Honestly, so far so good. I absolutely LOVE using my juicer. I am having so much fun combining different fruits and veggies and ginger and garlic and cilantro to make all sorts of exciting flavors. I ended up going back to Pike Place this afternoon to buy some more fruits and veggies. I realized I didn’t have enough, so I spent another $20 on supplies, and I think that will last me. They have these super awesome mangoes there that they keep pushing (”The best mangoes in the whole world!” the produce boys yell as you walk by), so I bought two more of those. I remembered how much I like mango and cilantro salsa, so I made mango and cilantro juice, with just a touch of apple, and it was delicious. I’m seriously tooling around with the idea of starting a little fresh-juice stand in downtown Seattle. I really think I have a knack for coming up with recipes!
I haven’t really had any side effects so far, either. I haven’t been hungry, exactly, I’ve just been having some serious cravings for starchy carbs and refined sugar. I want pizza, tacos, sandwiches, even just flavored rice. It’s interesting to step back and examine the feeling: I am not hungry, but I feel incapable of focusing on anything until I have starch. It’s obvious how addicted I am to starchy carbs, and I’m hoping this fast can help break the cycle of that addiction. I’m also craving protein, like a piece of salmon, but I suppose that’s normal. But I read about all these horrible first-day side effects of juice fasts, like vision problems or your whole body being stinky, and I haven’t really had anything like that happen. I’ve been perfectly functional today, and, to be honest, it’s nice to not always have to be thinking about what I’m going to eat next. The answer is always that I’m going to eat juice. It’s a nice psychological rest not to have to think too much about food.
Last thing: I’ve had a lot of you remind me to watch my sugar intake with my pre-diabetes, because fruits and some veggies are so high-sugar. Here’s the thing: Every doctor I’ve talked to has basically stated that it is way more important for me to lose 10-15 pounds than it is to watch my sugar intake. It’s bizarre. I keep asking them what I should be eating, what I shouldn’t be eating, and nobody seems to care what I’m eating. “Just exercise daily and aim to lose about fifteen pounds.” That’s what I keep hearing. And, for the record, I’m not medically overweight. I am well within the normal weight for my height. But these doctors keep pushing the weight loss. So I’m not too worried about the fruit juices negatively impacting my sugar levels, since the doctors don’t seem to care either. Rather, I’m hoping this juice fast can break some of my addictions to bad foods and help me to think differently and more mindfully about what I eat, so that I can lose weight over the long term.
