I recently returned from an amazing trip to Portland, Oregon where not only did I reconnect with family, friends and the city at large, I also ran a workshop – Transforming Your Body From the Inside Out. There was a great turnout and I enjoyed sharing information about emotional eating, eating more alkaline vs. acidic, juicing and making more conscious healthful choices.
Since my return I got a juicer and thought I’d give juicing a whirl. I had never previously juiced so it was exciting buying all of my fruits and veggies, getting them home, washed and prepared and then making my first juice. That was four days ago.
Since my workshop in Portland and here in New Jersey, I’ve had many people talk to me about getting started juicing. I thought, well it’s more fun and easy to do things with others support and encouragement so why don’t I find out who wants to go on a juice cleanse with me?
Here are my thoughts, I want this experience to be simple and easy to commit. Most of the people who I’ve talked to have never juiced before. I’m new to juicing myself and I know how hard and daunting it can be to add something extra to do in your already packed day. My goal is to create the opportunity for those who want to join me, at whatever level feels right, and be able to check in with their experience along the way. So this is how we’ll do it, aka ‘The Guidelines’…
Official Start Date: February 20th
You decide what level of commitment you’d like to join me at:
- Add at least 1 glass of freshly made juice (veggie/fruit)
- A Juice Cleanse – Get yourself a copy of Crazy Sexy Diet: Eat Your Veggies, Ignite Your Spark, and Live Like You Mean It!
- A Juice Fast – To be inspired watch Fat Sick & Nearly Dead
- And if you need a juicer I recommend the Breville BJE820XL Dual Disc Juice Processor
Let’s see how we do over 30 days, March 21st will be our official end date.
Here is my commitment:
1 week juice fast, and then at least 1 juice a day.
- Leave a comment below telling us a bit about yourself and what you are committing to. Make sure to leave us your name.
- Share with us your daily progress, challenges, and thoughts. The more you share the more you will get out of your experience.
- If you find or create a delicious juice, share it in the comment section.
- If you have suggestions you think others could benefit from, leave a tip.
- Make sure to visit back to see how others are doing, what tips and suggestions have been shared and just be part of the fun!
Let’s all give and receive support to each other in taking small steps to greater wellness. Ready? If so, you don’t have to wait to start posting comments. Let’s make this a fun experiment!
I’m ready! Just ordered the book and DVD. Looking forward to dusting off my juicer and putting it to good use.
Awesome Monica! You will be really inspired by both the movie and the book.
I’m joining with smoothies! I make them for my kids too, so my commitment will be doing this each day (currently it is a couple times a week).
Wonderful Leigh! If you try any yummy recipes let us know and keep us posted on your progress.
I’m fairly new to juicing, but the value was immediately obvious. I have some serious ailments and am 73 yrs old and don’t assimilate foods as well as I used to. Juicing right away (24hrs) all but removed my arthritis. I check my blood pressure and sugar levels every day, and both dropped some, and continue to drop (sugar from 147 to 125, BP 160/92 to 130/82). I have more energy, and will be talking to my doctor about reducing or eliminating my meds. I only have an 8 oz glass every morning, but it works! Great idea, Angela! Bruce Elia
Awesome! I’m glad to hear you’ve had such wonderful results so far. Keep up the juicing!!
Going to make my juice for breakfast. Today it will be celery, apple, cucumber, chunk of ginger, spinach, red pepper and always add about 1/4 tsp turmeric. Turmeric works in the body to keep away cancer.
An excellent book to read is: “Over-The-Counter Natural Cures” by Shane Ellison. You can see him on youtube at The People’s Chemist. Very beneficial info.
That sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing a great resource and your recipe.
What is your goal for the 30 days?
I forgot to say a bit about myself. My name is Joyce, I am a soapmaker of exquiste handmade soaps, bath and body delights, I sell my products online, at local art, craft fairs and such. I love to work in my one acre backyard, it is lots of work and lots of exercise!! I am an avid water skier during the summer months and that is my main exercise program. I do Jazzercise everyday and have a network of friends at class. I do a “Slice Of Life” summer potluck party for all my lady friends. It is all about savoring the moment.
My goal is to do just liquid juice for the first three days of the 30 days, then add one meal a day and two juices per day till the end. And with this challenge I want to step up my game of losing those pounds that will get me looking fabulous in my clothes again. My health and fitness are good, but I want it even better, to live life to the max living and feeling energized:-) Good luck everyone on your personal challenge! Thanks Angela for motivating me,Joyce E.
Hi Angela
My 4 yr old son and I will be joining the “Juicing/Smoothie Fun” as well. We started today with a papaya banana smoothie. My goal is to increase our intake of fresh veggies and fruits. I want to renew my digestive system.
Excellent! That sounds delicious.Have you considered adding a dash of cinnamon? It has a tremendous number of health benefits worth checking out. Also ground flax or chia. There are lots of ways to get added nutrients and antioxidants easily! I can’t wait to hear how it goes, so keep us posted.
1.5 lbs down. Off and running:-) Another good book I am reading now “Eat To Live” by Joel Furhman.
It sounds like everyone is off to a great start! Congrats for making the commitment to yourself to try something new.
I wanted to give you an update. Today is day 3 and overall the juice fast has been going fairly well. I’m noticing only mild detox symptoms. Today I am starting to miss food and thinking about having 4 more days to get through. I am seeing the positive benefit of reduced body inflammation and puffiness. I’m certainly okay with that!
Here are some important tips:
1. The worst part about juicing is cleaning the machine. Make sure to immediately rinse out your juicer. It only takes a couple of minutes if you do it right after you use it and about 30 minutes if you don’t!
2. Buy your fruits and veggies at Costco. They have huge bags of Organic carrots.
3. Drink an equal amount of water or herbal tea during the day. This helps keep you feeling full and flushes all of the toxins you are releasing out of your body. You’re going through this to detox, so don’t let the crap have enough time to absorb back in!
4. Add spices! Use mint or parsley to freshen your breath and cumin or cayenne to make it a bit Mexican.
5. Make yourself some Miso or bullion soup. The salt content helps with headaches and other detox symptoms.
Keep posting and keep up the great work!
xoxo
Angela
Another lb. down this morning. I’m only juicing for breakfast, but find it is more realistic and I can stick with that. I’ve noticed that I am more alert for the first Jazzercise class I do, instead of being a bit fuzzy headed. I stay for a second class and find my energy lasts.
Having hunger pangs, but from what I just read in “Eat To Live” book that I might be having craving withdrawals instead of real hunger which feels differently, I try to ignore them and hold out for only eating three times a day. Juice for breakfast, lunch and dinner about 4 hours apart. I’m staying committed to the 30 days and hopefully beyond.
My kids love my smoothies but haven’t done it yet today. In the past I found they love one combination of fruit and then either grow tired of it or simply prefer another combo. I’m thinking it might be a seasonal thing too. For example blueberries are a bit bitter right now, but in the summer they are sweet sweet sweet!
It’s always great to get kids involved as much as possible, although the do have a mind of their own ; ) Have you considered adding a bit of Agave to help with the sweetness?
Today was day 6 of my juice fast. I was advised to add protein back into my diet so I had a smoothie for breakfast, a veggie scramble for lunch and salmon and a salad for dinner. Overall the fast went smoothly, although I woke up each morning with a headache. Yesterday my body started really detoxing toxins and I now have a head cold and some achy muscles so I’m taking it easy.
I will continue the remainder of the 30 days with either a daily juice or smoothie. I will also avoid any processed ‘white’ foods.
I’d love to hear how my fellow juicers are doing!
Probably a good thing to add a few more things to the body. Congrats for going the six days!! I’m still doing morning drink and two small meals each day. No major detox symptoms, great energy though. Nice to have that coming back. Sunshiny days coming ahead, nice walks outdoors and think I’ll juice breakfast and dinner, light meal for lunch and see if that doesn’t fire up the fat burning furnace. I’ll keep you posted.
Still doing good with juicing. Making it a part of my routine now. If I run out of time in the morning to make it before getting out the door I miss it!! Making better choices because I want to put into my body only the good things and not tempted as before. Losing my cravings, Yeah!! That has always been a struggle for me. Looking forward to some big payoffs in the coming weeks before summer and swimsuit weather arrives.
I’m so glad to hear you have been continuing your juicing and your cravings are going away. That’s fantastic! Keep up the great work.