REINTRODUCING FOOD

TEN DAYS DOWN

I recently completed a ten day juice fast (fruits and vegetables) with a birthday weekend/road trip thrown in at the eighth day. I am wishing I kept it strictly veggies and fruit the whole time BUT. . . much better than if I had never undertaken it all!

Things I supplemented with:

• An occasional banana (unless in a smoothie, it’s a waste to put one in a juicer as there is nothing to juice).
• Nuts and garbanzo beans (as my doctor asked me to include some protein). I even juiced some of the garbanzos into a green drink. Not bad, but I like them better whole.

ROAD TRIP: 

Nobody said taking a road trip while juicing is easy, but I took a crack at it. Knowing I was staying in a hotel, it would have been difficult to take along enough vegetables. 

• I did take my blender and made a fruit smoothie in the hotel.
• I did juice before I left home  -- taking a jar with me. 
• I did buy big bottles of organic juice at the health food store before leaving. R.W. Knudsen low sodium Very Veggie is delicious. I drank it straight down!!

• I did buy freshly made juice from  Jamba Juice while at my destination.

When my family went to a Chinese buffet, I walked around stores, shopped, munched on some nuts, and drank my juice. I was fine. 

I did choose to go out to dinner for my birthday. We went to an Italian restaurant, and I did partake of a partial meal. My son took the leftovers. I did not feel guilty, but went back to the hotel and drank more juice.

I also had a cup of hot soup on the road, and a bit of breakfast on the way back. The food did not make me feel better, so I looked forward to returning to only juice at home -- which I did for another two days. 

BENEFITS OF THE FAST:

• Increased energy; I am not kidding! Before the fast I was sick and dragging in my tracks.
• Looser clothing, and down a couple of pounds.
• Clearer thinking when I’m concentrating at work.
• Clear sinuses for the first time in memory. I can breathe out of both nostrils.

THE BIGGEST SHOCKER OF ALL:

My nine year old grandson likes to take my free hand in his while I am driving. He’s fascinated by the overly large blood veins sticking up on the back of my hand. He thinks it’s gross and scary and has made me promise to “drink more water, Grandma, so your veins will go down.” He was poking them to see if they would go down. I had long since accepted that this is the cost of getting older.

I looked down at my hand the other night and was amazed to see the veins were not prominent – my hand looked much younger. I called my daughter in law to come over and look; she agreed my hands looked better.  Whoohoo!

DAYS TO COME:

In the days to come, since reintroducing food into my diet, I am eliminating fat, like butter and mayonnaise; meats, cheeses, yogurt, and milk. Don’t forget sugar. When I think that I’ve done well without all those artery clogging, blood pressure raising things the past two weeks, I think, “why not continue?” I also went without coffee the whole time (except getting some on my trip because I was too sleepy to drive safely. 

WILL I KEEP JUICING?

You bet! I've grown fond of feeling better. I've enjoyed the juices, the variety possible, the feeling of knowing I was doing something GOOD for my body for a change, and who doesn't like more attractive, youthful hands? 

• I am going to drink at least one to two glasses of juice a day along with vegetarian  meals. 

AM I DISAPPOINTED?

I am disappointed in not losing more weight immediately, but the benefits outweigh that. If one takes in micro-nutrients and eliminates fat,  added salt, and sugar, more weight loss and better health is inevitable. 

I threw away the can for storing bacon grease

This is a better use for a coffee can