Day 4

Today was a good day. I drank more juice so that I didn’t start to get bad hunger pains. I think the first day my mindset was, “Three meals a day = three juices” and that was wrong. When I’m not juicing, I drink three meals a day with several snacks to keep me going anyway. It was a learning curve, but I made it through the weekend with only a couple of hiccups. Today both my husband and I feel that we need to get things moving . . . so I bought some Senna tea. It’s highly recommended by all of my sources as a temporary herbal stimulant for the bowels. I drank it before bed tonight as is recommended. I actually really loved the powerful licorice flavor with a hint of citrus. I would drink it regularly if the box didn’t caution against it.

Day 5

This morning by 7 AM I was on the toilet. WHO KNEW? I have heard that we each have 10-15 lbs. of waste sitting in our colons, but that seemed a little extreme. I believe it now. That wasn’t my only trip to the bathroom today. I felt kind of groggy and lifeless all day Monday, and I knew that I was juicing and getting all of the toxins into my bloodstream, and the waste needed to get out. Once I began freeing myself of all that crap (pun intended), I felt great.

I had a lot of energy in the morning and afternoon until around 3 PM when I started to feel sluggish, but luckily the sun was out and we spent some time outside. One of the hardest things for me during this juice fast is being a mom at the same time. It’s hard to make my children food and not instinctively pop something into my mouth. Having the energy to prepare meals for them is hard as well. Needless to say, we’ve eaten oatmeal every morning (no change there), and we have had a lot of “picnics” with apples, cheese, crackers, grapes, etc. My girls love it, and it makes this week easier. I don’t necessarily feel hungry, but I miss eating. Maybe it’s my long-time love of cooking, but I just want to start making dinner! I find myself starting to plan meals, and then I remember that I don’t have to. It’s strange. I have been researching recipes and found some great sites with things I want to try.

Another great thing that happened today: we had our first all-fruit juice. I didn’t want to drink a lot of fruit juices during the fast, but we decided that one would be okay. We juiced apples and an orange. I took a sip and could not believe what was happening in my mouth! It was the most delicious juice I have ever had the pleasure to drink. This is not an exaggeration. How have I spent so many years without having fresh fruit juice? It pales in comparison to anything you would buy in the store. I wish I could send some to each and each of my family members and friends. It was that good. My girls loved it. The baby couldn’t drink it fast enough, and I was happy to let her. I kept picturing myself sitting outside on a summer evening, sipping this deliciously refreshing beverage. It was the highlight of my juicing thus far. I am anxious to experiment more once this week is over. I’ve decided to fast for seven days; my husband will do ten.

We went to the store again today for more produce. I should be keeping track of how many pounds of vegetables we are consuming, but trust me, it’s plenty. Each juice (for two of us) generally consists of:

2 cucumbers
1 zucchini
2 apples
1 lemon or orange
2-3 c. spinach
1 bunch of parsley or cilantro
1” chunk of ginger
6-8 stalks of celery or 10-15 carrots

Our grocery options are severely limited right now. We live in rural Wyoming and there are few, if any, vegetables in each store that are organic. I buy organic when I can, and everything gets washed in Sunrider fruit & vegetable rinse before we use it. It helps to have all of the produce washed and ready to go in the fridge so that I can grab what I need and just cut it up and juice when I need to.