Juice Fasting Made Easy

Hopefully by now… I have inspired you to at least think about detoxing and cleansing. Detoxes and extreme cleansing like I wrote about in my last post (the Master Cleanse) can be controversial and potentially challenging for most. Today I am going to talk about juice cleanses made from raw fruits and veggies. Many people turn to cleanses because they feel off—they’re bloated and sluggish, dependent on caffeine and junk food cravings. When you eliminate toxins from your system, your entire body feels better and reacts both internally and externally.

Juice fasting is an often misunderstood method of cleansing and can be very detrimental if not done properly. By juice fasting you can most likely lose weight and your skin will look and feel great! But I am not here to promise you a quick fix to your weight loss challenges. I recommend juice fasting as a way to internally clean and detox your body. I do want to make sure that you have enough knowledge so that if you do decide to do a cleanse… you have a safe, enjoyable fasting experience.

I look a juice fasting as a tool to improve your internal vitality and health. Some also look at it like a sense of connection to yourself or a connection to your spiritual life. If that floats your boat… great! Whatever works for you… I am not going to say that any of the cleansing alternatives that I am writing about are easy…by any means. I used to HATE cleansing days… and yes I did use the word HATE. When our Grand Master in the martial arts asked my partner Chris Berlow and I to start water fasting… it was really challenging. (I will discuss water fasting in a future post) What he did have us do is work our way up to a water fast and I don’t recommend that someone just does a water fast for their first experience. But I will definitely explain more about that when I write about water fasting. In any event…when we first started these cleansing days… I used to call it “Hell Day” because I wasn’t mentally or spiritually ready for this as a person. I did it because my Grand Master said to do it…and in the martial arts… you just say… “Yes sir” and very rarely ask questions.

The more I read about internal health, seminars I attended and when I did have the courage to question my Grand Master… cleansing and fasting made more sense. I am so grateful for the knowledge that our Grand Master has given us and when used intelligently and carefully, juice fasting can be a beautiful, nourishing tool to improve your health, clarity and sense of connection to self and your spiritual life. It can allow you to go deeper into cleansing your body, breaking down acidic waste matter and rejuvenating your body at a cellular level, which is then reflected in the health and vitality of all of you.

What is juice fasting?

It is a certain period of time when all you typically consume only liquids, specifically water, herbal teas, fresh fruit and vegetable juices and strained vegetable broth. You CANNOT take in any liquids that will toxify the body… such as coffee, caffeinated teas, milk, soda, pasteurized juice, protein powder mixes, diet drinks etc. You also CANNOT eat any solid foods… and if you blend any foods because the fiber content activates digestion. Remember… we are also giving your body a break from working so hard to digest and break down food… which we want to avoid during a fast.

Why juice and what types of juice?

When you juice your fruits and vegetables, you remove the fiber and drink only the liquid which contains the organic hydration, nutrients, vitamins and enzymes from the plant food. Although you do need fiber in your diet, going for a certain period of time without it will give your body a chance to spend less energy on digestion. Around 70% of your energy every day is spent on digestion alone, so when you are eating 3 meals a day plus snacks, you are rarely giving your body a chance to direct energy to deeply cleansing the body and drawing up old acidic waste that is likely causing a whole host of symptoms.

If you suffer from headaches, constipation, diarrhea, skin troubles, fatigue, irritability, excess weight, bloating or any other number of symptoms, your body needs some help to cleanse. Fasting is a brilliant way of helping you to do this.

My recommendation is to juice fresh vegetable juices, particularly green vegetable juices (see recipe below), and sometimes you can add some fruit to sweeten the juice and help with the taste. You can also use sweeter vegetable such as carrot, beetroot and bell pepper to add sweetness.

My personal rule of thumb is to keep a ratio of 3 to 1 with vegetable juices to fruit juices… so more than half of your juices when fasting are green vegetable based juices. Be particularly careful not to overdo fresh fruit juices as they will send your sugar levels out of balance and feed yeast if you drink too much.

Low sugar fruit juices are a better option. Fresh grapefruit juice alone is great, green apples add sweetness to any juice, and berries add flavor. Use lemons and limes in everything if you like! They are awesome alkalizers and extremely low in sugar.

 

How much juice should I be drinking?

For both myself and a lot of clients that I coach… I recommend two to three liters of juice over the day, although some days might be a little less or more. Get your one to two liters of mostly green vegetable juice in and then have more juice according to your body’s needs. I would also continue to consume ½ your body weight in ounces of water throughout the fast.

 

Do I need to alter my lifestyle and routine while fasting?

This all depends on you! When I do my fasting or cleansing day… I typically do it on a Monday. My Monday is my super busy organization day. It typically isn’t a huge training day for me… and I am consumed with meetings and tasks that keep me really busy. So I am not thinking about food as much and my day goes by super-fast. Some people may do it on a Sunday when they can relax and not have a ton of things to do. Either way… on any cleansing or fasting day I don’t recommend a lot of physical activity until your body gets used to doing a fast.

Now… if you are drinking a lot of juice, say four liters, you may find that you can continue on with your normal schedule just fine while fasting. However, you are not giving your body the maximum chance to embrace and work with the healing and cleansing process. While you may be able to get up and go to work, do your chores, look after your family, you won’t be giving yourself the best experience and results possible.

If you aren’t drinking the three liters of juice for the day… just be aware of chilling out every now and then. It is not like you have to stop your life all together… but maybe cut out any extra hard work outs that day… or any extra physical activity that may take up more time and energy. I would also communicate to your family, friends or team members… that you are fasting that day. My team knows that on Monday… Master Melella is cleansing and to basically stay away with any negative situations. lol

I would recommend stretching, meditating, reading or working on creative projects that inspire or make you feel really good… rather than doing tasks that upset or drain your energy.

How to ensure your fast is beneficial

When you fast, your body is using all that time normally spent on digestion to clean up your cells and draw up old toxic matter. When this toxic matter is drawn up, it is looking for a way out of your body. For your fast to leave you cleaner celled and feeling better, you have to ensure that toxic matter actually leaves your body. You will know this matter has left your body because you will see it and feel it coming out, particularly though your bowel movements! You might also see it in your skin and through your sweat, and in excess mucus build up in your mouth and nose, but your bowel is going to play the biggest role in dumping that old toxic waste out – literally! And if you are one of those people who do not have normal bowel movements… I recommend that you do a colonic or colon cleanse. Because if your fast isn’t helping with your bowel movement… where do you think that toxic waste is going? Right… nowhere! All that crap… (literally) will be exactly in the same place…and then it really isn’t a beneficial fast. (More about colonics later)

 

How you can incorporate juice fasting into your life

Hopefully by now you understand that juice cleansing is another alternative to detoxify and cleanse the body. Some of you out there may still be scared or intimated to actually do it. How can I go the whole day without eating any solid food? How can I drink only juices all day? These are all normal questions and any help you give your body by lightening up your diet and adding in juicing is going to start shifting your body to a more alkaline and balanced state which will only give you better health and a body you love over time.

Upon Waking up

When you wake up, drink a room temperature glass of water with a squeeze of lemon. This is a great way to begin as it cleanses the intestines.

Breakfast Juice

This is the time for the first drink of the day. Drink one glass (approx 8-16 fl oz). If you feel thirsty in the morning, drink water, a water with a squeeze of lemon/lime, or herb tea. Fruit juices are best digested in the morning… so potentially make the fruit juice the first.

Grapefruit Apple

2 grapefruits 2 apples Peel the grapefruit and core the apples. Juice as usual. Serve.

 

Mid Morning Snack Juice

Carrot Beet Ginger

4 carrots 1 beet 1 small knob of ginger 1/2 lemon, rind ok  Remove the tops from the carrots. Cut the beet in fours for juicing. Juice the carrots, beet, ginger and lemon. Serve immediately.

 

Lunch Juice

Carrot Kale

5 carrots 2 kale leaves small bunch of parsley Remove the tops from the carrots, and feed through the juicer. Juice the kale and parsley. Drink immediately.

Again, if you feel thirsty in the afternoon, drink water, water with a squeeze of lemon/lime or herb teas. It’s also okay to consume more juice as a snack.

 

Dinner Juice

Try to choose a vegetable combination here, but any favorite will be fine. Drink another 8 – 16oz glass, and if you feel thirsty, have some water or herb tea before bed.

Carrot Spinach Celery

4 carrots A small bunch of spinach 3 celery stalks (really good to get rid of excess water retention)  Cut the carrot tops off of your carrots, if necessary. Feed the carrots, spinach and celery together in the juicer, alternating. Serve immediately.

Dessert Juice

This is a great time for a fruit juice or a morning night cap of apple + celery (a great calming juice).

 

Before bed

A nice Epsom salt/essential oil bath followed by a glass of water with a squeeze of lemon is a great way to end your day. Take time to relax and let your body finish cleaning out.

 

After the fast

The next morning, start your day off with a light breakfast of a bowl of fruit, an apple with almond butter or a small bowl of rice soup with avocado. Do not have a heavy, grease filled meal or it might give you ill effects, as well as undo the good you’ve done from letting your digestive system rest the day before. It’s also a good idea to have one meal (lunch or dinner) as a juice meal today to continue your body’s cleansing.