Juice Cleanse: Recap of Days 1 and 2

Well, I started the juice cleanse yesterday, so now i'm about 2/3 done.  It's really amazing me how much I'm learning, both about myself and about this process.  The biggest thing I've learned is that hunger is relative, and food cravings are at least 90% a mental game. For example, I've been doing just fine with my plan of eating healthy and avoiding certain foods, but during this fast, I really want nothing in the world more than to eat a bucket of Boardwalk fries, cardboard and all.  Also cheese. That would be nice.  And maybe a burger, too. Hell, I saw an ad for Subway last night that had my mouth watering!! I don't even like Subway, really.

I'm off-track.  My point is, I'm doing something healthy, and though it's extreme, I'm still getting enough calories that I'm not craving these foods because I'm hungry.  I'm craving them because I told myself I can't have them.  I'm afraid that once I'm done, I'm going to have some wild rebellion and just eat the worst food I can get my hands on.  I doubt I will, because once the restriction is lifted, I'll go back to my regular habits of eating well-balanced meals.

So how has it been so far, other than the food fantasies?  It's not terrible.  Most of the juices I've made have been pretty good (some of the fruit-based ones are excellent, actually!), and making them is not terribly time-consuming.  The worst part has been cleaning the juicer.  It's a beast, seven different pieces, and I've been handwashing it at least three times a day.  But my energy level has been great, and actual hunger hasn't really been an issue.

Another big thing I've learned was that I actually snack a lot while I cook.  It was really hard for me to refrain from cutting the orange, for example, and popping a piece in my mouth.  Since I do a majority of the cooking in the house, I can imagine that I get a ton of anaccounted-for calories that way.  I'm still not really sure what to do about that.  I imagine most cooks taste-test as they go, right? It part of the process for me:  I don't know if I could just cut it out.  But I'm glad I pinpointed this.

 Ingredients for Joe Cross's "Mean Green" juice

My invention! Perfectly fruity and refreshing.

The results of those two juices=what I took to work yesterday.

Using water bottles actually turned out to be a stroke of genius.  Not only do the juices stay fresher when they're airtight, but being able to shake them vigorously is a big plus.  Each day so far I've had two veggie-based drinks and 1.5 fruit based ones.  I'm trying to be careful with fruit due to the high sugar content (of course they taste better!) but they do give me something to look forward to.

So.  One more day.  I feel like I'm having my most anti-social Saturday ever; I'll probably even go to bed early.  But I'm glad I chose this weekend.  For one, I work every day, so at least there's some time where I'm not focused on it. But also, I feel like eating well really gets away from me on the weekends.  I'm sure most Americans have a similar mentality ("back on the diet on Monday!")  but that's just exactly the type of cycle I'm trying to break.  Still, dinner tomorrow night is going to be the best meal I've ever eaten.