Day 3

I decided that updating every day was a little compulsive for me and probably a little overdose for anyone who doesn't have huge amounts of time on their hands.
The first question I seem to get when I tell people about my juice diet is: why? Why would someone who loves to eat as much as you love to eat, who spends so much of his social time around a dining table, and who loves to play with, cook, read about, and handle food so much decide to give up solids for a month and only drink juice? A number of reasons.
First, to see if I can. How much control do I have over my own body and my cravings? Can I NOT eat any of the ten million delicious things that will cross my path in the course of a month? Can I deal with hunger and a deeply instilled longing to stick anything and everything that looks tempting into my mouth? Is hunger actually painful or threatening or is it just annoying and a way for the body to express cravings? Am I eating out of need or out of habit? Do I have any idea about how much or what I actually need to eat? or do I just eat until I feel "full"? Am I eating to fill the bag that is my stomach or to the run the machine that is my body? How do I tell the difference? Anyway, that's one of the lines of questioning that I hope to get some sort of grasp on.
Another series of questions that I am trying to explore in this diet is about the effects of the food I eat on my body. How much does what I eat affect my brain? My thinking? My dreaming? My sleep? My vision? According to believers in juice dieting, all of the above can be greatly heightened during the course of a juice diet. I've already had moments where I feel like colors are slightly more vivid and where my mind is particularly lucid. Now that may have to do with not drinking any alcohol or with sleeping when I'm tired and thus being more alert when I'm awake. It also may be related to my focus on my body and its response to this lifestyle change. I have also noticed my sense of smell being elevated as I cut up fruit and vegetables in the course of my day. Obviously, what we eat must affect all of our body functions, but its been interesting to think about the direct correlation between one's diet and one's dreams or one's vision. To me, the possibility of remembering my dreams is like opening the door to a huge party at the neighbors house that I never knew was there. Rumor has it that by the 20th day of a juice fast, people feel like they are on some sort of 24-hour slightly hallucinogenic opiate crossed with a splash of speed. That sounds better than any pharmaceutical in the Pfizer catalog. On the whole, this concept of being able to better understand foods' effect on my body, mind, and spirit is the core reason that I'm embarking on this journey.
A third interesting facet for me is the possibility of seeing myself 30 lbs lighter. I know that the weight I lose in this diet is not permanent. Some say its "water weight." Others tell me, "You are going to gain it back immediately." But you know what, at least for a minute, I will weigh what I did when I was 18, and that's pretty cool to see. Not to mention the fact that it is probably better to be at 175 and trying to maintain, than at 205 and trying to lose weight.

Now on to the stats...

Current Weight - 199

Day 2 (Unless otherwise noted all fruits and veg are organic and juiced at home)
AM - carrots, red danjou pear, ginger, blueberries, donut peaches - 1 cup
Midday - sungold cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, rainbow kale, lemon cucumber, basil - 1 1/2 cups
Afternoon - I bought some powdered green barley juice and psyllium husk caps to help with my regularity and "detoxification" as recommended on the juice fasting website
Evening - baby carrots, jonagold apples, pluot, plums, English cucumber - 1 1/2 cups

Day 3
AM - multicolored carrots, cherries, danjou pear, red delicious apple, ginger - 2 cups
Later Morning - "snack" at Judilicious on 40th and Judah - carrot, daikon, ginger, garlic, beet, celery juice (1 1/2 cups) and 1 ounce shot of wheat grass juice

It's been quite a roller coaster energy-wise. The juice provides me with a jolt like Popeye eating spinach. So far, my body does not seem to have adjusted to the sudden hit of simple sugars, so when the immediate energy runs out, I crash hard. My body also seems much more temperature sensitive (cold) than usual. I slept quite deeply last night, and didn't wake up as early as usual today. I have had moments where I felt like colors were particularly bright, but that might be me just imagining things. I definitely feel very enslaved to my juice meals. Once the hunger begins its hard to ignore or forget. I did notice on the first night after writing the blog that I was able to stay up later than usual without feeling drowsy. I suspect that has a lot to do with not eating 5000 calories before bed. Anyway, the juice calls.