7 Days of Juice Fasting – Almost
By Dr. Mary Starr Carter
So I am writing this on the 7 ½ day of my almost Juice Fasting. As some of you know I had been recently inspired by the movie “Fat, Sick and Almost Dead”. Although I had done several different cleansing and fast I had never done juices. My husband and I had been getting colds much more frequently than usual, gained some weight, and just felt overall “yucky”. So we both committed to do it.
Reboot is a term used in the movie to rest the body from solid foods and fortify with high dosages of nutrition from freshly juiced vegetables and fruits.
Reboot Tip #1: Having a partner to do your cleanse or fast with helps you stay motivated.
The Saturday before our cleanse my husband decides we need to eat pepperoni pizza since will be fasting soon. I am tired and hungry and give in to 3 slices and some fried mushrooms. Although I knew already this wasn't a good idea I would soon feel why in the next few days.
Reboot Tip #2: Eat light before your fast for at least several days or longer. Light meaning no starch breads, pasta, or pizza, no dairy, no sugar, no alcohol, or even meat, It does mean eat lots of veggies, fruits, healthy soups to get your fiber intake high. This tip will help the transition to cleansing be much easier.
I didn't spend a lot of time investigating what kind of juicing I was going to do I just knew I was going to do mostly GREEN juices meaning more veggies than fruits. The cost of about 3 days of groceries for both of us was about $75 with a few organic veggies like carrots and apples and the rest non-organic.
Reboot Tip #3: Decide on your recipes and get your food buying done in advance. Know where you can purchase the produce you will need. For some of us it may be a 15-45 minute trip to get organic veggies and some will not be in season. Plan your time accordingly.
Day 1: We start juicing and Jay can't stand the Mean Green juice with Ginger and refuses to drink it. He starts juicing his own drinks including apple and lemon, apple and carrot and things like that. I am braver and even make a tomato juice with garlic.
Day 2: My throat is burning and my skin yeast gets in full flare even though I am only having like 1 apple or less per drink. I am a little stiff and achey and a bit spacey. Jay turns into a gorilla Tuesday morning most likely because he is not having juices regularly maybe 3 a day and letting 6-8 hrs go by in between drinks. Jay and I both continue.
Reboot Tip #4: You must do your juices or shakes every few hours especially in the beginning. A minimum of 3-6 20 ounce juices a day.
Day 3: I realize that because of the yeast in my system that just juicing even veggies will not be good for me so I add a protein shake. We both do 3 shakes and 3 juices today. Jay is a lot less irritable and I feel kind of good except I am not pooping.
Reboot Tip #5: Juicing can spike blood sugar and cause a body that has some underlying yeast overgrowth to flare up.
Day 4: Jay's special protein shake and enzymes gets him to flush out a lot of old poop. He feels increased energy and stamina, but his cough from last week's cold is still hanging on. His bloating in his gut is down and his face is thinner. I feel good but still not having any significant bowel movements even with my cabbage juice.
Reboot Tip #6: You have to get the poop out when doing any type of cleansing, fasting or juicing program. Not pooping will drain your energy, give you headaches, mental fogginess and just have for feeling yicky if those toxins can't get out. If not pooping use Smooth move tea or Senna may be a good choice before and during your cleanse.
Day 5: I feel good and get my colon moving some but decide to go do an Infrared Sauna to sweat the toxins out for 45 minutes. Boy do I start stinking in that sauna, those toxins really start coming out. Today I notice a difference in my face thinner but also my complexion is clearer. I even go out to Tim Horton's to meet friends and have no cravings for breads or sugar. I have energy all the way until midnight.
Jay is back to juicing only once a day and maybe one shake so he is feeling not so good. His sinuses are very congested again and he has a cough.
Reboot Tip #7: Infrared Saunas, Lite exercise, Chiropractic, Foot Detox, Raindrop Therapies are all good to do when cleansing to help release toxins out of your system.
Day 6: I feel really good and get a juice and a shake in before a day of cleaning and heavy lifting. I can't believe the energy I have. Although I forget to bring any shakes, juices or water so at noon I eat a pear that was there. I feel pretty dehydrated by 6pm but still lots of energy. I have released 9lbs.
Jay warms up some beans around noon and eats 2 servings of beans that day. He lost 12 lbs.
Day 7: I have no desire to make another veggie juice because every time I drink one my throat gets irritated so I am deciding that I will just have protein shakes and a little light food. I enjoy a shake this morning and eat a little sweet potato.
Reboot Tip #8: Coming off a cleanse is just as important as starting if not more.
Jay's cough is really bad now. Sunday after church we find ourselves on the road to show a property we own in Syracuse NY and Jay decides he is going to get a Five Guys hamburger and Fries, I tell him I am not going to eat meat for a while but I still have a few of his French fries. He finishes his fries and is full and decides to save the burger until later. When he eats his burger (protein, bread and heavy food his body isn't used to having) he can't keep his eyes open and goes to bed at 6pm that night.
That night I cook a turkey breast for my son to have this week but end up eating over a cup of it. I didn't feel hungry but I definitively craved something that must be in turkey. I guess I am officially done with fasting. I can't even fall back into a Daniel Fast now.
Did this Juice Fasting make Jay's cold worse? No, his actions of not drinking water or juicing regular or even have shakes regular led to that in my opinion.
But overall this was a really good experience for both of us. We feel good and have broken sugar habits and shrunk our stomachs. We are motivated to continue to eat smaller portions, liter foods, and exercise more regularly.
I realize that juice fasting is not the right place for me and most of my clients to start when trying to rest and reboot our bodies. I pray that our story will be an encouragement to you. We are real people too who struggle with food. But we both were ready to REBOOT. You can do it too even if it is a day to start with. But I will share with you my favorite Reboot program which is safe and sooooooo much simpler is the 5 day Cleanse by Young Living. It is easy to stick with and taste a lot better than the mean green juice with more benefits in my opinion.
The 5 day cleanse is the next thing we will do one to two times before the end of the year to solidify and continue our progress.
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Dr. Mary Starr Carter is known as the Total Wellness Doc. She has been training individuals about Natural Health Solutions for over 13 years. She is trained as a Chiropractor and has studied under the world’s foremost leaders in natural medicine. She is a mother and a wife and has created a balanced and total wellness life for herself and thousands of her clients using her simple wholistic approach to health and wellness. Her coaching, classes and ebooks help clients with Fibromyalgia, Hormone and Adrenal issues, Asthma, Diabetes, Weight problems, Thyroid and Chronic pain find resources and solutions to better health.
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