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.
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).
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.
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.
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!)
I lost 2 pounds in one day, and weight is not something I want to lose, so adding food back by day 4 is pretty much a no choice for me.
It was not too time consuming. Making a juice a rinsing my juicer takes me no longer that making a sandwich and putting everything away, so time wise it is no big deal. Actually, it makes life easier, not preparing food!
I do believe our bodies were created to detox themselves, but due to an environment of chemicals and toxins in our air, food and water, I think our systems are getting overloaded. Some can handle this overload. Others can’t. Being a 2 time cancer survivor (Melanoma -Stage 1 and Breast Cancer-Stage 3), my immune system obviously needs help, which is why I have so embraced nutrition.