Juice or Green Smoothie Fast? Help please

[Raene]

So...I was 100% raw for over two months and doing great. Found it to be extremely easy to watch SAD eaters around me while I was eating raw. No problems...until I went to NYC last weekend. I ate at Pure Food, Quintessance, Westerley, had great raw foods, yet decided to eat Indian food with my partner. That seemed *okay* not great, but okay. Then when waiting to catch our bus I went and bought french fries :eek: not even baked ones, but completely deep fried ones!! I also had a few bites of cheese pizza (I've been vegan for almost 3 years!!). What am I doing????? Ever since I've had a hard time. I'm okay when home, but when out I crave "naughty" foods. At the Farmer's Market here we have a great macrobiotic booth and my daughter wanted a plate there. It's a sampler with everything they have, and of course, macrobiotic food is VERY cooked! My daughter's not 100% raw so she was fine with it, but she ate 3 or 4 bites and then didn't want any and I can't stand to see food wasted, so I ate it. Immediately I became depressed and feeling hopeless, not from the guilt of eating it, but that's the emotions the food brought on. I haven't slept well lately and have noticed I've been extremely pessimistic. One more thing I've noticed is that in this past week of eating partly cooked foods I've lost maybe 5 lbs and I'm already extremely underweight. I think if I lose any more I'll be checked in! Ugh. I feel like I need a cleanse. I definitely can't afford to lose more weight, but the thing is, eating raw I was at a healthier weight than I am now that I've mixed some cooked food into my diet.
Is juice fasting a better option than green smoothies? I only have a $60 juicer, I forget the brand, but it's not great for greens probably. Could I do juices and smoothies only or is that not a great idea? How do I go about this? I've really got to work past it. I was doing so well...
It also makes me appreciate all of you in big cities. I found it such a challenge to stay hydrated and to stick to being raw. You all Rawk.
Thanks for any advice you may have.

[Bookish Lass]

The juice feast made me feel great. I think the main difference is that you'd cleanse faster on juice than on smoothies, but both would do you good, I'm sure.

[Eva]

Smoothie fast means it will be pushing your bowels hard core. You will not get the fiber in a juice feast.

YOU have done so great to be all raw for a full two months. AND you have done your body a favor by spoiling it during that time. Your emotions, weight, etc. have to be better on raw because it's the best thing you can do for yourself. You DESERVE the BEST thing you can do for yourself.

You DO NOT DESERVE to beat yourself up, even if your emotions are temporarily out of sync with your desired emotions. So I hope you're not doing that.

I commend you for taking steps to get back to doing the best for yourself. But go easy on yourself! If you're doing the green smoothie fast and want to break the fast in a healthy way with raw food -- it's better than not listening to that and going to something "bad."

I hope you at least had a ton of fun in NYC! :)

[Jenifae]

Hi Raene,

Don't beat yourself up. For whatever reason you needed to experience that. So, it's a good thing. You may learn why at a later date and sometimes we never know. But, I suspect that it helped you realize why you are raw and want to continue.

I have a question. When doing a GS fast do you only have GS's or can you eat other things with it? I might be interested in trying that.

[Raene]

Only green smoothies. Aleesha on the board is the GS Queen. She knows a lot more than I do. I didn't succeed in the Green Smoothie Challenge, but I'm not great at restricting myself with juices, smoothies, etc.

[Jenifae]

I'm not either. I would like to do a fast but, when I get into depreviation I tend to crave, binge, and basically rebel. I would like to eventually get to a mental place where I don't feel like I'm depriving myself by doing a fast. How does one get there?
I'm doing good just doing 100% raw on some days. :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

hahahaha I didn't know I'm a Queen. cool! *giggling*

I would suggest that the first thing you do is wrap those gorgeous arms around yourself and give yourself a HUGE hug from me!!!

I'm waiting... have you done it yet! *tapping my toes* good!!! Now I'll go on!

I think you should do a combo... juice and smoothies. That way you'll have lots of variety! I'd like to see you begin the day with green smoothies with three bananas in each one. yup... three bananas! That's what I do here. Always 3 bananas in a smoothie! Then as the day progresses, move into juices. You could even have a more pulpy juice and then a more clear juice at the end of the day.

I can't tell you why exactly but when I connect with you Raene, that's what I get. :)

Wanna try it? Try it for a week and if you are maintaining your weight... continue for another. 21 days in total. Feel free to have nut mylks as well in the middle of the day :) As they'd be an excellent choice for you. IMO.

[JEN]

Im thinking of adding smoothies to my feast as I keep dropping too much weight. Ive lost 7 lbs in 3 days. Thats too much for me. Maybe adding in some bananas with green smoothies will help. I did a 21 day juice feast in May and didnt lose as much but this time its just melting off. I dont need to lose weight and I have no medical problems so I was looking for more mental/spiritual benefits. My mind just seems to be a bit overwhelmed lately.

[Aleesha Sattva]

jen,

from everything i've read and everyone i've spoken with... when weight comes off (too much weight) it comes back on again. it's your body finding IT'S equilibrium. :) Patience will assist your weight regain... but please listen to your body... not me! (((hugs)))

[Raene]

Thanks Aleesha! I did hug myself from you and it brought tears to my eyes.
I've just been so tired of eating bananas that I've stopped and haven't eaten more than 3 in the past week and a half. Wonder if maybe that's part of the weight loss. I'll try the Green Smoothies in the morning idea! I don't like mangoes at all so yes, I should really go back to bananas. :) Thank you thank you!

[Aleesha Sattva]

You know I love you girl!!! Glad you took my hug... here's another one for ya!

((((((((((((((((((((((((HUG))))))))))))))))))))))) ))))))))

Keep me posted on how it goes for ya.

[Jenifae]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwh :) So, much love................I want to Hug you Both ;)

Hope you dont' mind a Hug from me ;) :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

sure you can get into the hugfest!!!

[Jenifae]

:) Awwwwwwwwwwh, thank you :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

((((((((((((((((((((hugfest)))))))))))))))))))

from me to you!!!