Have you ever done a juice fast before?

Do you juice at all?

The past week and a half, my husband  and I have been doing a juice fast. We do these a couple times a year and although I sometimes dread them right before they start, I always am so happy we do them.

The only thing I’m trying to figure out is how to make chocolate chip cookies a part of our juicing.

I miss my treats. I miss my desserts. I miss my chocolate.

But it’s so worth it!

We do it for many reasons. To help with needed weight loss. To give our digestive systems a break from all our eating out during the summer.

You know, camping, BBQ’s, restaurants, Dairy Queen every week.

Blah – sad, but true. Summer brings in more of the “bad” food then we typically eat throughout an entire year. So, we give our bodies a break.

We also get so many concentrated vitamins and minerals – you can’t beat that.

Skin gets clearer. Energy levels soar. And many things are taking place that we may not even notice. Blood pressure comes down, blood gets clean, cells get nourished…so, so much!

My kids even love to drink freshly juiced fruits, veggies, greens and roots.

Weird, huh?

My kids grew up on juicing and kombucha. They don’t do class parties and birthday parties that well. There is usually nothing to drink that they like except water.

For the past 7 years we have used a Jack Lalanne Power Juicer (and still use it) and have not had one problem with it. Absolutely love it. Then a couple weeks ago, my hubby bought a new OMEGA juicer. I laugh when I read that sentence, because I would have never written that 16 years ago when we got married. Maybe that he bought a 24 case of Pepsi, but not “my husband bought a juicer!” Makes me laugh.

Anyhoo, he researched and found one he thought was awesome, provided healthy juice, drier pulp and didn’t cost as much as a mortgage payment. The photo above isn’t really about the name of the juicer, but the fact that you can see my guy in the reflection!

He did good.

The juicer is amazing and provides drier pulp and doesn’t get the juice as hot as most juicers, so it gives you a fresher juice. It also does great with smaller items such as wheatgrass, parsley and cilantro.

Look at that green juice coming out! Woohoo!

The only thing is you have to cut the produce up into smaller pieces, which means a little more prep time. Nothing major!

So, we are on day 10 of the juice fast as I’m typing this. For most days we have done juice for breakfast, lunch and dinner – with some healthy snacks in between. Pickles, cucumbers, nut/dried fruit snack mix, yogurt – good stuff like that. One day I even had eggs for breakfast. Eggs from my hens. Eggs I went and collected from our coop. So delicious.

To date, my husband has lost about 11 pounds, I have lost 4. We both have more energy and neither of us have been crazy hungry. We have our snacks every now and then, but we are in no way starved.

Well, I feel like if I had some dessert I would be happier – but that’s just me.

If you’ve never done a juice fast or even if you’ve never juiced before – I’d highly recommend it. Juicing is great. Yes, there are debates about whether or not it’s good – but we have found it to be nothing but beneficial for our health, so I’m all for it! We mix up our ingredients quite a bit, but we always use leafy greens, apples, celery, cucumbers, carrots, ginger, oranges and a variety of berries. Seriously – so delish!

Well, it’s almost lunch time, which means it’s time to grab my juice, put it on the rocks, sip and enjoy!

Here’s to your health!

xo kari