Juice Fast DAY 1

Hi,

Wow. This is the end of day one of my ten day juice fast and I wonder what I was thinking. It did not start out too bad. Doing the juicing was kind of fun, almost like a new game.

My new Lequip 215XL Juicer is great. It runs quietly (for a juicer) seems to be solidly made and the pulp does not seem to be very wet, so it does a good job. The juice bowl is stainless steel rather than plastic which I like. The one and only thing I don't like is that I purposefully purchased the one with a three-inch wide mouth so I could put medium sized things in the chute without having to cut them up. Unfortunately someone decided it was a good idea to put a bar right down the middle of it, so I still have to cut stuff up. I guess the bar serves some purpose that is unbeknownst to me. I'm not going to complain. It only cost one hundred and twenty bucks at www.discountjuicers.com which is forty dollars off, so I feel like I've gotten a good deal.

My cousin, Julianna, came over and I shared a bit of juice with her which she said she liked but she did not drink very much and refused to partake of any more, as I continued to juice at intervals throughout the day. I was glad she was here today. It was nice to spend the day with her.

We were talking a lot about stuff in our lives and I wanted to show her pictures of Joe and Phil from the documentary called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" by Joe Cross which is what has inspired me to do the juice fast thing ( http://fatsickandnearlydead.com/ ). The pictures I wanted her to see were not in the companion book that I got with the DVD so I loaded up the movie on Netflix and started to search for Joe's "before" pictures. She became instantly interested in seeing the rest of the movie, so we finished up our tasks and sat down to view it.

The movie is simply inspiring. When it was done she said she wanted to try it, too. Julianna has been doing Weight Watchers for quite a while now (I am not sure how long) but she has already gone down in the neighborhood of sixty pounds and is looking great. She has recently reached a plateau and has also started to teeter totter up and down a little so, perhaps, doing some juicing, even a short fast, may be the thing she needs to help her get that much closer to her goal. I was pleased that she was inspired and suggested that she might be able to get a juicer at a yard sale -- people are always buying them, and then not using them, and then wanting to get rid of them. I did the same myself a few years ago.

In fact, until I saw this movie, I thought the people who did juicing were just a little over the edge of insane. My doctor suggested it on the first day I saw her but I would have none of it. Now I am on day one of a ten-day juicing fast.

It is the end of the day and, truthfully, I feel kind of worn out, tired, and hungry. I did not keep track of the recipes I created and did not even keep track of when I did it. But as the day progressed I kept getting hungry, setting up the juicer, then making another juice with another random combination of a few fruits and a great deal of vegetables. I think I might have done it about six times.

I checked my blood sugar at about 7 p.m. and it was 99 which was very good so I guess I am doing OK in that department.

I have noticed that I have been doing a lot of burping and hiccuping. It seems to occur within about 10 minutes of consuming a juice and does not last long. I've also been urinating a lot today. I attribute that to the increase in liquids that I am drinking. I'm not only doing juice I also drink water and feel that it would be OK to have a cup of tea, too. Perhaps a cup of chamomile tea would be good right now. It says that it is a "calmative and digestive" on the box and I feel like I need the "calmative" part.

Just before I had my most recent juice about ten minutes ago I had been in the bathroom washing my hands and considering eating something. I could feel the hunger pangs and feel the different feeling in my head that always, in the past, said to me that I needed to eat something. I wondered how other people have gotten through this. I decided I just could not "give up and give in" on the first day. I thought about the fact that what I have always done is what has gotten me in the position I am in. I need to learn to do something else. This juice fast is the "something else" that I believe I need.

I recall in the film that many of the people who do it say the first three days are the worst and that once you get past that, it gets a whole lot better. I am struggling to get past day one right now. I still feel like giving up, but I don't want to buy into that old behavior. I'm not really sure what to do, so am drinking a tomato and celery juice. Oddly I still have a little left in my glass but am not interested in drinking it, right this minute. I'll most likely drink it in a little while.

This is a new feeling I have in my body, which I do not like that much. It feels tired and a little woozy, if you know what I mean. Perhaps I shall sleep well, though.

I exercised for about 30 minutes in the pool this morning. I did it on Monday, Wednesday and today, Friday which was my goal. So I can check that off the list for this week. Wow. I really do not feel well, but, with the Lord's help, I shall continue.

So sorry to have to report these findings but it is still only day one. My first hurdle is over: I have started. The second hurdle will be to get through tomorrow.

I remember how scared I was to start, not knowing if I could do it, but my friend, Xochilt, encouraged me to trust in the Lord and ask for His help, which made a difference to me.

She and I watched the movie and did our first juice together at her house. She decided to add some juicing to her daily life, too. She is pregnant. The juice could not hurt, but it would not be right for her to go on a juice fast at this point in time. She made her first "solo" juice this morning and had some trouble with assembling her hand-me-down juicer that does not have a book. It is a Jack LaLanne juicer that a friend gave her. It works well and the chute really will take medium sized items without cutting them up, but my Lequip is quieter and faster and I believe it was cheaper than buying a new JL -- although nothing is cheaper than free!!

When I spoke with her this evening she said she was very tired from a long day's activities but thinking of doing another juice tonight. I hope she does, but, if she doesn't, perhaps she will do one in the morning, again.

On a whim, I weighed myself just now. Bad idea. I have put on four pounds. I rarely weigh myself at night. I just wanted to see some good results... too bad. Maybe next time!! I'm not going to worry about it. Day one is hard enough just to do the juice fast, without also having overly anxious expectations or fantasies of miracle results at the end of the first day.

I'm burping as I sip on my tomato/celery juice. Oh well. That might be one of the new things, I need to get used to, too. I am thinking that I might need to pay attention to "relaxing." I know that one of the things I do when I binge eat is to tense up... perhaps I am doing the same thing now. I'll make a cup of chamomile tea and go out on the porch and see the night for a while then come in and either watch a movie or go to bed.

Please pray for me to have the strength to continue.

I just came in from outside. The tea was great. I relaxed and feel, well, more relaxed. Thank you Lord.

Be back soon

Marcia