Thursday, February 28, 2013

My 3 Day Juice Fast (Or can I possibly drink this much Kale?)

"No way would I ever do that," I thought when my girlfriend brought up trying a 10 Day Juice Fast after she watched the movie, "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead", but I surprised myself when she emailed me a Groupon the next day for a shorter 3 day period and I agreed to try it. The fact that Chef V would deliver all the supplies, pre-prepared helped convince me.

Beginning on Saturday and Sunday, we were supposed to avoid meat, dairy, flour, oil, sugar, salt and alcohol for our juice fast starting on Monday. No medicine or vitamins either. We did a good job, but we cheated a bit with small amounts of salt included in our meals and grilled chicken in our salads when we met our friends for a Birthday dinner on Sunday evening. I was really craving my Dr. Peppers, but I fought it off.

Monday morning, Chef V delivered the three day's supply of what we would need:

Organic Green Drink - (4 per day) 1 Black Kale Leaf, 1 Green Kale Leaf, 1 Collard Green Leaf, 1 Green Leaf Lettuce, 1 Green Chard Leaf, 2 Dandelion Greens, 2 Sprigs Curly Parsley and 1 Apple. This drink was the best tasting of the three items.

Ultra Shake - (2 per day) Multi-Vitamin Shake Mix with Pea Protein. We added the small container of powder to 16oz. of water in the Blender Cup provided. Tasted pretty good with ice added.

Organic Detox Soup - (1 per evening) I don't know what was in this thick yellow soup, but it tasted like butternut squash with maybe celery. It was nice and sweet, but a bit bland like baby food. Tori liked it a lot better than I did.


Day 1: Morning Weight: 180 pounds - While the sight and smell of food is enticing, I'm not hungry at the end of the first day. Probably because my stomach is so full of fluids sloshing around. Between each scheduled Green Drink and Ultra Shake, I am required to drink over 24oz. of water to help my body rid itself of toxins. By the end of the day, it was a struggle to take even a few sips of water but I managed it. I still feel like I have plenty of energy.

Day 2: Morning Weight: 175.4 pounds - While the provided drinks taste good, I am getting tired of the same sweet flavors over and over again. I felt a little hungry in the afternoon, but it goes away if I don't think about food. I thought I would be craving soda by now, but instead I find myself wanting something savory instead.

Day 3: Morning Weight: 173.4 pounds - My last day! I felt a little euphoric in the morning and it grew into lethargy by the afternoon. I was really craving food by the end of the day, but I still had the weird sensation of not being hungry at the same time. My belly felt full. I have had plenty of sleep, but my tiredness reminds me of how I feel if I stay awake all night until dawn. Tori had the opposite reaction to the cleanse then I did. She started out feeling bad on Monday night and improved each day.

Day After: Morning Weight: 172.8 pounds - I know a juice fast burns fat over longer periods, but I am curious about how much of my weight lost in this short period was just attributable to the absence of new food in my body. But it is not a big deal because my main goal was to detox my system. I had delicious oatmeal this morning for my first meal and I ate healthy food for the rest of the day to let my body adjust back to normal.