Litsa and I want to attempt answer some of the questions asked about juicing.
Frequent juicing questions:
How do I account for the juicing calories?
Does juicing replace a meal?
Do you eat food?
How much juice should be consumed?
Renae’s Thoughts
I have been juicing for a year and a half now. First of all, I never count calories. I try to keep to the correct portions and eat healthy whole foods. I usually drink my juice as a morning or afternoon snack. I like food way to much to use juicing as a meal replacement! My coach is the one who introduced me to juicing. He told me if you are hungry eat! If you feel full from juicing, then don’t eat. Listen to your body to guide you towards what the best technique is for you. That being said, I usually drink 16 oz. of juice a day. This is what I have found that works for my body.
If I feel a cold coming on, I tend to juice more. I have found that juicing is a powerful immunity booster. If I am feeling run down, I will drink more juice that particular day to hopefully prevent illness. I usually drink a similar drink concoction each time I juice too. I don’t follow a recipe really, it’s just what my coach and I have found that works and tastes good! My juice consists of spinach, kale, swiss chard, beets, lemon, pear, apple, ginger, habanero pepper (tiny bit!), carrots, celery, cilantro, parsley and red lettuce.
Litsa’s Thoughts
I’m new to juicing! I bought a juicer three or more years ago but juiced a couple of times and allowed it to just take up space in our kitchen cabinets. Late last summer, when I returned from Greece my body was used to clean eating with no additives from the Mediterranean diet that is simply infused with fruits and veggies. I wanted more fruits and veggies in our diet here in West TN so I pulled out the juicer to juice what my daughter and I were not eating a ton of! We loved the fresh juice. I was walking and eating clean as well as juicing. The compliments poured in as well as the questions..”What else are you doing!?!” I really couldn’t answer that there was a magic formula other than I was drinking more fruits and veggies which seemed to help sculpt my muscles from the inside out. I looked good and I felt good. The energy levels were worth juicing for—and there were no joint pains in my body when I woke up.
Throw in a few holidays and I steered away from juicing only to pick it back up in January with an online juicing challenge! My body was thirsty for fruits and vegetables. I have been enjoying one to two jars of fresh juice daily. I don’t replace meals with my juice either but I may eat less and/or drink more. I, too, listen to my body. I’m an eater and a drinker. I love coffee, water, juices, tea—so the real challenge for me is making sure I’m filling up with foods too—not just liquids. However, the juices do feed my body. For dinner, I may have a 10 ounce rib-eye but drink three bags of spinach with ginger, carrots, and cucumbers. I don’t count calories either. I eat and drink based on increments of time as well as listening to my body. Juicing helps regulate the bloat and helps me feel lighter on my feet. Winter has embraced me in West TN but by juicing daily, I can still see muscles sculpted and radiant skin. Currently, I am juicing daily. I’m still new as to the concoctions of juices but I can attest to the strength of juice—it feeds my body!
Make sure you checkout the rest of the juicing posts for more information and recipes!
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I like your approach to juicing and healthy eating in general, Renae! Life is way too short to count calories!:-) I firmly believe that it will not be necessary if you use common sense and make smart food choices.
I am also not a proponent of going on a juice ‘diet’. It is not sustainable. We need solid food. It makes much more sense to incorporate juicing into a healthy nutrition plan. That is what I always recommend to my juicing friends. It then becomes a habit that can be sustained for life.