Weekly Weigh In: Results of 7-Day Juice Diet

Did you think I could do it...drink only raw juice and smoothies for one week?
Last week I said I was going on a Seven Day Juice Diet. I juiced from Saturday night to Saturday night. Doug juiced with me. Here's the skinny:


Why Did We Juice For A Week?
If you read Sick of It, you got the details. We were sick of going to bed on a full stomach after attending events with late meals. We were sick of our clothes not fitting well. We wanted to cleanse and detox. We were ready to feel energized, light and healthy. We needed to get back in control over what and when we ate. And last, but definitely not least, we wanted a jump start on our weight loss. You can read about My Weight Loss Goal here and Why I went Public with it.


How Did We Juice For A Week?
We went cold turkey from Saturday to Saturday. We gathered our favorite juice and smoothie recipes. We prepared a variety of juices each evening for the next day. (**see note below) We put the juice in glass pint jars with tight lids. We put no limits on the amount we would drink. We drank whenever we were hungry.


**Note: It is ideal to drink the juice as soon as you make it. When that is not possible, the best way to store fresh juice is in glass container, with a tight lid. Fill it to the top so there is little air to cause oxidation. With a high quality juicer your juice will be just fine for 24 hours.


What We Experienced
The very first night, I slept very deeply and felt great when I woke up. The next morning I had lost 4.5 lbs and Doug was down 2.5 lbs. We found that seeing immediate results was a huge motivation to continue our plan. Throughout our week of juicing we weighed every single day; we both experienced weight loss every day.


Each night I slept very deeply and woke feeling energized and healthy. I actually slept less than I normally do, yet had more energy. Even when I tried to stay in bed and get another hour or so (because I thought I needed more), I couldn't sleep. I woke up when my body was rested and felt alert and energetic. I never felt sluggish or lethargic throughout the week. Each night at bedtime I still felt energetic, yet when I went to bed I fell asleep quickly and slept very well. I never felt weak, tired or nauseous. I am still blown away by how little sleep I got and how much energy I had!


Neither of us ever felt deprived nutritionally. Whenever we felt hungry, we drank a jar of juice. The intense concentration of nutrition in the juice was like pouring energy directly into our veins. We felt satisfied and energized each time. It is very interesting to note that neither of us ever craved sugar, or anything else for that matter. Which proves to me that when our body gets proper nutrition it will be satisfied and not need to crave anything. When our bodies do not have the proper nutrition to sustain them, they look for something that will generate energy. Sugar is quick energy. That's why we crave sugar.


There were two days when we felt really hungry and wanted to eat. I found it interesting that for both  of us it was day 4 and day 6. We just felt really hungry on those days. As soon as we drank more juice we were satisfied and energized. On those days we drank 6-7 pint jars (jucie or smoothie). On those days we also made smoothies which add a little more bulk. Most days we drank 5 pint jars. A big part of wanting to eat is just putting something in your mouth and chewing it. As we talked about it we realized that after drinking juice we were satisfied, but the habit of eating made us want to chew something. But we didn't, and we're so glad we stuck to it because it went away.


Another interesting observation is in our choice of juice. I found that I needed variety in my juice. I wanted six jars of different types of juice in the fridge so when I was hungry I had a choice. I never wanted the same juice twice in the same day. Doug, on the other hand, preferred several jars of Carrot/Apple/Ginger Juice and then just one or two of another type.


How Much Weight We Lost
At the end of the seven days I had lost 12 lbs and Doug was down 10.5 lbs.
Here we are on Sunday with TEAM JULES at the Brain Tumor Walk with our friend Julie who is battling her second round with a brain tumor. I love her beautiful smile! She made it through the entire walk being pushed in her wheelchair. (I pulled a muscle in my calf that day and could have used a wheelchair!)

What We've Done Since Then
We had a couple of events to attend over the weekend where we did eat. We were cautious about eating too much too fast after a week of juicing. And going forward we wanted to eat much less and continue the weight loss. Even after eating light and healthy, we both felt a difference Monday morning in the quality of sleep we got and the level of energy we felt. We both wanted to continue juicing because of that. Doug's comment was "I think I'm addicted to feeling great!" So we decided that we would continue to juice and when we got that feeling that we really want to eat we would eat something healthy. We won't feel "stuck" juicing because we can eat any time. And we will continue to lose weight and feel great.


Today's Weekly Weigh in
Today is Wednesday...my weekly weigh in always goes from Wednesday to Wednesday. After eating over the weekend I juiced Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday I had a big raw salad for dinner. This weeks weigh in shows me down 4.5 lbs.

Here are some of our favorite juice and smoothie recipes from the week:

Carrot/Beet Cucumber Juice

Carrot/Apple/Ginger Juice

Arizona Red Juice

V38 Juice

2COP Juice

Mickey Mouse Juice

Orange Juice Plus (I did NOT use the vanilla this week)

Sweet Green Smoothie

Have you ever done a juice fast or a juice diet? Would you consider doing it for improved energy, sleep and nutrition?