Juice Cleanse

Last week I did a 3 day juice cleanse, which involved 6 juices per day (they're numbered and you have to drink them in order) and no eating.  They are fresh-pressed juices of mostly vegetables, some juice, and one nut milk per day.  Some are awesome such as grapefruit mint (see above, it's the second one) and watermelon lime.  Some are not so awesome, like the essential green (kale, spinach, celery, etc).

Let me answer some questions you might be thinking.

• No, you don't feel hungry.  You're constantly drinking throughout the day.  You may feel a mild hunger ache. 

• Yes, you miss food.  But not because you're hungry.  It's more psychological (more on that later). 

• You do lose weight. Mostly water weight (but who cares! I'll take it!)- by the end I was down 5.5 lbs which made me 1.5 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight. (holla!!)

Overall, it was a great experience.  Here are some take-aways I had from my juice fast.

1. Food is a privilege.  We live in a country where access to food is not a problem.  We can have fruit in the winter for goodness sakes (if you don't mind that it's getting shipped from Chile).  We are remarkably blessed to buy or make whatever food we want. It is not meant to be abused.
2. I'm no longer as afraid of hunger as I once was.  I'm the kind of person that starts to panic when I get hungry. (like I'll eat before church service or a movie even when I'm not hungry just so that I won't be stuck in a seat for a couple hours and not able to eat. I know- I'm ridiculous).
3. I eat waaaay more than I need.  Sustaining myself on juices all day and have great energy levels was proof that I eat more than I need to survive.  I need to scale back the sheer amount that I consume- it'll be better for my budget and waistline.
4. Last but not least.... I'VE GOT TO STOP PUTTING CRAP IN MY BODY.  I have to repeat my new mantra to myself.  "Ramen noodles are not my friend.  Ramen noodles are not my friend".  Only allowing nutritious juices for 3 days straight made me feel so good.  I felt better. I have a renewed commitment to nourishing my body and taking better care of it. 

I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a jump-start to eating better.  Don't wait for New Year's.  I'm probably going to do this twice a year, before summer starts and after the holidays, just to keep things in check.

I'm almost tempted to buy a juicer now but I don't know if that's consistent with my anti-too-many-kitchen-appliances-lifestyle. I'll have to think more about it.

(this post is dedicated to Melissa who thought it would take too long for Kerri to get another turn. :P )