Operation CreamPuff: Blog #7 – Reader Appreciation Week (Keep ‘em Coming!)

Thank you so much to everyone who reads the blog!!! This week’s blog is for those of you who have emailed or “Facebook’d” me questions about this juice cleanse. No doubt, you see the results and now want to know more about what we are doing, not just keep reading my slightly maniacal little blogs. So this week’s installment will be a little more informational/instructional. In addition to the video I have included several links to different articles, websites, etc. that we found useful, interesting, or that we think are key to getting started and completing the juice cleanse successfully.

A note about juicers: As I mentioned in the video, our juicer was not by any means the fanciest or most expensive juicer out there. But we did our research and compared to some of the ones in the higher dollar range, this was more recommended, particularly over the Jack Lalanne one. The only issue with the one we have is that is wastes a lot of the fruits and veggies. One tip is to re-juice the leftovers if they still seem wet. That is a huge hassle and we don’t do it, but apparently it is an option. Either way be sure to get something that separates (“juice extractor”) the skin from the fruit. The Vitamix juices the entire fruit/veggie so there is no waste at all which makes it worth the extra money. However, if you are on a juice fast and that is all you are eating/drinking, you want the juice to go directly into your bloodstream and not have to break down all the fiber first. So for what we are doing I would not recommend the Vitamix. If you just want to add juicing to your regular eating routine and get the benefits of the fiber, then I would say the Vitamix is a good investment.

A note about fruit and veggie shopping: Buy organic guys! It’s not a hoax. The pesticides, fertilizers and God knows what else they put in our fruit and vegetables are not good for you! They defeat the purpose of the cleanse. If you can’t buy organic then wash your food with a veggie scrubber, there are even veggie washes you can buy (link below), and remove the peel/skin thoroughly since that’s where most of the bad stuff resides. If you are only buying produce, even Whole Foods isn’t that bad. It’s not the produce that costs a lot; it’s all the other stuff they sell there. We spend about $150-200 every 2-3 weeks or so and that’s for 2 people drinking juice for every meal. How many of you only spend $300-400 a month on food for 2 adults? Remember that you probably eat out 3-4 days a week. OK, getting down from my soapbox now.

Also, use the recipe books (links below) to build your shopping list so you’re not randomly buying things and so that you are being sure to get the full spectrum of nutrients and benefits from the various fruit and veggie choices. You would be surprised at some of the stuff that goes into these juices (ginger, bell peppers, jalapenos, herbs, cauliflower). So use the recipe books as a tool even if you want to freestyle it and not follow them line by line. I would suggest following them in the beginning till you get an idea about volume and what mixes well together.

A note about our daily routine: During the week we generally make our breakfast juice the night before so that we don’t have to make tons of juice in the morning. In the morning we make our afternoon juice. It actually takes me a while to get through the entire 16-oz so I’m usually not done with my morning juice till around 10am. I start on my lunch juice around 1:30pm. During the day at work I drink 2-33.8 fl oz bottles of Smart Water. After work we go to the gym. We are usually home by about 7 which is late for dinner, but if we are hungry or feeling worn out, we do the dinner juice when we get home and are generally drinking it by 7:30. I drink a 3^rd bottle of water during and after the gym and little more right before bed. That’s the equivalent of about 13-8 oz glasses of water per day (that’s on top of all the water that’s in the juice). On the weekends we generally make all our juices fresh.

Recipes:

Almond Milk recipe that was omitted from the video to cut down the time for those of us with short attention spans (like me!):

· 1 cup of almonds

· 3 cups of water

· Soak for 48 hours (softens the almonds and fills them with water)

· Juice it up!

Recipe from the Video: