My Juice Fast

[queenfluff]

I am doing a juice fast - I sort of started last night with lots of water. I am planning to do three or five days or a whole week (we'll see how it goes) since I have only done this once before and only for three days. Plus, I leave on vacation to Florida on the 24th so I only have a little time (can't be on restricted diet on vacation - that's no fun). My period just started too so I heard that is a good time for women to fast since you are already detoxing.

So far, I have had:

Tons of H2O

Hot lemonade (hot water with half juiced lemon)

Glass of freshly squeezed organic orange juice

I plan on juicing a lot of apples, oranges, grapefruit, pineapple and maybe making some nut milks. My bf will make the "green" juices since he is big on that. :) I am sort of following some of the advice in the book Juice Fasting and Detoxification by Steve Meyerowitz.

I'll post what I "drink". :)

Last time I did this (that was the first time too) my face broke out really bad - but than I had never did that before either and was a new vegetarian so I had all that old meat toxins to detox out. Hopefully it doesn't happen this time since my diet is a lot better now! :) At least, I'll be able to heal in the sun later if it does. :)

After the fast, I plan on easing off on all raw foods for a few days. :)

Anyone else have any juice fasting or other fasting experiences to share?

[karenlovessnow]

I pretty much did exactly what you posted, minus the nut milks and I loved it! And I actually had small amounts of fruit, like watermelon and cantaloupe instead of just juice. Mainly because I"m a baby and I had 'chew' something. I'm working up to doing it again soon. When I started eating, after three days, I stuck to raw for a few days. I felt great! I actually still drink the lemonade (lemon juice in water with cayenne pepper and grade b maple syrup) Good luck! :)

[DeflatorMouse]

Congratulations & good luck, queenfluff!

A juice fast is what introduced me to vegetarianism. I was a regular meat eater, and in order to train for a race I went on a juice fast for 2 months. It felt so good to detoxify that I never went back to my gross eating habits afterwards. I recommend it very highly. :yes: It'll be fun to read what strange & interesting concoctions you come up with. Mine was pretty unimaginative. I basically stuck to V8 Splash and tomato juice. With an occasional bloody mary...

[queenfluff]

I pretty much did exactly what you posted, minus the nut milks and I loved it! And I actually had small amounts of fruit, like watermelon and cantaloupe instead of just juice. Mainly because I"m a baby and I had 'chew' something. I'm working up to doing it again soon. When I started eating, after three days, I stuck to raw for a few days. I felt great! I actually still drink the lemonade (lemon juice in water with cayenne pepper and grade b maple syrup) Good luck! :)


Thanks! I thought about including some light type of fruits (and maybe smoothies) like you did but then I re-read by book and decided to just stick with the liquids. I think I'll be OK with not chewing for a bit.

The drink you described is the Master Cleanse. I have that recipe myself. Only problem is that I don't really like cayenne pepper. Don't know if the drink would work correctly with out it or not? I know the pepper is supposed to be good for the circulation.

Thankfully, I love lemons so I'll be having alot of Hot lemonades. :) I used to drink that on a regular basis too a long time ago. I think I stopped when I slipped back to drinking coffee for some reason.

[queenfluff]

Congratulations & good luck, queenfluff!

A juice fast is what introduced me to vegetarianism. I was a regular meat eater, and in order to train for a race I went on a juice fast for 2 months. It felt so good to detoxify that I never went back to my gross eating habits afterwards. I recommend it very highly. :yes: It'll be fun to read what strange & interesting concoctions you come up with. Mine was pretty unimaginative. I basically stuck to V8 Splash and tomato juice. With an occasional bloody mary...

Thanks! I am looking forward to doing this. I am lucky in that I am not working right now so I can focus on resting and coming up with interesting drinks.

I am sure I will have some interesting green ones since my bf likes to drink all sorts of werid green liquids which he makes with his GreenStar juicer. I'll let him make those. I am more a citrus fruit person myself so I'll probably do lots of orange, pineapple, lemon, lime and grapefruit type of drinks.

[janie]

That's exciting! Good luck with your juice fast! :)

[Jessica Alana]

For some reason, as much as I'd love to be able to have smoothies or juice as meals, and to do a juice cleanse; I just never can. I make them and they aren't that appetizing, or i'm just not in the mood for them, and I end up wasting them. I suck. Good luck to you, though!

[queenfluff]

My juice diet for yesterday was:

(all freshly juiced)

Hot lemon water

Organic Orange Juice

Cold lemon water

Organic Apple and Ginger Juice

Filtered water


That was my first full day. I had a little headache earlier but it went away after I drank my orange juice. My stomach was very empty which made it hard to sleep last night but now it is gone. One thing that is great is that it was the second day of my period and normally I have bad cramps on the first and second days. Well, after I drank my orange juice my cramps went away and haven't returned. I don't know if that is a coincidence or not but I am pretty happy about it. :)

[karenlovessnow]

Nice going! :)

[isowish]

what are your reasons behind doing a juice fast? could you give me a very quick explaination of the benifits?
last time, did you feel like you had less enegy than when "eating"?

Hope you don't mind the questions. I'm quite curious :)

[queenfluff]

what are your reasons behind doing a juice fast? could you give me a very quick explaination of the benifits?
last time, did you feel like you had less enegy than when "eating"?

Hope you don't mind the questions. I'm quite curious :)


Nope I don't mind. :) I am a novice though but I'll do my best to explain my experience.

Actually, this was my bf's idea! He thought we were eating too much junk and getting fat (I am not overweight by any means but I definatley out of shape). Funny thing is that he wanted to start on Friday is now procasinating and I am already started. ;)

The main idea was he wanted to lose some weight. I am not as interested in losing weight but as in giving my body a rest from all the vegan junk I have been eating lately. I was going to post this under the Weight Challenge thread but I don't have a scale and I am not weighing myself (I have no idea how much I weight - I am guessing it is around 125). Also, I have some digestive problems so giving my tum-tum a break is feeling pretty good right now - I don't feel bloated.

Last time I did this it was like 15 years ago. I remember feeling a bit tired at the beginning, getting used to not eating, but felt very 'light' towards the end but I was able to do my job (which was quite physical). I wasn't drinking fresh squeezed juice either - had no idea how to do such a thing than and didn't have a juicer - I was drinking mostly apple and orange juice and than the hot lemon water. I probably didn't end the fast right (I didn't know how to do it properly).

I did lose weight and I had alot more energy afterwards. I did go on a more restrictive diet before the fast which probably helped in losing the weight. I felt "light and clean" is the best way to describe it. The only thing I didn't like was that my face broke out really badly.

I think it is individual too - I can exist on little food when normally eating too and still have energy. You can drink as much juice on the fast as you like so if you feel tired, you can still have something. The book I have says that green juice is best if you need an energy boost.

It also says that when you do a juice fast and the toxins leave your body they will offen come out in a place where you normally have health problems before. I alway had skin problems as a teenager so I am guessing that is why that happened. I had no other symptoms really. Maybe a headache at the beginning (which I had yesterday at the beginning of this fast). I think that is just me getting used to being hungry - that happens when I am not fasting and I have been hungry for too long.

[isowish]

thanks for explaining. :)

[queenfluff]

Today's juice menu:

(all freshly squeezed)

Hot lemon water

Coconut water

Orange juice

Green juice cocktail (cucumber, fennel, bok choy, spinach)

Filtered water


The green juice is really filling. :)

[jenna]

you sound like you're doing awesome! do you think you'll be able to go for the 7 days?

what brand of juicer do you have?

[queenfluff]

you sound like you're doing awesome! do you think you'll be able to go for the 7 days?

what brand of juicer do you have?


I am thinking that yeah I am going for the 7 days! This is going pretty easy so far. :) Went out shopping yesterday and bought a lot of different fruits and veggies to juice with - including a big tray of wheatgrass! So, I have plenty to last me a week.


My bf has a Green Star which juices everything. I have a manual juicer Zstar and also a glass citrus juicer - like the kind you press down and twist with. I think I'd like get a citrus press though since my wrist is killing me doing the glass one. :)

[queenfluff]

Day 3 juice menu (all freshly squeezed):

Hot lemon water

Mango-pineapple juice

Almond mylk

"Bloody Mary" cocktail - a whole pint glass -(tomato, celery, cucumber, lemon, sunchoke, carrot, micro-greens)

Flitered water



I am VERY full today! The Almond Mylk and Mango were quite filling!

[jenna]

how are you feeling? any detox-like stuff going on?

[DeflatorMouse]

:drool: qf, your posts are making me want to start a juice fast myself.

Hey, I wanted to ask: are you feeling any psychological benefits? When I did my fast, I remember around day #5 I suddenly started feeling an amazing sort of euphoria. Like suddenly the world was a wonderful place and everything made sense and I could fix the universe's problems. This lasted for a long time.

I've never met anyone who's fasted 5 days or more, so I've never been able to compare notes with anyone before. This is really cool. In addition to your daily juice regimen, please post anything else noteworthy, like attitude, physical benefits or even spiritual revelations.

Woohoo nice job! :up:

[Jessica Alana]

I peel citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruit, and put them into my regular juicer. Grapefruits and some oranges are surprisingly easier to peel than other citrus fruits.

[queenfluff]

how are you feeling? any detox-like stuff going on?


Actually, yeah, I am today. I got up feeling very dizzy and I feel very fatigued and weak which makes since you lose alot of protein in the first few days. I slept alot. I feel like a total slacker(well, I am right now but that is okay I guess when you are fasting alot need rest). I feel sort of spacey.

Before I started the fast, I actually just got over a little cold, I wonder if that could effect the way I feel too - at least my cough is finally gone though. :)

I am drinking my lemon water now and will have a huge glass of orange or pineapple juice which I am sure will help me feel better. Plus, my bf and I are going out to buy a bunch of coconuts today for coconut water.

Yesterday, I had some nausea. My mouth is dry too. I probably spent too much time on the computer yesterday planning my trip so I am going to try to rest more today.

I would really like to do seven days but I am going to see how I feel tomorrow for day 5 - only because I want to have enough time to transtition back to a regular diet in time for my trip (next Wed). I don't want to rush that part.

[queenfluff]

:drool: qf, your posts are making me want to start a juice fast myself.

Hey, I wanted to ask: are you feeling any psychological benefits? When I did my fast, I remember around day #5 I suddenly started feeling an amazing sort of euphoria. Like suddenly the world was a wonderful place and everything made sense and I could fix the universe's problems. This lasted for a long time.

I've never met anyone who's fasted 5 days or more, so I've never been able to compare notes with anyone before. This is really cool. In addition to your daily juice regimen, please post anything else noteworthy, like attitude, physical benefits or even spiritual revelations.

Woohoo nice job! :up:


He he. Thanks! :) Glad I am inspiring you.

Well, I haven't reached day 5 day. I will definately be doing 5 days (I am going to decide on the 7 tomorrow - only because of my trip starting soon). No euphoria yet. Well, right now I just feel really tired and weak. So I am a little cranky. I do feel like I am losing weight for the physically benefits - My face looks thinner. :)

On the down side, my hair seems drier ( I have been taking hot showers though - it is cold here 20 degrees) and so does my skin. I am ingesting no oils so that makes sense too.

One thing that is weird - I feel more aware of my teeth (you can laugh) - probably because I am not chewing. Plus my tongue is dry.

I'll post again later tonight what I ate and how I feel at the end of today.

[queenfluff]

4th day juice menu:

Hot lemon water

Orange- pineapple juice

Almond mylk

"Bugs Bunny" cocktail (carrot, cucumber, celery, tomato) :vebo:

Filtered water


I feel ALOT better tonight than I did this morning. I don't feel spacey. Still a little tired and weak but I am hoping I am slightly 'over the hump' for my body adjusting and detoxing. I feel more balanced. Bought myself a juice press!

Full speed ahead to day 5! :)

[karenlovessnow]

:pibo: :nana: :vebo: :bobo:

[DeflatorMouse]

*joins in the qf cheering committee*
woof woof woof woof woof

Yeah, I remember the spacey, tired period too. It happens right around day 3, but like you said, once you make it over the hump it's party time!

About the lack of oil & dry hair, yeppers I got that too. Try adding a Tbsp of olive oil to your Bugs Bunny cocktail (luv the name). Or how bout a "poorman's gazpacho (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazpacho)" - tomato juice & olive oil.

Hooray for day #5. Hallucinogenic euphoria just ahead!!

[queenfluff]

*joins in the qf cheering committee*
woof woof woof woof woof

Yeah, I remember the spacey, tired period too. It happens right around day 3, but like you said, once you make it over the hump it's party time!

About the lack of oil & dry hair, yeppers I got that too. Try adding a Tbsp of olive oil to your Bugs Bunny cocktail (luv the name). Or how bout a "poorman's gazpacho (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazpacho)" - tomato juice & olive oil.

Hooray for day #5. Hallucinogenic euphoria just ahead!!


:o Aw, I have a fan club! Thanks guys!:)

Well, its day 5 - I still feel a bit week today and my back and shoulders hurt and are achey? Bf is going to give me a back massage later. :) No feeling of euphoria yet. But I think I am too weak to feel it. That's OK. Also, my eyes are getting dry - time for some eye drops.

I noticed that the times I feel most crappy are right when I get up in the morning. Once I have some juice (usually citrus - esp orange) I feel better. Maybe my blood sugar drops or something..?

Well, today my bf is gonna be juicin' up the wheatgrass (we bought a whole tray!) and is going out to buy some young coconuts for coconut water! Coconut water really helps me feel better. Must be all those electrolytes.

So, I guess I'll be going to day 7 which will be Friday. I am going to plan out my transition meal - this is the part I am most nervous about since I don't want to screw it up.

Used my manual juice press for my OJ this morning and wasn't that impressed with it. I will probably use it until I am done with my citrus fruits and then return it - and get another kind. I want a manual one since they are easier to clean than the electric ones. (more energy efficient too).