Soon, you shall be lunch...

Isn't this beautiful lunchtime goodness??



Unfortunately, the post-juicer shot isn't nearly as gorgeous...

Days 4, 5, & a touch of 6

Allegedly, there was an incident on Saturday that involved a moment of weakness and 4 tortilla chips. Allegedly. If it did actually happen, I'm sure I would probably have felt pretty guilty (and had a slight stomach ache) for the remainder of the day. But I would have also have been reassured that I am 100% human.

Actually, despite that "alleged" incident, I'm feeling pretty incredible. Honestly. I think I got my 1 cheat out of the way and I'm not really tempted by anything. I haven't felt hungry or irritable, and to be honest, I've got some pretty good energy going. I'm also sleeping pretty fantastically at night.

I spent part of the weekend with my parents, and it was nice to have someone on the same "every-2-hour" schedule as myself. I did juice lunch for both my father and I, although I'm still having a hard time getting him to actually like the taste of veggie juice. I think since I've tried so many bad ones, and since I've been juicing at least once or twice a day for the past couple of weeks, I've gotten used to it, and have actually come to enjoy it. For the most part. I'm still using the same basic formula that I posted a few days ago, but I often will toss in whatever else sounds good, such as fresh broccoli or a beet.

I also tried a great recipe for a soup last night. For the evening meal, we do a stripped down version of soup, which is basically nothing but pureed vegetables with some herbs and liquid aminos. Although I've made some pretty decent soups so far, last night's was defintely the best. It was loaded with fresh spinach, kale, fresh ginger and garlic, a touch of onion, and a touch of Asian chili sauce. It was so good, I'm sure a version of it will appear on 28 Cooks at some point in the future.

Thanks for the well-wishing emails and comments. I love to get them! And if you have any questions about the process, feel free to leave them in the comment area or send me an email to 28cooks AT gmail dot com.

Day 3 - Still here

Well, here I am, almost at the end of my third day, and I can honestly say I'm still feeling good. I'm never really hungry, although today I was in a training class at work that sort of jacked up my "every 2 hour meal" schedule. I did have a moment after work where I probably would have held up a convenience store for some sort of salty snack, but I made it through. Oddly enough, drinking a fresh veggie juice seems to cure that craving. I haven't really branched off of my favorite recipe from yesterday, and I'm still enjoying that combination of flavors.

Last night, a few friends of mine wanted to go out for dinner so I ate my little dinner, threw some hot tea in my purse, and went out. Although they had dinners to die for (see also:grilled pizza, topped with tenderloin tips, roasted red peppers, spinach, and truffle cream, or an avocado melt with roasted red peppers, Gruyere cheese, and pesto), I actually wasn't tempted or hungry.

So here's hoping I make it through the weekend just as smoothly.

Day 2 - In the Middle

So here it is, Day Numero Dos, and I have to say I'm still feeling good. I keep waiting for the "Big Detox Crash" that they all talk about, where you are irritable and hungry and tired, but so far I feel good. Despite an intense urge to eat something crunchy and salty, I'm not hungry most of the time and look forward to my every-2-hour "meals."

Actually, for me, being at work during the day is the most ideal. There's a bathroom a few paces away, which is great since I'm going to the bathroom a lot more frequently. Yesterday, since I was out of town all day, I used more public restrooms than I have in the last few months. I also live about a block away from the hospital I work at, so I'm able to go home over my lunch break and make fresh veggie juice. I picked up a pristine juicer at my local Goodwill for $4.97 a few weeks before my fast started and tried a few different recipes. Some were okay but most were not good. Today, I just threw the veggies I had in my crisper into the juicer and it was actually quite tasty. Here's the recipe:

1 tomato
1/2 of a cucumber
1 carrot
1/4 of a lemon, peeled
handful of parsley
1/3 of a green bell pepper
Splash of Tabasco to taste

For those of you know followed me over here from my other website, 28 Cooks, you know i love to have pictures of my finished recipes. However, I've discovered juices do not really photography well or come out looking like anything you'd want to drink.

Hopefully the rest of the day will be smoooooth sailin'........

Day One and Still Alive

Well, here it is at the close of Day One, and amazingly enough, I'm still alive and kicking. Actually, it wasn't nearly as tough as I thought it would be. *knocks on wood* I did have a headache in the middle of the afternoon, which was probably due to my separation from my longtime companion and steady confidante, Caffeine.

It wasn't too hard keeping to the schedule, which is basically taking in plenty of fluids as well as some sort of protein shake or fresh juice every 2 hours. It was a tad difficult just coordinating it all, as I was out of town and spent the day monkeying around and doing a bit of shopping. It was also a touch hard going to some of my favorite stores, like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, and not doing my normal shopping there.

To answer a few questions I've gotten from either email, comments, or from my coworkers:

A - No, I do not have any control over the ads that are placed on this website from Google. I did give permission to have ads on my site, however I don't pick the ones that show up there. So any sort of colon cleansing/colonic/tar in your gut web pages you click on have nothing to do with me.

B - I should have clarified earlier. I am not only drinking fresh vegetable juices, but am also trying to maintain as balanced a diet as possible. A few times a day, I am drinking some Superfood protein shakes, which are loaded with a lot of the healthy grasses (such as wheatgrass, spirulina, etc) as well as fruits, veggies, and protein. I'm not starving myself, but am trying to only feed my body with whole foods.

And now, onto Day 2. Feel free to ask me any questions about the process in the comments and I'll answer them the next day.

A Midsummer's Cleanse

So I've been kicking around the idea of a detox for a few months now since it's been years since I've done one. Although I eat fairly healthy and consume plenty of veggies and fruits, I do still ingest a fair shair of toxins and unhealthy foods.

My father decided he wanted to do a 21-day juice fast, so I've decided to join him. For the next 21 days, we plan on only consuming fresh fruit and vegetable juices, supplemented with vitamins and plenty of water.

I plan on documenting the process, which will hopefully be a lot smoother than I'm anticipating.

We'll see you tomorrow, which is Day Numero Uno!