Drinks/ RECIPES

Juice Cleanse Day 2- Fail or Lessons Learned

Day 2 was interesting.

It started out great.  I knew I had energy before I was even vertical.  My eyes popped open at 7:00 a.m. and I turned to my husband and said “I’m awake!  Like REALLY awake!”  It was weird to open my eyes and instantly feel awake and like getting up.  Is this how you morning people feel?  Jealous.

I started the day out with my typical lemon water.  16 oz.

For breakfast, I decided to skip the lighter breakfast juice options drinks and go right to the Mean Green.
It tasted good and I felt full.

The Mean Green

6 Kale Leaves
1 Cucumber
2 Green Apples
4 Celery
1/2 Lemon
1 Ginger Root (thumb size)

No headache from lack of coffee.  The only ache or pain I had was slight headache on day 1 that lasted about 30 minutes.  No big deal.  I’ve been thankful, lots of people going through detox report headaches.

Mid morning, I started craving savory.  Most of these juices have apples in them which make them more sweet.  The thought of anything sweet was not appealing.  I wanted a juice that tasted like a savory meal.  I went through my recipes and found one that was called Bruchetta.  I love Bruchetta, so off to the store to buy tomatoes and basil.  Tomatoes was about the only vegetable that I didn’t buy (of course).

The Bruchetta
2 Roma Tomatoes
1-2 Cloves Garlic
20 leaves Basil

I made the Bruchetta.  It didn’t make much juice, but it did hit the spot for my savor craving.  I put ice in it, but after tasting it strained out the ice.  I wanted it room temp.  Actually, I wanted it hot like soup broth, but the rule is nothing over 104 degrees (kills nutrients?) and I didn’t want to take the time to check my soups temperature, so I drank it a bit chilled.

As the afternoon wore on, I started feeling tired, weak and hungry.

It got worse and worse around dinner time.  I found myself craving foods I have not wanted in forever!  I’m sure it didn’t help that I made lasagna for my family.  I found myself staring at the noodles and wondered if licking the sauce off of them would count as ‘vegetable juice.’ I might or might not have stuck my finger in the sauce for a quick taste.  Shhh.

My choice of juice for dinner was Beet Rejuvenator.  I really used to hate beets, but the more I eat them, the more my palate adjusts.  This juice was really quite good.  It surprised me.  The carrots help sweeten and ginger and lemon always add a great flavor.  Cucumber mellows everything out.

The Beet Rejuvenator

3-4 Carrots
1 Cucumber
1/2 Lemon
1 Ginger Root (1 inch piece)
1/2 Beet Root(including stem and 1-2 leaves)
Night wore on and the hunger was not bad, but the cravings were.  Hard to explain.  I didn’t feel good at all.  I wanted going to go for a night time run but there was no way my body would. I made some hot herbal tea and started reading up on side effects of juice fasting and yes, there are some, but the ones I was having were making me a little nervous.  They seemed extreme.  I was shaky, craving weird food, dizzy, and my brain felt cloudy.  Foggy.

I told my husband I didn’t feel right.  I stood up and instantly had to put my head between my legs.  I felt like I was going to pass out.  I immediately knew it was a blood sugar issue.  I’ve always have had suspicions that I might be prone to hypoglycemia.

My husband asked me a question and I pretty much bit his head off.  It was a good thing the kids were in bed at this time, or they may be headless, too.  Right after my bite, I said, “something is wrong, I need to check my blood sugar. ” We have a kit in the house for my youngest, who was diagnosed with Diabetes but then the diagnosis was withdrawn (that’s another post, super awesome miracle), so we have a kit on hand.

Normal blood sugar for me is over 100.  You are considered Hypoglycemic if you are under 70.  It effects brain function if it goes under 50.  I was at 68.

 I immediately went to the kitchen, and cut up an orange.  It was delicious.  I also had a dry piece of toast, I wanted crackers, but we were out.  I immediately felt better.

I checked my levels today and they are normal.  Yay!

I am going to continue on with this, but I’m adding food.  I will still get at least 2 fresh juices in each day, striving for 3, and eat very clean for my meals.  I still feel like it is a cleanse, and at the Reboot site they have options for juice cleanses with food, so I don’t feel like this is a big fail. I will listen to my body and eat accordingly– unless it tells me to have a steak and a snickers bar.

While on message boards, I read something interesting that made a whole lot of sense to me.  Here is the conversation:

Hey guys, a mild caution.  Fasting is not for everyone.  Most Americans will benefit, but not all. Fasts are good for people that have too much congestion, which most Americans have. But, if you are deficient of energy, pale tongue, a weak pulse, a fast can make you more deficient, and thus a bad thing. I have a friend who put a man on a fast, and his results were like this guys. The man was so impressed he sent his wife in to him. He thought why not? So he put her on the same fast and it almost killed her. She was weak, he was strong. She was deficient, he was excess. People who are weak, or deficient should not fast unless it is very carefully designed for them. 

I’m not sure if my issues were I am small and have no extra weight on me, if my body was losing weight to quickly, (4 pounds in 2 days) or if I was already prone to hypoglycemia and my body just can’t handle juice only. It could also be that I didn’t drink enough juice, I just couldn’t fit in 5 a day, only 3.  Most people don’t have an issue with this.


If you visit the Facebook page at Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, there are people who THRIVE on long term juice fasts.  There are real life stories of all types of weight loss and diseases that are being treated with juice!  It seems especially useful for auto-immune disease. 

I am still a huge fan of juicing and don’t want to discourage anyone from trying it.  If you want encouragement, just visit their facebook page.  The stories are amazingly inspirational.

 I felt AWESOME the first day 1/2, and when I juiced through my cancer treatment ( I had one a day) it really kept me from getting too sick and I felt way better on those days, so I am excited to find the happy balance for me and my body.  I am relieved I can experiment with grains, fruits and vegetables while on this cleanse.  I will continue to juice and use up all the amazing produce in my refrigerator, eating as much as I can raw, but I will be also be adding some cooked food to my cleanse. 



 I will continue to post what I eat and how it makes me feel throughout the rest of this week.

Lessons learned?

~Pure juice fasting is great for a lot of people, but not for everyone.
~Listen to my body
~You can still have a successful cleanse by juicing and keeping diet clean
~There is a reason there are several “reboot” plans to choose from
~Food rocks!  (but so does juice, especially Mean Green Juice!)

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  • Margaret
    May 16, 2012 at 8:25 am

    Great info. Today is day 23 of my 30-40 juice cleanse. Always looking for inspiration. Thank you!!
    http://veganrawfood.net

  • Anonymous
    March 23, 2012 at 12:09 am

    I would love to hear the awesome testimony of your daughter sometime. I love your blog! Chris

  • Molly
    March 22, 2012 at 5:46 pm

    lots of people struggle through day two. I think you have to just go to bed. you would have awoke fine. Or if it was blood sugar related. a good carrot, apple and ginger always pulled me through. I wanna say good job for listening to your body, Because thats ultimatly what matters, but i did a juice fast for ten days, felt so freaking aweful at times from day 1-3 mostly, but came out absolutely better than ever and day 4 through 10 were pretty much like autopilot, i felt so stinkin good.So part of me believes you could have done it 😉 a part juice fast is ok too, but i really think the body does super well on JUST juice, it just takes some adjusting.

  • Chris
    March 22, 2012 at 4:28 pm

    Sorry you had a rough time on day 2!! Hang in there! I am starting my juice detox on Monday. All the info. you have blogged about will be so helpful! Off to radiation!!
    Have a blessed day!!!

  • Deanna
    March 22, 2012 at 4:01 pm

    I wish I had more time to comment, but I wanted to say this….I have low blood sugar issues and from everything I’ve read I will not do a strictly juice fast. BUT I have compiled my notes on doing a Daniel fast. It’s something I’d like to do soon but just haven’t had the chance to sit down and plan the days I want to do it and shop in preparation. Have you researched that?

  • LeahJo
    March 22, 2012 at 2:11 pm

    This is awesome information. I’ve been considering doing a cleanse but I am pretty nervous of my side effects. Guess listening to your body is the best thing to do like you said.

  • karlamcurry
    March 22, 2012 at 12:14 pm

    I get dizzy and headache-y like that every time I don’t eat on time, especially if I don’t have breakfast first thing in the morning. I can get really cranky, too! Once I tried cutting out carbs and doing protein (like South Beach), and I felt really foggy. Just because something sounds healthy doesn’t mean the regimine is for everyone!

  • Beth
    March 22, 2012 at 12:12 am

    My daughter started doing the Beauty Detox Solution by Kimberly Snyder a few months ago. She lost some weight but mainly she just feels great pretty much all the time. Mostly, she does it for her overall health. My husband and I do it along with her, loosely. The end result is we bought a vitamix and love using it. It is an aweseome machine. My aunt does the juice detox you are doing and seeing the two side-by-side, I prefer the GGS (glowing green smoothing) because I like the bulk of smoothies as aposed to juice. Unfortunately, I prefer the savory smoothies while my daughter and husband like the sweet ones- more apples for them. Also, Sarah (daughter) leans towards fermented foods, which is an ideal addition to daily eating. Sarah also does probiotics along with her smoothie diet. The detox solution actually teaches a whole digestion method, which is hard for me to follow, but my daughter does a good job of following it. Thanks for sharing all your experiences. This is good to know.

  • Anonymous
    March 21, 2012 at 11:07 pm

    I am glad you listened to your body! And you’re right, fasting is not for everyone. I also tend to think I am prone to hypoglycemia. I wonder if your body was going through a carbohydrate withdrawal though? Even if you are eating healthy grains, your body will go through withdrawal. I did this thing called the V-Diet (Velocity Diet) – it sounds bad, but it was created by a nutritionist and personal trainer – and almost the exact same thing happened to me. I had to basically quit because I couldn’t move.

  • Rebecca
    March 21, 2012 at 10:26 pm

    Thanks for sharing! I would love to try juicing, but being diabetic, I knew that pure juicing wouldn’t be for me. I have to really balance my carbohydrate and protein intake for my body to behave. I do drink protein heavy green monsters with water for the liquid instead of soy milk to cut down on the carbs, but I would love to add raw juice – maybe as a snack or meal substitute every once in awhile. I appreciate you sharing all of the information on the ‘reboot’ and for keeping it real!

  • Jenni
    March 21, 2012 at 10:04 pm

    Good for you! I also felt foggy and slllooowww. My blood pressure is always WAY low but not sure about blood sugar. I’m all about the combination fast.

  • karen gerstenberger
    March 21, 2012 at 9:40 pm

    I’m very glad you shared this – it is NOT a fail, but a lesson learned. I am trying to add juice to my diet, once a day at least. I got a Jack LaLanne juicer at Costco and it is a good one for me (a big improvement on my garage-sale-beauty that cost $5 and lasted about 5 years!). I think most of us eat more food than we need to, and juicing can help to slow us down, but in your case, it seems that a bit more is needed, not less. It’s important to be reminded to listen to your body – one size does not fit all! Good for you – and thank you for all of the great ideas.

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