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Two Weeks left!
Prep for the prep of my juice fast.
Date: 8/31/2007 7:11:45 PM ( 17 y ) ... viewed 1717 times As the title says, I am starting a juice fast in two weeks. I want to use this blog in those two weeks to write about what I do to prepare, and hopefully some feed back! I hope to fast for 30 days, from the night of Sept 14 to the night of Oct 14. (If that's 30 days, I'll have to check it) I have been very interested in juice fasting, bought a juicer about a year ago and have been incorporating fresh juices into my diet. Cantalope, plum, and apple (equal parts) is my favorite. =) I am not as much of a veggie juice person, but as long as there's an apple and some ginger in there I do alright. I also do homemade broths, which I'll post recipes to as I go along. I did a three day fast a month ago to get a feel for what I was doing. I've also done other sorts of various religious fasts. Giving up meat and dairy for lent, just meat, things that don't have to do with food such as TV or computer, that sorta thing.
I guess I'll give some reasons for why I'm doing a juice fast. My primary goals are to be healthy and feel good, and also to lose some weight. I am in college now, and before this I worked as a massage therapist (where my interest in holistic health started) and at various restaurant jobs. I was on my feet constantly, and never had to think about my weight or even really what I ate. Not to say I ate really awful, but I wasn't eatting as healthily then as I am now, and I weigh more. I'm not overweight (about 135 and 5'6) , but I really don't think I'm at the weight my body (and my eyes) wants me to be at. Also to change my eatting habits. I've been toying with the idea of becoming a vegetarian for years. I didn't used to eat hardly any meat, but when my boy and I moved in together I'd make meals, and get the incredulous "but where's the meat?", and slowly but surely the meat has been creeping in. One day I noticed I had meat at nearly every meal, and was very grossed out about it. So weight is a huge goal, and being superwoman is another. I want to look better, feel better, have more energy. The biggest problem, I think, with how I feel and my energy levels is how I sleep. I don't even bother trying to get 8 hrs anymore, just get by on 6, and sometimes not even that. I wake up alot, and get random bouts of insomnia where I can only sleep for an hour or so every 16-18hrs. Insomnia sucks. I will literally be so exhausted my eyes can hardly stay open, but when I lay down to sleep I just toss and turn before giving up. The biggest difference I noticed after my 3 day was how well I slept. That was very short lived, but hopefully doing a 30day will hammer home the point. I am starting Sept 14 because my boy is muslim, and observes Ramadan (I'm Catholic). During Ramadan nothing passes through your lips from sun up until sun down. No water, tea, broth, nothing. I tried very very very hard to do this kind of fasting with him, but my body just didn't take it. I have done liquids for nearly all the day and one small almost entirely raw meal, enough to just cover a very small plate, and I didn't feel the way I did when I tried to do the Ramadan traditional fasts. I think part of the reason is that traditionally people make very rich foods to eat at night, which I normally can't eat anyways. Another factor in it is that I am definetely a day time person. I'm one of those annoying people who's up at 5 in the morning and perky about it without any coffee. I LOVE mornings. Especially fall mornings. Oooo I can't wait for it to be really fall! But that is totally another point. Anyways, so I couldn't stay up late to eat. I also think I may have become dehydrated, because I am generally an active person. I'd wait all that time to eat, and no matter hwo little I ate I was in bed curled up in a ball in pain. Another factor was that at teh time I was working 16 hours on, 8 hours off, and 16 hours back on the weekends, and then going to school full time during the week. I guess it was a combination of factors, but all in all I didn't complete the Ramadan fasting, and I want to use whatever that info can give me to help me succeed in this one. Net result is that this year instead of the traditional fasting, I will do a juice fast. I have wanted to anyways, but that will be a very good time to do it. To sum up here I want to be healthier, meaning I want to have more energy and sleep better, I want to lose weight, and I want to use this as a way to bond with my boy, because although the traditional fasting is just a no go for me, I know I can do this.
The biochemistry going on in juicing is just absolutely fascinating to me. I know this is nerdy beyond belief, but I'm serious. I can't believe all of those cool reactions will be going on inside me! I'm a biochemistry major, but I'm thinking about switching to neuroscience. And I LOVE making compounds. I'm doing research this semester in organic synthesis, and the lab is my best friend. So anyone who wants to talk about all of this wonderful nerdy stuff with me, send along a message!
One thing I also need are some money saving tips. The only one I really know is to buy in season very juicy produce. My other juice fast was when all the juicey summer fruits were in season, so I went to town on those. Now there will be apples, which I intend to juice in vast quantites, and sipping on teas/broths will help to save money. Any other tips will also be appreciated though.
Tomorrow I start to be very very good about food. I want to be cut down to one major meal a day, and a healthy snack here and there. I am very big on trail mix (I know its got fat in it, but I only ever eat a little at a time because its so filling), fruit chips, smoothies, salads, homemade salad dressing, rice (especially long grain wild mmmm), soups and stews in general, especially with lots of yummy seasonings and veggies. I love all these kinds of foods, and will try to eat just these. This week I've been bad. School started monday and it has been soooo hectic, so there has been some take out food. I also made a big thing of hummus and bought some pita bread, but a girl cannot live on hummus and trail mix alone! So tonight, because I am too blah to cook, I got food from the Olive Garden. Chicken Marsala, so not a creamy sauce, but still process floury pasta. I do love my floury stuff, and I will cut back on that. And in a little bit I'm going back out to meet up with a friend of mine and compare first week back at school notes.
That's all for tomorrow, I'll report back on how my prep goes soon!
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