Introduce the Juice

Have you seen the movie Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead? well you should just go check it out!! It's on Netflix and I think Hulu Plus. Why you still reading this? Go watch it, now! =>
SO the movie inspired my mom to do a juice fast. I thought I would do it, too..originally to keep Mom motivated, but figured out I could get some amazing benefits from it as well (no, I'm not trying to lose weight, juicing yields other amazing results) and I would need more "me" reasons to keep me going throughout the fast. When you're doing something challenging like this, you need a goal to focus on....or you'll most likely fail.
May 31st 2012
That's when we start our fast. It's a good idea to get yourself prepared for the fast the week prior to help you succeed. How do you prepare you ask? Well you start weaning off sugary, fatty foods..you change your dairy intake to almond milk (for example) and ultimately drop dairy (about day 5 of the week prior)...you focus more on smoothies, soups and salads for your intake until the day comes when you're beginning your fast. The week before is also a good time to gradually get yourself off addictions like caffeine.
During this preparation week it's a good idea to introduce the juice. This is to try out a few juices, see how your juicer works, and learn some things so that when the fast is here you will be better prepared.
On Monday I officially introduced the juice. I went to Lin's and bought:

5 granny smith apples

4 pink lady apples (my fav)

5 carrots

bag of celery 

4 cucumbers

ginger root

bag of green grapes

1 bunch of kale

4 kiwi

8 limes

Which all totaled at about $18, which I didn't think was half bad....but have you seen some of these recipes?? Some of them could clear out half of what I bought! Not to mention, in a juice fast you're juicing up to 6 times a day!!! I was a bit worried (still kind of am). 

BUT the first juice I tried was called "Gorgeous in Green" which looked like this:

2 cucumbers

1 green apple

4 kiwi

4 stalks of celery

I wasn't sure what to expect and since I was just trying out juices, I thought I would cut it in half to just get a taste.....guess what that gave me? 16oz! I sure wish more of these recipes would list how much ounces it yields. I'm pretty happy I decided to half the recipe!! 

How did it taste?? so-so.....it tasted fine while drinking it, but the aftertaste of what I think was celery was not pleasant. I really do believe that some of these juices have an acquired taste..

Next morning on Tuesday the 29th I decided for some plain ol' apple juice. 

2.5 granny smith apples

2 pink lady apples

This yields about 8-10oz depending on the size of your apples. BUT I'll have you know I drink apple juice all the time and this apple juice was seriously my favorite apple juice EVER. 

What next? I thought at about 8pm that same Tuesday that I'd juice some more...behold Apple-Kale-Grape (I made it up)

2 granny smith apples

handful of grapes 

1 kale leaf

Yup, my first kale juice...however, I did cheat....you're supposed to have a 3:1 ratio of veggie to fruit.....I'm warming up to that, not there yet haha so until I get there my ratio is a bit backwards; therefore, this tasted pretty darn good. Much better than the first green juice on Monday. This yielded about 10oz

What have I learned?? 

• My juicer can be a bit possessed if there's too much pulp backed up in it
• To help the cleaning process use the produce bags to line the pulp collector
• If you're not sure you'll like it, drink from a straw
• Juice can be warm, add ice
• Juice needs to be mixed, best to drink from a cup that has a lid so you can shake it often
• Though they say the skin of an apple is fine, my juicer disagrees so I should lazily skin them

Where to go from here?? I'll try out another juice or two on Wednesday and then come Thursday I'm going for a 10 day juice fast!! (I'll probably have to shop again) Which will definitely be one of the hardest things I've done..I'll keep you all updated.