10 things i learned from juicing

It’s been a whole week since I was on my juice fast. I’ve been eating healthy most of the week and still feel great. After reflecting on the experience I wanted to share with you the top 10 things I learned during the juicing process and in the week since.

1. Make sure to include high glycemic index fruits and vegetables throughout the day and at least one fruit with every juice. Fruits naturally have more calories than vegetables and I found this was a good way for me to keep up my energy level over the course of the week. Plus, it makes your vegetable juices taste better.

2. Golden beets are not the same as purple beets. Purple beets are sweet and taste pretty good when juiced. I cannot say the same for golden beets. However, after my pee turned pink (I kid you not!) from eating the purple kind I checked out golden beets. I returned to the purple stuff as soon as I went back to the store to stock up on more veggies mid week. The coloring is harmless so why make my tastebuds suffer?

3. Do not chug this juice quickly. It will give you a tummy ache and gas. Lesson learned on day 3 as I needed to head out quickly and did not have enough time to drink properly. I suffered over the next few hours for that little mistake.

4. A lot of time can be saved when you are not having to plan meals, cook three times a day, and do a full kitchen clean up after each one. However, I truly missed sitting down to have a meal with my hubby. It felt like we were missing something for a while, but it sure felt special when we sat down to eat the day after the fast was over.

5. If you don’t like the veggie and fruit foam that is created while juicing, here is a trick to minimize the amount that ends up in your glass. Just after you finish putting the fruits and vegetables through the juicer, stir the juice container and put it in the freezer to cool and settle for a couple minutes. While it’s cooling you’ll have a minute to clean your juice machine. When you remove your juice DO NOT stir it. Just pour it through the foam catcher spout. That’s it.

6. Surprisingly celery has a really strong taste and can be overpowering and salty so use it sparingly if you don’t like it much (like me!).

7. As your pallet increases in sensitivity, you will be able to taste all of the ingredients individually that make up the juice. It’s a bit strange, but you totally can. Don’t worry, as the week goes on you will begin to like kale.

8. Your stomach will shrink and you will feel full on less food. However, my body has been telling me to eat smaller meals more frequently. It likes the schedule of eating every 4 hours now so I keep a healthy snack close by.

9. Turns out apple stems do not need to be removed with my juicing machine. Should have watched the Breville videos sooner. I could have saved myself a lot of pain on day 2. Another surprise, that machine is tough enough to work through a pineapple rind too!

10. There is something very sensual about food. Seeing an appetizing meal, smelling it’s beautiful aroma, taking a bite, and chewing it slowly while all the flavors meld together in your mouth is divine. Not chewing food for 10 days made me really appreciate it more. I can tell you I will be a lot less likely to settle for a quick bite from the local fast food chain. Food deserves to be treated better than that!