Back in April, 2011, I wrote a blog titled “Dieting for
Dummies.” Way back then, I lamented the
harsh realities of weight gain and dieting:
“How come it
is so easy to gain weight but so hard to take it off? I have been on a
diet for at least half of my life. My best estimate of
weight gained and lost over my lifetime is close to a thousand
pounds. It seems that it takes about 5 times longer to lose weight than
it does to gain...and the older we get, the harder it is to lose.”
So, here it is 4 years later and the same problem
exists. This time though, I am determined
to get back to fighting weight! Since
Memorial Day, I have really tried to eat “right,” limited my alcohol intake and
exercised regularly. Although my weight
and waist size reduced to a slightly more respectable level I then hit the
plateau that so frustrates. Usually,
when this happens, I give up, go back to my old habits and enjoy a bacon
cheeseburger! But this time, I decided
to try something to kick my body back into action.
Enter the 3 Day Juice Cleanse. After considerable research I decided on the
3 day Whenever Juice Cleanse offered by Juice From The Raw. I chose this one because they use organic
fruits and veggies wherever possible, and they are “cold-pressed” and never
heated. This supposedly preserves the
integrity of the fruits and veggies, giving you the benefits of all of their
goodness. The promotional material says
that the cleanse is formulated to help detoxify your body with a balance of
fresh vegetables and fruits.
So, after the July 4th weekend where I slightly
fell off the wagon, I placed my order and received the 18 bottles of juices on
Tuesday. They arrived frozen to
“maintain freshness,” are unpasteurized, and frozen immediately after they are
pressed to keep the enzymes and good bacteria from deteriorating. The
instructions advised that I should keep them frozen and move 6 bottles a day to
the refrigerator for my daily intake. I
began the cleanse on Wednesday…..
The instructions said the order of the cleanse was set to
help me function throughout the day and that I should start with the Detox
Greens. Detox Greens is a bright green
juice consisting of wheatgrass, celery, ginger, cucumber, wild arugula,
dandelion, watercress, lemon and apples.
Thank goodness for the ginger, lemon and apples or else this first 16
ounce drink would be the equivalent of sucking down freshly mowed grass. But it went down pretty smoothly and I wasn’t
hungry when 2-3 hours late it was time for my second drink….Piney Apple Mint, a
very sweet combination of pineapple, apples and mint. This one was really easy to drink and kind of
refreshing. I continued to drink plenty
of water in between juices and found that I never wanted to be more than 30
feet from a bathroom! Lunch time brought
me to the “Sweet Greens” drink consisting of green kale, spinach, cucumbers,
celery, lemon, ginger, swiss chard, apples and romaine. The only reason it is “sweet” is the apples,
and ginger. But, nonetheless, I was able
to drink this one without much trouble and was actually not hungry
afterwards. Now that I had survived two
green drinks, I felt that the rest of the day would go smoothly….and it did. The afternoon drink was a delightful Spicy
Lemonade made from lemon, water, agave nectar and cayenne pepper. Dinner was the Root Veggies drink…a bright
red drink made with beets, carrots, apple, ginger and lemon. The taste is not bad and it went down quite
smoothly. Dessert a couple of hours
later was the Coconut Fusion, a combination of Young Thai coconut water and
Young Thai coconut flesh.
Day one was complete with no hunger, and only a slight
evening headache as a side effect.
However, I had not yet experienced the “euphoria” and “energy” that
reviewers had promised in their Amazon reviews….only a desire to chew on
something and an insatiable appetite for watching Food Network shows on
television.
Day 2 dawned with no desire to drink that first green drink,
but I managed to drink it and the following 5 drinks without much trouble. Although I didn’t experience hunger, I did
miss the actual act of chewing. With the
exception of an embarrassing bodily function mishap during my morning walk, the
day was pretty uneventful. I continued
to look for the promised euphoria and energy but only found a desire to
take an afternoon nap.
Waking on Day 3, I had no desire to drink my morning greens
but managed to finish the whole drink.. With
enough oomph to finish my 5 mile walk, I felt energized and returned home to
the Piney Apple Mint and plenty of water. I am not sure if my positive attitude is a
result of the cleanse or a realization that this is the last day and that I can
eat real food again tomorrow. The rest
of the day was pretty easy…I didn’t really feel like drinking the last few
bottles, but did so anyway.
On the day after the cleanse, I weighed myself and was about
4 pounds lighter. Actually, I was a
little disappointed in that, but I feel amazingly well. No hunger, and in fact, had to force myself
to drink a fruit smoothie for breakfast.
I have been told to ease myself back in to eating, but surprisingly, I
don’t have any cravings or desire for foods I haven’t had in a few days. My lunch today was a bowl of watermelon
gazpacho and I am still not hungry….so maybe this cleanse was worth the effort
and will help me to continue to be disciplined in my eating habits….we will
see!
For the last few years, I have suffered with sciatica
problems and have found that I have severe stenosis of the L4 and L5. I have done physical therapy and have worked
to strengthen my core and try to stretch before exercising. Nonetheless, most mornings the pain is
intense and shoots down my leg for the first 2 miles of my morning walk. On the 3rd day of the cleanse and
again the day after, I had no pain!
Whether this is somehow a byproduct of the cleanse or a cumulative
result of all of my icing, stretching and exercise, I am not going to argue
with success. Maybe there is something
to a plant based diet after all…..but I don’t think I can give up animal
protein all together. Baby steps!
And The Journey Continues…………………….
