The Great Juicing Detox of 2014

That title sounds pretty epic, doesn't it?

This past weekend, over the Thanksgiving holiday, my husband, mother in law, and I watched the documentary, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.

The documentary follows the story of a man named Joe Cross, who goes on a juice fast for 90 days in order to improve his health and lose weight. Prior to the fast, he was on a lot of medicine, he was over weight, and had an autoimmune skin disease. His goal was to juice for 90 days, and get off all his meds, all while taking a road trip across the USA. The documentary was really good, and brought up a great deal of points regarding the benefits of juicing.

Later that day, my husband, out of the blue, mentioned that he would like to try juicing. He suggested a 10 day challenge, of nothing but juice. My first response, was a nervous giggle, because I've done detoxes before, and they are hard. Secondly, I know that I am weak, and feared that I would break. After some discussion, some research, and taking to juicers, we decided that we would do a 3 day detox, then reassess.

We have decided to make our own juice in the morning and evenings and then purchase some juices to drink during the work day. Currently, our fridge is packed with kale, cucumbers, celery,apples, pears, lettuce, carrots, and ginger.

I plan on documenting my findings, feelings, and thoughts about the process here, along with the juices I have been consuming.

So here we are, day 1.

Day 1: Monday.
Breakfast: 8 ounces hot water, with lemon. 16 ounces of celery, carrot, and apple juice. Taste good, not great!
Morning Snack: 16 more ounces of celery carrot, and apple juice. Taste good, not great.
Lunch: 8 Kale, Cucumber, Apple, and mint juice. Taste like crap. Would have been easier to just go outside and snack on the lawn.
Afternoon Snack: 8 ounces Orange, carrot, apple juice from Whole Foods. Tasty, but would really like something to eat.
Dinner: Nothing. Still full from afternoon juice.

Most of the day, I felt really full. I never felt hungry and never felt the desire to eat. I felt full, and had a ton of energy.

Currently, it is around 8:00PM on Monday night, and I am starting to get really hungry. I wish I would have had some juice at dinner time. I don't want to drink any now, because I don't want to be up all night using the restroom, so I am dealing with the hunger pains. I am also dealing with a headache right now, and I will probably go to bed early in order to avoid the temptation of swallowing an entire loaf of bread.

As for my husband, he has done great today, but he has had some adverse side effects that I have not had to deal with. He is a coffee drinker, and in addition to the hunger, he is also dealing with a pretty bad caffeine headache. When I came home from work today, we was laying on the bed in the dark suffering pretty badly. But, he is staying strong, and not giving in. He has chugged more juice, and water, and is hoping that the pain subsides tomorrow.

Here we are, at the end of day 1, hungry, headache ridden, tired, and irritable. I keep telling myself this is for my own good, for my health. This will make me healthier, better, and stronger.

Tell Me: Have you done a juice cleanse or detox? Any tips for surviving this?