Juice Feasting: An Odyssey

Other than a select few family members and friends, I haven't told anyone that I am doing a Juice Feast. Today marks day 8 that I have only had fruit and vegetable juices to "eat."

The reason that I haven't told anyone is because I just wasn't sure if I could do it. I've done short juice fasts in the past, but I have been feeling rather "out of control" when it comes to food lately, so I wasn't quite convinced I would make it beyond one or two days without chomping down on something deliciously bad for me.

Now that I have safely made it beyond the first week, I feel a bit more confident in announcing the fact that I plan to do a prolonged fast. I am hoping to use this time to break some food addictions I've developed, as well as release some of the many pounds that have crept up since spending time at Optimum Health Institute (OHI) in 2010.

What is a Juice Feast? I'll generally go with the developing alt. health phenomena of naming this a "feast" rather than a fast because I am consuming more than 1200 calories a day in juice, as opposed to a juice "fast" which typically gets one around 500 calories a day. Since you are still meeting the body's caloric needs, it is meant to be something anyone can do regardless of any family or work obligations you might have.

Regardless of semantics, this is still a fast in that I'm abstaining from a very huge part of life - eating. I am quite fortunate that I do not have to show up to a 9-5 gig during this time. Although your body still is getting the nutrition it needs, giving up all the junk you are used to can be quite a shock for the body and mind to get used to. I'd much rather have this time to retreat from outside demands so I'm not distracted from my goals.  Luckily, my husband has taken off 2 weeks from work to join me on this juicing adventure, as it is really much easier when you have a partner to help with the actual juicing as well as provide much appreciated support and encouragement.

Although I'm still having massive cravings for all manner of bizarre foods, I am becoming used to the idea that  this is just not part of my reality right now.

What do you juice? So you may be wondering what exactly I've been consuming. The best thing about feasting, versus fasting is that I drink as much juice as I want. I also drink water too, of course. If I'm feeling particularly starved, I might have 5 or 6 juices in one day. Generally, I hang around 4 or 5 juices a day though. Although I often change what I juice from day to day, here are some of my common concoctions:

Breakfast: fresh squeezed orange juice

Mid-morning: baby spinach, romaine, celery, lemon, ginger juice

Lunch: tomato, bell pepper, kale, chard, parsley, radish, lemon, kelp, spices (we call this our "soup juice")

Dinner: carrot, celery

Dessert: pineapple, parsley


Now that you know what I'm up to, I look forward to sharing more with you in the days to come.

Much love,

Toya