Hubby was right, I would know when to end my juice fast. I lasted 13 days on juice and water. It was a great experience. I’m certain I’ll repeat the process in a couple of months.
So, what did I learn?
1. I can have juice for only 13 days and survive! And really, thrive for the most part.
2. A juice only diet caused me to lose 20 pounds.
3. I suffered the same fate that many Biggest Loser Week 2 participants have after a huge loss on Week 1. The scale hardly moves for Week 2. Although I was beyond impressed with the weight loss I had in Week 1, so I was not discouraged at all. Instead, I was rather impressed with myself.
4. My sleep improved! I guess when your body receives all of the nutrients it needs, it can rest easy.
5. Most of the juice I made tasted awful, but because it made me feel good – I kept going.
6. Yes, a juice diet has plenty of protein as long as you are juicing dark green veggies. For me, every meal included a dark green veggie because those have lots of protein! Spinach is 49% protein, broccoli and kale are 45% protein. Beef has 25.8% and chicken has 23% according to a chart I came across last week.
7. Being a watcher, rather than a consumer of food, food establishments, and the greater public for the past 13 days caused me to realize that our society is not set up for health. The vast majority of us have no interest in healthy food, we want food that tastes good, dang the consequences. There are soooo many bad options when choosing to dine out, but very few good options. I wonder if good choices were available, would we choose them the majority of the time? Probably not, would be my guess.
8. My kids still want to try to “juice” meat – just to see what happens. ( I’ve told them it ain’t happening, but they’re still trying to talk me into it.)
9. Even though my juice fast has ended, I’m not finished juicing. I plan to juice at least one meal a day. This morning, I had ginger, carrots, & a small apple.
10. I watched plenty of videos about juicing last week. One I came across on YouTube was hysterically accurate. The gentleman in the video stated “Kale tastes like [nastiness].” Let’s just say, HE IS RIGHT! I like it in salad, but juiced it is blech.
11. For the record, the same could be said about collard greens.
12. This fast has convinced me to give up white foods for the time being. For now, foods like flour, sugar, and processed stuff like chips will be banned. With the caveat that sit down restaurants are free from restrictions since we don’t eat out that often.
13. It has also re-inspired my love of vegetables, and while I will not be going vegetarian, I am going to increase my fruits & veggies.
Overall, I thought it was a great experience and I am pleased with the results!
