What Happened on my Juice Feast this year?

Earlier this year, shortly after Heidi did her Juice Feast, I decided to go on my own version of the 92 Day Juice Feast.

Now, when I set out on my Juice Feast, I had no intention of doing it exactly the way it was planned.  I knew that when I started it, my body would let me know when it was time to move on and how.

And it did.

I Juice Feasted on about 3/4 green juice, 1/4 fruit juice for eight days, after which I stupidly broke the feast very quickly with some extremely heavy and dense food (even though I knew it was not the right way to break it).

After the initial eight days, I spent the rest of the 92 days on a modified juice feast.  At first, I did mostly juice, keeping up about 2-3 (or 4) quarts a day.  I had a few days of a full gallon of juice after I broke my feast, but didn’t keep track.

Near the end, I probably did not juice very much at all.

The Benefits

The results I had on the juice feast were remarkable.  I had some very specific goals that I thought the juice feast would help facilitate, which to some degree it did.  I achieved clearer skin, lost some unnecessary weight/puffiness and gained better sleep and mental clarity.

After doing it for eight days, however, I found that I was just tired all the time and I was starting to have some massive cooked food cravings.  I’ve learned from the past that when I’m having major cravings for salty, heavy, fried cooked foods, that my current diet is going too far too fast or is not mineral rich enough.  I knew that I was getting plenty of minerals (supplement with green powders, lots of green juices, etc.), so by process of elimination, I knew it was time to move on.

After breaking it, my internal chemistry calmed way down and I was able to maintain a high-juice diet for quite a while, which I feel I received some great benefit from.

Once I did break my feast and get into a high-juice/raw (a little cooked) regimen, my cravings for unhealthy foods shot way down, and I’ve given up some foods permanently since.

Since I’m totally into letting my body call the shots, I’ve long given up the perfect 100% raw diet I used to hold and choose instead to get to the point where I only truly desire healthy foods.  It’s been much easier, quicker, and more successful than pushing myself to eat a certain way.

Would I do it again?

Yes.  Absolutely.

In fact, next year when the Global Juice Feast starts up, I may very well give it another whirl.  Again, I will not plan on going the whole 92 days unless my body wants it.

What I found most difficult about the juice feast wasn’t drinking only juice, but planning and making the juice.  Even with an excellent juicing procedure, I feel it took way too much time to make all the juice, plan for it, shop for it…I’m just not into spending much time in the kitchen.  Then again, I didn’t have to make food the rest of the day!

I could see the benefit and using a commercial juicer and having door-to-door organic delivery or maybe even signing up for a CSA during the feast.

Absolutely Loving Juice Now

After going through this is experience, the thing I’m most thankful for is bringing regular juicing back into my daily life.  When Heidi and I started this back in 2004, it all started with juicing…mostly fruit juice, but juicing nonetheless.

It was shortly after we started that we had read many “raw experts” who claimed that juicing was unnatural and “bad”.  We boxed our juicer up for nearly two years before really giving it another shot.

Part of the reason Heidi and I run Raw Food Right Now is to be a voice of reason in the raw food movement.  With all the blogs, websites, and communities popping up, raw foods is becoming more of a people’s movement and moving slightly away from the guru-centered way it was back before 2005-2006.

We are finding out what is working for us, personally, and it’s evident now that diet (not even something as specific as eating raw) is not a one size fits all thing.

Personally, I love variety; the more, the merrier.  I love it all: juices, smoothies, fruit, greens, nut milks, dehydrating, fermenting, “cooking” tea, etc.

It’s all good.

~ JS

Related Posts:

• Songs to Hear, Juice Feasting Update, Public Album Update
• Juice Feasting Day 15 and Public Album Update
• Juice Feasting Day 13
• Juice Feasting Day 6 and The Beginning of Everything.
• Juice Feasting, Public Album and Welcome.

“New” Song to Hear

Head on over to my MySpace page to hear some “new” songs I put up.  People have been asking me what my music was like in the past, so until I have some Public Album stuff to show you, head on over there to check ‘em out.

Juice Feasting?

Haven’t been juicing as much as I’d like lately.  It’s really easy to not juice when you’re not forcing yourself to juice all day.  I’ve come up with a happy compromise, though:  I’m planning on fully Juice Feasting Friday through Sundays each week, while doing as much (or as little) juice as I want the rest of the week.

We’ll see how that goes.

Expect Public Album to Pick Up Momentum

That’s all for now,

~ JS

Related Posts:

• Juice Feasting Day 15 and Public Album Update
• Juice Feasting Day 13
• Juice Feasting Day 6 and The Beginning of Everything.
• Juice Feasting, Public Album and Welcome.
• Public Album Update 12 – New Track – 007 – More octave effect and playing with drums

Time for another Juice Increase

As I wrote in my last post, I broke my 8 days of only Juice and took on a Modified Juice Feast. Since then, I’ve consumed anywhere from 1-4 quarts on any given day, in addition to some raw and cooked foods.

I’ve noticed a dramatic decrease in my energy and clarity since then. Interestingly, my body has been signaling me to do more juice. Over the past few years while eating a mostly raw food diet, I’ve gained an incredibly useful skill: listening to my body’s natural signals. Once you can tune into it, it’s absolutely clear what you should be eating, although it’s still a learning process.

I’m planning on continuing with my version of the Juice Feast to completion. As I mentioned above, I’m ready to move back into more juicing again. I’m planning on consuming 3-4 quarts a day minimum along with some salads and tasting other recipes that Heidi and I are developing right now.

Public Album: The Ball is Rolling

Finally made some time to sit down and get my fingers working again on my bass. Nothing to show yet, but I’m shifting my paradigm back into a regular music schedule.

For those who don’t know, my setup is:

• Electric bass guitar.
• Electronics, written, mixed, etc. on my laptop using various programs.

You’ll hear it when I do.

Till next time,

~ JS

Related Posts:

• Songs to Hear, Juice Feasting Update, Public Album Update
• Juice Feasting Day 13
• Juice Feasting Day 6 and The Beginning of Everything.
• Juice Feasting, Public Album and Welcome.
• Public Album Update 12 – New Track – 007 – More octave effect and playing with drums

Taking a break from juicing isn’t easy.

Last Wednesday, after eight days of full Juice Feasting, I decided to take a break for a few days. I broke the feast rather abruptly and went down to about 2-3 quarts a day.

For the first day, I felt fine. But then for the last few days, I have not been able to stomach nearly anything but juice. Ouch. Looks like I broke it too quickly.

So, this week, it’s back to mostly juice.

For the rest of this Feast, I’m planning on making Juice Feasting the basis of my diet, with some very simple salads and fruit when I feel the need to eat something solid. Also, Heidi and I are back to working on recipe development, and I’m going to want/need to taste it.

I’ve always done things my own way, and this is no different. But I’m going to keep going and keep calling it a “Juice Feast”.

I’m planning on having full days of only juice again, and for days at a time as well. No specific plans here, taking it as it comes.

Public Album Update

Worked on some preliminary stuff this week related to this project. Now thinking it’s going to be quite insane and extremely liberating at the same time.

I’ve got a couple directions to take this week. Not sure which way I will be going.

You’ll know when I know.

~ JS

Related Posts:

• Songs to Hear, Juice Feasting Update, Public Album Update
• Juice Feasting Day 15 and Public Album Update
• Juice Feasting Day 6 and The Beginning of Everything.
• Juice Feasting, Public Album and Welcome.
• Public Album Update 12 – New Track – 007 – More octave effect and playing with drums

How My Juice Feast is Going

I’m on Day 6 and going strong. I’ve been consuming about 4-5 quarts of juice a day, half green vegetable juice and half fruit juice. Lots of supplements as well.

Changes I’ve noticed so far:

• Strong emotional ups and downs. Seems to have stabilized a little now, though.
• When I sleep, I’m getting better rest and waking up easier. This is a god send, but I’m far from where I want to be as a persistent insomniac.
• Lost some puffiness in my face. I’ve been medium/high raw for almost four years now, and I’ve almost dropped 50 pounds of excess weight. Yet the puffiness in my face was stubborn. Now it’s receding. I’ll post some pictures when I get the chance.
• My wedding ring is too big. I can’t wear it now. I’m going to get it resized when I’m all done, although I may gain some weight back after this. We’ll see.
• My eyes are really white and vibrant. So says Heidi.
• My skin on my face is clearing up again. I’ve struggled with minor acne for years, and while being raw has certainly cleared up most of my skin, I’ve had some smaller persistent problems that I’m excited to finally clear.
• My eyesight is improving. I will be working specifically with a couple of vision improvement programs over the next couple months, but I’ll take all that I can get right now.

I’m sure there’s more, but that’s a quick list.

I’ve never been one to be obsessed with “cleansing”, although a lot of raw foodies really get into that, but I did feel a strong calling to do this Juice Feast. When my intuition is strong, I listen. We’ll see how long I go with it. I have no expectations, but am just remaining open to the possibilities.

The Beginning of Everything

This week starts my Public Album project.

I could say a lot about this right now, but I’ll just let this unfold naturally.

~ JS

Related Posts:

• Songs to Hear, Juice Feasting Update, Public Album Update
• Juice Feasting Day 15 and Public Album Update
• Juice Feasting Day 13
• Juice Feasting, Public Album and Welcome.
• Public Album Update 12 – New Track – 007 – More octave effect and playing with drums

I’m just going to get right to it:

• Currently, I am Juice Feasting and am currently just finished Day 3.
• I’m going to start my Public Album project on or before Monday, May 5th.
• If you want to follow along, please sign up for my RSS feed or subscribe via Email.
• Also, make sure to friend me on MySpace. This is where I will be posting all my work in progress.

~ JS

Related Posts:

• Songs to Hear, Juice Feasting Update, Public Album Update
• Juice Feasting Day 15 and Public Album Update
• Juice Feasting Day 13
• Juice Feasting Day 6 and The Beginning of Everything.
• Public Album Update 12 – New Track – 007 – More octave effect and playing with drums