Juicefast - Day 8 - Feeing Great as Can Be

I haven't written in awhile, but it has been because I've been busy juicing. A few days ago I went out for dinner and ordered a salad and a pumpkin soup. It was so amazing how much I appreciated food and eating. I have still been juicing, but having a salad for one meal a day.

I went to the gym yesterday and had so much energy. I was also free of aches and pains I normally get in my knee and ankle. I did a quad stretch that I hadn't been able to do since I broke my ankle. I couldn't do the stretch mostly because my knee hurt, but also because my ankle pulled where I broke it over three months ago. It was so easy to do the stretch I couldn't believe it. I feel like I've lost weight as my clothes are looser. The consistent energy throughout the day is what I like best about this whole juicing thing. I don't have the spikes and crashes that eating sugar/processed food brings.

I've been lucky in that I've not been working for a week, so I've had time to juice as often as I have been. Back to school tomorrow, so I'm going to make my morning juice the night before. I can make my lunch juice at lunchtime. I will try to make double for a mid-afternoon juice. For dinner I will make a salad. After dinner I will make an after dinner juice normally 'Australian Gold'.

Bring on Day 9 and beyond..

Juicefast - Day 6 - Finished but not Quite

Can you believe it? I finished day 5! I decided to keep going and add in soups/salads and some good fats based on the recipes on rebootwithjoe website. I've had consistent energy through all of this and not having the highs and low crashes like I would from drinking caffeine and eating sugar. Day 5 I didn't have as sore a stomach as day 4 and the runs aren't as bad. I decided to go the market and stock up.

I was out getting a massage and went to my regular juice bar where I had a carrot-apple-ginger for lunch. After the massage I was hungry so I had a green salad. It was so nice to be able to chew again. I was eating like a madwoman and I'm sure the staff was watching me eat the salad. I was eating like I hadn't ate in ages.  The salad has cucumbers, red cabbage, and tomatoes. I used a vinegar dressing.

I really think that I have gained an appreciation of fruits and vegetables. The market is my new favorite place to visit now. I love looking at all the produce and selections available. Now I understand the 'Go Green' slogan!

On the way to the market.

Chinese men playing what looks to be some sort of checkers on the way to the market.

Just walking inside the market. It is basically one long row of a variety of stalls selling different things like fruits/veggies, fish, nuts, fruit, alcohol, etc.

 

Kale is found here. Yay! So how it works is that you pick what you want and they weigh it and then put it in bags for you. Most of them don't speak much if any English, so they put the price on a calculator. It is a good place to practice my Chinese :). I feel a bit overwhelmed with all of the choices. Don't you love this place?

Kale middle right spotted. Aha! 

I've befriended a few vendors and often go where I can get Kale and most other veggies I like. Farther down the line you have fruit vendors. 

All in all a great day at the market. I ended up getting caught in the rain on the way back, but I was stocked up for another few days at least. Bring on day 6 and beyond.

Juicefast - Day 4 - Willpower out of this World

Today I woke up feeling a bit tired, foggy, and hungry. I didn't sleep that great last night due to a sore stomach. It helped that I pushed myself to get out of bed and drink my hot lemon/water and have my first juice of the day. I started to feel better after that and forced myself to go swimming as I felt stiff still from the massage a few days ago. The swim helped my energy tremendously.

Today I was invited to a Filipino feast and I went to socialize. I ended up just drinking water as it was just after lunch. The food looked and smelled so darn good it was ridiculous. I left not long after they started to cut the cake. I am so impressed with my willpower today.

I wanted to go to the market today, but it rained all day. For after dinner drink, I only had one apple, so I added watermelon instead to my carrot, apple and ginger juice. The taste was so good. It tasted so sweet that this will be a new concoction of mine.

So I decided that tomorrow will be my last day of a full juice fast. I will continue to juice twice a day and eat a salad for dinner. I will eventually add in good fats like avocado and then bring in nuts, legumes and fish in a few weeks. I just can't fathom juicing this much when I start school. There is a lot of clean-up and a lot of shopping/preparation to juice every few hours. I also have diarrhea which can be dangerous for dehydration and not getting the nutrients I'm supposed to get from juicing.

Tomorrow first thing, I need to get to the market as I have no carrots, apples or much greens left. Crazy how many vegetables/fruits that you go through when you juice as much as I do.

Last day of full fast tomorrow... Yay! I definitely know that I should be doing this longer, but I'm going to try to juice as much as I can and add some fiber in from salads even if only to have normal bowel movements. TMI, right? The joys of detox.

Juicefast - Day 3 - Please Day Be Over With

Today was pretty rough. I woke up feeling sore with a fog and a slight headache coming on. I had a massage yesterday that used dry brushing which is supposed to be good for detox. I believe the Chinese are using a much harder brush than what is normally supposed to be used for dry brushing. Anyway I woke up sore and wondering if it really was time to get up.

I ploughed through the day and started to feel better later in the day. Talk about running to the bathroom most of the day. The runs have started and my butt isn't happy with the acid and toxins it is getting rid of it.

I ended up walking to a store as I was out of apples. The walk made me feel better, thank God.
I had to turn down two social dinner outings. How can I go when all they will be doing is eating and drinking. Well the good news is I made it past day 3. From what I have read from other people who have fasted is that it should get better after day 3 or 4. I guess yesterday was the honeymoon period with the energy. I've decided to juice as long as I can. I may substitute one meal with a salad at one point soon, but that's about all the changes I will make for now.

Today I made a different green juice for lunch.

'Green and Protein Juice'

4 kale (Tuscan cabbage) leaves 
4 swiss chard (silverbeet) leaves
4 celery stalks 
1 lime 
2 green apples 
1 in (2.5 cm) piece of ginger 

*Makes 1 serving
I didn't have the swiss chard so I added spinach instead. 

These are the nutrients in this powerhouse of a juice. 

This juice is a super dark and leafy green juice that screams nutrients, energy and protein! This juice per serve contains 8.4g of protein, 280mg of calcium, 2g of soluble fibre (more than most breakfast products), 160mg of Vitamin C, 5mg of Iron, 0.6mg of Vitamin B6 (46% RDI), 157mcg of Folate (40%), 5mg of Vitamin E (33%) plus 150mg of magnesium (35%)!! Now that’s a nutrient packed juice, no wonder people feel it when they juice. www.rebootwithjoe.com

Green goodness in one glass. I still prefer the mean green which I had for dinner. 

For my afternoon snack I had 'Australian Gold'. Yum! This is one of my favorite juices. Loving the colors of juices that I am making.

Australian Gold

1/2 Medium Pineapple
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Lemon
1 inch of ginger

After dinner I had a carrot, apple and lemon juice. I still prefer the carrot, apple and ginger, but it is definitely drinkable with a bit of bite to it.

Carrot-Apple-Lemon

2 Carrots
2 Apples
1 Lemon



So how do I feel? Slight head fog, diarrhea and sore stomach off and on through the day. I also had hunger pains throughout the day, but mostly in the morning. I'm hoping things are better tomorrow and not worse. I made it past day three!!!! I'm going to keep this going for most of the week. So another three or four days to go and then I will totally be juicing for a few meals and eating clean for the rest.

Juicefast- Day 2 - Will The Real Kale Please Stand Up

I can't believe it! I found western type Kale today at one of the markets. I never thought that would ever be a highlight of my day. Today I woke up with energy. I mean a lot of energy. I felt like I was in fast forward mode. I had my apple, carrot and ginger for breakfast as it is one of my favorites. I had some 'un-beet-able' beet juice made in the fridge from yesterday, but I really didn't want to drink it. Bleh! I went to the gym after breakfast and did a pretty good workout of 30 minutes on the bike and some weights.

For lunch I wanted to try a bit of a different 'green' juice so I tried the 'Green Lemonade' juice.

1 apple
2 handfuls of spinach
8 kale leaves
1/2 a cucumber
2 celery sticks
1 lemon

*1 serving

I didn't find this juice as good as the 'Mean Green' one, but I did drink it. I found it harder to drink the juices today overall.

For lunch I was out, so the only thing I could do was go to my local juice bar and grab an apple, ginger and carrot juice. I didn't see the girl make it, but I swear she put oranges in instead of apples. I was burping orange all afternoon and felt a bit sick because of it.

After lunch I went to a different market then where I usually go. Something green and curly caught my eye as I was walking by the stalls. It was calling out my name. Could it really be the mysterious kale? The vendor spoke some English when I asked her if this was kale. She said, 'Yes, Kale'! I told her it was hard to find kale in China. I'm not sure she quite understood me. I bought quite a lot of western kale.  Can anyone say, 'Crazy Juicer'?

After reading up on the benefits on kale, I found an article from the Daily Mail titled,
"Kale: The toxic truth! How our obsession with the leafy greens can lead to bloated bellies, thyroid problems, and and even kidney stones".  Yikes! Yet,  I don't know how much faith I have in the daily mail. Although, I have read this information elsewhere. I will switch kale up with spinach and other greens just in case.

At the market I also bought a new cart because mine was falling apart. I was also looking for an ice cube tray. These trays are very hard to find in China. No kidding!  I couldn't believe I found one. They only had one left, so I grabbed it. I've been using a small ice cube tray to ice my juices and it just isn't enough to have 1 tray when I am juicing every 2 hours.

I made the 'Mean Green' with real kale for dinner. Yay! I didn't taste much of a difference compared to the Chinese one, but it does look different.

 Western Kale on the left and Chinese Kale (Kai-lan) on the right.

  'Mean Green' ingredients including western kale!


After dinner I made a new juice. There was supposed to be blueberries in it and grapes along with some mint. I had frozen blueberries. I didn't realize that frozen fruit will not juice. I guess it isn't a blender after all. I got a few drips of juice from the blueberries, but not enough. I ended up adding watermelon instead (1/4 small watermelon). I added about 15 purple grapes. I also threw in a few kale leaves. In addition I added a handful of fresh mint. Mint is growing outside of my apartment building. I went to pick some fresh mint. Mint is delicious! It was my own concoction. I'll call it 'Purple-Blue-Green.'  It wasn't too bad actually. It tasted sweet, but I could taste a bit of the greens.

So how did I feel today? I felt energetic for most of the day. I was tired around 4pm as I did exercise today in the gym and walked about half hour to the market. I did feel some hunger pains especially before dinner. I bumped into a Subway restaurant today and thought about eating there for about five seconds and then kept going. At that point because it was close to dinner, I bought a coconut juice and drank that. So today I had two coconut juices, but that is totally fine. I felt hungry and a bit dehydrated this afternoon. On to day three... :)

Juice Fast - Day 1 - I'm Drinking Mean Green!

I started my juice fast one day ahead of schedule. Isn't that great? I thought I'd get a jump start on my fast since I had most of the veggies/ fruit available. I started off the day with the beet juice that I posted on my last journal entry. It wasn't my favorite juice, but I did finish it. I had the mid-morning 500ml coconut water which helped a lot with the hunger pains. For lunch I finally made the MEAN GREEN! I just love that name. The juice was surprisingly not too bad. I thought I'd have to plug my nose to drink it, but it was drinkable without the nose holding.

Ingredients

8 kale leaves
1 cucumber
4 celery sticks
2 apples (I'm using green at the moment)
1/2 a lemon
1 inch piece of ginger
*1 serving

The result with 6-8 ice cubes. I couldn't imagine drinking this juice without ice cubes. Not bad at all. The apples really help the taste.

I must be determined to do this fast because today I went to a somewhat regular hangout that serves burger and fries on one side and salads/juices on the other. I normally would get a salad and juice and sometimes a burger. My friend had a hamburger and fries and I sat and ordered an apple/carrot and ginger juice. I actually watched her eat a burger and fries. I was hoping that my body would thank me later for that decision. Willpower was strong today all things considered.

Dinner was another mean green. This one didn't taste as good, but maybe because I put more celery in. I made a big batch, probably around 600 ml and I drank it all is very slow sips. It took me about 40 minutes to drink it. It is better to sip it like a fine wine is which I was told.

So how do I feel? Well it is about time for my last juice of the day which will be my fifth juice of the day. I feel hunger pains a bit, but not too bad. I have had to urinate about ever fifteen minutes to half hour which is a bit more than normal. I fear the detox side effects will be stronger tomorrow and the next day. After my final juice tonight, I will have some herbal tea and then try to go to bed early. As I do feel a bit tired, plus I have read to try to get extra sleep during a detox.

Here is my final juice of the night. It is called 'Australian Gold'.

1/2 medium pineapple
1 yellow pepper
1 lemon
1 inch piece of ginger

*1 serving


It tastes pretty good, but not overly sweet. A bit tart from the lemon/yellow pepper.

Feeling Motivated to Juice

Have you ever tried beet juice? Well let me tell you, it isn't my favorite. Last night I was so tired after school being a Friday and all, but I decided to walk with my cart to the market to stock up on produce. I ended up buying lots of veggies and some fruit for only about 100RMB. That price is amazing! I'd pay double or triple in Canada for all of what I bought. I bought two bunches of celery, leaf lettuce, spinach, Chinese kale, carrots, apples, oranges, 4 peppers, lemons and limes. Wow! A note about Kale. A Chinese teacher told me that they have their own version of Kale and I researched it. The Chinese people also call it Chinese broccoli. It doesn't quite look like the version from Canada, but I'm going to try it. I'll also use spinach quite a bit.

So last night I was reading about all of the recipes and decided to try a beet juice for breakfast. This juice is called, 'Un-beet-able'.

Ingredients:

2 beets (beetroot)
2 inch piece of ginger
6 carrots
2 apples
15 kale leaves

*This makes 2 servings

 This is what the Un-beet-able looks like afterwards. I'm not sure you ever tried beets, but they are strong and an acquired taste. I'm trying to finish the drink and my stomach is complaining a bit. I'd say this juice is 'beet-able'. Haha! I also add ice to my juices as I like them cold.

I also find that there are strings of beet or Kale that I can taste. Not my favorite drink thus far by a long mile. I'm just trying to finish it. That is what experimenting is all about I guess.

This is one big beet! I used my carrot grater to peel the beet.

This is me the very first day of pre-cleanse. Tomorrow I will officially start my juice fast.
This is the program I am following. http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/RBWJ_FREE-5DAY-2015.pdf

Wish me luck!

Juicing is Tiring

What a day! This morning I barely had time to make a quick carrot, ginger and apple juice before school. I used my new apple corer that I bought last night. It worked great! I had a salad for lunch with feta and tuna on top. I felt quite tired after school probably because I didn't eat much today. I made a 'Sweet N Sour' green drink after school. I ordered out for dinner. Much too tired to cook. I ordered a Cobb Salad which has bacon, chicken, eggs, and a ton of vegetables. I figure I need some protein or I may pass out.

The more I drink juice and barely eat, the more I wonder if I'll really be able to do a five day juice fast. I should really try and push through three days at least and see if I can make five. The more I think about it the crazier the idea of just drinking juice for five days becomes. My willpower sucks. I know that because it is a holiday next week people will be wanting me to go out for dinner and visit some sights. Crap! Maybe I'll start the fast on Saturday. I can go to get more veggies and fruit tomorrow night after school.

I keep thinking of all of the work and loose ends I have to tie up next week. Hopefully I have the energy and concentration and do what I want to do. Tomorrow I'm going to try to make three juices and just eat one salad for dinner. I'll have a juice at breakfast and one at lunch. I will have lemon and warm water in the am. I will also drink lots of water during the day and one coconut water for mid morning snack. I'll let you know how it goes. Happy Juicing!

Jo's Juicing Beginnings

Can you believe I did it? I finally bought a juicer five days ago after thinking about getting one for a year! I am officially starting to juice. I have been wanting to do a juicefast for a long long time. I know that there are places where I can order pre-made juice and have it delivered, but where is the fun in that?

I never thought I'd buy a Chinese made juicer, but what made me decide after looking at every single one of them for thirty minutes was that it has a blender part. I can use it as a juicer or turn it into a blender if I wanted. The best of both worlds!

Rewind three days ago to when I started to pour over the reboot with Joe website for recipes. On Saturday, I went shopping at the Chinese fruit and vegetable market. I know how well priced the fruit and veggies are at the market, so I knew it would be the perfect place to stock up. I went to see my favorite vendor and bought three times more produce than I usually buy. I bought mandarins, green apples, spinach, yellow and red peppers, lettuce, watermelon, ginger, celery, and beets.

I decided after reading the reboot with Joe website to do a five day juicefast. For anyone who doesn't know who Joe Cross is, let me educate you. Joe Cross made a documentary called, 'Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead'.  He fasted for 60 days where he lost 100 pounds and went off a lot of his medications he was taking for hypertension and other maladies. He is an inspiration to millions of people who hopped on the juice craze after the documentary came out. Here is the movie if you haven't seen it. Worth a watch!

I want to juice for a myriad of reasons. Mostly because I know how healthy fruit and veggies are. I really don't think I eat enough of them and this is a way to get more of them. You have to use an awful lot of veggies just for one juice I recently found out. I also want to clean out my system as in detox by juice fasting. A great effect will also be weight loss. I can easily lose 30 pounds which I won't do in five days, but if I get into this enough I may end up fasting for more time. I'll have to see how it goes. So the goal is to drink 4-6 glasses of juice a day. I have a program mapped out on the reboot with Joe website.

For the last three days I have been drinking one juice a day. It has been so much fun experimenting and trying the different juices. Today I started drinking two juices a day. What I am doing this week is called a pre-cleanse. I am slowly cutting out all white/processed carbohydrates, sugar, alcohol, dairy, caffeine and meat. I will keep drinking two juices and then switch to three after a few days. I want to start the juice fast in four or five days (Sunday or Monday). It works out well because I am off work all week next week due to National Week.  It will be a perfect time to fast as I'm sure it will be a lot of work making juice 4-6 times a day. Plus, there may be side effects the first few days like headache, diarrhea, mood swings and hunger pangs, etc.

So far I've tried three different juices. I tried the carrot (3), apple (2), and ginger (1 inch) thus far which is amazing!!! The carrot, apple and ginger is by far my favorite drink. Yum! Today I tried a lemon (1), lime (1), celery (2 stalkes), spinach (ten leaves) and mandarin (2) juice. I called it 'Sweet 'N Sour'. It was so sour, with a hint of sweetness. Tonight, I tried what's called 'Sunrise Gold'. It included pineapple, lemon (1), yellow pepper (1) and ginger (2 inch). This juice was also very sour, but more sweet as I added half a pineapple. I love how fast the juicer makes juice. I love experimenting.

I ran to the western type store earlier as I ran out of carrots and apples. I ended up buying $40 of veggies/fruit. Haha! The good thing about juicing here in China is that it is cheaper to buy fruit and vegetable especially at the market or Chinese grocery store. If I was trying to juice in the west I'd be paying way more for produce. No time like the present!

I was looking for Kale in the market, but I didn't see it. I found out that they do sell it here by a colleague who found it last year. I asked a Chinese teacher to write the name down in Chinese so I can show it to the vendor next time I go. Kale is a staple in a lot of the green juices and I want to find it. I have been using spinach as a substitute which is working good. I notice that some of the veggies like spinach and celery don't keep that long. I need to make sure to refrigerate them as I use spring water ice cubes to make the juice cold.

I'll keep a journal of the process and may add some pics over time of the juices I make. Happy Juicing!