Juice Fast // Week 4

I'm on my final stretch this week. Thursday will be 30 days of my juice fast and all I can say is "allelujah!". Seriously, I'm ready to eat!!

Grocery List

4 bundles of curly green kale 

2 bundles of red kale
4 bunches of spinach

10 large carrots

1 celery bundle

3 bundles of red chard
2 bundle of (6) beets

5 cucumbers

2 pineapples

8 pears

8 yellow apples

10 red apples

8 green apples

8 oranges

10 lemons

*I had to buy a little more groceries than usual. I usually do my shopping on Tuesdays and then buy for a whole week. I didn't feel like going shopping yesterday, especially for only a few days worth. So, I did my usual shopping last Tuesday with enough food to get me to Sunday, then I went shopping again on Sunday and bought enough food to last me until Thursday. So this is a rough estimate of the combined shopping trips.

Energy

Energy has been stable. There hasn't been too many changes from my last update. I think my energy level has hit a great level and maintained that throughout my cleanse.

Skin/Hair

I would love to report nearing the end of my cleanse that my face looks clear and flawless, however it is not the case. Honestly, I had moments it was on the bounds of clearing up, but I think it's the stress of my job that is preventing my skin from clearing up. Last night work was so stressful and I went home with two new huge pimples. My hair and fingernails however have been great. My fingernails have not been breaking and are strong, which is amazing dispite this dry, cold weather we are having. My hair has been growing fast and healthy. The split ends I usually have, are not. My stylist was even amazed.

Sleep

Besides staying up to read some good books, I have been sleeping like a baby. The cleanse has definitely helped me get a good nights rest.

Mental Clarity

The beginning of last week I finally had a little bit of the "fog" everyone always talks about. I was a little sluggish, I had a slight headache and felt dizzy for about the first two days. After that, I went back to having clarity and feeling great.

Weight Loss
Can I just tell you that over last weekend I wore jeans. Now for some this is like what?! I hate jeans, even more so the last few months because I felt bloated and fat. I hated the way I felt in jeans and even if I put them on I would feel sick to my stomach about what other people saw when they looked at me so, I would take them off and wear my "go-to" leggings or yoga pant. Even the last few months I felt fat in. So my self-esteem has been low lately. But when I tried on a pair of straight leg jeans I loved wearing with sneaker wedges and they fit perfectly, I was beyond happy. I felt confident and my mom even complimented how slim I looked. I wore jeans the following day and the waist was falling down. I could not believe it! Thank you mother earth for green juice!

Overall

This past week has been harder with cravings and temptations. I will go more into depth next week as I review my whole juice cleanse, but I have no idea how the guy from Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead did it for 60 days. Honestly, I don't think you should. The cravings I have now are not for junk foods or random cravings. I believe my body is telling me "It's time to actually eat something!". I really wanted to accomplish my goal of 30 days, which I will, but I think 30 days is too long. I think if people want to do a long fast 2 weeks is a great length and you will receive all the benefits. Next week I will put up a post of how to do your own juice cleanse, my final results and conclusions and other tips on doing a juice cleanse, so make sure to follow!

I thought I would also share my favorite drinks from the week. I would definitely recommend these. Each juice I make is roughly 2 cups worth. 

Tropical Green Juice

1/2 of a large cucumber

1 green apple

2 stacks kale
3-4 bunches/handfuls of spinach
1/2 pineapple 

*My version of a green juice piña colada

Two more days to go. Hope everyone has a great rest of their week, and don't forget to read my other update posts.

Juice Fast // Week 3

OMGosh I can not believe I've made it through three weeks. I still have two more to go and I'm so anxious to start my raw lifestyle. As promised it is Wednesday and here is my weekly update!

Grocery List

2 bundles of curly green kale

2 bundles of red kale
2 bundles of lacinato (dinosaur) kale
3 bunches of spinach

4 lbs of carrots

1 celery bundle

2 bundles of red chard
1 bundle (3) of beets

6 cucumbers

1 pineapple core

7 pears

7 yellow apples

7 red apples

8 green apples

8 oranges

10 lemons

*I swear Whole Foods is always out of some essential item I need. They usually have a stack of large carrots for $1 a pound, but they were cleaned out, so I had to buy bagged up ones, which were smaller and I had to use more in my juicer. Otherwise Whole Foods is the my favorite place to buy produce. They usually have a great variety and it's organic. Total side note but on the news today they said the average length an apple is at the grocery store is 14 months! yikes, buy organic people they don't have that waxy preservative to keep them longer. yuck!!

Energy

My energy continues to improve. It's still hard to wake up in the morning, but once I roll my lazy butt out of bed and wake up a little bit, I'm awake. Like really awake, ready to conquer the day awake. I also have not taken any naps on my days off. This is crazy ladies and gents. Usually my day off is crash day and I take a huge long nap and hate myself for it. No such thing this week. I caught myself yawning a few times at work over the week, but I think I'm falling into too much of a routine at work. I need a change. 

Skin/Hair

Ok, I hate to potential curse myself, but my skin is clearing up. My mom looked at me the other day and said "your skin is starting to look better". I felt like the clouds had parted and angels were singing. I'm still waiting until the end of my cleanse to determine if I still want to go to the dermatologist like my mom keeps suggesting. I hope by the end of my fast/cleanse my skin is clear and flawless. Is that really too much to ask?!

Sleep

My sleep is still amazing, well kinda. I feel like I don't need as much. So at times I sit up at night with energy still. I guess my body doesn't need as much "rest & digest" time as before. I'm still getting great sleep and have no trouble falling sleep either. 

Mental Clarity

This is probably mood, rather than mental clarity, but I have felt great. At work, which 9/10 I dread going to has been better. At work I usually get frustrated, tense and stressed very easily and I keep all this bottled up to give that friendly appearance. So usually by the end of the night I'm drained, I can feel my heart pounding and the muscles in my neck and back tight. This past week was crazy I was cheerful and positive and had no worries. I went about my job calmer and felt relaxed doing it. Although I say this is mood, it is also mental clarity because I see things in a new light now. 

Weight Loss
I feel my body has stayed relatively stable from last week. I can't believe how flat my stomach is and the lack of bloat. My arms look thinner and I look toned, even though my activity has been light. I'm waiting for the fat to melt off of my thighs. Whoever passed on the wonderful gene of fat thighs down the family tree is gonna hear from me in the next life. I'm ever so slightly a girl dreaming of a thigh gap, only because I know my body type could have one. However any weight I gain goes directly to the old thighs. Oh mother nature why do women have to have so many problem areas. 

Overall

So my week started with my mom flinging down a fitness magazine telling me to read the article inside. The article bashed juice cleanses stating they were unhealthy. It went on to say it can lead to dehydration, kidney problems and lack of nutrients and vitamins. One thing, I'm not sure how a juice full of fruits and veggies doesn't have nutrients and vitamins and how drinking fluid throughout the day leads to dehydration. It is recommended to drink at least 8 oz of water with or after each juice along with regular water intake, which I have been pushing myself to do. My mom's other big concern protein. She gave me the concerned mother speech, which I so lovely hate. I decided to please her with adding additional protein to my drinks. I say additional because yes most fruits and vegetables have protein in them, kale and spinach being some of the top. I added chia seeds to some of my juices along with melted coconut butter. Let me just tell you how freaking flavorful coconut butter is. Seriously this juice cleanse has made my taste buds 10x stronger! Unfortunately, what I'm thinking is the fat in the coconut butter did not sit well with me or my digestive system. After that I refocused and remembered one of the main reasons a juice fast is so effective, it allows the digestive system to rest. So I stopped using the coconut butter that day and cut the chia seeds out thereafter. I have no concerns with my protein or nutrient intact and will continue to do what I have been doing with one exception. On week three I added one thing. Yourtea Tiny Teatox. I have seen this all over instagram and thought it would aid in my cleanse and detoxification. So far I love it, especially since it may be the cause of my clearer skin. I will do a review soon. 

I thought I would also share my favorite drinks from the week. I would definitely recommend these. Each juice I make is roughly 2 cups worth. 

Lean Green Juice

1/2 of a large cucumber

1 green apple

2 stacks kale
3-4 bunches/handfuls of spinach
1 large handful of green grapes

*This is a super yummy green drink. It's refreshing and has a little sweetness that will quench your appetite. 

Love Potion Juice

1 beet

1 red apple

1 large carrot
2-3 bunches/handfuls of spinach
1 slice ginger

*I love this drink, not only because its bright red, but it tastes delicious. I could have beet juice all day long.

Have your done a juice cleanse/fast before? I'm curious other peoples results. && if you have a favorite juice I would love to know your combinations! Hope everyone is doing well, don't forget to follow for future updates. 

Juice Fast // Week 2

I can't believe it's been two week already. Time flies when your on a juice cleanse, isn't that what they always say. No I think I made that up. Anyways here is my weekly update on how my fast has been going.

Grocery List

3 bundles of kale

3 bundles of spinach

10 large carrots

1 celery bundle

3 bundles of red chard

7 pears

6 yellow apples

7 red apples

8 green apples

7 oranges

4 zucchini
1 ginger root
4 kiwi
1 bag of green grapes

*This week Whole Foods was a little picked over. So I didn't get any cucumbers and they only had one type of kale. boo! I realized how important vegetables like cucumbers are for making the majority of your drink, so I "borrowed" two from my mom at the end of the week. Thanks mom!

Energy

Energy has been amazing. Yes it's still hard to get up in the morning, probably because it's still fairly dark outside, darn you winter. But once I'm up, I'm awake. I have not felt drowsy, fatigued or exhausted. It's been almost weird. Over the weekend I got little sleep, but woke up each morning refreshed and guess what people no naps. Yes, on my days off it's nap day. Which has not been the case. Yeah for having energy to get shit done!

Skin/Hair

Not too many changes here. I had a rough spell mid-week with lots of breakouts. Again my theory is my body is pushing out all the built up toxins. My hair has been great, I went to my stylist today and she asked if I had changed shampoos because my hair was holding the color better and was looking healthier.

Sleep

Well I pretty much have continued to sleep like a baby. I love it. I also feel like I don't need as much sleep. I don't know if this is true or not, I may be heading for a huge crash at the end of the week.

Mental Clarity

Mentally I do feel clear. It's hard to explain, but I feel almost free. Whether it has to do with the juice cleanse, I'm not sure. 

Weight Loss

My mom has made comments that I look thinner to her. My stomach is definitely flat and I love it. Also my favorite pair of yoga pants I wore over the weekend were loose. I had to keep pulling them up, I kept telling myself it was probably because I wear them so much they are stretched out. 

Overall

This past week I really missed eating, but not for the reasons you may think. I really am appreciating food more. I love the smell of food better and I believe when the fast is over I will appreciate flavors, spices and seasoning more. Also my taste buds are developing more. I've fallen in love with my veggies and can taste how the different vegetables interact and taste with each other. I realized I loved ginger, which I don't think I would have said in the past. I never did have a crash or feel like I was in a fog and then feel clear after. Maybe my body wasn't as bad as I thought, or it's just me. Even though I have missed eating food, I have no desire to cheat on my juices. After I drink a juice I'm full and feel content. I have not felt the need to binge at all. I think doing this for 30 days is going to be amazing for me. They say you can break or start a habit in 30 days so I hope to break the habit of binge eating and craving unhealthy foods. I hope to still continue for the full 30 days, but after picking up some Raw Food cookbooks over the weekend I can't wait to start experimenting. 

I thought I would also share my favorite drinks from the week. I would definitely recommend these. Each juice I make is roughly 2 cups worth. 

Spicey Lemonade

1 lemon
1 TBS agave/honey/maple syrup
Dash of cayenne powder
Water

*This was adapted from the Blueprint Cleanse. It took some getting used to, but now a staple afternoon snack.

Flavorful Green Juice

1 large carrot

1 red apple

2-3 bundles of spinach
1/2 cucumber
1 slice ginger

*I modified this from a recommendation from a follower. Love the combo of carrot/red apple/ginger. 

Thanks to some of my followers for their juice recommendations. If you have a favorite juice I would love to know your combinations! Remember Wednesday is update day, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss a weekly juice fast update!!

Juice Fast // Week 1

So today is the day. I've hit one week on my juice fast, I hope to continue the fast until the end of January, so we will see how things go. As I promised here is my weekly update!! I broke it down a little so it's easier to see the long term benefits.

Grocery List

2 bundles of kale

2 bundles of red kale

8 extra large carrots

1 celery bundle

2 bundles of red chard

6 cucumbers

1 pineapple core

4 pears

3 yellow apples

5 red apples

8 green apples

10 oranges

6 zucchini 

*I had no idea how much of anything I needed. So this is in no way a grocery list I would completely recommend. This did not last me a whole week, although, almost about 6 days worth. I could have used more apples and more greens like kale, spinach, chard, etc. As you can see I forgot items like spinach, romaine lettuce, beets, ginger, etc. that other people use in their juice. This did me well for those 6 days and was a good starting point to lead me to know what to buy next time.

Energy

Over the month of December I was extremely sluggish and constantly felt exhausted. On my first week of the juice fast I won't say I felt a huge energy boost, but I definitely felt better. Although, I do contribute this some to the fact that after work I would go straight to sleep instead of stay up a few extra hours snacking. Side note I work second shift, so when I got home at 11:00pm or later I would be starving and binge until I hated myself. Since started the juice fast I obviously no longer snacked when I got home, so I did end up getting a few extra Zs. I think my body is still recovering from the holidays. My job required me to work New Years Day, this last weekend including a double shift (16+ hrs.) on Sunday. So to say the least my sleep patterns have been a little F'd up. Thinking about it now, I have been a little more tired, but not to the point of exhaustion I was feeling before. Could it be the juice?! I also did not experience the "in a fog" "headache" "tired" hump around day 3-5 as most people describe. 

Skin/Hair

Ugh, I say this because my skin has been so cray-cray lately I could just scream! For the past 3 months or more my skin has been inflamed with adult acne. I swear my skin didn't even look this bad when I was in high school or college. So if this juicing could clear that up that would be amazing to say the least. I haven't noticed a huge difference, but again the lack of sleep and stress from work could be contributing to that. Also, I am horrible at drinking water. Next week, my goal is to increase the amount of H2O I drink and see how that helps. I have read before that skin breaks out more as you begin to eat healthier, because your body is pushing out all the toxins from your body. Myth or not, I hoping that's the reason I thought I saw a slight improvement in day 1 & 2, but then my skin starting getting worse again. 

Sleep

My sleep has been fantastic. I really mean it. I have one of the hardest times falling asleep. My normal routine before juicing was to watch some TV, check every social media outlet (twice) and then put the timer on my TV so it would turn off in an hour, hoping I had fallen alseep by than. It usually takes me 30-60 minutes to fall asleep. Since starting the juicing I have stopped putting on the TV, attempted most days to avoid the late night instagram checks and just went straight to turning off all the lights. I'm pretty sure most nights I fell asleep soon as my head hit the pillow. It's been great!!

Mental Clarity

Again, I really never had that day 3-5 "fog" or "haze" in which I overcame and had great mental clarity. I'm not sure if my hump to over come is still on it's way or what. Either way my mind has felt energized and this whole past work week felt clear and less stressful. 

Weight Loss

Bad, blogger (slapping wrist now). I did not do a before weight. I've never been one to weight myself, so it really just slipped my mind. However, I have noticed I lost all my holiday bloat and have a flat stomach at the moment. I'm sure that after one week I just lost a little water weight and nothing too significant. I will try, try, try to remember to weight myself tomorrow and see if there is any difference in week 2. Again, I don't usually like to weight myself. To me, weight is just a number and put more emphasis on how clothes feel or how I see myself in the mirror. 

Overall

I can't believe a week is over. It wasn't as hard as I had imagined which really surprised me. I'm a snacker and a late night binger so I was preparing myself to feel starved, but I didn't.The first few days were weird, I missed chewing. I really did. I began craving pretzels and not for the reasons you may think like wheat or salt (because I also don't even really like pretzels), I desperately wanted to crunch something!! I still every once in a while get the urge to chew, but it's an easily enough urge to just put aside. Which comes to my first realization. If you are a snacker and want to stop, do a one week juice cleanse. I did not realize how many times I just wanted to put something in my mouth, for no reason! I don't know how many times I had the urge to pick up a few crackers at work like I was use to. When I thought about it, why? To cure boredom? To pacify myself? Why? I realized how many times in a day, when I thought I was nourishing my body because I was hungry I was really stuffing my mouth for nothing. Juicing was also the perfect excuse to avoid all the cookies, cakes, chocolates, etc. I was constantly being offered. To say I was on a juice cleanse was empowering. It gave me confident to avoid all the junk I was so used to easily giving in to. Overall, I think a 7 day juice fast is great for anyone. It really puts your head in the right mindset to continue to eat healthy. I just stopped at Whole Foods today and stocked up for week 2. Again, my goal is 30 days. 

I thought I would also share my favorite drinks from the week. I would definitely recommend these. Each juice I make is roughly 2 cups worth. 

Morning Orange Juice

1 extra large carrot or 2 medium sized carrots

1 yellow apple

1 orange

*To me this tastes like a raw dreamsicle. I could not get enough of this juice. Perfect way to start the morning. 

Sweet Treat Evening Green Juice

1 large pear

1 red apple

2-3 red chard

*I drank this as my last drink of the night to help any late night cravings. It is so yummy you may forget it's good for you

Thanks to some of my followers for their juice recommendations. If you have a favorite juice I would love to know your combinations! Hope everyone is doing well, don't forget to follow for future updates. 

Juice into the New Year

As of yesterday I started my first ever juice fast. eek! I've been planning on starting a juice fast on the first for a while, but was unsure about mentioning it in my blog. That's when I thought, this is what I made this blog for, to keep me accountable. After watching the documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, I  knew I wanted to do a juice fast. I may be a little crazy, but my goal is to do it for the whole month of January. Being a juicing virgin in all, I really should have started out with a 1-3 day cleanse. However, after the holiday and my lack of healthy eating for the past month or more I was determined. It was always my goal to do the fast for 30 days, so here I am. 

On New Years Eve, I hauled by butt to Whole Foods and bought out their produce section, or at least it felt like that. I had a small plan of attack going in, but once inside the store I went a little crazy. Since getting home I realized I did forget a few things I had wanted to buy, but nothing that I really couldn't continue on without. I plan on doing weekly updates throughout my journey. So make sure to subscribe. I will post my week 1 grocery list and favorite drinks on next Wednesday. 

Wish me luck everyone! && if you have a favorite drink I would love to hear your combinations. I'm still experimenting!!