Here is a profile picture of before I started the diet 30 days ago.

Here is my profile picture taken yesterday

I tried to keep everything basically the same; the makeup, the hair, etc.  No contouring was used. I tried to keep the lighting the same, however, I clearly don't know what I'm doing.

I do feel that there is a better shape to my face. The chin area doesn't quite look like it melds right into my neck and maybe 1 of my 3 chins is gone.

Beginning Weight    188 lbs.
End of 39 days        174.5 lbs

Total Weight lost:  13.5 pounds in 30 days.

I can't complain.

I feel that I made the greatest strides in the first 2 weeks and that in the last two weeks, I didn't work at it hard enough.

I read as many articles saying that a juice fast is bad for you as I read about the benefits of a juice diet.

To see my 2 week summary go HERE.

MISTAKES I'VE MADE:

1.  I rarely exercised. (First, I didn't feel I had the energy and then, the last two weeks I've had an upper respiratory infection)
2.  Sill, not drinking enough water.
3.  I didn't vary the juice drinks enough so that I wouldn't get tired of them.
4.  I tried to take spirulina and became pretty ill. Not sure why it didn't agree with me.
5.  The fruit juices just played havoc with my blood sugar. I had to have very little fruit and then just occasionally.


This is the most weight I've been able to lose in a long time and I was quite surprised that I did lose that much.

Q&A

How was the diet itself?
Other than a few days where I just felt that I couldn't drink one more drink without gagging, it wasn't too bad.  Also, my husband said my breath smelled like 'Dirt'.

Did you eat at all?
I would juice enough to make sure I had enough for breakfast and lunch the next day. At night, I usually had a yam or Big Salad or soup when I just needed something warm in my stomach.

What about feeding the others in your household?
I made my husband's meal separate from mine. Everything he ate looked so good to me and I guarantee you that I am no chef.

How was your hypoglycemia?

This was definitely a problem for me. If I didn't drink my juice early enough in the morning, I usually got hypoglycemic. I did, however, find a great bar that I really like for emergencies:  NuGo Free bars- Gluten free, soy and dairy free bars.  I found these in my Safeway.

How was your energy?

Not great. I really didn't feel like walking or doing any other kind of exercise.

Any tips?

I found that if I chewed a few pieces of Dentyne Fire gum, it satisfied the urge of chewing food and it gave me a little bit of added energy (sugar). I added flax seeds to my salads and drinks (sometimes) to give me a little bit more protein.

I ate sunflower seeds at night, sometimes a yogurt with fresh fruit.

THE BENEFITS
1. No need for sleeping pills (This absolutely astounded me!)
2. Certain cravings are gone:  Carbohydrates and sweets being the main ones. I now understand the term REBOOTING.That, in itself, was worth it.
3.  The weight loss, obviously. I will be getting all my numbers done in a couple of weeks with my family physician.
4.  My body just doesn't feel as bogged down as when I had so many carbs and sweets.
5.  Many of my gastro problems seem to have resolved themselves.This is no small feat.

I promised myself pizza when I made it 30 days. Even my husband, Mr. "you're not following the rules". agreed with me.

Not sure if I'll do that, since I think, now, I may have had an intolerance to wheat and that was why I was always so bloated.

If you have an interest in giving this a shot, here are some links to get you started:

JUICING LINKS

To watch Joe Cross' documentary, 'Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead', for free, go HERE.

Go to Rebootwithjoe.com to learn the basics of juicing, getting some recipes, and having a juicing community with which to learn from others. Joe Cross has Reboot Plans on this site that are 3-day plans on up to 30-day plans.

Put the name "juicing blogs" into your search engine, and you will find more information than you could ever imagine.

Many people on Twitter in the Juicing Community have helped me and given me some really great advice and encouragement and I thank them all for taking the time and really giving me some great information.

So...that's it. I WILL CONTINUE TO JUICE, so please keep going on my Juicing Journey, however, I feel now it's time to ease back into some "real food"  healthy eating options.

I'd love to hear of anyone's experience with the Juice Fast or Juice Diet; what has worked; what hasn't worked; any tips or suggestions.

Remember that you need to get your Doctor's OK before beginning a juice fast/diet and this is not recommended for children, pregnant or nursing women.