Juice Fast - Day 6

Day 5 went very well and woke up today feeling pretty good. I'm not really moving at a fast pace or taking on anything extreme by any means but am able to work effectively and feel good. I did take a short nap yesterday at 5:00 pm. Have a photo shoot today which may be draining but am feeling fine right now. Last night was a new challenge though in dealing with food. Kris (my girlfriend) had left food out at her house after having Mexican take out. I went into the kitchen and was confronted with leftover chips, salsa, sour cream, partially eaten casadias and half of a burrito. WOWWWW. It all looked great. I wasn't sure how to handle it. Should I avert my eyes? Run in horror? Dive to the floor, cover my head and scream until someone came to my rescue?? All reasonable choices but I came up with another idea. I took a big ol' whiff of that burrito. Hmmmmm good. Like to get me some of that! Then I got a glass of juice and left the kitchen. Was good to know that the sight, smell and access to food wouldn't break me down. Well, not on day 5 anyway. I'm making a mental list right now of all of the restaurants and foods I'm going to want to eat when this is over. The burrito is on the list. Not at the top but prominently placed on the list.

Yesterday, I didn't make any fresh juice and relied on my Kirkland apple juice. I'll probably try to make something later today but enjoyed not having the hassle of it all. Am eyeing a goal of 2 weeks which should put me close to 160 lbs. Concerns though now are rising about getting off of the fast and immediately jumping back up in weight 5 or 10 lbs which would be really discouraging. I'm hoping that after this experience, I can prioritize working out and more days of healthy eating to maintain what I feel is an ideal weight for myself.

Weight: 168.5

Juice Fast - Day 5

Woke up feeling great again. Last night went well, still feeling like I had good energy and alertness. Started today with a half of a glass of Kirkland apple juice.

- 8 oz Kirkland apple juice

I'm not thrilled that it is store bought but it is 100% juice (not concentrate) and is much easier to get. Which, while I feel like I have good energy, it makes it nice to not have to put so much effort into a glass of juice (cutting the fruit up, putting together the juicer, processing the fruit, cleaning up all of the juicer parts, emptying the bin, washing the cups, washing the utensils, washing the cutting board etc.). Sounds lazy but whatever.

Am still undecided about my end goals, where I want to finish. I had originally contemplated trying 30 days and / or 25 lbs. I'm not sure I want to take a whole month of this. Although yesterday wasn't that big of a deal to get through, there are a lot of cravings for food when I see it or think about it. And there is probably a good amount of separation anxiety. Feeling like I'm really missing out on something fun I could be doing. Many days, eating is or meal times are the most enjoyable parts of the day. I am resolved to make it through 1 week (2 days left). I think 10 lbs is also my minimum goal as far as weight goes. I would be thrilled with 15 so we'll see where that goes.

Weight: 169.5
Waist: 38

Juice Fast - Day 4 cont.

Today went really well! Had good energy all day, felt alert and able to concentrate. Hunger is not anywhere near the top of the priority list but any mention of any kind of food sounds GREAT! But, it feels very manageable to keep going. Yesterday was definitely questionable. 

Was able to poop for the first time since day 1 after a glass of juice with a good amount of blueberries. Was getting concerned about being constipated and retaining toxins that should be passing through the colon. Mixed up the following:

-1 cup blueberries
-4 apples

Made about 30 oz which I had 1/2 in the morning and another half in the afternoon. Just now finishing a glass of the Kirkland apples juice. Muscles are still sore, especially my left buttocks. Tried to stretch a little which was hard to do. Have been peeing regularly throughout the day so although I'm concerned about dehydration, I think I'm doing ok.

Juice Fast - Day 4

Woke up feeling pretty good. No hunger at all and feeling reasonably energized. Am a little worried it will be very short lived but it is a nice change from yesterday. Ended yesterday on a glass of Kirkland brand apple juice (16 oz) at about 10:00 pm. It was the first time that day that I felt an urge to drink juice. Otherwise, it didn't sound good at all. Tried to keep water going through the system and peed several times. Notably did not poop on day 2 or 3 which is becoming a concern. Lots of thoughts of things I would like to eat, all of my favorite restaurants etc.

Weight: 170.5

Juice Fast - Day 3

Went to bed last night with a headache and feeling lethargic and not very sharp. Played a few games of cards before hitting the hay and had a hard time concentrating as well as had a few missed plays that should have been more obvious to me. Today, woke up feeling reasonably good. Then noticed that I was overall pretty achy. Joints and muscles feeling pretty sore as if I had done some heavy exercise. Haven't had any juice yet today and it doesn't really sound appealing at all. Had a couple of cups of herbal tea and have been drinking water. The headache has been pretty persistent as well as very low energy. Muscles and joint aches seem to be getting worse through the day.

Weight: 172.0

Juice Fast - Day 2

Woke up surprised I didn't feel hungry. Wasn't even in the mood for
juice but thought I should have something with some calories in it.
Mixed up the following:

- 1/2 Cantaloupe
- 2 Slices pineapple
- 1 pear
- 1/2 cup blueberries

Drank about 8 ounces of the above. Had 3 or 4 cups of herbal tea today with a squeeze of honey. The tea seemed to add some quick energy but throughout the day, I was feeling lethargic and run down. Worked from 9am - 3pm and then took a nice nap. Worked a little more after getting back up. Food kept coming up as a distant hunger was felt but not an urgent need to eat. The idea of eating and of consuming time consuming was missed as much if not more than the actual food. Certainly, eating is something I enjoy doing quite a bit. Have a feeling of missing out on a lot of fun (eating) for the fast. Funny that way. Also worried about not being fun to be around for Kris and the girls which I hope isn't too much the case or if it is, that the end results gains make up for the short term losses. Work may also suffer from lower energy -- will see how that works out.

Feeling good at 6:45pm and just mixed a glass of orange juice from:

- 3 oranges

Weight: 173.5*
(weight today measured upon waking - yesterday was after coffee and some water so the weight may have skewed high)

Juice Fast Day 1 cont.

Was somewhat hungry this afternoon but nothing tremendously
distracting. Am thinking that I will miss eating as a source of
comfort. Mixed 16 ounces of juice from:
- 1 apple
- 1 pear
- 1 slice of pineapple
- 1/4 cup of blueberries

It is about 5:00 pm and I'm hoping to be able to make it through
"dinner time" without much discomfort. I'm under the impression that
once the digestive process slows or stops in a day or two that the
hunger will also subside. I'll have to see how that goes. I'm
expecting tomorrow and the next day to be more difficult to get through.

Final note, the juicer seems to waste so much product. When cleaning
it out it felt like I had a good pound or more of the pulp. May need
to look into ways to use that for something besides weighing down my
trash can.