Bella Adams
Six bottles of juice. Water and tea. A fasting box makes juice fasting easy. Or not? A fasting diary.
I have already tested all sorts of things. Expensive detox cures, formula diets, food in powder form … I have also already fasted. But I have respect for this juice-fasting box. Precisely because it is so simple. A box with six bottles of 0.7 liters, two packs of bath salts, and instructions – that’s it. No chichi, no printed menu sequences for each day. Just juice. Some lactic fermented. There one sees at first sight, which one may take in one week juice chamfering to itself – and which not.
First hurdle: Finding the right time for juice fasting.
Job, family, and friends are actually always what. I need a week without parties, press appointments, and so on. Or need to be very consistent. That will be my challenge for the week. I don’t want to take extra vacation time for juice fasting.
Sunday: Relief day
Today is the day to go! Hubby is out of town, so there’s no weekend breakfast. To get up, I drink a glass of sauerkraut juice. It tastes as it sounds, but better than Glauber’s salt, and is supposed to cleanse the intestines. After that, I go to the gym. My meal plan for today: a small muesli with fruit for breakfast, raw vegetables, and millet porridge with raisins for lunch. In the afternoon I go to the movies with the kids, which distracts from the lack of coffee. In the evening, a crispbread with cucumber and tomato and fruit with flaxseed, while the kids pounce on tortillas heroically cooked by me – anything goes. Except for deep fatigue in the evening, I got the first day over just fine.
Monday: 1st day of juice fasting
I start again with a glass of sauerkraut juice. Down with it. If you don’t smell it, it tastes okay. For the first day of juice fasting, I choose vegetable compositions – tomato juice with eight vegetables. Sounds versatile and it’s delicious. There are up to four glasses daily plus still water and herbal tea. Every sip should be well absorbed. At lunchtime with a colleague in a café, I drink only tea while she enjoys a quiche. Nevertheless, I am not hungry. Just a headache – I know the symptom. Typical coffee withdrawal headache. In the afternoon it gets so bad that I allow me a tiny espresso. You’re not supposed to – but if I cleanse the body via juice fasting and then pop a headache pill, that’s absurd. Side effects: I’m unfocused, leave my cell phone behind, forget my cap, and make way three times. My colleagues look worried. In the evening, I go to yoga. I’m only a little hungry – the first day is over.
Remember: juice fasting means approaching the day in slow motion. You have to get involved.
Tuesday: 2nd-day juice fasting
Chaos: Nothing with rest in the morning, my daughter has a fever, and plan B must come. Until I organized the grandma to watch, I have to leave the house and have not even drunk tea. Only sauerkraut juice becomes a routine. At the office, the first meeting takes over an hour and a half. My stomach is growling – my fitness cocktail with plant juices from nettle, dandelion, and artichoke is on the desk instead of in the config. At least the headache is gone. My colleagues admire my consistency. At lunchtime, I have a press conference with lots of one-on-one meetings. I bypass the great buffet completely but have forgotten my juice again. Annoying! I get it late at home, this time carrot juice. Not my favorite. In the early evening, I feel that I was completely out of rhythm today and drank too irregularly. I am so tired that I sleep for an hour. Never happens during the day. I am cold and feel shattered – make myself an alkaline bath and go to bed.
Remember: juice fasting and chaos don’t go together, planning is a must.
Wednesday: 3rd day of juice fasting
3 kilos less on the scale! Yeah! Of course, I know that’s more water than fat, but it’s still motivating. Today I start with a press appointment. How to mean that there are some delicious appetizers – I would have loved to try porcini pesto on brioche. Instead, it’s vegetable stew later. On the way to the office, I notice how food advertising is lurking on every street corner. Selective perception. I vacillate between: “Juice fasting is totally easy, I could do it for weeks” and the anticipation of Saturday, when there will be food again. After all, today is already Bergfest (!) and I feel fit and alert. In the evening, my son is performing a play at school. Weeks ago, I signed up for the recess sale. Idiotic. Now I’d rather be making up hysterical teenagers backstage. I’m developing an abstract relationship with the pretzels, snack bags, and the like I sell. Who wants such unhealthy stuff? At night I wake up cramping and frozen. Feel over-acidified, with a nasty taste in my mouth.
Note: When juice fasting, you have to be very consistent and take breaks.
Thursday: 4th day of juice fasting
Get up a little shaky, weak, and with soft knees. On the scale the first downer: again 1 kilo more on the scale. Mean. And that, was when I was so consistent! In the office I am grumpy. I can’t cope with stress today, it feels like everyone wants something from me. I am no longer hungry. The fitness cocktail gets me through the day. Food is far away. I even bake a cake without any interest in licking the dough. I realize how often I would eat something small on the side. I should change that! Nothing to buy, nothing to cook – I have a lot of time. In the evening, the good mood is back.
Note: As soon as routinely occurs with juice fasting, food intake becomes abstract. Rest and tea help against mood swings.
Friday: 5th-day juice fasting
Final spurt! Today I have a day off. It’s my son’s birthday. I have lots of errands to run for the party in the evening. At the grocery store, it feels weird to load up the cart with hot dogs and chips without the slightest bit of appetite. What 14-year-olds love, I don’t miss. I feel good and full of energy. Beet cider tastes almost like soup when slightly diluted and reheated. At noon I go for a walk in the sunshine. In the afternoon I cheat and treat myself to a mini piece of birthday cake. In the evening, 10 guys come to play poker and spend the night. Loud, wild, and extremely exhausting. Well after midnight, I fold up the troupe. My nerves are on edge. I need sleep now!!! Didn’t even know what a fury I can be anymore.
Note: You should not expect too much in parallel during juice fasting.
Saturday: 1st build-up day
Done! Early in the morning, I drive with friends to a yoga event in the country. In the car, there is the first apple to the classical chamfering. It is celebrated piece by piece and tastes delicious! I am still not hungry. After breathing meditation, a yoga set, and a long walk, I enjoy a freshly cooked vegetable soup for lunch. The other participants eat quiche afterward, which is too much for me. My body signals exactly what it can already handle. In the afternoon I have my first coffee in days. Wonderful. In the evening there would be a vegetable soup with crispbread and millet porridge – I take only crispbread and fall contentedly into bed.
Sunday: 2nd build-up day
Fasting reduces muscles, so I go to the gym again in the morning. I am happy that the kilo is down again. Now don’t overdo it. Today I have a small bowl of muesli with fruit juice and an apple for breakfast, potatoes with herbs and fresh raw vegetables for lunch, and raw vegetables and crispbread with flaxseed, cucumber, and tomatoes for dinner. My hunger pangs are still gone, small portions are quite enough.
Fazit: My experience with juice fasting
Drank up! Compared to fasting with broth, juice fasting has been easier for me. The organic or Demeter juices are delicious and nutritious. The organism still gets vitamins, minerals, and a few calories. This means less chance for the metabolism, and side effects such as headaches, freezing, or weakness are less. In the chamfering brochure, everything is clearly explained. If you follow the guidelines for the relief day and break the fast, the return to normal eating behavior is easy. What remains: less hunger and a good awareness of how little food makes you satisfied. I don’t feel the need for sweets or alcohol at first, and the first wine gums a few days later even make me feel sick.
After the fasting week, I am mighty proud of my stamina, have more energy, and am focused. 3 kilos have disappeared. The skin shows how cleansing the juice fasting is. No alcohol, no sugar, no caffeine – it shows. The break did well to reflect on my eating habits. Next time, though, I’ll make sure I get more rest – because that was the one point I didn’t stick to.
