As of last night, my detox (finally) came to an end. So much Mexican food. Nom nom.

Anyway. Here are my feelings about this fifteen day beast of a diet and detox:

• Good things: eating way more vegetables than I had been used to, having more energy during the day, and I even managed to lose ten pounds! Thank goodness.
• Meh things: thankfully I did not buy a juicer as I quickly realized that juicing is not really my thing. I also began and ended the detox with fairly painful headaches.

So I came out of this thing ten pounds lighter and with many more vegetable recipes in my repertoire.  

So here is the bigger question: would I ever juice detox again?

I am not going to say no. The green juice is certainly a great way to incorporate a variety of vegetables into a tolerable juice. I would not refuse to drink it. For me, I still prefer to actually eat the vegetables. Cooking is a huge part of my daily routine and shoving a bunch of fruits and veggies into a blender is not going to cut it.

Even though I had a difficult time with this detox, I am really glad I went through with it. I definitely think it is worth giving a try, even if it is for just five days.

To finish this thing off, here are my new health goals for the coming year at university:

• Continue losing weight not with the intention of getting skinny, but becoming a healthy individual.
• Significantly cut down on the carbs and cheese. Thai and Mexican food will be the obvious exceptions.
• Make time to exercise. Get to the gym and save up for a bike.
• Continue doing yoga. It is great for my body and for my mind.
• Eat at home more often and cook healthier foods. Kale and sweet potato “fries” are my new best friends.

So there you have it! Fifteen days of more veggies and a whole lot of bitching.

Thank you guys for all your support!

It has been a bitch, to be honest. I am still juicing, just so you know. I am sticking with just the green one for now because the other ones are just too nauseating for me to deal with right now.

During the last legs of the all-juice part of the detox, I started getting really sick, so I broke this part of the detox to eat some watermelon and a tomato and avocado salad. I like how I “broke” my diet with healthy food. Ridiculous.

Anyway, I just wanted to write an update for myself and apparently for my new followers who seem to be juicing as well.

I am completely frustrated with the whole juice thing. I occasionally find myself actually just fasting as opposed to juice detoxing, which really is not good. 

I am trying to find a (cliche) “happy place” in juicing for my last few days of detoxing. 

I am also crazy excited to go have Mexican food before I leave for Seattle on Thursday.

FUCK, I WANT CARBS. AND CHEESE. BUT MOSTLY CARBS. 

I would love three freshly baked baguettes, four pounds of spaghetti, a soft pretzel, garlic mashed potatoes, fifty billion veggie tacos, six baked potatoes, one million Dink’s everything bagels, four orders of cajun fries and tapenade from Wolf Creek, and sixty billion veggie burritos. And maybe a side salad. Just maybe.

As you can see, dieting and/or detoxing can be a major pain in the ass. Today was one of those days.

On a less rant-y note: I do not think this whole juicing thing is for me. I do love juicing fresh fruit for myself. That is awesome and it does not get much tastier than that. Really though, a lot of these juices are beginning to taste like dirt and/or freshly mowed lawn.

I understand that it is damn difficult to eat six to seven servings of fruit and vegetables a day. Even as a former vegetarian, I understand this. Still, I would much rather actually eat these vegetables than have to juice the crap out of them to get them down faster.

Frustration.

I am going to attempt to be a bit more positive for tomorrow, I promise.

ALSO: I am not quitting my detox. I am finishing all fifteen days of this bitch. SEVEN MORE DAYS.

At the end of next week (20. August, to be exact), I am planning on beginning a juicing reboot / detox. I am planning on borrowing my brother’s juicer to do this detox up until I leave on September 8th.

During a discussion about veganism and eating healthily, my friend told me about Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead, a documentary about Joe Cross’ 60-day juice fast and how it affected him and those he met on his drive across the States. Needless to say, the documentary inspired me to get my ass into gear and get healthy and back into shape.

For those beginning to wonder: no, this is not a repeat of the summer of 2009. From the detoxes I have read about, juicing appears to be the safest and healthiest plan. It is not the water, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper “diet.” From what I have researched, it is quite safe as it is rich in nutrients from juiced fruits and vegetables and actually allows you to eat during the reboot. It will also be a bit easier on me as I am already pescatarian and regularly eat vegetarian. Thus, I will not have to wean myself off eating meat, which is nice. (The only thing I am not looking forward to is not drinking coffee.)

Goals, during and after detoxing:

• Incorporate more vegetables into my diet
• Try out some vegetables that I have never particularly liked (beets and brussel sprouts, I am looking at you!)
• Stay positive
• Add more to my workout regime than just yoga and the occasional walk
• Complete the 15-day juice detox
• Hopefully lose some weight during the process! While it obviously will not happen all at once, I would like to lose somewhere between 20 and 35 pounds. I know it is a lot, but I want to set the bar high.
• Continue working out every day
• Maintain healthy eating habits

I am actually looking forward to this!