Mid-40s couple starting 15-day juice feast June 12
 

I didn't see a better place to post this -- seeking support, and maybe even others who want to do this -- so I went with age as a common denominator.

Husband and I are starting the 15 day reboot plan offered by the guy who made Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. I would like to stay on it longer than 15 days, but I don't know if I have the willpower. We'll see.

For those of you who may knock this, I suggest you research it before you cast stones. For someone like me who has lived her entire life on one diet or another -- from weight watchers to Atkins to vegetarianism and back -- and has a lot of weight to lose this is a healthy option.

If anyone's considering this or has gone through it, please reach out. Grocery shopping for the first five days was a hoot. The produce guy actually offered boxes. The check-out woman asked if someone in our family had cancer (she was a breast cancer survivor) and said many cancer patients do something similar.

The hardest part for me is this: I must still cook daily for my elderly parents who live with us. If anyone has any suggestions on how to get through this while cooking (and coaxing others to eat (my mother is frail)), please let me know.

Juicy, I did this a year ago and it made a HUGE impact on my life and health! I wish you all the best on your fast!!! I am super excited for you!! My biggest challenge was trying to get the large quantities of Kale. My husband is a chef, so we ended up ordering it from the restaurant food supply place (he serves primarily organic locally sourced at his restaurant) so that made it easier! :)

I think once you get past the first day or two you will find that the cooking isn't that big of a deal. It's weird how your body will crave that juice!!!

I'm looking forward to hearing about how it goes for you!!! I might jump in and do a 2 or 3 day run with you too! :)

Thanks
 

Thank you for the reply! It's surprising how much a stranger's encouraging words can boost motivation!

I'm glad you mentioned that about supplies (especially for anyone else out there who may try juicing). Our local grocer said we could just order what we need a day in advance and they'd have it ready for pickup. Grocer had everything on first 5-day list...although i wanted to add wheat grass and grocer was out. Newbies, I think you'll be shocked by the amount of veggies you'll bring home. Even if you expect it to be a lot (which I did ), double it. Luckily for us, we have a spare frig...the greens take up a lot of room.

We live in Northeast Ohio (Cleveland area) and there are two places near us that also serve fresh made juices (mean green and others) -- Robek's (a chain) and Mustard Seed Market (a two-store organic chain). So, in a pinch, we can swing by and pick up a to-go, too...or actually go out to "eat"...something which both of us will miss.

Although I'm not juicing, I can relate to missing going out to eat. All the enjoyment is gone from it, knowing that the meal will be unhealthy and set me back :(

Good luck on your juicing; I don't really know anything about it... But hopefully it yields the desired results.

Wishing you success. A colleague of mine did one over christmas and looks awesome now :)

I'm not forty but I've always been interested in doing something like this...seems like a good way to jumpstart and help the whole weightloss process!!!

Thank you for the kind words all...and to anyone who might be thinking of doing this, I thought I'd post occasional thoughts here about things I've discovered about juicing or the reboot with joe program.

Day one brought exhaustion. Day two brought more exhaustion -- until the first morning juice...and then, like a wilting plant coming to life, I perked up. But I'm grumpy. This, according to other juicers, is to be expected.

If you're considering this, you cannot overestimate the amount of space you will need for fruits and veggies...or the time it takes to clean and prepare them. We have a large french-door refrigerator and the entire thing is full of veggies (with exception of the shelves on doors). Every drawer, every shelf. It's just a green explosion. The stuff that takes the most time to clean are the greens -- kale, collards, spinach. I'm doing three washes because this stuff is filthy.

Also, because of the quantity, your local grocer may need a heads up to make sure he/she has everything you need. I should point out here that I'm buying for two since my husband is on this ride with me. We were lucky our grocery did have it all, but the produce guy asked us to call ahead to place our order next time.

There is too much food on the plan to consume. On day one, we skipped the wilted greens for dinner and I could only eat half my lunchtime salad. Today, day two, I skipped the lunchtime salad altogether... We also live on a different time schedule because of my husband's work schedule. We go to bed about 3 a.m. and get up about 10 a.m.....so I'm pushing my afternoon juice snack to a middle evening after dinner snack because that's when I get hungry.

A lot of people think they can juice anything and get results. And they probably can. But we're sticking with the plan because it is designed to max out nutrients. Maybe after the 15 days I'll play around a bit...but I'm in this to win it, so I'm playing by the rules.

My husband and I are foodies and we like almost everything with the exception of raw celery. But we had a pear/celery/cucumber juice today we loved. I mention this because even if you're not a fan of eating something, you may be surprised that you like it juiced (in our case, I think the raw celery thing is a texture issue). Kale, to me, is much better juiced than in a salad.

Finally, if you need inspiration, just search youtube. There are some great videos on there from people who have had great success. Some have posted daily. There are men and women of all ages and sizes so you can almost certainly find someone to identify with.

Day 3 -- Down five pounds. How much is water, who knows.
Mood improving. Energy stabilizing.
I've done low-carb (in the 80s, in the 90s and then South Beach) and the juicing ramp up has been easier for me. I'm making meat and potato dinners nightly for family....and it's not tempting me like fruit did on low carb.
Farmer's market tomorrow. Yeah!

Day 8 -- Down 10 pounds.

Feeling good. Lots of energy. I must stop stepping on the scale daily, though. Today, I wasn't down a full pound and was all bummed out. That's so stupid. Must stop.

Also, I'm looking for self-soothing methods that work for food addicts. I'll poke around this site to see what I find.

I would have posted sooner, but Google kept warning me malware was attached to this website....so I was afraid to visit.

Anyone with juicing questions, feel free to ask...

There was something going on with malware. Glad it's going good for you!

Juicy how is the juice fast going? You are nearing the end... has it met your expectations? My DH is starting to get intrigued with getting a juicer... What make / model are you using and what are your thoughts about it?

I'm sorry I haven't updated...but here it is: I'm still juicing and I'm down 31.8 pounds. My husband is 10 pounds from ideal weight and is still juicing during the day and then eating vegan nutrarian at night.

My weight loss was 1 lb. per day up until about 10 days ago...and it slipped to about .6 pounds per day. But that's still awesome. No complaints.

Is it easy? Yes and no.

Here are the pros:

It works. For me, there's no better incentive than clear results. I've done WW, Atkins (three times), South Beach (twice), etc. My metabolism is really screwed up after dieting since I was 16 and now I could go a month following a diet very strictly and lose 1 pound. That wasn't working. The juicing is and that keeps me inspired.

It's somehow easier to avoid temptations because you know you're just juicing. A spoonful of this could make you sick.

I'm no longer dreaming of "bad" comfort foods...when I start eating again, I'm dying to have fruits and salads. I don't even want bread (which is my very favorite thing)...although I've been perusing vegan/nutrarian cookbooks and there are a couple of sandwiches on my list of things to try.

Cons:
This ain't cheap and you spend a lot of time at the grocery (produce doen't have a long shelf life) and a lot of time in the kitchen. For two people, I was buying two full carts of groceries twice a week. All of that produce must by scrubbed...so that takes time.

I miss restaurants. Since my husband has modified his juicing now (eating a meal at night and enjoying a beer or two during the week), I allow my self to go to bars (which I missed!). I order a club soda with lime...probably not on the juicing fast...but it gets me through with no complications.

I avoid social situations that involve food...but try to find something that doesn't. Like meeting people after dinner for live music, etc.

I also don't eat with my family. I cook for them (it's not as hard as I thought it would be...) and usually take my juices upstairs while they eat...often I hit the treadmill, which is no a treat instead of a chore (I wouldn't have believed this a month ago...but I mean it).

What's next? I'm fasting until near the end of the month....I'm breaking a couple of days before my husband's birthday (it takes time to get your stomach used to solid food again) so we can do a weekend getaway. I will stick nutrarian during that time, however. I'm not going nuts. I then plan to return to juicing until my own birthday about a month later. If all goes well, I should be at or near my goal weight...and I can think of no better birthday present for myself. Go me!

Someone asked what kind of juicer we're using: I researched it and I'm happy with what we bought -- a rebuilt Breville on Amazon...I'm sorry I don't know the exact model...but it cost about $250...it is the Breville with the widest feeder tube and largest engine. It's very, very speedy. Clean up is quick (if you line the pulp bucket with a plastic grocery bag and uses the Breville brush (it comes with juicer) to clean the mesh....but wash immediately. If the juicer dries, it's a bear to clean.

Final thought: I had actually considered weight loss surgery...and I have nothing bad to say about that option or the people who do it. For me, however, juicing seemed like a great option to try before considering surgery. Is juicing radical? Yep. But I think it's less radical than a lap band or other invasive procedures.

Congrats on your success! Glad it's going well for you.
:sunny:

Great update; I'm glad it's working for you! :carrot: