100 Days - Day 1

​Good morning! Today is Day 1 of my 100 day juice journey. For the first 28 days, I’ll be following Jason Vale’s 28 Day Juice Plan, and if it goes well, I’m thinking I might simply keep going, completing several cycles in a row.

Recently, I’ve been experimenting with juicing after many years of not juicing, either as a full time plan or including juices in my daily nutrition. I looked into Joe Cross’s recipes, and liked many of them. He’s the Australian entrepreneur who filmed Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, and who authored Reboot with Joe and other books. Cross healing himself of numerous health conditions through juice fasting. I also read Anthony William’s Cleanse to Heal, and followed his Advanced 3:6:9 Cleanse to see whether I resonated with his approach. He’s called the Medical Medium and he writes extensively about health and wellness, advocating a plant based diet heavily focused on detoxification.

Eventually, I settled on Jason Vale’s plan as it’s very clear and comprehensive. The recipes are well thought out  in terms of the variety of featured fruits and vegetables and the drinks are delicious! He includes several categories of beverages including shots, juices, smoothies, and blends, and suggests adding a probiotic, some powdered greens, and Udo’s Choice or another flaxseed oil into daily rotation. He offers an excellent app that includes not only a list of the ingredients as well as instructions, but also brief demo videos showing how to make each drink.

Jason Vale recommends maintaining a regular exercise program while on the juice plan as the consistent engaged movement supports health and well-being. Benefits he emphasizes include oxygenating the blood and keeping your lymph system pumping; improving mood, memory, and sleep; keeping bones strong, improving posture and enhancing energy. That boost to your energy also lifts your spirit and helps you stay strong and committed for the duration of your program. I figured if I went in for a penny might as well go in for a pound and commit to doing a round of 75 Hard while I’m working my way through the 100 days of juicing.

In the 75 Hard Program, you agree to 5 daily practices.
1. Two 45 minute exercise sessions daily, one practiced outside.
2. Sticking to a chosen healthy eating plan, while avoiding alcohol for all 75 days.
3. Drinking a gallon of water daily,  above and beyond amounts in beverages like coffee or tea.
4. Reading 10 pages of a chosen non-fiction book.
5. Taking a daily progress pick.

I've been practicing, and I managed to get to day 11 before falling off in the most recent round.  I discovered that my Achilles heel was not planning and timing things well. I wasn't tempted to eat off plan and I wasn't averse to exercising twice daily or guzzling 128 oz water daily.  I was totally happy with the reading assignment and had no issue with a quick daily snapshot. What weakened my program was not following a schedule as I would find myself behind in my juices and waters, needing to guzzle two quarts and read 10 pages just before bed. That not only delayed bedtime, but then I ended up waking up several times in the middle of the night to pee. Not cool!

So I'm determined now to time my drinks more optimally and to get not only one exercise session done early in the morning but also the reading and the snapshots handled then as well. Then it's only follow-through with the juices and the water, and hitting up an exercise class or taking another walk. I've got this! I'm excited!!