Belated Juicing Update

Okay, so things got a little hairy last week. We did juice, and we did fast, but I won't lie: the fasting lasted 24 hours. The juicing, however, lives on!

Monday was a day off of work for me, so we started the fasting the night prior at 7pm, knowing that we would have the time then to start juicing immediately in the morning and throughout the day with little interruption. That morning was actually a tad bit frantic as I rushed about town, my stomach proclaiming its resent, collecting a myriad of fruits and veggies. My heart beat strange and insecure as I bought oranges, lemons, limes, bananas, greens, cucumbers, etc. I tend to avoid non-local, non-seasonal, non-organic produce and this shopping venture shamed me slightly. But the juicing mission had begun and I hadn't yet had my juice breakfast! I had to bite the bullet and heave products from California, Mexico, and Argentina in my ever expanding cart, ignoring the moral cues that taunted me.



My good friend Michelle had agreed to be in on this juicing extravaganza and was going to supply the juicer. So with fruits and veggies in tow, and my obnoxious receipt in hand, I called her to let her know that I was on my way over. Three times I called her, but to no avail. Her sleepy head would not budge. So I decided that Josh and I were on our own with this one. Next to the store whose heat bill I probably just paid for with my hefty bill was a KMart. Uh oh. Talk about moral obligations. I haven't been in a KMart or Wal-Mart for 3 years. But I was having the inner turmoil of my conscience and my stomach. And not surprisingly, my stomach won out. I bought a juicer that was made in China.



When I got home, Josh and I juiced. Watching Josh with that first glass, his nose recoiling in contempt of taste, had me worried. Had our three person fast become me alone? But Josh kept with it, religiously squinting his eyes and shaking his head as he downed the multiple concoctions and combinations of all his not-so favorite foods.



You'd think that all the calories we consumed throughout the day would have us full and satisfied. But it seemed that this juice created new empty voids throughout our system. We were starving to the point of moodiness and a threatening lack of motivation for the remaining tasks of the day. At some point I called Michelle to whine and she somehow rationalized with me that we should go eat Thai food and be happy that we made it 24 hours. So that's what we did. It was phenomenal. Ah, the art of cooked vegetables in coconut milk, particularly on a day where your mind is consumed with thoughts of food (or lack thereof).

The rest of the week gradually became less fast-like, but still reminiscent of our new juicing knowledge. Tuesday was primarily juice but also unjuiced fruits and veggies, Wednesday we had brown rice, and then on and on...

I'm so happy to have a juicer, even if it is from China, and so happy to have experimented with a bunch of recipes. Here are a few of our favorite combos:

Apples (6 of them), Beet (one large), Limes (two juiced separately)

Carrots, apples, beet, parsley

Carrot, cucumber, celery, spinach

Carrot, apple, orange, ginger

Pineapple, carrot, orange, watermelon, cranberry (pre-bought juice)

Pineapple, grapefruit, parsley, spinach, watermelon, beet greens

There are multiple thoughts that spun from this one single day of fasting/week of juicing. Hopefully those thoughts don't dissipate before I have a chance to write them. But in the meantime, I can definitely recommend juicing! If not for how good it feels, for the change in complexion it can bring. Friends were shocked at my healthy color this week. I think I turned orange from all the beta carotene.