Juice Fast Day 3

Please read this BEFORE reading days 4 and 5.

I did not spend Day 3 in bed with covers over my head like Joe Cross did. But I was a little grumpy - mostly about how long it takes to prepare a day's juice. I secretly wonder if Joe had a chef do it for him. He has money. It's a possibility.

Me, without a chef, it took 50 minutes to juice and 20 minutes to clean up. That is quite a chunk of time to build into a work day.

Also I was a little grumpy because I am spending all this time with no results, as yet, to provide positive reinforcement. If I had already lost, say, 15 pounds, I would be eager to juice up a storm. But just a few days in, I have lost only maybe a pound.

Nor am I feeling a whole new energy or purity or happiness or any other emotional lift attributable to the new regime. I am, however, wise enough to know that it takes more than three or four days for your body to assimilate a change. I am still running on the old way of eating and the old me.

But I am not in bed with the covers over my head. And I am not ravinously hungry. This is good news.

And I feel a little virtuous thinking of all the vitamins and antioxidents and other good things that I am consuming.

This is my day to quantify.

In addition to measuring the time commitment, I measured the amount of juice needed to keep me going. It takes 24 ounces for me to drink for a full day AND have enough left over for a quick breakfast. I do wake up hungry. I don't want to juice for 50 minutes before I can put some food in my stomach.

I also made a stab at counting the calories. This is not as easy as it seems because the juicing process kicks out a great deal of pulp. How do you figure that into the calorie mix? I finally decided to ignore it and tally the calories just as if I had eaten the whole fruits and vegetables.

According to Fat Secret, my favorite calorie counting site, I ate (um, drank) somewhere in the neighborhood of 870 calories in my 24 ounces of juice.  Here is the breakdown (ignore fiber):

Fat(g)	Carbs(g)	Fiber(g)	Sugar(g)	Prot(g)	KCals
8.26	193.90	55.3	88.08	34.62	870

Remember that the count above says nothing about vitamins and minerals.

Here is the list of what I put in my juice:

• 2 granny smith apples
• 4 kiwi fruits
• 3 drainers' full of spinach (15 - 20 ounces)
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 bunch parsley
• 10 carrots
• 10 stalks of celery
• 1 lemon
• an ounce or more ginger (I like ginger)

It takes that much to yield 24 ounces of juice.

A few notes on the process. I was surprised at how much pulp is expelled. The juice pitcher holds 11+ ounces. I had to empty the pulp container twice during the first pitcher filled. And I had to stop and clean the juice filter during the second pitcher.

I am lucky enough to know a gardner who wants the pulp for compost. There is a lot of pulp produced.

You have to pay attention to the juicer while you juice. If the pulp container gets full or if the passage to the pulp container gets clogged or if the filter cannot express the juice into the pitcher, you can hear a change in the the motor noise. And the whole thing quits expelling juice. You have to stop and correct the problem.

Here are some pictures that I took.

The amount of spinach on the right yields the amount of juice on the left.

Now you can see why it takes 50 minutes to juice 24 ounces.

This illustrates the pulp-to-juice ratio.
The amount of juice on right yields the amount of pulp on left.

This is what I mean about the amount of space required for clean up.
I am getting more efficient about placement but it still fills up the dish drainer.
Yes, it is dishwasher safe. I just don't have a dishwasher.

Finished product.

Now, jump down to Day 4.