Juicin' It!

What initially got me into juicing was watching the film "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". The link below will take you to a trailer for the film, but you can also watch the entire film online for FREE by going to the film's website http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/. I highly recommend this film...it may change your life!

My Experience

After watching the film, HS decided that we needed to upgrade our juicer. We had the Jack La Lane juicer from Costco, which was fine for making the occasional orange juice, but definitely wasn't what we needed for the amount of juicing we had planned. We chose the Green Star Elite. It was pricey, but well worth the money.

This juicer is "high yield" which means you get more juice out of your fruits and veggies. It is also "low heat" which helps preserve the enzymes and vitamins (see below for a list of things that can potential degrade the nutrients in your juice).

The Green Star Elite is also available from Costco

My first juice cleanse was seven days long. I lost eight pounds that week and felt great. The first couple of days were rough (I also gave up coffee for the week, so I had a bit of a headache in the beginning). Days 3-4 were much better. I felt good and didn't feel like I was starving. By day seven, I was glad it was ending and I went to bed that last night dreaming of what I was going to have for breakfast. Like I said, it wasn't because I felt like I was starving, but I just missed the variety of my normal diet.

My Tips

1) Be prepared to make a mess. Don't worry, it's only juice :-)

This is a pic of the mess after I made my favorite beet juice (beets, green apple and red/black grapes). Proper preparation helps cut down on the mess, but I always have a little clean up afterwards.

Beet juice is the worst!

2) Have lots of bottles handy. 

I like Snapple bottles. Once you peel off the label, use something like "Goof Off" to remove the glue. Wash the bottles with soap and water to remove the "Goof Off" and then boil the bottles and lids to sanitize.

3) Be Creative

You will be amazed at the amount of plant fiber left over after you juice. Some people freeze this to add to soups. I've used it before to make a sort of veggie muffins. Other people may want to compost this and add it to their garden.

Usually I just toss this ;-)

4) Only make enough for 2 days

When I do a juice cleanse, whether it's 3 days or 7 days, I only make enough juice for two days. Joe Cross's Reboot website states that juices should stored for "24-48 hours in the fridge (72 hours is maximum time suggested)". 

Some nutrients are susceptible to being degraded or broken down by exposure to heat, light and air (oxygen).

Heat: Reduces many B vitamins, Vitamins C and E 
Light: Lowers Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), B1 (thiamin), B6, Folate, Vitamins A and E.
Oxygen: Degrades Vitamins C, A, E, K and many B vitamins
Freezing: Reduces Vitamin C, Potassium, Copper

5) Enjoy!

I don't look at juicing as a diet or some sort of punishment. There are plenty of calories in a bottle that you aren't starving your body. I think of it as liquid vitamins!

Post run refresher