Reboot - Part 2

Here we stand on the other side of our Reboot.  We did it, and I’m so proud of us!

For me, it turned out to be a lot easier than I expected.  Surprisingly so!  I expected to starve, and spend most of my time in the bathroom.  Neither of those was the case (although, I admit I spent more time than usual in the bathroom).  I expected long days, and to crave everything but what I was eating.  That didn’t happen either.  Interestingly, the only food I did slightly crave was cheese. 

The first couple of days were hard.  The Cowboy and Babe suffered bad headaches.  I’m chocking that up to the fact that they are both coffee drinkers (I am not) and they were having caffeine withdrawal. After that things got better, although Babe never did warm up to the taste of most of the juices. 

Part way through the reboot I made both Babe and The Cowboy have a bowl of chicken broth because they were getting a little droopy.  Babe is an active athlete and The Cowboy works long days, and I decided they needed a boost.  They both felt immediately better.  It’s good to remember, when doing a reboot, to bring your activity level down a notch or two.

One unexpected side effect was how fresh the house smelled.  In the middle of winter we walked into the house and it smelled like a garden, or freshly mown grass – which is actually what one of the green juices tasted like.    

We started the day with hot water and lemon.  Then it was a juice for breakfast. Later in the morning the requirement was 500 ml of coconut water - for the electrolytes.  This was the worst part of the reboot for me.  That coconut water is nasty!!  But I choked it down, and was amazingly and instantly energized.  That surprised me every single day. Babe liked the coconut water more than most of the juices. 

 

Another juice came for lunch – green, which included green apples, cucumbers, celery, and sixteen leaves of kale.  Yeah … you read that right.  16!!  We eventually cut that number down to about 10.  Our afternoon snack juice was always yummy.  Then came another green juice for supper and we ended the day with a “dessert” purple juice.  Those were delicious too.  The Cowboy says he always went to bed hungry.  I didn’t.

During the 10 days, we watched the sequel documentary to Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead which is called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead 2.  (Go figure!)  This is the one to watch if you can only watch one of them.  Over the course of the show, Joe Cross meets up with many people who have taken his challenge to juice to better health.  The stories are amazing.  I highly recommend the documentary.

And all those groceries?  The case of green apples - gone.  The case of red apples is down by half.  The huge bag of carrots ... about half gone.  We replenished kale, cucumbers, spinach and lemons several times over.  Anybody want a bag of beets?

Babe’s Observations:

Motivation – weight loss

The Good – energy in the morning

The Bad – hungry in the evening, and the green juices sucked.

The Result – lost 8-1/2 pounds

Babe juiced for 8 days.

The Cowboy’s Observations:

Motivation – lose weight and get off medications

The Good – Juices were better than expected and felt better than expected

The Bad – evenings were hard, and couldn’t stop thinking about Cantonese Chow Mein

The Result – lost 16-1/2 pounds

The Cowboy plans to do a longer juicing session (under doctor’s monitoring) in order to get off all of his meds.

My Observations:

Motivation – along for the ride, and more energy

The Good – Felt really good, had more focus, lots of physical energy and brain power

The Bad – coconut water

The Result – The extra energy and general feeling of health and well-being was worth it all.  To be honest, I was sad to stop. 

Going Forward: 

The Cowboy and I plan to replace one meal a day with a juice.  Interestingly, we all find ourselves craving a carrot stick, or looking forward to eating a salad.  Never would have said that before. 

Thinking about doing a reboot?  Go for it!  I guarantee it will make a difference. Let me know how it goes.

Reboot - Part 1

“I’m starving!  Let’s go get some kale.” Never thought I’d hear those words come out of my mouth.  Not in 2 million years.  But today they did.  And I don’t even like kale.

The fact is … we are doing a reboot, my Cowboy (formerly referred to as hubby), Babe & I.  

It all started when Peaches (daughter #2) got a juicer for Christmas. She has wanted one forever. While she was visiting she told us about the documentary, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  This is the true story of Joe Cross and his journey from fat, sick, and nearly dead, back to health, simply by drinking juiced vegetables & fruit, 4 – 6 times a day. For 60 days! Rather extreme. But it worked for him and he is healthier than ever, 5 years later.

Now, Peaches is neither fat nor sick, nor nearly dead. Nor is she planning to eat nothing but juice for the next 60 days. But she is a very healthy living individual. And the juicer was amazing! Big thick carrots turned to juice in the flick of a button. 2 seconds! 

We watched the documentary. (I highly recommend it.) That's when the Cowboy decided he needed to try the reboot – which is 10 days, not 60.  Immediately Babe, daughter #3 and live-at-home university student, got all excited about it. So basically, I’m along for the ride. 

The Cowboy is a “Go Big or Go Home” kind of guy so we went all out on the grocery shopping. Two cases of apples – one red, one green - a humongous bag of carrots (and when I say humongous, I mean the bag comes up to my hips). Another big bag of beets. Lots of lemons, cucumbers, spinach … you get the picture. All of this gets zimmed through the juicer in varying amounts and combinations and, voila!  There is your meal.   

We studied Joe Cross’s helpful hints, juicing plans, and recipes online. We invested in a juicer.  We were definitely all in.  

Today is day 3. Some of the juices are delicious. Others we are barely choking down. The Cowboy has lost 5 pounds. Babe's excitement has turned to disenchantment and she asked if she can just make apple juice for the next 7 days. But we are in this for the long haul.  

Check back in a week and I'll fill you in on how it goes. Meanwhile, what have been your experiences with juicing?  I'd be happy to read any comments left below.