Mission Accomplished

It's officially after midnight (don't trust Blogger time) which means I have successfully completed my twelve day juice cleanse! In celebration, I thought I would share twelve things I have learned on this journey.  And here they are:

1. Real juice does not come in a glass, cup, bottle, can, jar, jug, carton, box, or anything of the sort.  Store bought juices are nothing but sugar water and have little to no nutritional value.  Even Odwalla and other "naked" juices are pasteurized.  Pasteurization is when the juice is heated to get rid of bacteria.  Unfortunately, beneficial nutrients may also be eliminated during this process. If you want to reap the full health benefits of drinking juice, you must make it yourself or purchase it from a legit juice bar.
2. Do not put your juice in the fridge!  When fruits and vegetables are juiced, they begin the oxidation process and soon lose some of their nutritional value.  (Oxidation is what makes an apple turn brown when you cut it.)  Always drink your juice right after making it.
3. Drink your juice slowly.  You must give your body time to take in the overwhelming amount of vitamins and minerals from the juice.  Drinking it too fast can prevent you from fully absorbing the nutrients.  And it can make you feel sick.
4. Juicing is time consuming.  For each glass of juice you make, you will need to prep the ingredients, juice them, and clean the juicer.  This can take anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour.  If you're doing a juice cleanse, you will probably want to make juice at least three times a day.  So, you're likely to spend an hour and a half to three hours a day in the kitchen.
5. Making juice can be very expensive.  It's amazing how much food you have to put in your juicer just to produce a small glass of juice.  Shop at the farmer's market when possible.  Not only are the fruits and veggies local and fresh, but they also tend to be cheaper than at the grocery store.
6. Don't be afraid to experiment with different juice combinations.  You just might end up with your best juice yet.  By the same token, use your intuition.  If you can't imagine pairing a certain fruit with a certain vegetable, you probably shouldn't.
7. Use a wide variety of ingredients.  Every fruit and every vegetable has its own unique nutritional benefits to offer.  Try them all!
8. We are in control of what we put into our bodies.  We can choose to fill our bodies with foods that will help us or with foods that will hurt us.  The helping foods can taste just as good as (if not better than) the hurting foods.  In fact, if you begin eating more healthy foods, your taste buds will change.  All of a sudden, the unhealthy foods you used to crave will start to taste as awful as they are for you.
9. If you are looking at your computer, tablet, or mobile phone to read this blog, then chances are you have never been hungry.  Most of us have never experienced true hunger.  The hunger we feel stems from our brains, not our bodies.  However, hunger should be physical.  We must learn to listen our bodies not only to tell us when we are hungry but also to tell us when we are full.
10. Never underestimate the importance of drinking.  You can survive much longer without food than without water.  In theory, you could live your entire life on a liquid diet.  When we think we are hungry, more often than not, we are really thirsty.  Drink a full glass of water before every meal even if your meals only consist of juice.
11. You may think that you need your cup of coffee, your can of Red Bull, your 5-Hour Energy Shot, etc. to wake you up or give you the energy you need to get through the day.  But these things are not doing anything good for your body.  Several hours after drinking them, you are likely to feel even more sluggish than you were to begin with.  You don't need caffeine or a ridiculous amount of vitamin B to get energized.  All you need is a good healthy dose of vitamins and minerals.  Which you can always get from a delicious glass of fresh squeezed juice!
12. It is possible to completely change your life in as little as twelve days.  And I am living proof!