Juice Fast - Day 1

Well, here we go; Day One of the ten day juice fast trial...

We went grocery shopping last night.  I got the regular monthly supplies for the family and then loaded up with veggies and fruit for my juicing.  Kale, celery, carrots, sweet peppers, green/yellow/red apples, oranges and a couple of pears made up my initial juice supplies (the veggies constitute regular family foods, too).  I'll also use garden veggies and fruit: sweet potato greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, chayote, green beans, hot peppers, mint, basil, thyme, marjoram, mountain apples, and (soon, I hope) passion fruit. I really wish the papayas were going to be ready to use but they won't be ripe for another couple of months.  The banana trees haven't put out fruit stalks yet and the mango tree won't produce for another two years...

As I shopped I found my mind wandering into weird little loops: "I'm not going to be able to drink Pepsi, or eat chocolate for the next ten days!", "How in the world will I be able to make dinner for the family and  restrict myself to just juice?"  For goodness sakes, I hadn't even begun the fast and I was craving chocolate and soda and REAL food ahead of time!  How was I going to manage ten days?

So exactly WHY am I doing this?  Health problems that have crept up and worsened over the last year include peripheral neuropathy in feet and hands; extreme fatigue; foot and leg pain that make walking difficult;  severe acid reflux (from the hiatial hernia I acquired during pregnancy in the far distant past); and insomnia resulting from the foot/leg pain, acid reflux, and menopause-related hot flashes.  Walking and bike riding worsened the foot/leg pain and increased the fatigue which upped the depression.

After seeing a raft of doctors and undergoing lots of test the results came back - blood pressure normal (actually, it's good-low), blood sugar normal, thyroid normal, vitamin levels normal, heart is fine (right bundle branch blockage is normal for a lot of people), peripheral neuropathy is only slight.  The doctors don't know why I'm experiencing difficulties but there doesn't appear to be anything physically wrong with me. I LOVE left feeling like my problems are all in my head .

SO

I have to figure this out myself.  Which has led to this juice fast.  Perhaps if I supercharge my body with nutrients I'll get better, right?  Home lab Experimental Guinea Pig is my new official title.

BREAKFAST
This morning I made bacon and eggs for the family (umm, I love the smell of bacon!)  I had two kale leaves, one yellow delicious apple, two carrots, five mountain apples, a large sprinkle of cinnamon, and a smaller sprinkle of nutmeg blended with tap water and strained through a sieve.  It looked awful - bluck greenish-brown.  On the other hand, it tasted fine.

I haven't seen herbs or spices added to other on-line juice fast recipes so I'm not sure if adding them is "legal". Oh well, this is my juice fast and it has to taste good for me to stick to it.

LUNCH
I had juice of 1 orange, 1 pear, 1 stalk celery, 2 carrots, 1 stalk kale, and 1 chayote. No herbs or spices.

I am thinking about food constantly.  To make matters worse, I've made kalua pig for the family for dinner.  Kalua pig is one of my very favorite foods... I'm also making Sourdough Pigs in Blankets to stick in the freezer for the family's lunches.  AND I'm making pumpkin bread for now and the freezer. This is probably not a great idea for day 1 of my juice fast, but perhaps I need to tame my dragon's right at the start. My head keeps saying "I want sugar NOW!"

DINNER
Family eats kalua pig, rice, broccoli salad, green beans.

I drink 2 carrots, 2 stalks kale, 1 tomato, 1 stalk celery, 1 Braeburn apple, 1/2 green pepper, 1 small wedge of onion, 1 clove garlic, 1" piece of ginger, 1 small handful of basil/marjoram/thyme, a liberal sprinkling of Tabasco sauce and pepper. This actually tasted like "food"; it was delicious! It seems like an awful lot of vegetables and fruit to put in one body though...

I'm full but craving.  Tomorrow will be better, won't it?