Ready, Set, Juice!

You've got your juicer and so much produce that you don't know where to put it. You have a journal at the ready and you've put in your first entry: your weight and measurements of your hips, thighs, waist and arms. You have taken a selfie that you will never ever show to anyone. It's time to get started. I recommend starting with a morning and noon juice for a couple of days before the fast and eating a dinner. If you are a regular working stiff, like me, you will want to do this towards the end of your work week and plan to start fasting on the last day going into your weekend. You will be the most discombobulated from fasting in the first three days. Day one is almost always o.k. You find yourself thinking “this is much easier than I thought it would be”! Towards the end of day two is when you will start wondering what you were thinking. Better to be home and take a nap then to be at work with deadlines and stresses that you can't put off.

The morning of day one get out your juicer and your pile of produce. Try juicing some of your favorites, whatever they are. I like to include apples because they help detox a body. My favorite morning drink contains carrots, cucumbers, spinach, lemon and apple—approximately 2 of each large fruits and veggies (if you have standard size carrots it will be more like six to ten). This should make about a quart of green juice. It is this juice in the morning that gets the nutritional yeast and protein powder added to it—about two heaping tablespoons of each. Nutritionist gurus, such as Joel Furman M.D., of the raw food movement say we need much less protein than we have been led to believe. The protein powder helps me to feel full and the nutritional yeast helps to metabolize carbohydrates and keep energy levels up during the day. I make twice as much as I need and fill a half gallon canning jar to take with me to work.

Other things you can drink when you are fasting are clear all natural vegetable broth, herbal teas and lemon water. In the beginning you will feel hungry and will want to have a juice handy to provide fuel for your brain during the day. Juices don't have the calories you are used to having but they provide excellent nutrition in the form of vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates to fuel you during the day. For the first three days you will be easing into juicing and learning a lot about your self and your eating habits. Drink juice all day and have a meal at night. Make an effort to have a healthy meal that includes a large serving of raw vegetables (aka salad) and a smaller portion of what you normally eat. Make more juice at night and use that when you want a snack.

When you arrive at work with what looks like a large jar or pitcher of pond scum, be ready to answer questions from curious co-workers. You may even discover some of them have done this themselves, been thinking about it or have incorporated green juices and smoothies into their lives already. Who knows, you may even find your juicing partner this way. It is definitely a conversation starter and you will probably get teased by your corporate joker. Some people will think you are flat out nuts. Those first couple of days of pre-fast will let you know what you are up against in terms of outside and internal influences...where you feel weakest and where your friends are. You may even find yourself enjoying a bit of celebrity as everyone who hears about what you are doing drops by to have a first hand look.