Survived the Juice Fast

My five day juice fast went well.  It was hard but so much easier then having to try stop myself from grabbing a cookie at work.  So much easier then screwing up every other day and then regretting it.   Juicing is a no brainer.  Either you eat food or you don't.  If you don't eat food it's a win.  If you eat food; even a tiny nibble of bread it's a loose.  If your body has to digest anything it's a lose so it's very black and white.  You can't just eat a little and mess up a little.  You eat anything and you have failed totally.  I did drink coffee almost every day but it's not enough to ruin my diet like that extra slice of pizza would.  You might be hungry but you don't sit around craving juice the way you crave food like cheese or something sweet.  You drink your juice and when it's gone it's gone.  Day 1 and Day 2 I was in the zone.  I was mostly just super sleepy and then that went away by Day 3.  Day 5 was the hardest.  I was just over it.  I felt like I was hollowed out and I was really tired.  It has been a busy work week and I had 2 photo shoots so that all could have been part of it.  The hunger pangs are worse when you are restricting.  I finally broke my fast on Friday with some raisins, cheese and Fiber 1.  As soon as my stomach got a hold of those raisins is when my stomach growled louder and harder then it had all week.  I even had a small bowel movement off that little bit of food the very next day after not going all week.

Even with all those carbs and all that sugar that comes with juicing I lost 6.8 lbs in 5 days.  I started the juice fast on Monday (or technically Sunday night) and I ended it on Friday night.  This morning I weighed in at 115.8; a number that I have not seen in a long time.  A number that I basically had to give up food in order to see again.  I am totally prepared to gain at least half of it back.  I would be thrilled if I don't gain it all back but I have to be prepared for that too.  I have another juice fast planned in May with my mom.   I want to try the cleanse/detox one if the stuff to drink isn't too nasty.  I will not drink Cayenne pepper or anything like that.  I want to make juicing part of my routine now that I know that I can actually do it.  I'd much rather do all juice then low carb or anything else.  My problem is food so the best diet for me is one that eliminates it all together.  I don't see myself ever doing 5 again but 1-3 days about once a month or when I feel like total crap because I've eaten too much seems totally doable.  If only I could eliminate those days I over do it that would be awesome but I think I'm a food addict so I don't know if that will ever happen.  I will do well for a while and then because I've been deprived and I'm starving I'll eat one crappy meal and it will ruin weeks of hard work.  The worse thing is it doesn't even have to be a huge meal for me to gain.  It's like any little indulgence above hard core restriction will do it.  It's a cycle that never seems to end and I'm so tired of it. 

Fat Piggy commented that she was worried about being too tired from juice fasting and having it affect her performance at work.  For me, I'd say it was not a factor.  I've been working full time for years and years under so many conditions.  I've worked sick, without very much sleep and without very much food so often that it's just something that I've learned to deal with.  It may be hard but there really is no option but to push through the day and so that's what I always do.  Friday at work was so hard.  I had to wake up at 5:45 am to make sure I made it to my photo shoot at 7:30am.  I didn't finish until 11am.  Then I was at work from 12-5pm.  This is on no food for the whole week.  I just push myself to be productive and keep going even when I just want to crawl under my desk and sleep.  Ednos Linny, was your sister able to maintain her 30 lb weight loss from juicing and if so how?  I assume not pigging out would be one way. 

Daily Report for April 9, 2013 (All Homemade Juice)

Daily Log
Breakfast		421
Juice, Veg, Apple, Kale, Cucumber, Ginger, Lemon, Mean Green	16 Ounces	373
Coffee, brewed w/tap water	10 Fluid ounces	3
Creamer, French Vanilla, International Delight	1 Tablespoon	45
Lunch		373
Juice, Veg, Apple, Kale, Cucumber, Ginger, Lemon, Mean Green	16 Ounces	373
Dinner		213
Juice, Fruit Based, Fresh	12 Ounces	213

Nutrients
Fat	7g	6%
Saturated Fat	1g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	557mg
Carbohydrates	242g	87%
Fiber	49g
Sugars	150g
Protein	21g	8%

Summary
Food Calories	1,007
Exercise Calories	-
Net Calories	1,007
+/- Calories	-22
Weight	122

Kitty, thanks for that link about juicing.  I have seen Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  Those people are amazing for being able to do it for so long.  I honestly was just so over it by day 5.  Part of my problem could have been that I was very stingy with my juice.  I could have drank more but I'm always trying to watch those calories.  Plus, I would miscalculate how many ounces I needed when I was at the store and not buy enough.  On the last two days I actually got tired of juicing so I bought Naked Juice.   The upside was that it was easy and the calories are on the bottle.  It's hard to know what calories I was getting with the juice I made.  I had to guess and I guessed higher then what the Naked Juices are.  The downside is that the Naked juices aren't as "hearty" as the homemade juices.  They seem thinner and less filling.  Plus, it's more expensive.  

Daily Report for April 11, 2013 (On Naked Juice)

Daily Log
Breakfast		168
Coffee, brewed w/tap water	10 Fluid ounces	3
Creamer, French Vanilla, International Delight	1 Tablespoon	45
Juice, Berry Blast, Naked Juice	8 Fluid ounces	120
Lunch		240
Juice, Berry Blast, Naked Juice	16 Fluid ounces	240
Dinner		280
Juice, Green Machine, Naked Juice	16 Fluid ounces	280

Nutrients
Fat	2g	3%
Saturated Fat	1g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	71mg
Carbohydrates	162g	93%
Fiber	5g
Sugars	140g
Protein	7g	4%

Summary
Food Calories	688
Exercise Calories	-
Net Calories	688
+/- Calories	-310
Weight	117.4