Mr. Juice and me: My first juicing experience

Why I started

I was introduced to juicing about 3 years ago. Like almost everywhere you go nowadays everyone was on a diet at work.  The topic of juicing came about after a coworker watched the documentary Fat Sick and Nearly Dying and was currently in the middle of the juice fast.

I went ahead and watched it and was inspired by the benefits of juicing. The documentary was enough to get me motivated and the fact that there were three other people attempting this feat was even more motivating.

The Prequel

I went to the farmers market with a friend, bought a bunch of fruit and veggies, and pulled out the only juicer in the house. This Juicer was so old that it could have been the first juicer ever created, but hey it got the job done.

I cut up all my fruit and started making the juice for the meal. Can we say mess?! It was such a big mess after the first attempt that I decided to make my juice in big batches for the day instead of per meal.

I could not see myself going thru the hassle of making juice multiple times a day or as needed especially when you consider the cleaning time of removing all the fibers from the juicer. Let me tell you, it takes forever. This could have just been my model, though I have heard other people complain about the issue.

Let the juicing begin

I  juiced for two weeks. Before I went to work, I made my juice in the morning for the day. The first 3 days were the hardest.

The first day of juicing, you’re going to feel like you have no energy and want to sleep all day.

You literally won’t feel like yourself.  The second day, you’ll develop a headache from withdrawal symptoms from cleaning all the processed food and sugar out of your system. You won’t remember what eating regular food was like

You are literally cleaning your body of toxins and can feel it. However, on day three, a miracle happens! You wake up, and you don’t feel like crap. You wouldn’t even know you’re missing anything in your life, and start to become somewhat normal. After this, it’s smooth sailing.

How I survived the juicing process

To start off I kept myself busy with work and walking so that I wouldn’t have any temptations. I never worked out too hard just because I was fearful that you know due to the lack of maybe protein or anything I might pass out.

After 2 weeks of juicing, I lost 10 pounds and I felt great, however, I’m a person of comfort so it’s not something that I could do long term the way the actual juicing is supposed to be done.  

If you were to literally follow the rules of juicing,  after awhile you would introduce mostly raw produce into your diet. If I followed this process, I would die.  In my heart, I am a foodie, so I wouldn’t be able to live like this.

Warning: Don’t go and splurge on horrible food after you accomplished the hard work of juicing, it will not be a fun experience. Take my word for it.  

After juicing for two weeks, I ate probably the worst thing you could probably eat afterward with some friends to celebrate. I ate greasy fast food and paid major consequences. I was so sick, and the stomach pain was unbearable.

What happens is your body goes into shock from having a very healthy, clean diet. Of course, introducing greasy processed foods would literally make you feel like crap all over again.

Do I recommend juicing?

Yes! I recommend juicing for anyone trying to start a lifestyle change. In fact, I am currently doing some juicing in my new diet which you can read all about in my next blog.

-J