Money Monday: The Cost of Juicing

14 days ago, my husband and I decided to do a pure fruit and vegetable juice detox. At first, we were planning on doing a 3 day detox, but, after 3 days, we decided to keep going for a full 10 days.

The detox has been both hard and unbelievably rewarding. We have both lost weight, slept better, and feel healthier overall. We are currently continuing to juice for two meals a day, while eating a healthy sensible meal of salad and lean protein each night.

The lessons we learned from juicing will come in another post later this week, but for now, lets get down to the nitty gritty of our 10 day challenge.

To start, we needed to purchase a juice. We chose to purchase the Breville Juice Fountain from Bed Bath and Beyond. The list price was $149.00, but I found a coupon, and saved $30.00, so we only paid $120.00 (pre tax).

Then, we purchased the fruit and veggies. The first shopping trip was the most expensive, because we were not sure what we were going to like, and spent around $75.00. That first round of produce lasted around a week. Since then, we have done four shopping trips, and each trip has varied in price.

The four shopping trips cost the following (rounded up to keep the math nice and simple):

Shopping Trip 1: 75.00
Shopping Trip 2: 35.00
Shopping Trip 3: 35.00
Shopping Trip 4: 35.00
Shopping Trip 5: 35.00

So here we are, day 14 of juicing, and while we are no longer doing a pure detox. Again, we are still juicing during the day, and eating at night.

The grand total for 10 full days of juicing: $335.00

This is the first time that I have calculated how much we spent on this challenge. Honestly, that number is a bit shocking. That is not cheap at all! But, when you pull out the cost for the juicer, the cost for the produce was around $215.00.

As I stated above, this was not a cheap experiment, but we knew we were going to spend more than we normally would on food this month. But, I am also taking into account the long term effects on our health and our budget. We see food as fuel, and while we are not opposed to taking medicine, we both prefer to take as little medicine as possible. By spending a little more money now, on the front end and improving our health, we are saving money on the back end because we don't have to spend those dollars on health care. Therefore, I have no problem spending the extra money.

Juicing Detox, Day 3 and 4

Here we are, the end of day 4, and we are still going strong.

If you have not been following along these past few days, my husband and I are in the midst of a juicing detox. In this challenge, are only allowed to drink pure fruit and vegetable juice, no food, just juice. We decided that we would spend 3 days doing the detox, and reassess. If we felt good, we would continue for a few more days. If we were struggling, we would see if we need to make some modifications.

First, its not been easy, at all. I never realized how much time and effort I spent either eating, preparing, and thinking about my meals. A significant portion of my day is spent cooking, eating, and cleaning up after meals. Now that we are not sitting down to eat, the mornings are much slower, and the nights are longer.

Second, I never realized how much I snacked throughout the day. This detox is making me much more mindful of what I put in my body.  Even though many of my snacks were healthy, I still ate without thinking about it. For me, I think I spent a lot of time eating out of habit, boredom, or as a form of entertainment. I very rarely asked myself, "Am I actually hungry?"

For me, day 3 was extremely hard. I had to drink some juices that I did not enjoy at all, and they were a bit tough to stomach. There were two drinks during the day that were majority kale, and they did not go down easily. By the end of the day, I was exhausted, and had a headache. I ended up going to bed before 8:00PM because I didn't feel well.

Day 4, (Thursday) has been much easier for me. I had 2 more kale juices today, but they were not quite as bad as day 3. I've found that I just have to chug them down quickly rather than sip them. As much as I detest the kale drinks, I cannot deny that after I drink them, I get a huge burst of energy for a few hours.

For my husband, day 4 has been a challenge. The newness of the challenge has worn off, and now we know what to expect from what we drink. He was already laying on the couch when I came home from work, so I know he's been struggling today.

There have been a few bright spots these past 2 days. We added spinach to our juice for the first time, and I didn't mind it at all. I wouldn't say it was good, but I would say it was much better than kale.

I've also found that I can stomach the harder, heavier juices in the middle of the day. Most days my stomach is a bit off in the mornings, so I need something light. Plus, I have found that I enjoy having a pure fruit juice in the evening as a treat, which encourages me to drink the harder, greener juices during the middle of the day.

Things are good here in the house o' juice. We have struggled a bit, but are staying strong. We both know this is for our own good, for our own health, and that when we are done, our bodies will be stronger, healthier, and better.

Juicing, Day 2

Kale sucks.

This is overpriced organic kale. It was terrible yesterday, its terrible today, and will be terrible forever. 

I don't like to eat kale. I don't like to drink kale. I hate kale. And in juice, kale is everywhere.

Kale has been and should always be a garnish, only. 

I may need to backtrack for a moment. My husband and I are currently doing a dextox where the only thing we consume is fruit and vegetable juice. We are doing a mix, making our own and purchasing some from a juice bar. (Could that sound any more pompous....juice bar). 

Today, Tuesday, marks the end of day 2 of the challenge. 

Today's menu

Breakfast: Orange, carrot, and celery juice, 8 oz. Homemade 

Snack: Orange, carrot, and celery juice, 8oz. Homemade

Lunch: Beet, kale, carrot, and parsley juice, 8oz. Juice Bar

Snack: None

Dinner: Orange, pineapple, and pear juice, 8oz. Homemade. 

Day 2 of the detox has been better than I thought, yet still difficult. This morning, it was extremely hard to wake up, I was just exhausted. Most mornings, I wake up quickly, and head straight to the gym. This morning, I could not even fathom getting out of bed, so I slept an extra hour and half. I also noticed that I was stiff, sore, and my joints were aching. I took a hot bath, and did some stretching, and felt a bit better. I called a friend on the way to work, and she thinks I am detoxing from sugar, because those are some tale tale detoxing signs. 

Around lunch, I found that I was really hungry. I broke into the beet juice, and that drink was rough. I ended up having to hold my breath and chug it as quickly as possible. It tasted terrible, but, it kept me full for the rest of the afternoon. 

Finally, around dinner time, my husband and I were both hungry, and craving something sweet, so we made our own pure fruit juice. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! By far, the best tasting juice of the day!

Over all, today was much easier than I expected it to be. I am finding that if I drink juice every two hours, I don't get hungry. I've had very few headache's like I thought I would. Plus, my cravings for processed foods has been waining. 2 days of no eating, and while I am not hungry, I have found that I miss the act of eating. I just want to chew something. 

If anything, thus far, this challenge has taught me how often I mindlessly snack, and give into my cravings. 

As far as my husband, yesterday he was having some pretty severe caffeine withdrawals. He was fighting some nausea and a terrible headache. Today, it has subsided just a bit, but he has been really strong and pushed through the pain. 

Overall, we are doing well. Day 3 is going to be tough because we have some pretty terrible juices waiting for us, so we will have to be pretty disciplined to get through it. I will report back tomorrow!

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?