Week 2 Juicefeast: Weightloss and Eating

This weeks's fruit bowl (I've already made a dent in it, it was fuller than this) Also have the fridge full and freezer has frozen mango and berries

Monday's menu

It's Week 2, and despite a blip on Sunday I'm doing fantastic this second week. Sunday was a free day. The first bite of mushrooms and toast was a little strange after six days of nothing but juice and smoothies. I ate a lot less than what I usually would, and was actually craving fruit, rather than cooked food when it was my designated day off. I wasn't having anything too bad until it got to dinner time and we had palak paneer. Oh my.... within 20 minutes my sinuses were blocked, I had to keep blowing my nose and clearing my throat. My tummy did not thank me for the foreign matter and consequently Sunday night wasn't a terrific sleep. Cheese is definitely a no no for me (not that I eat it often as we eat predominantly vegan). After having such clean food clearly dairy is not a substance I should ingest! You would have thought I would have learnt by now I cannot digest dairy, but no! I wonder if I have finally learnt my lesson?

Yesterday was much better, I had 4 litres of juices starting with mango, carrot, and pineapple; then beet, celery, and orange; a smoothie of bananas and greens, and strawberry, blackberry, and pink grapefruit. Today I made my juices, but wasn't hungry until about 11.30 when I had watermelon, orange and beet juice. I did have two cups of green tea when I woke up, but I don't believe in eating if you don't feel hungry, so I didn't. 

Workouts: Quite a lot of the material I've read doesn't recommend intense workouts while juicing. But I feel I have so much energy I really wanted to workout, and since I'm also doing smoothies I didn't think it was a bad thing. I started running again last week after a two week hiatus. I do interval running using Yuri Elkaim's Treadmill Trainer. Yuri's programs are very achievable whatever level fitness you are at and I get results quite quickly. I love having someone in my ear encouraging me the whole way through and watching the time for me. It's like having a personal trainer on your iPod!

Normally when starting after a break I jog the first three phases of increasing intervals at speed 7, and drop to a 6.5 for the last four minute interval (its meant to be light jogging so this is reasonable when you start running again). Last week, first time back on the treadmill and I was running at an 8 the whole way. I wasn't even breathing heavy, and felt like I could do the workout all over again. I didn't, pushing too hard is not a good idea!! The next day I ran at a 9 for the first three phases, and dropped to an 8 for the last phase! I'm not sore, and it felt pretty amazing. Fruit is definitely my optimum fuel, and juicing agrees with me. Beetroot juice two hours before a workout seems to give the best performance. Beetroot juice is supposed to be good for blood flow, maybe that's why?

Weight loss: After two weeks, one eating mainly raw, and last week's juicefeast I have lost exactly 6kg. I've also lost 2 1/2 inches off my bust, and 2 inches off my navel. The Beloved has told me my tummy is looking flatter which is fantastic. Maybe I can get into that bikini again when we have holidays in February :)

Cookbook Mondays: Juice Feasting and Gazpacho Juice

The last week of MoFo was hard for me. I didn't post as much, I was feeling pretty run down, but also uber excited about helping with the wedding of the lovely John and Emma from Sweets Workshop  last Saturday. Thanks to some indulgent eating through the month, overeating at the wedding (how could I not?) and a few late nights, I am feeling quite the granny. I'm hoping the juicing will promote some good healing in my body, I've been suffering from bad joint pain throughout my feet on waking and if I've been sitting for awhile, and since I detest going to the doctor so much, I hope maybe its just a flag my body is waving at me telling me to take care of it better. 

Last time I went raw for a whole month I slept better, felt better, and lost 7kg. I'm not sure why I didn't continue with it, maybe I just wasn't ready. This time, I've decided to try a juice feast to try and do some serious healing in my body, and maybe I can get back on track. My aim is at least 21 days, but if I feel that I should extend at the end of that, I may go longer. 

But what is a juice feast you may ask, and how is it different to a juice fast? Basically, the aim of a juice fast is to restrict calorie intake, but a juice feast is about abundance - the aim is at least 3-4 litres of fresh pressed vegetable and fruit juice per day. The Beloved isn't doing it with me, but seems to be ok with me making him a really big salad for dinner with something really easy on the side so I don't have the torture of cooking something I can't eat. 

Yesterday was my first day, and I was still feeling pretty whacked out from the weekend. I drank about 3 litres over the day, and ended up having a nap in the afternoon (which I never do!) I'm still feeling pretty ordinary today, and expect to remain this way for a few more days before I perk up again. 

I did have a really nice gazpacho juice for lunch from Vegetable Juices by Joanna Farrow that I picked up a year or two ago, I'll be using it a lot to keep the juicing interesting and also to make sure I have as much different produce as possible. So here goes, wish me luck!