My 3-day Juice Fast
Although I have been intermittent fasting on and off for a couple of years, I have never done a juice fast. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure that I could do it!
After a tough weekend resulting in several personal epiphanies (I need another blog post for that!!), and news of a friend being diagnosed with Breast Cancer, I decided to do a Juice Cleanse as a “reset” both physically and mentally.
This was definitely going to be a challenge for me, but one that I was ready to take on.
I jumped online to order my juices (through Noosa Juice Cleanse) and hijacked a friend to do it with me…believe me, you will need a friend to do this challenge with. It made it easier knowing someone else was on the same journey and experiencing the hunger pains with me! Our text messages back and forth for the 3 days were priceless (and full of pizza, hot chips, coffee and red wine emojis!).
Ordering/Making Juices
I decided on a variety of juices. I have always been a big believer in eating a variety of foods, so drinking “food” was no different – Drink the rainbow!
The idea of a juice fast is to drink 5-6 juices per day, water and herbal teas only.
Juice 1: Lettuce, Celery, Cucumber, Apple, Kale, Dandelion Greens, Lemon, Supergreens Powder
Juice 2: Carrot, Apple, Cucumber, Lemon, Ginger, Turmeric
Juice 3: Water, Lemon, Apple, Cayenne Pepper, Celtic Sea Salt, Stevia Powder
Juice 4: Carrot, Beetroot, Cucumber, Apple, Celery, Lemon
Juice 5: Water, Chia Seeds, Lemon Myrtle Leaf, Lemongrass, Liquorice Root, Vanilla Bean Powder (optional)
Juice 6: Water, Cashews, Medjool Dates, Chai Spices, Vanilla Bean Powder, Coconut Butter, Celtic Sea Salt, Turmeric
Supplements: Aloe Vera Juice, B12 Methylcobalamin, Nascent Iodine, Magnesium.
6 Tips for JUICE FASTING
1) Make sure when getting your juice, that it is certified organic. This is a detox – pesticides and glyphosates are toxic to our system and we want to eliminate these as far as possible. When toxins are consumed, the immune system goes into overdrive to eliminate them. This reduces the ability of the immune system as it is constantly in overdrive. If the gut lining is in any way compromised, for example leaky gut syndrome, then the immune system will overreact to toxins.
The idea of the fast is to “redirect” the immune system to healing the body. This is why so many people find unbelievable healing through juice fasting and water fasting.
2) Juice Fasting is something that we should all do periodically, at least every six months – I strongly recommend you give it a try.
3) Celebrate the fast by treating yourself to a massage – massage will also help speed up the detox process
4) You may experience tiredness, moodiness, anger, weakness, light headedness, skin breakouts, irritability. Be patient and breathe through these moments!
5) Make sure the people living with you are on board with your fast – it can be really tough cooking meals and watching other people eat. Their support will keep you honest!
6) Do not “carb-load” to prepare for your fast – rather eat clean, plant-based food 2 days before and 2 days after the fast – do not do what I did! (see my journal below!).
My Juice Fast Journal
The night before Day 1:
I felt really apprehensive when I saw the quantity of jars of juices I would be consuming over the next few days. I decided to “calorie-load” and bought a vegan ice cream. Absolutely no good, but I was concerned I would run out of energy J (Typical me!)
Weight: 59kg PH Test: 6.5 (which is slightly acidic – 6.75 to 7 being optimal)
Day 1:
I woke up early and went on an 8km hike and watched the sunrise alone on a deserted beach. It was a spectacular way to “see-in” the fast.
I felt great until midday when the hunger pains started. I was really hungry and needed to employ all my will power (and my juice-cleanse-friend) to stay on track. By 3 pm coffee cravings kicked in too. But my determination to complete this fast was greater and Will Power won the battle.
By the evening of the first day I noticed my tongue was white, possibly a symptom of detoxing.
Day 2
The hunger pains went away but I had moments of extreme exhaustion and the feeling of just wanting to sleep. I only felt this way for a total of about 1.5 hours in the day, so it didn’t negatively affect my whole day. I also started feeling cold and couldn’t seem to warm up. I went to bed early with a slight headache.
Day 3:
I woke up feeling very clear headed, no headache and ready to take on the world. The hunger pains had disappeared, and I had no desire to eat. In fact, I attended a CrossFit class and felt absolutely fine. This feeling of clarity was truly incredible. The world almost looked brighter and clearer (that’s how I felt anyway!). I also felt like I was in the right head space to do some self reflection and explore my emotional state.
The downside – I was missing savoury, warm food, so I replaced this with a hot, Epsom salts bath (and another juice!)
Weight: 57.7kg (1.3kg lost) PH Test: 7.15 (a great result). And absolutely NO bloating.
Day 4:
In my excitement of having completed the 3 day fast, celebrated with a cookie and a coffee! Now, it’s no way to end a fast, but honestly, I felt like I deserved it. I followed the cookie and coffee with a healthy smoothie, so it wasn’t all bad. Strangely enough, I wasn’t that hungry all day until dinnertime, when I devoured a few slices of Vegan Pizza, which in retrospect, probably wasn’t the best idea.
All-in-all, my research on fasting has shown that it has some incredible benefits for the mind and the body. I know for sure that I feel mentally and physically stronger and better for having done it! I do suggest that you contact a health care professional if you want to do longer fasts, and I wouldn’t fast whilst pregnant or breastfeeding. My “juice-fast-friend” was Clare Sultmann, human-extraordinaire, published author and founder of Dear Molly. Her rendition of the 3 day fast is here https://www.dearmolly.com/articles/3-day-juice-fast/ (this is so worth the read!)
Feel free to comment on your own tips for juice fasting or what your experience was. I would love to hear that I am not the only one eating cookies, pizza and ice cream before and after fasting.