Since Logician and I decided to begin Juicing or as we prefer to call it Rebooting our life, many people around me have asked for more information, tips, and tricks we have learned along the way. In fact that was the reason I initially started posting pictures and recipes of the juices we made on my other blog. But I've realized that while some of our juicing ideas are there, there was no real post that pulled together all the things we have learned. So here it is, from me to you, what I learned about Rebooting.
Again the inspiration for our Juicing Fast came from Join the Reboot.
This is a long post, so feel free to scamper off and enjoy the outside and come back to it from time to time!
How long?
This is a tough question that has a lot of answers. I opted not to follow the Reboot exactly, in that we did not do as advised and seek medical evaluation first. Instead we decided we were going to aim for fifteen days of just juicing the first time around. We ended up making it about twelve I believe, before we began to slide and start adding 'normal' foods back in, and stopped juicing all together about day seventeen.
This time we were aiming for at least fifteen days but hoping to make it a full month. We ended up needing to stop around day nineteen. Still, that's a longer than the last one.
You have to ask yourself several questions when determining how long to juice for. The first three questions are really connected.
1) How many calories do I need a day?
2) Do I have the time to make enough juice/veggie meals to meet that need?
3) How active am I?
These three questions are part of the most important nutritional foundation for undertaking a diet/fast/cleanse of any kind. These questions were no where near the list of things we considered before beginning to Reboot and I learned the hard way how important they were almost immediately during our first Reboot. You may need to consult a nutritionist to decide how many calories you need a day. There are also all kinds of things online you can use to help. I have found that for me personally if I am not netting 1200 - 1600 calories a day I feel pretty sick, and that's where I went wrong.
What I mean when I say "netting" is that at the end of the day all your additions (eating/juicing/etc) subtracted by your activity (exercise/work/etc) equal an amount of calories that your body actually processes.
During our study of the various recipes on the Rebooting site we found that the average juice (serving sizes for us were kept between 16-20 ozs) has at least 200 calories and at most 400. We decided during our first Reboot that we would each take in three juices a day (ignoring the carefully lain out plan on the Reboot site because we're stubborn). That's where the situation got sticky for me.
Logician works in an office at a computer all day. So 1200 calories for him was fine, maybe even a little too much for his more sedentary lifestyle. But for me it's another story. As a Massage Therapist, I spend all my time at work using my muscles and burning calories in order to provide therapeutic relief for my clients. After doing some research to prepare for the second Reboot, I discovered that a one hour massage can burn anywhere from 300 to 500 or more calories, depending on the weight of the therapist and the type of work done. So let's say I averaged three hours a day at 300 calories, that's 900.
That meant at the end of the day I was only netting 300 calories! And most of the time I was doing 4-5 hours of massage a day on top of running errands, and doing the things one must do in life anyway.
It was no big surprise to me once I learned that, why though I lost weight and did feel less cravings for nasty food, I also felt weak and jittery. So for this second Reboot that we have now completed I upped my caloric intake. I added in V8 (simply because I do not have time to make the proper 4-6 juices a day) twice a day, drank two juices, and ate 1-2 smaller veggie based meals. When I felt the need for protein I used Portabella Caps, Quinoa, or nuts to gain the necessary amount.
So make sure you take some time to research your life. Look at what you do during the day and how active you really are. Do you go to work and sit at a desk, then come home and sit on the couch to watch TV? Or do you go to the gym three times a week, do a yoga class three days a week, work a physical job, and then bike for fun on the weekends? Explore yourself and your habits so you can plan appropriately.
4) How prepared am I for the emotional/physical/mental effects?
This is another big question that I was completely unprepared for. I was beginning to study my habits with food before we opted to try the Juicing option, and had just discovered how often I rewarded or consoled myself with food. Usually fast food, and almost always cheeseburgers from a drive thru chain. This was horrible for me on so many levels, not the least of which is the lactose intolerance I have. Each person reacts differently as you wean off solid (usually unhealthy) food and onto nutrient packed juice. I found myself getting cravings and bargaining with myself in an attempt to get myself to eat food that I did not want, when I wasn't hungry!
For example during the first Reboot we'd had a really horrible food weekend just before (Saturday we splurged on junk food for a Pizza/Movie night) and I had a bag of cheddar and sour cream potato chips I had barely eaten any of. The very first day I was sitting on the couch after breakfast and found my mind telling me how wasteful it would be of me to not eat those chips because I had just opened the bag. But what shocked me was that I didn't feel hungry at all. I then became determined to NOT eat the chips. It was a good thing too!
For me the second and third days were the hardest both times. Day one wasn't easy, but two and three were the hardest. I have a very negative emotional reaction to feeling hungry. It makes me crazy. So for the second Reboot when I felt hungry I did something about it. I first asked myself which part of me was telling me I was hungry. If it was my brain, I overruled it and drank water instead (I have read hunger can be an indication that really you need more water). If I found that my stomach was really rumbling I had a V8 or a small (really small) handful of almonds or cashews.
The biggest reward for this however was that once we finished the very first Reboot, I no longer craved cheeseburgers! I occasionally want a burger but can now make the choice to go to a very delicious restaurant that serves ecofriendly meat and choose a burger with tasty additions such as a homemade chimichurri and leave the cheese for someone else. No longer am I slave to my bodies addiction to big chain burgers and fries.
5) How motivated am I to make a change?
Face it, if you're not really ready to make a change you won't. It requires some strength of will and mind to overcome the years of nasty chemical based addictions our bodies have built up. It's not a walk in the park, but if you stick with it and get through the detox phase (the first few days) you will begin to feel better, healthier, and more alive.
---
Those were the main questions for us in preparing to Juice. Here are some of my personal recommendations:
1) Have a buddy. I know I could not have done it without someone who understood the temptation of how "good" food that was bad for me smelled, driving down the road. Having someone that when I wanted a slice of that horribly bad for me cake that showed up at work, I knew I could text or call and lament my situation too while drinking a juice - kept me from going insane quite a few times.
2) Don't try to make others join you. That being said, don't try to look around you at those nearest to you and say - Gosh you're so unhealthy, you should juice with me. That will make people angry at you. Instead focus on being grateful for the changes you're making in yourself. Others will get the message.
3) Don't weigh yourself every day. Another biggie, our bodies fluctuate wildly. So try to stick with weighing yourself once a week at most. Even weighing yourself every three days will sometimes make you see an increase instead of a decrease.
4) Be kind to yourself. We're not perfect beings. If you're tempted to 'fall off the wagon' don't beat yourself up for it. Instead try to understand what drew you to eat a food off your meal plan, and if it's that your body needs something try to add it in, in other ways. But even if it's a bad habit still lurking, be kind to yourself and realize that these habits were built over years and aren't likely to be cured overnight.
5) Have fun! I personally do not believe in drinking the exact same juice all the time. I know some people have success with that, but I prefer to stick to the key principal of have fun. There was nothing more exciting for us then exploring the farmer's markets, doing experiments of organic versus local versus conventional store bought produce, or tinkering with flavors and quantities. But be mindful of your recipes, be sure you're adding enough different items to get the necessary nutrients.
6) Visit the library or purchase used books online. Having many resources and understanding the various different recipes and ideas about juicing that are out there, will help you ground yourself. Explore with different juices, but keep an eye on quantities and healthfulness. Some juicing books are to add supplemental juices not meal replacements.
7) Prepare yourself! This means following a guide to preparing your body (such as the one on the Rebooting site) and taking time (we did two weeks this second reboot it worked amazingly) to let your body come off the more toxic foods (meats, dairy, coffee, soda, etc). The second Reboot we did a two week prep period and it helped immensely. The first week we cut out any meat but fish (gradually, starting on Monday and moving to only fish by Thursday) and were already a pretty low dairy intake household so that was easy for us to stop. Then by the end of the second week we had moved to one or two juices a day followed by a veggie meal that was free of meat, dairy, and most grains.
All in all, make sure you take time to really try understand your body, your needs, and why you're taking this step forward in your health. Focus on your commitment to bettering yourself while also taking into account the reality of your situation.
Please feel free to comment and ask questions!
Part 2 - Tips for Juicing will follow soon!
Again the inspiration for our Juicing Fast came from Join the Reboot.
This is a long post, so feel free to scamper off and enjoy the outside and come back to it from time to time!
How long?
This is a tough question that has a lot of answers. I opted not to follow the Reboot exactly, in that we did not do as advised and seek medical evaluation first. Instead we decided we were going to aim for fifteen days of just juicing the first time around. We ended up making it about twelve I believe, before we began to slide and start adding 'normal' foods back in, and stopped juicing all together about day seventeen.
This time we were aiming for at least fifteen days but hoping to make it a full month. We ended up needing to stop around day nineteen. Still, that's a longer than the last one.
You have to ask yourself several questions when determining how long to juice for. The first three questions are really connected.
1) How many calories do I need a day?
2) Do I have the time to make enough juice/veggie meals to meet that need?
3) How active am I?
These three questions are part of the most important nutritional foundation for undertaking a diet/fast/cleanse of any kind. These questions were no where near the list of things we considered before beginning to Reboot and I learned the hard way how important they were almost immediately during our first Reboot. You may need to consult a nutritionist to decide how many calories you need a day. There are also all kinds of things online you can use to help. I have found that for me personally if I am not netting 1200 - 1600 calories a day I feel pretty sick, and that's where I went wrong.
What I mean when I say "netting" is that at the end of the day all your additions (eating/juicing/etc) subtracted by your activity (exercise/work/etc) equal an amount of calories that your body actually processes.
During our study of the various recipes on the Rebooting site we found that the average juice (serving sizes for us were kept between 16-20 ozs) has at least 200 calories and at most 400. We decided during our first Reboot that we would each take in three juices a day (ignoring the carefully lain out plan on the Reboot site because we're stubborn). That's where the situation got sticky for me.
Logician works in an office at a computer all day. So 1200 calories for him was fine, maybe even a little too much for his more sedentary lifestyle. But for me it's another story. As a Massage Therapist, I spend all my time at work using my muscles and burning calories in order to provide therapeutic relief for my clients. After doing some research to prepare for the second Reboot, I discovered that a one hour massage can burn anywhere from 300 to 500 or more calories, depending on the weight of the therapist and the type of work done. So let's say I averaged three hours a day at 300 calories, that's 900.
That meant at the end of the day I was only netting 300 calories! And most of the time I was doing 4-5 hours of massage a day on top of running errands, and doing the things one must do in life anyway.
It was no big surprise to me once I learned that, why though I lost weight and did feel less cravings for nasty food, I also felt weak and jittery. So for this second Reboot that we have now completed I upped my caloric intake. I added in V8 (simply because I do not have time to make the proper 4-6 juices a day) twice a day, drank two juices, and ate 1-2 smaller veggie based meals. When I felt the need for protein I used Portabella Caps, Quinoa, or nuts to gain the necessary amount.
So make sure you take some time to research your life. Look at what you do during the day and how active you really are. Do you go to work and sit at a desk, then come home and sit on the couch to watch TV? Or do you go to the gym three times a week, do a yoga class three days a week, work a physical job, and then bike for fun on the weekends? Explore yourself and your habits so you can plan appropriately.
4) How prepared am I for the emotional/physical/mental effects?
This is another big question that I was completely unprepared for. I was beginning to study my habits with food before we opted to try the Juicing option, and had just discovered how often I rewarded or consoled myself with food. Usually fast food, and almost always cheeseburgers from a drive thru chain. This was horrible for me on so many levels, not the least of which is the lactose intolerance I have. Each person reacts differently as you wean off solid (usually unhealthy) food and onto nutrient packed juice. I found myself getting cravings and bargaining with myself in an attempt to get myself to eat food that I did not want, when I wasn't hungry!
For example during the first Reboot we'd had a really horrible food weekend just before (Saturday we splurged on junk food for a Pizza/Movie night) and I had a bag of cheddar and sour cream potato chips I had barely eaten any of. The very first day I was sitting on the couch after breakfast and found my mind telling me how wasteful it would be of me to not eat those chips because I had just opened the bag. But what shocked me was that I didn't feel hungry at all. I then became determined to NOT eat the chips. It was a good thing too!
For me the second and third days were the hardest both times. Day one wasn't easy, but two and three were the hardest. I have a very negative emotional reaction to feeling hungry. It makes me crazy. So for the second Reboot when I felt hungry I did something about it. I first asked myself which part of me was telling me I was hungry. If it was my brain, I overruled it and drank water instead (I have read hunger can be an indication that really you need more water). If I found that my stomach was really rumbling I had a V8 or a small (really small) handful of almonds or cashews.
The biggest reward for this however was that once we finished the very first Reboot, I no longer craved cheeseburgers! I occasionally want a burger but can now make the choice to go to a very delicious restaurant that serves ecofriendly meat and choose a burger with tasty additions such as a homemade chimichurri and leave the cheese for someone else. No longer am I slave to my bodies addiction to big chain burgers and fries.
5) How motivated am I to make a change?
Face it, if you're not really ready to make a change you won't. It requires some strength of will and mind to overcome the years of nasty chemical based addictions our bodies have built up. It's not a walk in the park, but if you stick with it and get through the detox phase (the first few days) you will begin to feel better, healthier, and more alive.
---
Those were the main questions for us in preparing to Juice. Here are some of my personal recommendations:
1) Have a buddy. I know I could not have done it without someone who understood the temptation of how "good" food that was bad for me smelled, driving down the road. Having someone that when I wanted a slice of that horribly bad for me cake that showed up at work, I knew I could text or call and lament my situation too while drinking a juice - kept me from going insane quite a few times.
2) Don't try to make others join you. That being said, don't try to look around you at those nearest to you and say - Gosh you're so unhealthy, you should juice with me. That will make people angry at you. Instead focus on being grateful for the changes you're making in yourself. Others will get the message.
3) Don't weigh yourself every day. Another biggie, our bodies fluctuate wildly. So try to stick with weighing yourself once a week at most. Even weighing yourself every three days will sometimes make you see an increase instead of a decrease.
4) Be kind to yourself. We're not perfect beings. If you're tempted to 'fall off the wagon' don't beat yourself up for it. Instead try to understand what drew you to eat a food off your meal plan, and if it's that your body needs something try to add it in, in other ways. But even if it's a bad habit still lurking, be kind to yourself and realize that these habits were built over years and aren't likely to be cured overnight.
5) Have fun! I personally do not believe in drinking the exact same juice all the time. I know some people have success with that, but I prefer to stick to the key principal of have fun. There was nothing more exciting for us then exploring the farmer's markets, doing experiments of organic versus local versus conventional store bought produce, or tinkering with flavors and quantities. But be mindful of your recipes, be sure you're adding enough different items to get the necessary nutrients.
6) Visit the library or purchase used books online. Having many resources and understanding the various different recipes and ideas about juicing that are out there, will help you ground yourself. Explore with different juices, but keep an eye on quantities and healthfulness. Some juicing books are to add supplemental juices not meal replacements.
7) Prepare yourself! This means following a guide to preparing your body (such as the one on the Rebooting site) and taking time (we did two weeks this second reboot it worked amazingly) to let your body come off the more toxic foods (meats, dairy, coffee, soda, etc). The second Reboot we did a two week prep period and it helped immensely. The first week we cut out any meat but fish (gradually, starting on Monday and moving to only fish by Thursday) and were already a pretty low dairy intake household so that was easy for us to stop. Then by the end of the second week we had moved to one or two juices a day followed by a veggie meal that was free of meat, dairy, and most grains.
All in all, make sure you take time to really try understand your body, your needs, and why you're taking this step forward in your health. Focus on your commitment to bettering yourself while also taking into account the reality of your situation.
Please feel free to comment and ask questions!
Part 2 - Tips for Juicing will follow soon!
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