Adventures in Juicing

If you don't know, Jake and I love documentaries. We watch a lot of them and always find them interesting.

Because of a documentary Jake and I have become big juicing weirdos.

A couple weeks ago we watched a documentary titled Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. It was about a fat sick guy who went on a juice fast and became healthy.
Jake was sold.
Jake bought a juicer.
Jake decided to go on a 10 day juice diet.

I told him I would juice with him for as long as I was home. (Seeing as I can't very well pack a giant electrical juicer, copious amounts of fresh fruits/veggies, knives, and a kitchen sink in my carry-on.)

I only juiced for four days, due to work. However, in four short days I learned a lot about the process. It is a lot of work and fairly messy. Also, you have to go to the grocery store a lot. (Especially if you don't have a full size refrigerator.) I think I went to the store five times, at least, in that short amount of time.

Our juice prefferences varied greatly.

He didn't like the green juice recipes. 

He didn't like any juice with a beet in it. 

He only liked juices with tomatoes and cilantro and other such things in them or juices made solely out of fruit.

I was the exact opposite. 

I liked the green juices and the sole fruit ones. (so not totally opposite.)

Here is a peek into our juicing adventures:

Two glasses of a very vibrant beet (and other things) juice.

The ingredients of Jakes preferred tomatoey juice.
It takes a lot of veggies to make a little juice. The most satisfying things to juice are carrots, citrus, cucumbers, and celery. The least satisfying things are anything leafy and ginger; hardly any juice comes out and your shoulders slump in disappointment.

The tasty green juice. I'm being serious people.
Like I said, big juicing weirdos.

Here is a sequence of photos in which Jake is sampling a juice he is dreading to taste and does not care for:

Reluctantly picking up his glass.

Smelling the beverage before tasting, but of course.

Playing with the canisters on the shelf. Delaying the inevitable.

Taking a sip.

Hanging head in disgust, trying to shake off the taste.

For the record, I liked that particular juice.

For Jake, the 10 day detox turned into 6 days. It had to end. He lost about 7 pounds, and his clothes stared getting big. (With all those grocery runs we couldn't afford a run for a new wardrobe as well) In 4 days I lost about four pounds. I felt fine during the fast and going back to food was not weird or uncomfortable. Jake feels that his mind is clearer. The fast also helped both of us with our coffee habit.

However, before you think it was all fine and dandy, we must talk about day two. It is a beast. Thankfully, because I was at work our days two's did not coincide. Day two turned Jake into a big baby whiner man child who required so so much sympathy, cheers, and hugs. Day two turned me into a hands-off, don't what to hear it, crabby pants. It wasn't cute.

I would have pictures of our first dinner back on food, I even brought my camera to the restaurant. But, once that food came it was in our mouths; there was no time for pictures. (If you want an idea of what we looked like, watch a video of a competitive eater training). We had salads, bread, appetizers, and entrees, then went home for dessert.

Juicing was fun but there is just nothing quite like food. 

For old times sake I did make myself a carrot, celery, apple, and romaine lettuce juice for breakfast.