Day 2 of Juice Cleanse

Day 2 of Juice Cleanse.  Still feeling good.  I did have trouble sleeping last night.  I was tired but my body didn’t want to relax enough for sleep.  It didn’t help that Baby Boy woke-up 3times.   One of those three times I asked Scott if he could take care of it.  Without any complaints he tended to Baby Boy.  That’s a nice husband and father in my book.

In the morning I didn’t have time for my Golden Elixir, even though I had the electric kettle boiling water and a lemon out.   I also didn’t have time for the MEAN Green juice.  Luckily I had a store-bought green juice handy. 

 I managed to make it to the Great Lakes Zoological Society for a special Fit4Mom Ann Arbor (aka Stroller Strides) workout.  Yes, moms and babies/tots in the strollers exercising there among the reptiles, amphibians and arachnids.  We were able to enjoy a post-workout playdate.

During spring break, we kept Lottie’s two classroom rats (Thunder and Lightening).  They lived in a glass tank and Baby Boy loved to watch them.  He would point and make  “woo-woo” sounds the whole time.  Each morning, we would ask him, “want to go see the rats?”  He would run into Lottie’s room, stand on the step stool that he removed from the bathroom, to point, watch and talk about them and tell us about them.  So precious.

At Great Lakes Zoological Society, many of the smaller creatures were in tanks.  Baby Boy would point and “woo-woo” to or at them.  I think he was telling us that he use to have rats in the tanks.  He can say, “…at” the r being somewhat audible but not clearly formed. 

Fit4Mom Ann Arbor doing lunges

I drank my store-bought green juice called GLOW made by a company called SUJA after by workout.  That was my first juice for the day at 10am.  I did have 2oz of liquid probiotics before I left the house in the morning.  It was nice to have something that wasn’t sweet tasting for a change.

I stopped at my local grocery store to pick-up another green juice, in case I needed it to keep me going in the afternoon and a nut milk one.  To my surprise, there was only one SUJA drink left!  How can that be?  I asked one of the staff and she told me that someone woman came in and took all of them except the one remaining, which was the beet-type juice.  I like how the staffer made a gesture with one arm, a huge sweep towards her body and saying, “and she took them all.”  Could the woman be one of my friends?

What prompted me to do this juice cleanse are my two friends, Jenn and Parke.  We try to find one fitness class together each week.  This initially started with the trial class at Title Boxing.  Then it was decided that we should try a new class each week, keeping an eye-out for deals.  We loved Title Boxing but we all belong to the same health club with family memberships and didn’t want to take on Title Boxing membership.

To add on the fitness, Parke stated she was going to do a juice cleanse after the Easter holiday.  She had done with babo:market and loved it and wanted to do another one and if we wanted to join her.  Jenn and I said, “why not.”  We set the date to be morning of Monday, April 8^th.  Due to my stomach virus, I opted to start later.  I was enjoying eating the one handful of rice crackers too much to give it up so soon.  Really, my stomach wouldn’t have been able to handle so much nutrients.

I discover it is not Jenn or Parke taking all the SUJA juices!  As Parke texted to me, “we are trendsetters.”  I agree with her. 

FYI:  Parke is doing a modified one from babo: market and Jenn is doing modified SUJA and BluePrint.  I am doing a combination.  Since I own a juicer, I knew I could make many of my own.

empty SUJA bottle from Jenn - that's FIJI

The juices I consumed today were similar to the ones I did yesterday.

Morning:  SUJA Glow, which consists of apple, cucumber, celery, mint, kale, spinach & collards.

Late Lunch:  all fruit juice homemade—pineapple, carrots, apples, lemon.  This time I mixed it with water so all that sugar wouldn’t hit my bloodstream so quickly and give me a headache.  I’m holding on to the belief that the sugar was giving me the headache and not a “side-effect” of the juice cleanse.  Many people say they experience brief headaches during day 2 of the fast.  The idea is that your body is dumping the toxins quickly.   I also finished off the beet juice I made the night before.  I felt somewhat hungry and panicked that I wasn’t taking in enough calories or protein.    I ate one tablespoonful of chia seeds after it congealed in the quarter-cup of water.  It was like eating Jell-O with poppyseeds.

blending up soaked raw cashew with vanilla

I soaked my raw cashews in water in preparation for my homemade nut milk.  This is similar to BluePrint’s nut milk juice.  I never drank BluePrint’s nut-milk based juice.  All the nut juices at our local stores have been sold out.  Word is getting around—“do a juice cleanse” hahaha!

I manage to make the family lovely homemade stovetop macaroni and cheese.  My kids’ favorite meal.  Much like the hot dog dinner yesterday, I didn’t miss having it.  I typically don’t eat macaroni and cheese, unless I’m at a potluck or finishing off my kids’ order of Mac & Cheese remaining from Noodles & Co.

I made another red juice but this time I didn’t add as much ginger and reduced the apples.  It didn’t have the zip as yesterday and wasn’t as sweet, which are good things for me.

After a full evening with family, I made homemade nut-milk.  Added some vanilla seeds and coconut water, along with cinnamon and nutmeg.  I didn’t add any agave or honey.  I felt the cashew milk was fine since I’m getting enough sugars from the fruit.  I found honey granules in my collection of spice tins.  Score!  I didn’t have to use it, but nice knowing I had it.

making bead bracelet with Lottie

I’m still up-right after Day 2; no headaches, no grumpiness, and no cravings.  I thought I would want to eat everything.  Surprisingly, I’m doing well.  I do want to eat, not because I’m hungry, but I enjoy eating and I miss that.  It’s true that I don’t have cravings.  I was able to have a jar of chocolates from Easter in the front floor-well of my minivan and never had the desire to eat one.  That’s one of the benefits of a juice cleanse.  Somehow re-programs my brain and body to reduce the desire for less healthy foods. 

For me, doing the juice fast isn’t about losing weight, even though I want to loss weight.  It’s about doing something good for my body, letting my digestive tract to relax, yet still get plenty of nutrients.

I’m still able to function.   I exercised, walked to drop & pick-up  my daughter for her art class in the afternoon; cook a meal; did some craft with Lottie and plan for the next day.

Woo-hoo!  Day 2 of juice cleanse done!