The Rising Challenge (Day 5 of 60)

Another day down and I’m still finding it difficult.

Perhaps it was the leftovers of all those glorious meals from before: chili, hot chicken salad casserole, tacos, roast beef and mashed potatoes.

Maybe it was the freshly baked oatmeal pumpkin cookies that smelled oh, so very delicious.

And then there were all those commercials on the televisions at the gym extolling burgers, sandwiches or pizzas.

It can get rough when you’re juicing and hungry for “man food”. You know what I’m talking about… a big roast beef sandwich from Arby’s. Or perhaps a nice t-bone. Or maybe that spicy chicken sandwich from Wendy’s. So many tasty things.

But, I’m not eating that way right now. In fact, I’m not eating at all! I’m simply drinking juices.

As Joe says in “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead”, I made the choices years ago to eat things I shouldn’t have which caused my body to store fat. Now, I’m just letting my body use up the fat stores while I provide it with the proper nutrients.

Juice-fasting is not fun in and of itself. It’s got some really cool effects. I’m already past where I was when I left off the Reboot a month ago. I gained about nine pounds back which I figured was partly due to the nature of the food I was eating – meats and starches – as well as the fact that much of that food was fast food and convenience food.

It’s amazing to see the weight come off as quickly as it is.

It’s just very hard when everyone and everything else is screaming at me to eat what “tastes good” and “looks good.” Let me tell you… a cheeseburger looks a whole lot better right now than a cucumber, cabbage, carrot and apple juice.

But I digress from the norm here.

Let’s talk about the juicing.

Morning Juice
Macintosh Apples (4)
Orange (1)
Lime (1)
Cucumber (1)
Simple, but good. In fact, it was one of the best juices I’ve had. The orange was very predominant, but the cuke added a subtlety that made it very nice.

Lunch Juice
Collards (2 c)
Cucumber (one-half large)
Lime (1)
Macintosh Apples (2)
Celery (2 stalks)
Radishes (2)
I think I must hate collards. It was extremely difficult to start drinking this one, but I was able to manage.

Dinner Juice
Cabbage (3 leaves)
Cucumber (other half)
Macintosh Apples (2)
Carrots (2)
Lime (1)
Celery (2 stalks)
My ingredients are getting kind of boring, but I don’t have lots of money to spend on fun stuff. Someday, perhaps.

I nearly gave in tonight. We just realized that having to pay for the mortgage is going to be a serious hardship, and we can’t really afford it. It’ll be hard to keep up with the veggies and fruits needed to juice, but Nancy is committed to seeing me through this thing. She’s not ready to give up. I suppose I don’t need to either.


Plenty of water – three plus liters on the day – was consumed by yours truly. I also had about 6 ounces of coconut water before bed as my treat since I wasn’t eating the cookies. *sigh*

Day five down. Only fifty-five more to go!