Day 9: Juice 3.... & 4 (Worst juice ever)

So, my friend (or so she says—who knows what she's really thinking after giving me this horrendous advice!!! ;-P) told me that you can juice oranges with the peel on them. I assumed this was like so many other things that I don't necessarily like: when juiced, they're actually pretty good! I was terribly... TERRIBLY wrong... This juice was not only by far the worst juice I've ever made, it was literally the worst thing I have ever tasted in my life (including motherwort). I would like to say I highly recommend it—the peel has lots of fantastic nutrients in it—but I really don't know that it's worth it.

Perhaps it was the particular orange I used. Who knows.

Here is an excellent resource for fixing a juice that went a little out of control in the laboratory. (They're updating the site, so it may not work right away.)

I started out with just a peeled orange, a whole orange, half a head of red leaf lettuce, and a pear. After that I basically just started adding things. I added LOTS of ginger, another pear, an apple, a cucumber, and 4 carrots. It's still not palatable, but it's better. Ugh. I will probably never do this again!!!

Day 9: Juice 2

1/2 lemon
2 oranges
1 apple
1/4 bag grapes
Handful spinach

Basically, this is what I had left in my house. Pretty tasty!

Day 9: Juice 1

1 orange
12 oz. Blueberries
1/4 bag grapes
Spinach

Yum!

Day 8: Juice 4

1 beet & greens
1 apple
1/2 lemon
Ginger
2 carrots
1 Kiwi
6 oz. Blackberries
1/2 jalapeño

Pretty good! Ian dubbed it "substantial" ;)

Day 8: Juice 3

2 apples
2 oranges
2 carrots
1/2 head butter leaf lettuce
Ginger

Day 8: Juice 2

1 mango
1 red pepper
1/2 lime
1/2 jalepeño
1/2 cucumber
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup cilantro (including a few stems)
Tiny bit of red onion

Freaking awesome!!!!!!!! Next time, I'll pass on the onion. I hate onion—it was still yummy, but I'd rather not.

Day 8: Juice 1

2 apples
4 carrots
Ginger
Half bunch spinach

Still no papaya... Argh!! Quite good, though!

Day 7: Juice 4

2 tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
20 leaves basil

Last time, this made enough but this time it didn't... I didn't have time or supplies to make more, so it had to suffice.

Day 7: Juice 3

1 pomegranate
12 oz. blueberries (thanks, mom!!)
Ginger
Half head butter leaf lettuce
1 cucumber

No too bad!

Day 7: Juice 2

My favorite!!

1 apples
1 orange
2 carrots
1 orange pepper
1/2 jalapeño
Ginger

So yummy!!!

Day 7: Juice 1

2 apples
4 carrots
Ginger
1/2 bunch of spinach

No papaya today :( 'twas good, though!

Day 6: Juice 4

2 blood oranges
1 apple
1/2 head of lettuce
Ginger

Quite good, actually!

Day 6: Juice 3

1 mango
1 red pepper
Ginger
1/2 jalapeño
1/2 orange

Delicious!

Day 6: Juice 2

1/2 pineapple
1 1/2 oranges
Ginger
Kiwi
1 1/2 cups Red grapes

Yum!! Pretty, too. (like my finger?)

Day 6: Juice 1

1/3 of a HUGE papaya
1 kiwi
1 orange
1/2 head of romain lettuce

Good stuff! Ian dubbed it "creamy". :)

Day 5: Juice 4

2 oranges
1 lemon
Ginger
2 kiwi

This was pretty tart, but pretty good!

Day 5: Juice 3

Pear
Half head of butter leaf lettuce
Sweet potato
Carrot
Ginger

This was ok. I would definitely put another pear in and skip half the sweet potato next time...

Day 5: Juice 2

12 oz. Blackberries
6 oz. Blueberries
2 oranges
Ginger

Hooray.

Day 5: Juice 1

Papaya
2 oranges
Apple

Forgot to take a pic before drinking some... Oops!

On the road...

I'm out of town so things may not be posted on time. For instance, I'm posting my "Day 4 Observations" tomorrow. Happy weekend!

Day 4: Juice 4

2 apples
2 oranges
3 carrots
Ginger
6 leaves red-leaf lettuce

Standard awesomeness

Day 4: Juice 3

2 rather large tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
Half a bunch of cilantro

A variation on the bruschetta juice. Was good, but I think I like the other better... Definitely will put more cilantro in next time!

Day 1: Juice 2

1 Asian pear
Half a bag of grapes
1 lime

This was super frothy and very sweet!

Day 1: Juice 1

1 asian pear

1/3 HUGE papaya

lots of spinach

Not bad...

Day 3 Observations

After having a bit of a hard time waking up, I had a lot of energy!! My practicing was great (it's about time...)! After my last juice I crashed a bit, but mostly my energy was up. Hooray!!

Day 3: Juice 4

2 oranges

1/2 bag of grapes

1/2 sweet potato

ginger

Super yummy!!!

Ian's 2nd Juice

1/2 bunch of kale

1/2 bag of grapes

6 oz. blackberries

2 small apples

1/2 sweet potato

ginger

Ian called this the kitchen sink juice. It was delicious, though!

Day 3: Juice 3

1 small beet with greens

1 bunch rainbow chard

2 apples

ginger

I was amazed at being able to put the whole bunch of chard in this! It tasted amazing!

before stirring

Pretty!

after stirring... YUM!!!!

Ian's 1st Juice

1 grapefruit

1 red pepper

3 carrots

1/2 jalepeño

2 apples

ginger

I tried to make Ian my favorite juice, but he didn't have oranges, so I made it with grapefruit. It was extremely tart, so I had to add the apples...

Day 3: Juice 2

2 oranges

3 carrots

1 yellow bell pepper

1" piece of ginger

1/2 jalepeño

This is probably my favorite juice. I was in a hurry when I took the pic, so it's not focused properly, but there are orange specks in it.

Spicy!!

Day 3: Juice 1

2 apples

1/3 of a HUGE papaya

1/2 a lemon

lots and lots of spinach

Standard. Functional. Delicious.

Day 2 Observations

Day 2 was not so great. I had an incredibly difficult time getting up this morning and yoga was painful. I'm trying to get to bed earlier tonight, because I think that was part of it. (Yet here I am at midnight... ftw) I was pretty sluggish, mentally, and practicing my horn was pretty rough. Cravings were pretty bad, especially when my Cuban roommates got home and started cooking what you see in the picture below. I have no idea what it was, but the spices in it smelled fantastic...

A few "interesting" observations I had were that after the ridiculously huge pitcher of juice I accidentally made and had to drink midday, I felt rather sleepy, similarly to how I would feel after eating a meal that was way too big. However, after waiting it out for about an hour, I was able to go on a half-hour bike ride with no problems! (What is UP with this crazy warm weather?!) Also "interesting" was that, after eating quite a lot of beets, my pee was very pink... haha

Off to bed. More of the same tomorrow!

Awesome-smelling Cuban food...

Day 2: Juice 3/4

2 apples

1 orange

1" piece of ginger

beet greens from 2 beets

half a head of red-leaf lettuce

I guess this is technically juice number 3, but my tummy is saying it's number 4!! Whew...

Here it is in its brilliance before stirring...

...and after. Delightful.

Day 2: Juice 2... and 3?

1 large sweet potato

1 medium carrot

1 red bell pepper

2 large red beets

2 apples

1 orange, optional

I found this recipe on the www.jointhereboot.com website and followed it exactly, but instead of producing 16 ounces, it produced about 30!!!! I would be totally fine with this (it was really tasty!), but my juicer is one that creates too much heat while juicing to save the juice, so I had to drink it immediately. I was SO SO full. But I suppose I'll be good for a while. :)

Next time, I think I'll just do 1 beet, half of a bell pepper, and not include the orange. Hopefully that will suffice!

It was so much, I had to put it in a pitcher!

Day 2: Juice 1

1 apple

1/2 large cucumber

1/3 HUGE papaya

10 leaves red-leaf lettuce

1" piece of ginger

Pretty standard morning juice. One tip for juicing this one: juice a piece of the papaya first, then a piece of the apple. Then do a pattern of papaya, leaves, apple repeating. The apple makes sure all the thick papaya juice get washed out of the filter and the hard to juice leaves are pushed onto the blades. Bon Appétit!

Here it is before mixing...

...and after.

Day One Observations

Day 1 really wasn't too bad. The two main things I noticed were that I felt a little out of it mentally, and my olfactory was heightened. Every once in a while I would get a craving for something and realize I couldn't have it (for instance, I really want chocolate right now...). Eventually, I would forget about it. That's been the hardest part.

To make this totally accurate, I'll include a few things that might be a bit TMI, so if you don't wanna know, stop reading! ;)

Unfortunately, I got my monthly visitor yesterday, so I didn't feel great this morning. What I thought was interesting was that by the afternoon, my cramps were totally gone! Also of note but totally expected was that I had to use the restroom quite a bit throughout the day...

Off to bed. More of the same tomorrow!

Day 1: Juice 5

1 apple

1 large cucumber

1 lime

4 leafs red-leaf lettuce

LOTS of spinach

(I meant to put ginger in it, but forgot)

This is just a standard, easy green juice to round off my day. Pretty tasty!

Day 1: Juice 4

2 large tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic

20 basil leaves

I was a bit scared for this one, too. I'm not a big tomato juice drinker, and I generally prefer my juices sweet, but this isn't bad at all! I freakin' love garlic, and 2 cloves was plenty. As I suppose you would guess, this is a rather pulpy juice...

Here's some info on the benefits of garlic:

Garlic is well known for its bold flavor, but it does a lot more these days than just taste great or ward off vampires. Research is highlighting garlic’s natural antioxidant, cholesterol lowering and anti-inflammatory properties. Recent studies show its benefits range from keeping blood cells from becoming too sticky to interrupting prostate cancer cell growth and signaling breast cancer cell death in test tube and animal models.

source

Day 1: Juice 3

6 oz. blueberries

6 oz. rasberries

2 apples

1 lemon

I think next time I'll get more berries. I needed the last 2 to make enough juice! Was pretty good, though.

Day 1: Juice 2

2 oranges

2 carrots

1 beet

1 (locally grown) red pepper

1/2 jalepeño

I was a bit scared because of the beet, but this juice tasted freaking AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here it is before stirring. So colorful!

...and after. NOMNOM!!! 

Here's a bit about the benefits of this kind of juice:

Carotene is a pigment that causes many vegetables and fruits to have the orange, red & yellow colour characteristics such as carrots, orange, capsicums, tomato, beetroot and pumpkins. There are approximately 600 known carotenoids found in foods.
Beta-carotene has been shown to improve the immune system and how it will fight infections. Carotenoids offer antioxidant activity, reducing the risk of certain cancers such as lung, skin, uterine, cervix and gastrointestinal tract. It offers protection against macular degeneration and cateracts. 

The beneficial actions of carotenoids are optimal when a variety of carotenoids are consumed together, so a juice mix is ideal.

source 

Day 1: Juice 1

2 apples
1 orange
1/3 of a HUGE papaya
Lots of spinach

I accidentally took a big gulp out of it before I remembered to take a pic... YUM

Why Not Just Buy Juice From the Store?

Juicing offers us many delicious health benefits including a faster, more efficient way to absorb immune boosting nutrients naturally found in fruits and vegetables. It also provides a way to access digestive enzymes typically locked away in the fiber matrix of whole fruits and vegetables.

Most commercial juices are processed and lacking in nutrition compared to fresh juiced fruits and vegetables. Those that indicate they have 100% juice are technically better than those with only 10% or less. However all varieties are not made and drunk right away like with fresh juice from a juicer. There is still processing and travel which must occur thereby decreasing some of the nutrients. Many juices on the market have more sugar per ounce than soda. The least amount of sugar per ounce of juice is found (no surprises) in fresh made juice. The intake of fruit drinks that are not 100% juice is linked to an increased risk of childhood obesity.

source

My Daily Cleanse Regimen

My cleanse begins tomorrow!! Eeee!! SO what exactly will I be doing by way of juicing? Here are the guidelines I'm following:

-Begin the day with 16oz. hot lemon water as soon as I wake up.
-My first juice will include lots of papaya—this can help prevent me from becoming constipated (hooray!)
-Throughout the day, I'll consume 4-5 16oz. juices and 16-24 oz. of other fluids
-There really aren't any rules to how much of which fruits and veggies you should drink, but "drink a rainbow a day" is something that's good to go by.
-I'll try to put something green in most if not all of my juices per day.
-Apples and pears can pretty much go in every juice and help to make a potentially undrinkable juice delicious.

Here is an excellent FAQ page for reboot questions.

Some Great Juicing References

For the virgin juicer/cleanser, here are some great references:


http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/
(I'll talk about this film quite a bit...)


www.jointhereboot.com
(This has a lot of fantastic references, including an expert blog and recipes.)


Super Cleanse Revised Edition: Detoxing Your Body for Long-Lasting Health and Beauty by Adina Niemerow
(This book is fantastic if you want to do a cleanse that involves whole foods as well as juice and you want a variety of options for recipes and duration. She includes little meditation exercises in every cleanse as well as a some general guidelines for cleansing more effectively like natural ways to quit smoking/coffee.)

Speaking of Processed Foods...

Can You Guess What McDonald’s Food Item This Is? Say hello to mechanically separated chicken.  

It’s what all fast-food chicken is made – things like chicken nuggets and patties. In addition, the processed frozen chicken in the stores is made from it. Basically, the entire chicken is smashed and pressed through a sieve — bones, eyes, guts, and all. It comes out looking like this. There’s more: because it’s crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, soaked in it, actually. Then, because it tastes gross, it will be reflavored artificially. Finally, since it is weirdly pink, it will be dyed with artificial color. People still eat this and feed it to their children!

‎"The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine, or the slowest form of poison." - Dr. Ann Wigmore, ND

Local Produce in Raleigh, NC

I walked downtown today with my roommate Heather and my friend Kathy in search of tea and a nice place to sit and read and write. While Heather and I chilled in Benelux Cafe, Kathy explored the block and discovered an awesome market with super cheap, local produce at City Market! They're only open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and I didn't have time to get very much, but I took advantage of their $1 red bell peppers and $1.50 blueberries and blackberries. Gotta stock up for the cleanse!!

On our way back home, we passed this very apt mural on the back wall of the market:

Welcome to my Juice Cleanse Blog!!!

Hello, world!

On Monday, I will begin 10 days of nothing but fresh, homemade juice!!! My boyfriend and I decided to embark on this experiment/cleanse after watching the incredibly informative, accessible, inspirational film, "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" (watch it—it will change your perception of food, dieting and nutrition... and much more).

Follow my blog during the 10 days of my cleanse, and I'll fill you in on what I'm consuming and how I'm feeling.

But first:

Reasons I'm doing this cleanse:

1. Cleanse my system.

I was diagnosed with celiac disease this summer. Basically, when I eat gluten, a series of symptoms occur (including a colorful array of GI issues, "brain fog," and dry patches on my skin) as a result of the gluten damaging my GI tract. The less gluten is in my system, the healthier I feel, clearer I think, and more vibrantly I see the world. This cleanse will surely help to get it all out!

But even if I didn't have celiac, the average person has about 60% processed foods in their diet. Our systems are not built to handle highly processed foods, so we end up carrying a lot of that around in our system, making our cells sluggish. In other words, we could all use something to clean out all the waste we build up in our bodies. Again, "FT&ND" has a fantastic way of illustrating this.

2. Clear my mind grapes.

If you get that reference, you are officially awesome.

When you juice, you are consuming pure essential nutrients. 

NO processed foods

NO added sugars

Heavily processed foods weigh your brain down and make thinking more sluggish. By eliminating all processed foods, your thinking becomes more clear. To help with this, I'll be doing at least 30 minutes of meditation a day (hopefully more!!).

3. Encourage better eating habits.

When you do most diets, you can't wait to get off of them and start eating "normally" again. As a result, you immediately gain the water weight you lost, as well as any other weight you lost. This makes you depressed which, for most of us, makes us want to eat more.

With a juice fast, you're training your taste buds (not to mention your body) to enjoy nutritious, healthy foods—fruits and vegetables. After you finish your cleanse, you'll want to keep up the energy you've felt during your cleanse (after the initial 3 days of detox, of course!), so you'll be more inclined to sustain a healthier eating regimen and keep juice and healthy foods in your diet. For more on that and to be convinced further (cuz lord knows I'm probably not doing the best job), watch "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" and go to www.jointhereboot.com.

4. Encourage a better lifestyle in general.

We as humans tend to be relatively extremist creatures. When we go in, we go all in. When we throw in the towel, we can be incredibly stubborn about getting off our asses. This is why, if I go out to eat, I have to tell myself before I begin eating a large plate of food that I will only eat half of it and take the rest home. Otherwise, when I'm 3/4 of the way done and am rather full, I'll just say,"To Hell with it!" and eat the rest.

When we do something good for our bodies and our minds like a cleanse, it makes us more motivated to do other nice things for our well-being. It's kinda like how doing yoga (another way to cleanse your body, mind, and soul) makes you hesitate to eat anything that will damage the zen state it puts you in (or at least should).

I plan on doing something active everyday, whether it be biking (fingers crossed for fair weather!!), swimming, hiking, or walking. I will also start every day with yoga. Namaste ;)

Disclaimer: The things said in this blog are things that I have learned over the years, but I am by NO MEANS an expert on nutrition or health. I've done a lot of research, watched a lot of videos, been to a lot of different yoga classes, saw a holistic nutritionist for a while, and am surrounded by well-informed friends and family that have taught me a lot, but I have NEVER attended classes or gone to a nutrition school. I  still have quite a bit to learn. This is why I have provided some excellent references should you decide to become more informed. As always, if you decide to do a cleanse, you should consult your doctor to make sure you're in good condition to do so.