Juice Feasting™ | The Preparation Course
A Day in the Life of a Juice Feaster
Juice Feasting is about Generating and Accessing Opportunities. It requires a gentle and conscious diligence.
Before Day 1, you have set your determination to draw in the best things possible in your life, to break through, transform, and transcend the challenges that have kept you from realizing your true potential.
Every moment, experience, and object in your life has now become an opportunity for you. Let’s now pre-load in your mind what your days as a Juice Feaster are going to look like, so that you can prepare yourself in every way to have an excellent Juice Feast, taking advantage of what is available to you, and making sure that you develop an excellent practice of Juice Feasting for your Life Practice toolbox.
1. Waking Up This Morning, I Smile
Great things await you every day of your Juice Feast. Because of the great intention with which you heal yourself, and the purity of the foods you are taking in, you become a vortex for wonderful things to come into your life. Synchronicities will happen, and even the events which do not look initially positive will turn out to be very good. You may not believe us right now, but just remember that we mentioned synchronicities and Juice Feasting, and you will experience this for yourself.
You may want to start each day of your Juice Feast with the above poem by Thich Nhat Hanh, or a prayer of your own that can set a positive energy for the day right away.
2. Oral Hygiene
Oral hygiene is really important to keep in mind not only in the morning, but throughout the day. Even your Green Vegetable Juices are a about 60% carbohydrate, so you can get a coating of plaque in your mouth if you do not rinse after drinking juice.
You are going to want to use a Stainless Steel Tongue Scraper. During any cleanse, you will often find a yellow or white coating on your tongue, which many cleansing professionals over the years consider a reflection of your bowel toxicity. You may want to take your tongue scraper with you to work if that coating returns during the day.
Dr. Richard Anderson, in his excellent book Cleanse and Purify Thyself, has this to say about the tongue during a cleanse:
Many people notice that as they cleanse, their tongues turn whitish-gray and filmy, and the breath becomes more and more foul. This reflects what is happening in the digestive canal. As they drink fresh juice, mucoid layers will soften, and so they may notice that the abdomen swells. As more and more mucoid layers are removed, the swelling goes down, the tongue gradually becomes clearer, and the breath improves. This is a good gauge as to how clean a person is becoming, for when you are totally clean, the tongue will be shiny red (just like a newborn baby’s). It will be free of all whiteness or film, and the breath will be sweet (unless we eat onions or garlic).
Another question is brushing teeth. I like to use a capful of 3% hydrogen peroxide during a Juice Feast (do not swallow Hydrogen Peroxide – just swish and brush and rinse), or a little Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate – NOT Baking Powder!) on my toothbrush. Both freshen your breath and do not have the taste of anything that might remind you of food. Also, many toothpastes have things in them you would rather not inject anyhow.
For much, much more on oral hygiene and Biological Dentistry, including important information and research on Root Canals, Mercury Fillings, and Fluoride, see Day 44: Biological Dentistry and Teeth in The 92-Day Juice Feasting Program.
3. Water: One Quart with Lemon and MSM
Once your feet hit the floor, the first thing you should be looking for (other than the toilet if you need to pee) is WATER.
Start every day with one quart of water with 1/2 lemon squeezed in, and between 1/2 tsp and 2 Tablespoons of MSM powder, depending on what your tolerance is (the way to know is by taste and whether you get the runs… MSM has no toxicity level, however, so there are no worries other than the runs…)
Why water? We are 90% water when we are born, and by the time most of us die, we are about 50-60% water. As we dehydrate, our tissues become toxic and stiffen. Nutrients are not properly assimilated, and toxic matter does not leave our cells and lymphatic fluid in a timely manner. Our blood thickens. Brain function is compromised. Do you know what a hangover is? Dehydration. Most westerners are dehydrated every day of their lives, waking up agitated and groggy, and thinking that another dehydrating agent, coffee, is going to get them going. It will only kick you further down. Water is your best energizer in the morning, and that is why we are training you now to develop as a life practice drinking 1 quart of water each morning. Drinking water will wake up your mind, hydrate your tissues (reducing chronic pain), and some water will go down to your bowel to help you eliminate the waste matter accumulated during the night, so that you do not carry it around during the day and re-assimilate old fecal material back into your system, giving you more problems… This is something you will learn much more about on Days 33 and 34 of the Juice Feasting Program.
Now, in that quart of water you are adding another hydrator, lemon juice. Citrus is a hydrogen concentrator, and the element hydrogen hydrates. Lemon is also fairly high in Vitamin C, and that brings us to our next morning water element, MSM.
MSM is a sulfur compound, and sulfur is the third most prevalent mineral in the body. It just so happens that MSM breaks up scar tissue, reduces inflammation better than any anti-inflammatory drug out there, and has no side effects (other than the runs if you take more than your body knows how to use). A therapeutic amount of MSM is over 3 Tablespoons a day, but for most of us, the body will need to learn how to use MSM before we can reach that amount.
MSM is potentiated, or made more bioavailable (and therefore effective) in your body, when combined with Vitamin C. Also, the lemon in your water will soften the taste of the MSM, which will take a few days to get used to. Just start with a low amount as mentioned above, and move up as your body and tastebuds adjust.
This is a life practice that you are developing: 1 Quart of water, 1/2 Lemon, and 1 Tablespoon of MSM.
4. Oil Pulling
This is perhaps the most important oral health practice you have never encountered. At this early time in the morning, you have had your water, and are about to sweep into the bathroom and do a few things – let’s make the most of your time.
Oil pulling is also known as Oil Swishing. Have you ever used a Water Pic? The idea is that the water goes in between your gums and your teeth – up in the pockets where dental floss can’t reach – and removes bacteria that cause tooth decay. But some of those bacteria are best removed with fats, not water.
So, a very effective practice is swishing Sesame Oil, Olive Oil, or Coconut Oil in your mouth – without swallowing the oil – for 20 minutes. Yes, you will swallow a tiny amount of saliva – but you don’t swallow the oil.
What this 20 minutes achieves is deep pulling of bacteria from the pockets between your gums and your teeth.
Benefits? I was skeptical of this practice at first. I watched the interwebs for the experience of others, and did the practice myself. The preponderance of evidence on this practice is that it significantly reduces or eliminates gingivitis, whitens teeth, helps loose teeth to harden up, and reverses small dental caries.
This is well worth doing. Our favorite oil to use is Sesame, but people also experience huge benefits from using Coconut Oil. Both have a nice flavor and are very soothing. Simply put a Tablespoon of Sesame Oil on the spoon, place it in your mouth, and swish while you are doing the next Morning Practices in the bathroom.
5. Skin Brushing
Before you get into the shower, use a Yerba Prima Dry Skin Brush for just 90 seconds to support your organs of elimination. At first, it may be a little scratchy, but give it a few days, you will come to crave it! One of the best statements on skin brushing comes from Dr. Jensen’s Guide to Better Bowel Care:
Your daily regimen should begin with skin brushing for a period of three to five minutes. I believe skin brushing is one of the finest of all “baths.” No soap can wash the skin as clean as the new skin that you have under the old. You make a new top layer of skin every twenty-four hours. Skin brushing removes the old top layer and lets this clean new layer come to the surface.
The skin is one of the five main elimination channels of the body, throwing off about two pounds of toxic material each day in the form of perspiration. The skin has been called the third kidney because of its ability to rid the body of toxic waste material. Do not hinder the skin by using oils, cremes, or other noxious glop that serves only to clog it in the name of beauty. Instead, see what regular skin brushing can do for you.
Skin brushing is accomplished using a natural-bristle brush with a long handle to reach those hard-to-get-at places. The whole body (except the face) should be brushed one-half hour after rising and prior to the morning bath or shower. You may wish to skin brush again before retiring for the night. Note the powder that comes off your skin as you brush. These are crystals of uric acid and other dried waste products that came out with the perspiration.
Always brush the skin when it is dry, and never expose the brush to water. Although the bristles may seem a bit stiff at first, this is because the brush is new and your skin is not yet used to the brushing. If you find the brush is too stiff, you may, just once, hold the bristles in hot water for no longer than one minute and no deeper than one-half inch. This will soften the bristles a little. However, it will not be long before you desire a stiffer brush! Your skin will love you for brushing it regularly, and you will love the way your skin feels and looks, too.
This is a great life practice! Please continue to skin brush each morning after the Juice Feast!
6. The Standing Enema: Very, Very Important!
Now that you are up and hydrated, you want to make use of your Enema Kit first thing in the morning. Why an enema, and why in the morning? Your body is processing old matter for release faster than it can actually get it out, by virtue of the cleansing physiology that you have created drinking only fresh juices (particularly Green Vegetable Juice, which acts like liquid plumber).
The surest way to create a negative cleansing reaction on a cleanse is to not support your organs of elimination, and your colon is number 1.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Nature abhors a vacuum?” It does, and as your bowel empties out of years-old fecal matter and childhood toys that were left up in there, every cell in your body gets the message that it, too can release old waste and move it to the bowel for elimination. You do not want to slow the progress of old matter leaving your body. Doing so by not doing enemas, or any of the other aids to elimination will ensure a back-up and reabsorption of old toxic matter that will make you feel weak, and ill. The Juice Feast is designed to nearly eliminate this possibility, provided that you do the necessary things.
You want to do an enema first thing in the morning because your body has done a lot of work processing stuff during the night that is ready for release. You do not want to carry this stuff around any longer than necessary. Doing an enema in the morning will be a great boost to your energy level, and to the efficiency of the cleansing aspect of the Juice Feast.
Make sure you have the bathroom to yourself. And follow these easy instructions for a Standing Enema by Juice Feasting’s David Rainoshek, M.A.
Use unrefined coconut oil to lubricate the tip of the enema kit and your bottom. The reason for using unrefined coconut oil is that it is the most resistant to rancidity of all the oils. It has a pleasant smell. Finally, it is an excellent antimicrobial, antibacterial, antifungal agent.
When you insert the tip of the enema kit, remember that you have had bowel movements larger than the tip of the kit, and you control how slowly it enters. Many of us have a hard time with this the first time or two, because we are used to that being an “exit only” area, but getting warm water up into your bowel is essential for your healing, and enemas are well over 2000 years in use, so you are a-okay. Breathe deeply for a minute before you insert the tip of the kit inside yourself. Slowly open the valve and you will feel the water go up inside you.
When the pressure is enough, close off the valve, and slowly pull the tip out of you. The first time you do this, you may only take in a cup of water. This is because you have recently digested food and impacted fecal matter inside of you that needs to come out, and as it does, it will allow for more water to go in until you are able to take in the whole bag at one time.
Hold the water for 3-5 minutes minimum, 6-8 minutes is better. The first time you do an enema, you may not be able to hold it more that 30 seconds. That is okay, your body wants to release, so let it do so. After a few times you will be more comfortable, and holding the warm water in your bowel longer will be easier. Lay on your back and massage your abdomen. The water will come in your colon up your left side, across under your rib cage, and down your right side, and exit in the reverse order. Massage the water up your left side, across under your abdomen, and down your right side, paying particular attention to areas where you are feeling pain. If you do, there is constipation there and you should massage that area gently with more attention to release the impacted matter.
When you release, squat over an open shower drain or the toilet (we call it “rim surfing”). You can also get a Squatty Potty, which is very useful in the bathroom. Their commercial is just too entertaining not to post here, so here you go, enjoy:
Why squat? Dr. John Chiene discovered toilet users suffered from incomplete elimination compared with squatting position users. He actually (yes, actually) weighed and compared his own fecal mass passed on the toilet with that passed in a squatting position. He found that he always eliminated less weight when he used the toilet alone. In many countries worldwide, toilets are made so that people squat when they have a bowel movement. Again, you want to eliminate. It is just you in there, and it is your health. Claim it and do this simple practice, please.
Lastly, how long should you do enemas on the Juice Feast?
Everyone regardless of bowel health should do an enema each morning for the first 10-14 days of the Feast. After that, you come to know what an enema does for you, and how you feel when you need to support your body in eliminating the massive amount of toxic material that comes forth as you cleanse. We do an enema about every 3rd day after that initial round on a Juice Feast. If you have been constipated for years, however, and you have a lot of weight to lose, you can continue to do an enema each day for the duration of your Juice Feast, be it 14 Days or 92 Days.
7. Hot/Cool Contrast Shower
In Greek Medicine, there evolved a healing tradition called the Water Cure. The Water Cure is the common term for a collection of hydrotherapies which, in one way or another, make skillful and ingenious use of the healing virtues of Water. One of those therapies is the Contrast Shower.
This is an excellent health practice on any cleansing programme, such as a Juice Fast or Juice Feast. The hot water draws old, stagnant blood out of the internal organs or the body's interior, and the cold water drives fresh blood back into the internal organs and the body's core. With alternating hot / cold applications, the circulation is powerfully increased.
The operative word is COOL (not cold). It is critical that we support the organs and processes of elimination, and using hot/cold treatment is an excellent and accessible, no-cost way to move lymphatic fluid and blood.
To use Contrast Shower Hydrotherapy on a Juice Feast, take a hot shower, and at the point in your shower when it is feeling like it is time to get out, begin cranking the water back toward cool, and leave it there for about a minute. Then slowly crank it back toward warm/hot for a minute, then back toward cool for a minute, and so on:
Then get out of the shower, ending on cool, which is stimulating. When we do a Juice Feast or other cleanse, we usually do this with each shower as a matter of course, and have noticed that it is invigorating and is a valuable part of our cleansing reaction/healing crisis minimization, making life much more pleasant on a cleanse.
Also, make sure that you are filtering out the chlorine from your shower water, if necessary. Carbon filters are available online and at your local Whole Foods/Wild Oats. Exposing yourself to chlorine is less than the best idea, as you will learn on Day 33: Safe and Healthy Public Water in The 92-Day Juice Feasting Program.
8. Making Your Juice: FOUR (4) Beautiful Quarts, Early
Allow 1.5 hours each morning to make your juice for the day. You will get faster… once you get it down, making 4 Quarts of Juice should only take 45 minutes.
We are going to figure that you go to work, and need to take your juices with you. If you are fortunate enough to be able to make juice at home all day, you have the option of making each quart fresh right before you drink it, and that is wonderful. For most of us, however, taking juice to work is reality.
You don’t have a lot of time in the morning. This is why we suggest making all of your juices in a high-speed blender (Vitamix) and then straining the pulp from the juice with a nut mylk bag. By yourself it will take 45 minutes to make 4 quarts of juice once you get proficient at it.. Clean-up is easy with the high-speed blender, and you just wipe off the counter, and go.
==> MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE THE HOUSE WITH 4 QUARTS OF JUICE. <==
One inside your body that you have drank right away, and three in your quart-sized canning jars to take with you, preferably in a cooler with a cold pack, or to be placed in the fridge when you get to work. Keep your juices cold, or they will not keep well.
The surest way to invite in hell on a Juice Feast is to leave the house without enough juice. This is a Feast of abundance, and you will get hungry if you do not have enough juice. Please, please, please, get up early enough to take care of your personal hygiene, including an enema, and to make juice. A gentle diligence is crucial.
Also remember that the 45 minutes you spend making juice is not a lot of time. We usually spend more than that going out to eat, and making food at home. We have had workaholic students who have Juice Feasted with us who love drinking juice, because it saves them time from having to go out for food.
You will find yourself accomplishing more on a Juice Feast, due to the time savings, reduced need for sleep, better focus, and increased nutrition. People will gravitate more to you as you become more vibrant, and synchronicities will happen. This is a delightful surprise for everyone who Feasts.
9. Drinking Your Juice: Points of Practice
You would think that you just drink your juice. And you do… I am going to let you in on several CRUCIAL Points of Practice on Drinking Your Juices. We have developed these over nearly two decades (!) of Juice Feasting Coaching and the Practice with hundreds of thousands of people. They will:
+ protect you from getting hungry (i.e. keep the wolf away from the door);
+ maintain stable blood sugar levels;
+ maintain and build your digestive fire;
+ stoke your desire for your juices;
+ make sure drinking 4 Quarts of Juice each Day is easy
+ improve assimilation of nutrients;
+ protect your teeth, gums, and mouth;
+ and establish skillful eating habits for after the Juice Feast while you are Juice Feasting
You will gain significant benefits and truly make the most of Each Day on your Juice Feast by integrating this guidance. In this section, we will cover:
1. Drinking Your Juices on a Schedule
2. Drinking Your Juices Like a Meal
3. Drinking Your Juices in a Skillful Order
Here we go!
1. Drinking Your Juices on a Schedule
There are two main schools of drinking Juice: 1 Quart (32 oz) every 3 Hours, or 1 Pint (16 oz) every 90 Minutes. That’s 4 Quarts (128 oz) of Juice from 12-15 pounds of juiced produce each day of the Juice Feast. No wonder we heal so dramatically from Juice Feasting, right? You’ve probably never gotten this much nutrition from produce in your life, and it is one of the great strengths and joys of Juice Feasting.
Let’s start with 1 Quart (32 oz) every 3 hours.
1 Quart at a Time: Your Schedule
8:00 am: Green Vegetable Juice (1 Quart)
11:00 am: Green Vegetable Juice (1 Quart)
2:00 pm: Green Vegetable Juice or Fruit Juice (1 Quart)
5:00 pm: Green Vegetable Juice (1 Quart)
Early Evening: If hungry, Green Vegetable Juice (1 Pint or 1 Quart) that you make or buy fresh.
The benefits of drinking your Juice this way is there are fewer points in the day to remember to have your juice. 1 Quart, had in 5-15 minutes, and you are on your way (see the guidance on Drinking Your Juice Like a Meal, below). This is great if you are on the go, can drink a Quart of Juice at a single sitting, and already have fairly stable blood sugar.
About half of all Juice Feasters drink their Juice with the 1 Quart every 3 Hours approach.
Now let’s look at the 1 Pint (16 oz) every 90 minutes.
1 Pint at a Time: Your Schedule
8:00 am: Green Vegetable Juice (1 Pint or Quart to Start)
9:30 am: Green Vegetable Juice (1 Pint)
11:00 am: Green Vegetable Juice (1 Pint)
12:30 pm: Green Vegetable Juice (1 Pint)
2:00 pm: Green Vegetable Juice or Fruit Juice (1 Pint)
3:30 pm: Green Vegetable Juice or Fruit Juice (1 Pint)
5:00 pm: Green Vegetable Juice (1 Pint)
6:30 pm: Green Vegetable Juice (1 Pint or Quart)
The benefits of drinking Juice this way are notable. A Pint of Juice is always easy to drink, even if you put in too much kale or tried some mustard greens :) As with the Quart method, there is no getting through the first half of your Quart of Juice, then realizing the second half Quart is going to be an ordeal.
A Pint of Juice also goes down in about 2-3 minutes, whereas a Quart can take 10-15 minutes. So down the hatch, and you’re on your way with a Pint of Juice. Additionally, a Pint of Juice every 90 minutes keeps your blood sugar levels - and your energy - more stable over the course of the day. This is particularly important if you have adrenal fatigue, are new to cleansing, or have blood-sugar related issues (pre-diabetes, diabetes, hypoglycemia, candida, etc).
About half of all Juice Feasters drink their Juice with the 1 Pint every 90 minutes approach. This is how I (David Rainoshek) did my very first Juice Feast, and it is also how I Juice Feast now.
If you are not sure which method to go with, try the Quart every 3 hours approach first, and if that is too much juice at one time, switch up your Days to 1 Pint every 90 minutes, and roll!
Remember: Do as my most successful Juice Feasting clients do: Keep the wolf away from the door, and drink juices regularly, on schedule, whether you do the 1 Quart or the 1 Pint approach. If you go longer than your scheduled time, you are going to feel legitimately huuuungry. And that is when your physiology will send messages to your brain to find whatever food is familiar and available.
This is not about being strict… This is about being skillful, prudent, and getting the healing and health that is yours by Juice Feasting as designed.
Feeding your body juices consistently is a key factor in your happiness, solidity, healing, and success on the Juice Feast and beyond.
2. Drinking Your Juices Like a Meal
It is important to drink each juice as a meal. Avoid sipping on your juices, as this keeps your mouth and body in a constant state of digestion, which is hard on the enamel of your teeth, and on your digestive system. Sipping also establishes or continues the practice of snacking, and we are establishing excellence on the Juice Feast that will transform your life positively. Drink your juices as a meal – in about 15 minutes tops (that is enough time to swish/drink a quart) and be done. This practice will also keep you from getting tired of your juices because they are around every minute of the day. You want to feel ready for that next juice, and snack-drinking will not achieve this like drinking as a meal will.
Finally, swish your mouth with clean water, or salt water (using Himalayan or Celtic Sea Salt) after you drink your juice. This will alkalize your mouth, and prevent you from getting a sore mouth or wearing down the enamel on your teeth from an acidic oral environment that is constantly in a state of digestion, or still has something like lemon juice in it. This is a very important practice to keep your mouth happy on a Juice Feast.
3. Drinking Your Juices in a Skillful Order (Green and Fruit)
The order of your juices between Green Vegetable Juice and Fruit Juice is important. Start your morning with a Green Vegetable Juice. Why? Several really good reasons.
First, we are not used to drinking greens, or eating them, for that matter. You are getting in a Green Juice first thing in the morning, which means that you already have one done.
Second, you are training your taste buds to ask for greens by making them the first thing that hits your tongue that is food. This is good training for adopting the Four Means to Get Your Greens, my real-world, raw food paradigm outlined on Day 83 of The Juice Feasting Program, which starts your day with a Green Smoothie (a fruit smoothie, really).
Finally, starting your day with a Green Vegetable Juice means that you are not raising your blood sugar too high first thing in the morning, and are giving your body fuel which will last for hours. This is fuel that alkalinizes your body.
After 2 Quarts of Green Vegetable Juice, you are ready for Fruit Juice as your third Quart of Juice. The reason for this is that you have been active mentally and physically, and your body is more ready for carbohydrate, (provided that fruit juice is appropriate for you on the Feast). If you are doing Fruit Juices, do make sure that you mix in Green Superfood Powders and even some Bee Pollen. Remember, one place that we get in trouble with our westernized diet is eating high-sugar, low mineral foods. By adding in Green Superfood Powder Concentrates, you raise the nutirent profile of your Juices significantly.
Finally, for your last of 4 Quarts of Juice for the Day, you will have a Green Vegetable Juice. It will satiate you for the rest of the evening, and greens and celery are calming (alkalinizing things are calming to your system) which will make you more ready to relax and fall into a deep sleep a few hours later.
10. Movement and Exercise
Exercise on a Juice Feast is not for building muscle or endurance.
The MAIN reason for exercise on a Juice Feast (of any length) is to prevent stagnation. You want to keep blood and lymphatic fluid moving, to keep nutrients moving in, and cellular waste and toxic buildup moving out!
So, walking, rebounding, swimming, biking, yoga… these are your best exercises during the Juice Feast. 30 minutes, once or (better) twice a day!
Movement is the golden key to making any lifestyle healthy, and the same is true in times of cleansing! Exercise is one of the best and most crucial helpers to your body in times of detox. Even while eating, or juicing, the best foods possible, if you do not move your body, toxins will accumulate and cause unnecessary malaise and even disease. We can not express enough how important it is to get exercise on a cleanse, as your body is working very hard to move toxins out and you can greatly help it do this by moving it! There are several types of exercise that we recommend during a Juice Feast, and to be carried on as a Life Practice once your Feast is complete.
YOGA/STRETCHING
Begin with Yoga! Everyone can do some form or level of yoga, which is really just mindful movement and stretching.
We recommend doing gentle yoga throughout the Feast, and especially in the first month when you are doing most of your cleansing. During this time your body will be using a lot of energy to clean out old waste, so don’t over do it on exercise now, but do be sure to move and get that lymph flowing! Yoga is perfect for this, as the practice of yoga cleanses and purifies your whole being, mind, body and spirit in unity. I (Katrina) have found yoga to be not only a physical detoxifier, but also an emotional one, and have left many a session feeling uplifted and clear, leaving not only sweat but tears of release in the post-class shower!
There are many different styles of yoga, so try a few out and see which one resonates with you. There are an abundance of free yoga sessions on YouTube. You can also sign up for a local yoga class, or get an instructional DVD. If you have never done yoga, now is a great time to start as your body will become flexible and fluid very quickly with all the hydrating juices you are feeding it! Even if you only have ten minutes to do some simple stretches, gift yourself those minutes.
There is nothing better for your nervous system than to do loooong slow stretches on the floor. What David calls “Nowhere to go, nothing to do, everything’s cool” yoga.
Yoga and Juice Feasting are Soulmates, you will see!
For more on Yoga - its benefits, and starting where you’re at - see Day 19 of The 92-Day Juice Feasting Program.
WALKING
Also begin with Walking! Walking is our favorite daily form of exercise. It gets you outside, moving through the fresh outside air, and often brings you in contact with nature. Even in the city there are parks where you can go and commune with the trees. For most people, a brisk walk for little more than half an hour per day will meet their exercise requirements. This form of exercise also generates a nearly 70% reduction in the occurrence of breast cancer in women! Use your stomach muscles as you are walking to flatten your tummy and strengthen your back, and take deep breaths. Lack of oxygen is behind many symptoms of illness, especially a dull mind. If you want to invigorate your mind, step outside and take at least ten long, deep, mindful breaths.
For more on Walking and getting inspired to gain a spring in your steps, see Day 16 of The 92-Day Juice Feasting Program.
REBOUNDING
Who doesn’t love jumping on a trampoline? Rebounding is the #1 exercise for moving your lymphatic system. Your lymph is your garbage/waste removal system, and a KEY feature of your immune system. Rebounding dynamically improves your lymphatic flow, bone density, coordination, joint flexibility, muscle tone, vascular strength, and much more.
It is imperative to move your lymph for healing of every kind.
Your lymphatic system is 3x greater in volume than your blood, and needs movement to take out the trash. 10 minutes of rebounding produces the same cleansing and tonifying results as 30 minutes of jogging!
+ Rebounding is a perfect exercise to sneak in for 1-5 minutes at a time.
+ You can rebound no matter what the weather.
+ You can rebound and get exercise in while being a parent of small kids running around!
Our favorite rebounder is by far the Bellicon Rebounder. You can bounce, jump, run on the spot, dance, do jumping jacks, wave your arms around, what ever you like really! All the while you will be improving your lymphatic flow, bone density, coordination, joint flexibility, muscle tone, vascular strength, and much more.
As rebounding affects every single cell, muscle and organ all at the same time, your body quickly undergoes noticeable positive changes. Like yoga and walking, rebounding can be implemented in the early days of your Feast, just be sure to listen to your body and give it the intensity of bouncing that it is happy with.
You will discover much more about Rebounding and the Lymphatic System on Day 21 of the 92-Day Juice Feasting Nutrition Program!
DANCE TO MUSIC
Oh, and you should always Dance! This one is easy, we all know how to do this. Turn on your favorite song and dance around. We have a friend who likes to hold daily dance parties with her two year old daughter, and they dance up a storm together! Dancing is magical.
ISOMETRIC STRENGTH TRAINING
And finally, Isometric Strength Training! Ten Minutes a Day. Yes, you heard correctly, you can build muscle while on a Juice Feast.
Remember the four elements of Juice Feasting? Cleanse, Re-build, Re-hydrate, and Alkalize? Well, this is where re-building can really be put to task.
We recommend that you wait until around Days 61-92 to start in on any Isometric Strength Training as your body will be doing some serious house cleaning For the first few weeks of your Juice Feast. Around Days 61-92 though, you can start turning all that green juice into some hard, strong, sexy muscle!
So what is Isometric Strength Training? You can click here to learn about the program David Rainoshek uses on Day 29 of the 92-Day Juice Feasting Nutrition Program.
Basically, We’ve been doing it wrong… well, we’ve been doing it long, that is for sure. What I mean is that long weight training sessions at a gym takes more money, time, commitment, and equipment than is necessary for significantly building and strengthening our musculature.
The Benefits of Isometric Training
+ No equipment needed
+ Do it anywhere
+ Takes minutes a day
+ Costs nothing, nada, zilch
+ Anyone can do it
+ Applies Tim Ferris’ Minimum Effective Dose to Weight Training
+ Instead of working against the graduated weight of machines, you are working against your body’s own strength perfectly as it is in the moment
+ You can start where you are
+ Isometric Training is a Life Practice you can use the rest of your life, easily
+ Builds healthy hormonal levels in men and women
+ Effective Muscle-building lowers average blood sugar and reduces inflammation
Do not underestimate Isometrics as a technique or Life Practice. This is a considerable acquisition in your life, should you apply it.
It is not necessary to become muscle bound, but muscle is the tissue of youth, and will create a healthy hormonal balance and blood sugar balance in your body, among many other things. See Day 29 on The 92-Day Juice Feasting Program for more on Strength Training.
11. Being Around Food
This is a tricky and important aspect of Juice Feasting. Food is everywhere. If you have a family, you may be making food for your loved ones. If you are in business, hosting lunches and dinners may be your reality.
First, remember that your health is the most important thing to you. Know that excellent health will make you a better spouse, parent, friend, and businessperson. You will be exponentially more effective at what you do as time goes on. Juice Feasting is a conscious Act of Love and Abundance.
So, how do we Juice Feast with a family, social, and business life?
We all wish we had the Little Organic Juice Bar to follow us around everywhere we go!
FAMILY LIFE
Make sure you have juices for yourself first. If that means getting up earlier than usual to get your juices in before preparing breakfast for everyone else, then so be it. Doing this in the reverse order is a nightmare of watching the food going by your nose and visual field and driving you bonkers. Get your abundant juice in, and the food you are preparing and spending time around will most likely not hold the same appeal. Believe it or not, after a time on the Feast, you will wonder what everyone else is doing eating all that food.
Also, do not taste anything that you are making!!!
Food is like music. Just a taste of it will bring back all kinds of memories and desires. Usually this is okay, but tasting food on a Feast will send your head spinning, and more than likely one taste will lead to a bite, then to a little bowlful, then a meal, and before you know it you are just fooling yourself that you are on a Juice Feast, or cleansing at all.
THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT. I cannot tell you how many people have fallen completely off Juice Feasts just from starting with a taste of cooked or prepared food. Don’t get started if you are serious about healing yourself. This is sacred time that you are giving yourself. PROTECT it and trust me, David Rainoshek, on this one. I want you to be completely successful, and not suffer the head-spinning and guilt-trip realities of eating food when you should be drinking your Juices and experiencing the greatest abundance you have ever known nutritionally.
SOCIAL LIFE
If you are out socializing, let people know that you are dynamically changing your health for the better. You are eating 12-15 lbs of produce each day, with one special exception: it is all juiced. The phrase I use is “Turn their fear into fascination.” If people ask, briefly tell them that you drink the craziest juices, and about how you feel. Do not be long winded, however, and by all means don’t tell them that what they are doing is wrong. Just open them up to the possibility of Feasting in a whole new way. And, if people do not ask you what you are doing, just do your thing quietly and drink your juice. When you go out to eat, should you need to, take your Juice with you, and order delectable teas. Some places even serve fresh juice.
BUSINESS LIFE
I have never known anyone to lose a client or make a client feel uncomfortable by telling them that you are juicing. Take your juice with you, and drink it. Have tea. Tell stories and entertain your client. Who you are at any business lunch is more important than what you eat. Ask the waiter for fresh juice. Tell your client that your health professional has you on this Program so that you keep doing great business well into your 90s.
12. Winding Down
There is a line in a favorite song of mine that says “you spend half of the morning, just trying to wake up. Half the evening, trying to calm down.” No longer!
Just as you no longer need a stimulant to get you going in the morning (such as coffee or a sweet bun), you no longer need to dull your mind with television or random web surfing at the end of the day. Because you are no longer putting toxic foods into your body, you will also notice that you are much more aware of protecting your mind from toxic information, images, suggestions, stories and even music. You can cleanse your mind the same way you are cleansing your body, flood it with nutrient dense, beautiful, life affirming information, and the old stuff will be swept out. Draw in the best things possible!
Quite possibly a large amount of time has opened up to you during your evenings. Depending on your energy level, these are a few suggestions of things you can do to wind down at the end of your day, while also adding to the depth and quality of your life (TV does NOT do this!):
relax with a book
go to a health lecture
attend a personal development workshop or class
go to a yoga class
sit with a loved one and a warm mug of tea and really listen to each other
go for a stroll in the setting sun
write in your journal, or blog
volunteer for a Community Supported Agriculture Project
grow some sprouts for your juices
have a loved one give you a massage (to help your body flush out toxins!)
write a letter
read JuiceFeasting.com
sew yourself a new shirt
take drawing classes
learn how to play an instrument, or play your instrument
sing, join a choir
This is an excellent time to grab a hold of your passion for creativity, and as you clear out any old, stagnant, or negative mind patterns, your mindscape will be flooded with beauty and positive thoughts! Just remember to water your positive seeds and with care and attention, they will bear beautiful fruit with even more positive seeds for the garden of your mind!
You will notice that “winding down” and preparing for sleep is very natural when you are taking only natural things into your body and mind. A sense of calm in the mind follows a calm body that is not being flooded with strange foods, chemicals, caffeine, and excitotoxins all day. If you do not feel this right away, don’t worry, as you continue to cleanse and to feed your mind positive, healthy vibrations, you will reach a mental clarity that makes the end of the day a very enjoyable, peaceful, and creatively abundant time.
13. Sleep is a SUPERFOOD.
Your body is able to do an incredible amount of wonderful things now that you are no longer dumping toxic foods into it. Instead, you are feeding every cell in your body some of the most amazing nutrition on the planet.
You can assist it in taking full advantage of this opportunity by getting adequate rest and sleep. While you are resting or sleeping, you free up energy so that your body can get to work at flushing out that old red dye #40 from your liver where it has been storing it because it was just too busy trying to keep up with all the MSG and other toxic things coming at it. Also while you are resting your body can safely remove that layer of mucus lining your intestine and bowel, that worked to protect you from the over 3,000 synthetic chemicals that are regularly added to food products (among other things) but has also (sadly) been preventing you from assimilating and absorbing valuable nutrients from your food. Remember: you absorb 90% of your nutrition through the wall of the small intestine. If that wall is lined with uneliminated waste matter, you will become malnourished. Thankfully this old matter will release and get flushed out by the Green Vegetable Juices and Intestinal Drawing Formula on the Feast.
Rest is not a waste of time! Imagine if you left your bathroom light on all the time. No matter what type of bulb it was, it would only last half as long or less than if you turned it off when you were not in the bathroom. You are like a lightbulb, and you need rest too, and not only do you not burn out as fast, but you actually re-energize yourself so that you may burn even brighter when you are on! Make use of resting in a peaceful spot during the day, sitting on a park bench, getting hugs, meditiation, deep breathing, going for a sauna, sunbathing, going to bed early, or yoga. You will find over time that your rest is very restful, and that your “on” time is very energetic and bright!
Sleep is not a waste of time! The sleeping brain and body do many important things, including regulating gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and immune functions. Adequate sleep is especially important to hormone regulation. Lack of sleep creates hormonal imbalances that equate to metabolic disasters. It has even been shown in a ground-breaking study that after only a week of sleep deprivation, healthy, young men with no risk factor reached a pre-diabetic state. Why? Because without sleep, the central nervous system becomes more active, which inhibits the pancreas from producing enough insulin – an essential hormone that works to digest glucose, thus creating pre-diabetic blood sugar levels. Had the study’s participants’ sleep deprivation continued, as it does for so many people, these young men could well have turned diabetic, as so many young people currently are. So you can see, hormonal balance is very sensitive and very important, and it is extremely dependent on adequate sleep. To learn more about the importance of sleep, you can go to Day 30, Sleep and Insomnia.
Don’t feel bad if you find you need more sleep than usual during the first part of your Juice Feast. You are only giving your body more time and energy to clean and repair house.
According to Sam Graci in his book The Food Connection, North America is the nation of the Great Un-Slept, being kept awake longer and longer by TV, telephones, electrical lights, the Internet, and e-mail.
Don’t let this happen to you! Give yourself the gift of sleep and rest, and honor this amazing body you have been given! And remember, although sleep experts recommend eight and half hours of sleep per night, in the 1920’s the average adult got nine to ten hours a night. And our ancient ancestors, following the rhythms of the sun and moon, got between ten and twelve hours of sleep. Again, don’t feel bad if you are sleeping long hours; feel proud that you are doing something for your body that it desperately needs, especially if you are making up for years of inadequate sleep.
We recommend going to bed around the same time every night so that you can develop a healthy regular sleeping pattern. This will better ensure that you wake up at a regular time as well, probably without the use of an alarm clock (though make sure you do get up early enough to make your Juices!). Also, daily exercise is important to getting a good night’s sleep. If you haven’t yet, scroll back up this page and read the section on exercise. Make sure that you are sleeping in a completely dark room, as even the red light on an alarm clock will affect the delicate light-sensitive cells in our skin and thus our neurotransmitters that switch hormones “on” or “off.” In nature, these light-sensitive cells would trigger the daytime hormones to be switched on during the light of day, and the night time hormones to be switched on during the dark of night. You do not want daytime hormones running around your body at night, thinking that there is still a bit of daylight because the red light on your alarm clock is keeping them activated. One easy solution for this is to throw a shirt over your clock. It is a good idea to turn off any electronics that share your sleeping space with you.
Remember, if you are hungry right before bed time and have another juice, make sure it is a green juice, not fruit juice, as the sugar in the fruit juice will keep you awake. The green juice will quiet you though, and send you into a nice peaceful sleep.
Sweet Dreams! You are going to love how deeply you sleep as the Juice Feast goes on!