Photo Junkie Try – The Juice Fast

So this is my photo junkie spin on the saying “Give it the Good Old College Try”.  I like to explore trying new things in all different aspects of life, from mommy, to wife, to dog owner, to career gal, to good old fashioned human being.  And when I do, I give it the “Good Old Photo Junkie Try”

These past couple weeks I gave gave the photo junkie try to Juice Fasting.  To be honest I’m not completely new to juice fasting.  I was introduced to juicing a few years ago while living in Texas by a good friend who loves the healthy lifestyle and loves sharing it as well.  You can become her juicing buddy too at juicing buddies on facebook.

So how did this round of fasting go you ask?  Extremely well.  This was meant to be a 14 day juice fast, to which I made it through 12 days rather smoothly!  I had some great support and cheerleading along the way with the Juice Buddies and I think that’s what made all the difference this go around.

My previous fasts have only lasted 4-7 days and were pretty rough.  There is a real break down in moral and strength around day 3-4 because your body is detoxing all the food addictions you’ve built up.  I wish I had more scientific-y words for ya – but basically, body wants sugar – body doesn’t get sugar – body hates you and makes you miserable.

body wants sugar – body doesn’t get sugar – body hates you and makes you miserable.

But then something miraculous happens around day 5.  You start to feel amazing.  You feel like you’re in control and you have broken through your food addictions.  There’s another fun bonus that you’re probably wondering about.  The weight loss.  Yes, that is awesome too!  But I do it mostly to reset my eating habits – because they can get pretty bad.

So here are my 10 Juice Fast Tips for Success:

 

1. Find a juicing buddy.  Probably not your spouse or significant other.  While this might seem like a good option… trust me it’s not.  Two whiny babies in one household could spell disaster and you might just end up fighting the whole time.
2. Buy a good juicer.  There are many out there.  I’m a big fan of the Jack Lalane, but to be honest, I haven’t tried many others.  There are different ways that the juice can be extracted, so do some research and see what you like.  Some people will prefer one method over the other because of less destruction of nutrients and such.  I just like my juice to be made fast because I really don’t have hours to spend in the kitchen making juice.
3. Be prepared.  There is nothing worse than starting to feel hungry and then having to make your juice.  Your brain will laugh at you and tell you there is no way that juice will satisfy this hunger, and make you do dumb things; like eat a whole bag of Doritos instead.  Then you’re left sitting in the corner with a orange dust coating all over your face feeling lost and ashamed.  Nobody wants that.  Make a plan, buy everything ahead of time and juice the night before.  Juice will store just fine for a day or two in the fridge.  There will be separation, but it will mix back together nicely.

Then you’re left sitting in the corner with a orange dust coating all over your face feeling lost and ashamed.  Nobody wants that.

1. Drink it cold.  Over ice… Enough said.
2. Give yourself a break.  If you do need to eat something don’t kill yourself over it, it’s not the end of the world.  What I like to do is tell myself that I can eat anything I want, just have this juice first and then eat what I was craving.  Every single time the juice has satiated me.
3. Keep it simple.  I have two juices I primarily make, one green, one red, because I’m not just that adventurous.  But there are so many recipes out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to buy all that produce and figure out what goes together.  My rule of thumb is, keep greens and yellows together, and oranges and reds together.  That way you will always have nice bright colorful juices that taste great.  If you start to mix, you will notice your juices turn brown… and no one likes to drink cold brown liquid unless its of the coffee bean variety.  Once you get a hang of it start experimenting.  But try to get more green juices in than red juices.  Remember there is still sugar in fruit and veggies.  It’s natural sugar, but it’s still sugar.

1. Drink lots of water.  I can’t stress this enough.  It will seem silly because you are drinking so much liquid, but you can become dehydrated if you forget your water intake.  I made that mistake my first time juicing (and I was doing hot yoga at the same time) and I made myself sick.
2. Supplement with something warm.  You will start to get bored with the juices after a couple days.  Try supplementing with hot herbal tea, hot lemon water, or vegetable broth.  I started to make my own veggie broth by just boiling spinach.  I added some other ingredient from a recipe my juicing buddy gave me.  I used cumin, pink Himalayan salt, red pepper flakes, garlic, and a small amount of organic coconut oil.
3. Ease back into a healthy diet.  When it’s all said and done and you do decide to break your fast, do so with something healthy and take it slow.  Most times just a simple apple or banana will be enough and then have another juice.  The point is to make a lifestyle change, not just try another fad diet.  Since starting my juicing journey over 4 years ago, I’ve pretty much completely replaced my morning breakfast with a daily juice.
4. Take Pictures. Last but never least… take pictures! Everything is better with pictures  Take pictures of your fun juice concoctions and of your beautiful juicing self.

Well there you have it.  My 10 tips for success if you plan to give juicing the good old photo junkie try.

My Results?

And what were my results this go around, you ask? Well, I lost 10 pounds, which is not the most important aspect – but I know you were wondering. The most exciting result though is really a bit of TMI, but I will share anyway.  After having my 4th baby this past summer, I’ve definitely had some major hormonal things going on in my body.  Let’s just say I’ve been wearing my husband’s deodorant for the past year or so and even the past few months it hasn’t been “made for a man but strong enough for this woman.”  After about 2 hours this strong stuff would just give out on me.  I was getting pretty frustrated and really didn’t have the time to take 3 showers a day!

Okay, sharing time over.  So what was the result from juice fasting?  Well, let’s just say I am back to women’s deodorant and finally feeling feminine again.  There are so many factors that can change your body over time, not just pregnancy, but aging alone can throw you out of whack.  And then throw in bad eating habits and that’s always a recipe for disaster.

So what?

What does all of this have to do with photography you ask?   Not a damn thing!  Well except all this fantastic product photography practice I got in.  So tell me, what do you think of my million dollar potoato?