Juice Feast, Days 19 - 21

Well, I've made it three weeks and still doing well. There hasn't been anything unusual or spectacular to report, although my eyes are slightly improved today. This happens every so often, and there's no rhyme or reason to it from what I can tell, so I don't want to get too excited about it. It's just a cautiously optimistic observation.

One thing I can say for sure is that I do not like cascara sagrada & have decided not to use it anymore. I'm not doing daily enemas either. My elimination has slowed considerably over the past few days and I'm thinking of starting probiotics soon. It's not recommended to start them until after the cleansing phase, at which point the rebuilding phase of the feast begins - right around day 75. I'm modifying the program and may not go that long anyway. In fact I've decided to go one more week on juices - one month in total - and then add green smoothies.

In the second month my plan is to have 1 quart of green smoothies and 2 quarts of juices per day. I'm not juicing too many fruits and I miss the variety, not to mention the fiber. So tomorrow I start my final week of juices only, and I'm already looking forward to that first smoothie next week, with papaya and spinach!

Juice Feast, Days 7&8

Many people say that the first 3 days of a fast or a cleanse are the hardest. For me they were the easiest. Yesterday, day 8, was the toughest yet. The hunger wasn't so bad, yet I had a strong desire to make a smoothie, and even though I was irritable off and on all day I stuck with the program. The idea of switching to a 90day smoothie/juice cleanse appealed to me, especially considering how challenging it is to keep the fridge stocked and to make time in my already-filled day to make the juices. Detroit is an organic food desert, and I have to drive 25 minutes (one way) to the closest store that has most everything I need. It's hit or miss with the local farmers market when it comes to organic. Unfortunately, they have little or nothing to offer. Yes, day 8 was somewhat bleak and I'm glad it's behind me. I'm feeling much brighter and optimistic today.

On the juice feast it's recommended to do an enema each day during the first week, then less often while taking cascara sagrada. I've read that it's common to have solid bowel movements during the first couple weeks or so during the feast. That has not been my experience (except for the first 3 days). The evening of day 7 I took cascara sagrada before bed, as advised, unaware of what was in store for me. My sleep was interrupted with trips to the rest room during the night and most of yesterday morning. I skipped taking it last night and I'm not sure about tonight.

My body is releasing toxins at an accelerated level and I do want them to find their way out of my body, but I also would love a good night's sleep and to be able to leave the house when I need to. There's a learning curve here and I may go back to read through the juicefeaster.com website and Angela Stokes' A Juice Feaster's Handbook to pick up some helpful tidbits. Meanwhile I will continue to drink my juices and envision all the wonderful cleansing and healing taking place within my body.