juice cleanse, day 1

Who is that crazy girl who has not eaten a single piece of solid food all day long? Oh yeah, it's me!

I am proud to say that today I successfully began my three-day cleanse. I decided to stick with my original intentions to pursue a juice fast (thank you, everyone, for your advice!) and have been solid-food for about twenty-four hours now. Of course, rebel and rule-breaker that I am, I did not follow any of the recommendations to ease into the cleanse and instead overindulged in stuffing, red wine, and cheesecake. Douglas and I went with my family to my cousin David's house in western New Jersey for a day of fun, food, and friendly competition. It was such a great time... we got to take a spin on my cousin's four-wheeler, catch up on good conversation and relive some old memories, and we even came victoriously out of a very long game of trivial pursuit. I have to say it was quite the evening.

With the late night we had and the obscene amounts of food and beverages we consumed (I was still full when I woke up this morning) I was sure that my stomach would be growling all day long. Surprisingly, though, my system has yet to receive the shock I was anticipating... I am not as hungry as I expected. Other than a bit of fatigue, which could be related to lack of sleep as easily as it could the caloric restriction, I am actually feeling quite good.

After doing some research and considering the advice I received, I opted to follow something similar to the BluePrint Cleanse. Though not following it to a tee, I am supplementing some of my own juices with raw (unpasteurized) juices offered through the company - you can order them through delivery but I got mine at Whole Foods. I cannot afford to purchase all of my juices and I do think there is an added benefit to freshly-squeezed juice, like enzyme potency, so I am preparing about half of my juices at home using Doug's family's juicer. So far, so good! I cannot say that it would not be nice to chew something right about now, but the hunger is seriously minimal. In addition to the fruit/veggie juices, the cleanse includes one fresh nut milk a day, which adds some substance and fiber to the regimen and helps provide a feeling of fullness. The caloric intake is not much lower than my usual routine, so it is really just the gratification of chewing something hearty that is missing. I do not want to speak to soon, but so far I like it. Without my normal preoccupations of purchasing, preparing, and consuming food (which I am finding takes up a substantial amount of my day) I have been able to focus on some areas of my life that need a little bit of attention and rehabilitation... precisely why I wanted to do this in the first place. I will let you know how it goes on Day Two!