Juice Fast: Day 1

MONDAY

Breakfast 5:00am
Juice: Mean Green - Celery, kale, cucumber, lemon, ginger, spinach, green apples

Once my husband is off to work at 4:40am, I usually crawl back into bed and drag myself out of bed by 7:15am to arrive at work on time at 8:00am. This morning, I drank my juice before I went back to bed, and I found i couldn't fall asleep. I spent some time sleeping in this weekend, so the energy could be because I was caught up on sleep, or because I was anxious about the whole juicing thing. Either way, I took a shower and used the extra time to blow dry my hair and take my time getting ready for work. I arrived at work at 7:00am.

It's now 8:00am, and my stomach is missing my usual breakfast taco. I have a Camelback of ice cold water, and I'm hoping it helps curb my appetite. I plan on using my lunch break to get some walking done at LA Fitness, and I have a delicious-looking juice waiting for me in the office fridge.

10:30am Update

I'm hungry. I want to go down to the dining room and wait for it to open so I can order a cheeseburger or something crunchy and cheesy. I've had 20oz of water, and I've refilled my Camelback. I got up for a restroom break, and I felt sick to my stomach. No lightheadedness and no dizzyness. I don't feel weak, as I normally do when I've been too long without food. I honestly think my body is just pissed at me for not feeding it carbs and yummy things. I'm going to drink this water and head out to LA Fitness within the hour. Bleh.

Lunch 12:30pm
Juice: Pineapple, carrots, oranges, lemon

This one tastes good. I was ready for it, too. I couldn't go quickly enough to the fridge and grab this sucker off the shelf. The color being a rich, vibrant orange, my brain tricked me into thinking it was going to be sugary and filled with artificial colors and flavors. Not so. Though the juice is naturally sweet, I left the orange peels on, and this has given the juice that tart and bitter taste of the rind. I'm not complaining. Actually, I think I like that. The orange oil leaves kind of a tingle/cooling sensation on my tongue. Either that or I'm going into some kind of shock because I have not eaten anything fried or cheesy today. Dancing taste buds is how I can best describe it. No, really.


I feel like this juice is going to give me a perfect burst of energy to head over to the gym in about 20 minutes. I decided it'd be best to have my 2nd juice at my desk, fill up on water, and head to the gym afterward. Besides benefiting from the 2nd juice energy, the later lunch break from work will make for a shorter work day.

Workout 1:00pm
The gym was nice and quiet - only a handful of people on the cardio deck. It was 1:12pm by the time I got to the gym, changed, and plopped myself onto an elliptical. Originally, I wanted to walk on a treadmill for my lunch break, but I have a kind of love affair with the elliptical. I was able to put in 15 minutes of 4mph+ at a higher level, then stick around for a 2-minute cool down. I wasn't sure how long it'd take me to get un-sweaty, changed, and back to work.

First of all, I sweat too much. I sweat long after I stop moving. I hung out in the locker room for about 5 minutes just trying to get dry. I remembered my handy dandy gym bag pocket that holds body spray, deodorant, and face wipes. I was thankful.

I made it back to work in time, but realized before getting out of my Jeep that my cheap-o trial size body spray had leaked all over that pocket. Looks like I'll be bringing my Bath & Body Works White Citrus body mist with me from now on.

Oh, and I got back to work just in time for an employee birthday party with apple pie and ice cream. I'm starting my "Mmm. I love water. Water. Water. Water." chant right now.

Workout 5:45pm
Step aerobics absolutely killed me. I was excellent in college when I took several classes, and it's obvious my endurance level is about to my ankles - no higher. I remembered many of the moves/steps from a few years ago, so I didn't make a complete fool of myself. I did, however, leave the class with a face redder than I would think is healthy. My energy definitely ran low during the class. This juice was not doing me any favors. At this point, I questioned whether or not the fast was okay if I planned on being so active.

Home - Dinner 8:30pm
I made it home just after 7:00pm, and I felt increasingly sick. My head started to pound, and I felt incredibly fatigued. I was drained of energy. If each of those juices were 200 calories, I spent all of that during my class. Not cool. My husband was headed home after 8:00pm, and we briefly discussed the fast on the phone. We both agreed we needed something more.

I made our planned juice: mangoes, blueberries, and strawberries. In addition, we each had half of a seasoned, baked chicken breast and a bed of fresh spinach, arugula, and chard. It was the perfect amount of food, and it felt so good to get some protein in my body.

So... this is the plan. Lean protein, portioned. Lots of fresh veggies, and a supplement of vitamin-rich juice. Lots of water. No carbs. Little dairy if any.

If I'm going to be doing two-a-days at the gym, it's going to take that modification to get me through the day.

Mean Green juice and egg whites + spinach for breakfast, here we come.

Good night, all!