Day Five - So it's true what they say...

....you really do get less hungry.  Today I had morning juice, and didn't really want more until dinner time.  I did drink small glasses of OJ, maybe two, during the day just because I know if I am not careful I'll get tired and run down without enough calories.  My dinner juice was spinach and celery with mixed melon, pineapple, orange, and a handful of cranberries.  I am drinking it now as I type, and it's delicious.

I talked to my sister on the phone today; she and her husband juice in the mornings, and have moved to all organic, non-GMO foods for their family.  My brother-in-law also eats a lot of raw foods.  Anyway, we were talking about the changes we have felt, and she asked me if I felt good.  And the answer is, my god yes.  I feel so much more awake during the day, and more alert, and I feel like I am appreciating things more because of it.  This morning the sky was blue with high white clouds, and I thought to myself how winter is starting, and about the winters of my childhood in frigid upstate New York.  I stood on my back porch and looked around and everything was so bright, and crisp, and beautiful.  Even the air smelled like winter.

Many people have written about how fasting changes you in the way other challenges do, by making you examine yourself.  They have written about the mind game of fasting that lets you master your cravings and forever changes your relationship with food and how you view it and what it means to your body.  I feel like I am just getting the first glimmers of that awakening.  I prepared grilled chicken and broccoli for my daughter for dinner, and the chicken smelled fantastic...at first.  But underneath that smell was a sense of what eating that chicken would represent to my fast, and how it would make me feel if I did eat it.  I turned around and started pushing celery into the juicer and that smell, and the smell of orange oil on my fingers as I peeled clementines, completely trumped the chicken... because I decided it did.  My choice, not my craving's.  I do miss hot food, and as it gets colder I imagine I will even more, but for the time being I have a mug decaf green tea and a sense that I am grabbing hold of something valuable that I do not want to let go of for a mere moment's pleasure.

Day Four - Into the Sunset

This morning my daughter and I made Sunset Juice.  It looks delicious; it has celery, pear, apple, cranberry, pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe and coconut water.  It's the prettiest juice I have ever made...but MK prefers the one with spinach and carrot that looks sorta army green (and has more nutrients in it too, and since that is her only juice all day, I say go ugly juice!)

I feel pretty good!  That sense of bloatiness that I had for -ever- is gone now.  I have been hungrier that usual but I am learning what hunger actually -feels- like.  So often I would get a small twang of hunger and mistake it for being truly hungry and needing to eat, when I didn't.  I feel like I am getting back in touch with when I really need to eat vs. when I am bored and think I want a snack.

Interestingly, my brother-in-law is also interested in juicing and incorporating more fresh/raw foods into his diet, and has been doing so for some time.  We had a nice chat about things and agreed that not only do we feel so much more energetic and light, but it's also nice to have family on board who don't think you're nuts for approaching food differently.  So far nearly everyone has been supportive, but knowing there is someone who is actually living it too is such a blessing.

Day Three - Strange Brew

So last night and this morning I had leg cramps - a lot of them.  From what I am learning, this is not atypical during a detox; there is a lot of junk built up in your body from years of filling it with crap and when it begins to push that out, it causes discomfort. 

I am also noticing a distinct lack of general fatigue or sleepiness; it was hard for me to settle down and fall asleep and then when I woke up at 6:30 that was it - I was up.  Those of you who know me know that this is -very- unlike my normal morning mood of "go away." I am also completely off coffee, tea, or soda.  No caffeine whatsoever.  What a strange thing, to feel so much more alert and awake WITHOUT that!

This morning my daughter and I made our juice and drank it for breakfast, and then we walked to school together.  That's about 2 miles round trip.  The muscle fatigue was noticeable, and when I got home I felt the need to stretch a lot. I am finding it hard to sit still for very long at all, because I have so much energy.

One strange thing that happens to me is I get really, really itchy when I walk in the cooler weather. (This is not juice-related; I have always had this issue.)  I get huge red weals on my legs that take some time to go away and make me want to claw my skin off.  A little research showed it could be several things, and recommended either lotioning a lot or else an antihistamine.  If it keeps up, I'll just exercise indoors in the cooler weather. 

Today I tried red kale in my mid-morning juice and learned that where kale, is concerned, less is more.  I can do TONS of spinach but kale just has a funny smell that I don't really enjoy.  I'll put a leaf in until it's gone and then stick with spinach and celery.

Day Two - Recruit the kiddies!

So last night I was so full of energy it was hard to fall asleep...I felt sleepy, but also energetic.  It was strange.  But this morning when I woke up, I felt really, really great.

I spent an hour on the phone with my sister talking about the juice plan - turns out she and her husband are juicing every morning and she is behind my 60 day juice feast 110%.  She told me she's been giving her daughter juice every morning, and that was when I decided to get my daughter interested. 

What's the best way to get a kid to eat something?  Why, let them help make it!  So my daughter and I made a spinach, carrot, celery, watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, blueberry, blackberry, cranberry, orange, and coconut water juice.  It was delicious.  She did notice she could taste the celery but didn't balk at drinking what she would -never- eat, and later after she'd finished she told me she felt really good.

Score one for mom.

I am not especially hungry myself.  The juice seems to fill me up, but as I told a friend of mine, it's a 'different' kind of full, more like the full after eating a plain salad (with no cheese or meat or heavy dressing) as opposed to a turkey dinner full.  I feel very light after I eat, but satisfied.  It's definitely a change.

Yesterday I made turkey dinner for my family at home.   Now at first, when it was all cooking, I found myself craving the foods.  The aromas alone were very powerful, and so I stopped to think about how food smells to me vs. how it makes me feel after I eat it.  For me, turkey dinner is one hot mess.  I enjoy the flavors but the food makes me feel terrible almost moments after I finish eating.  I had to stop and remind myself of that, and sure enough when I was serving the dinner, I did not really want those foods.  The desire to not feel sick trumped all the emotions that that meal in particular dredges up, and I enjoyed my juice while my family finished their turkey.  I didn't miss it, and I felt fine when I went to bed, something that rarely happens for me.

I am noticing I will be needed to go to the market more, too, because damn, when you actually EAT all the fresh fruit and veg you bring into the house, and only that, you burn through it fast.  My daughter will come with me and choose foods for her lunch, and help me pick juicing produce.

So far so good!

Day One - Fun in the Sun.

Hello!  AJ here, starting a blog to document my adventures on a 60 juice fast.  But first, a bit of background.

I was diagnosed with severe, diffuse ulcerative colitis exactly one year ago.  In that year, I have been on many strong drugs, including predisone, 6-MP, and several others.  During that time, my doctor advised me to start on a low-residue diet and gradually add more foods over time.  That diet, and those drugs, made me fat, and made me look and feel sick, though I was technically in remission, and not flaring.

I have always been interested in vegetarianism, in healthy eating, and in a more sports-oriented lifestyle...but I have never lived those for long, not really.  When I dabbled in healthy vegetarian/vegan eating I felt great, but I was not committed.  I feel as though my life clock is ticking now, and at 42 years old, I need to get a handle on my health.  My father died a terrible, painful death to stage four colon cancer.  My risk is 40% greater, just because of that family history coupled with my disease.

That's where the 60 day juice fast comes in.

I watched a documentary about a man, Joe Cross, who also has an autoimmune disease and was tethered to drugs to keep him 'healthy' while he slowly killed himself with bad food and a sedentary lifestyle.  I saw myself in that man.  And he decided that he was going to juice for 60 days, JUST JUICE, and see how it healed is body.

The results are incredible.  I urge you to watch.

So today I broke out my Breville juicer and jumped in.  After a trip to whole foods, where I picked up some organic produce and some coconut water, I made a delicious juice of pineapple, melon, and orange, with some spinach too.  I learned that it takes a TON of greens to get any juice.  But the taste was fantastic and I am already looking forward to lunch.

I do feel hungry, and I am drinking some seltzer.  I am also already in the bathroom a lot, so I know the detox process has begun.  After I drank the juice, I felt almost high, like my vision was clearer, but my head was foggy.  I know that too, will get better over the first week as my body cleans out and adjusts.

I am not going off my meds yet, but I admit it is my goal to be med-free in the coming year.

I invite you to follow me on my journey, and I hope that you are encouraged to make changes with me.