I am definitely feeling a bit of a headache tonight, and I'm guessing I may feel worse tomorrow. But the first couple of days are supposed to be the worst because your body is detoxing and getting adjusted. So if I can get through this, I should be feeling good soon! So far, it hasn't been too bad. I'll post again tomorrow!