{"id":207,"date":"2012-03-22T18:45:30","date_gmt":"2012-03-22T18:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayawellness.com\/?p=207"},"modified":"2012-11-03T07:47:23","modified_gmt":"2012-11-03T07:47:23","slug":"my-los-angeles-juicing-confessions-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rayawellness.com\/my-los-angeles-juicing-confessions-day-1\/","title":{"rendered":"My Los Angeles Juicing Confessions Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The morning of March 5th, I woke up at 6:30 am (California time) feeling totally inspired after the Institute for Integrative Nutrition Conference.\u00a0 I had heard from some of my nutrition rockstars \u2013 David Wolfe, Paul Pitchford, Geneen Roth, Julia Ross, and John Robbins (of Baskin Robbins family).\u00a0 In any case, I was super inspired!<\/p>\n

I decided to try something I have never done before \u2013 A Juice Fast<\/strong>!\u00a0 And I am not talking about the kind of juice that comes out of a glass jar, (not even talking about plastic).\u00a0 I am talking about fresh squeezed goodness!<\/p>\n

Why Juice Fast?\u00a0 Well, because I recently read that it is good to give your digestive system a break from digesting \u2013 a kind of digestive Savasana, if you will.\u00a0 Water was recommended, but I am not ready to drink just water all day.\u00a0 Plus, real fresh squeezed juice is alkalizing, so juice fast it was!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At 7:30 am I was still psyched, so I shared my idea with my friend, Moira.\u00a0 She loved it! By 9 am, I wasn\u2019t even hungry yet.\u00a0 I was thinking this will be easy.\u00a0 But at 9:30 am when we were en route to Whole Foods to get our first juice of the day, I had a panic attack. \u00a0 \u00a0 S * * T!\u00a0 How will I go a whole day without real food?\u00a0<\/strong> I mean the chewable kind.\u00a0 I totally freaked out.\u00a0 Moira tried to tell me that it will be okay and easy.\u00a0 The whole premise is that we can drink as much juice as we want, all day long.\u00a0 How tough can it be?<\/p>\n

I am not sure what scared me more the liquid diet itself or the lack of eating, chewing\u2026 not really sure still.\u00a0 In that moment I realized just how emotionally attached I am to food.\u00a0 It felt like life and death in that moment of realizing \u201cno chewable food\u201d.\u00a0 I had an adrenalin response.\u00a0 There was no tiger, but I was getting ready to run away from one.\u00a0 How strange I thought.\u00a0 It took me about 10 minutes to talk myself out of my panic and breathe through it.\u00a0 I had Moira assure me that it will be easy and that she will support me.\u00a0 I felt like I would need help sticking with it and she said she will do whatever it takes to help keep me on track.\u00a0 I think that made me feel more peaceful.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know about you, but I am not fond of failing.\u00a0 Sometimes it seems safer not to start anything, right?\u00a0 If I don\u2019t start \u2013 I can\u2019t fail!\u00a0 Pretty nifty strategy that I have developed to keep myself safe.\u00a0 Sound familiar, anyone?\u00a0 Hmm\u2026<\/p>\n

Okay, back to the juice bar at Whole Foods, I saw someone else getting a shot of wheatgrass.\u00a0 Ready for another confession?\u00a0 A health nut like me \u2013 I can\u2019t stand the taste of wheatgrass.\u00a0 It makes me want to gag.\u00a0 The stuff is so darn good for you, but why does it have to taste like freshly cut lawn grass is beyond me?\u00a0 Okay, not sure what possessed me, but I decided that since we are doing this juice fast, it would be so good for us to begin with a shot of wheatgrass on an empty stomach, such high chlorophyll content!\u00a0 So I was prepared for the worst.<\/p>\n

We did the shot, I had a little apple ready to gnaw on just to get rid of the wheatgrass taste from my mouth as quickly as I could.\u00a0 However, I was pleasantly surprised at how sweet the wheatgrass was.\u00a0 Seriously, it must be the California sun that makes this wheatgrass taste so sweet.\u00a0 I still sucked on my apple just in case anyway.\u00a0 So, the first juice of the day followed the wheatgrass shot after a few minutes (I cheated, really I should have waited a good 20 minutes, but I figured, I am already being so brave!)\u00a0 Baby steps and acknowledging progress is really important and this is big progress for me.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>So I sipped on the juice #1* for about 20 minutes and I felt great.\u00a0 Not hungry at all.\u00a0 We decided that we were going to allow ourselves lightly brewed green tea and as much water as we wanted.\u00a0 So I had a cup of weak green tea at around 10:30am. \u00a0 At noon I began sipping on my second cup of tea and the next juice concoction (juice # 2)*.\u00a0 So far so good.\u00a0 For about 2 minutes I thought I was hungry, but a few sips of juice and I felt fine again.<\/p>\n

In between all of my computer and writing work, Moira wasnted to go shopping, so we snuck out of the coffee shop.\u00a0 I ended up at a kitchen store.\u00a0 Anyone surprised?\u00a0 I bought some fun new kitchen toys and almost left with a juicer.\u00a0 Perhaps I will buy one when I get back to Albany so that Southwest doesn\u2019t have to fly one around the United States for me.<\/p>\n

Shopping is both exciting and exhausting!\u00a0 Around 2:30 I was starting to feel my blood sugar drop a bit.\u00a0 Since we had run out of our juice (literally and figuratively) it was time to run back to Whole Foods.\u00a0 By the time I was ordering my Juice #3, I was shaking.\u00a0 Note to self: \u201cDon\u2019t do that again!\u201d\u00a0 Sipping juice throughout the day and not running out is a much better idea.\u00a0 So a few sips of emergency carrot and apple juice made me feel better until green goodness #3 was served up!\u00a0 Wow, I felt so much better and decided that from here on \u2013 I would pace myself.\u00a0 I also bought a coconut and decided that coconut water from the inside of a real coconut counted as a juice. I saved that for dessert for the end of the evening or perhaps for tomorrow.\u00a0 In any case, it is my blood sugar emergency insurance solution.<\/p>\n

At around 3 pm, Moira and I talked about going to a raw food restaurant and toyed with the idea of quitting half way through the day thinking a half day is really good, right?\u00a0 And somehow we talked ourselves out of that weakened state and continued with our resolve to stay on track.\u00a0 I had more green lovely juice and felt much better.\u00a0 Settled in with my computer to do more work, to write, and to soak up the afternoon California sun on her balcony.<\/p>\n

At 5 pm I couldn\u2019t believe that I had made it this far without chewing.\u00a0 I also got juice #4, when I got #3 and took it home along with my coconut emergency.\u00a0 Speaking of emergency, I have had to pee.\u00a0 Whoa, lots of water going through my system.\u00a0 This is good. Very good.<\/p>\n

At 6:15 pm the sun had set and I got chilly on the porch.\u00a0 A fantastic day, I thought and I had started sipping on juice #4.\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe how long I have made it.\u00a0 Seriously. \u00a0 Someone was cooking real food somewhere close by and it smelled delicious!\u00a0 But I pretended to not smell it. I remembered \u2013 there is always tomorrow!\u00a0 My intention was to do this for just one day.<\/p>\n

I finished juice #4 by 8:00 pm.\u00a0 Our plan was to go out dancing at 9.\u00a0 I am really feeling like I need another juice to keep up my energy for dancing, but Moira says that there is not enough time to get one and make it to where we are going because it is in the opposite direction.\u00a0 So I reach for my emergency coconut.\u00a0 The coconut water is consumed in 1 minute.\u00a0 I was hungry.\u00a0 We are driving around LA \u2013 LA is big!\u00a0 In another 20 minutes I consume my second emergency coconut water.\u00a0 Coconut water is nature\u2019s perfect drink \u2013 good source of electrolytes, it is in fact the best source (no need for gatorade, yuck!).\u00a0 Okay, so off we go.<\/p>\n

\"Emergency<\/a><\/p>\n

I start dancing at around 10.\u00a0 I dance for a half hour straight, by the end of the last song I am starting to feel my blood sugar drop again.\u00a0 I have to get off the dance floor \u2013 hydrate and get some fuel into my body quickly. I am realizing that dancing and not consuming does not work for my body (at least not yet \u2013 perhaps someday I can get to a place where my blood sugar feels more stable).<\/p>\n

Okay, here is the deal \u2013 the bar at this dance event does not juice, like Whole Foods.\u00a0 So, I try to get the closest I can get to a real juice.\u00a0 I order a water and grapefruit juice (not the biggest fan, but it does the job).\u00a0 More dancing after 10 minutes and the shakes have gone away.\u00a0 It was a great night of dancing.\u00a0 On the ride home, I really cheated at about 11:30 pm, I ripped out a piece of coconut flesh from my emergency coconut and ate it.\u00a0 It was so yummy.\u00a0 I am still pretty amazed I made it that long and didn\u2019t die!\u00a0 \":)\"<\/p>\n

Stay Tuned for Day 2<\/a>!<\/p>\n

No juicer \u2013 No worries. \u00a0I don\u2019t have one either. \u00a0At home I blend!<\/p>\n

For a phyto-rich breakfast, try this smoothie packed with fiber, plant protein, and nutrients:<\/p>\n

Green Smoothie<\/strong>
\n1 cup berries (fresh or frozen)
\n1 tablespoon almond butter
\n1\/4 cup coconut water or plain water
\n2 Tbs of hemp seeds or 1 Tbs of powder
\nHandful of organic baby spinach
\nLove and good intentions for the day<\/p>\n

Blend well and enjoy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For best blending results I love the Vitamix<\/strong> blender! Click on the image below<\/a> to learn more about this awesome Healthy Living blender that makes smoothies quickly and easily.<\/p>\n

\"Healthy<\/a>
\nGetting more healthy nutrition and digestive health from your smoothie<\/strong><\/p>\n

Drinking the smoothie slowly, by letting it linger in your mouth and swishing it around a little bit, gives the digestive enzymes in your mouth an opportunity to begin carbohydrate digestion and prepares it for better nutrition absorption<\/strong> in the small intestine.<\/p>\n

A good constipation guideline<\/strong> is 1-3 poops per day. Easy in, easy out – as they say. Anything less than this and you are at risk for low energy, cancer, toxic back up in your body. Healthy digestion and bowel movement are key to living well!<\/p>\n

To learn more about healthy digestion, download my free report: “8 easy ways to relieve constipation”<\/strong>\u00a0by entering your name and email on the right hand side of this website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The morning of March 5th, I woke up at 6:30 am (California time) feeling totally inspired after the Institute for Integrative Nutrition Conference.\u00a0 I had heard from some of my nutrition rockstars \u2013 David Wolfe, Paul Pitchford, Geneen Roth, Julia … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3oJFr-3l","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayawellness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayawellness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayawellness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayawellness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayawellness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/rayawellness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1156,"href":"https:\/\/rayawellness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions\/1156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayawellness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayawellness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayawellness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}