Frequently Asked Questions

I condensed a bunch of my blog into some FAQ's! Hope this helps

Frequently asked Questions

What are you doing that you have lost 20 lbs?
Well, it is really simple actually. I have been doing 15 day increments of eating only fruits and vegetables and juicing. No meals to buy, points to count, programs to pay for…just fruits and veggies. I have been eating fruits and veggies and juicing for 5 days, then 5 days juicing only, then another 5 days of fruits and veggies and juicing.  That is it!

Where did you hear about this idea?
 I first watched Fat sick & Nearly Dead on Netflix, which is a documentary about a man who goes on a juicing fast for 60 days and sheds a ton of weight and reduces his medicines drastically. It actually saved his life. He inspired another man in the movie who ended up having the same success as he did. You can check out the website jointhereboot.com and see all kinds of details about various plans. They have one for everyone: 3-day, 5-day, 10-day, etc. and even one that calls for juicing all day and eating only fruits and veggies and then having a wholesome meal for dinner. I initially had planned on juicing for 30 days but the 15 day plan really seemed like something I would like to do. You can find all kinds of recipes, success videos and meal plans on the site. It was pretty slow for me and I didn’t end up using the meal plans, but I DID buy the Reboot Start Guide that was hardly worth the 12 something after shipping.

What resources do you use when eating or juicing?
I started at jointhereboot.com and I bought their starter guide that had about 7 recipes and then I bought The Juicing Bible, 2nd edition by Pat Crocker. To be honest, I like to make my own recipes up now, using whatever veggies and fruits I have at the house or were on sale! You can also look on pinterest or just google juicing recipes and not have to purchase a thing. I even purchased a 99 cent IPAD app for juicing and it was just silly.

Do you need to buy anything to do this?
All you need is a juicer and resources to buy fresh fruits and veggies!

Where did you get your juicer and how do you know which to choose?
When I decided to go on this reboot I read about 263 juicer reviews on various sites. I originally wanted the Breville that was used on Fat Sick & Nearly Dead, but when I went to order it on Amazon it was back ordered for 2-3 months. I am hearing that everyone is getting theirs from Bed Bath and Beyond online or in store and using that 20% off coupon that is always out there. I came across a 300 watt Kuvings one on Overstock.com and the reviews were awesome. One of the reviews even said it rivaled the Breville that I wanted! After shipping it was $144.

I LOVE IT! And I mean LOOOOVVVVEEE it! It is easy to use, easy to clean and not too loud. (Well, in comparison to my blender that is) It wasn't until I ordered it that I realized it was only 350 watts. The recommended Breville is 850 watts. Perhaps you might not need something that powerful? And dishwasher safe even, wahooo! I have heard from over a handful of people that the $99 Jack Lallane from Costco is not a good choice, but I have no first hand experience. Check the reviews out for yourself though.

How much do you eat per day?
Well, this is something that you totally need to gauge yourself and LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. I have found myself drinking about 3-4  8 oz. juices a day and when I am on the first and third phases I eat fruits and veggies when I am hungry. I find myself just snacking all day long rather than eating a big salad or something like that.  Even when I am not juicing only, I find juices to be so much more fulfilling than eating in general.  I figured out that I am eating/drinking about 1200 calories per day depending on what I am juicing. And that is 1200 calories of PURE NUTRIENTS! Obviously the more fruit in your juices, the more calories.

How do you count calories when you juice?
Well, I personally don’t think you even need to calculate calories when your juicing, but I found myself counting once when I got annoyed at people saying I was starving myself and counted them all just to show I WASN’T!
Every gram of fiber has 4 calories. When you juice, you are not getting any of the regular fiber of the fruit or vegetable so you must subtract the fiber calories to get an accurate count. So, take an apple for example.


One large apple has 130 calories and 5 grams of fiber
Multiply 5g of fiber x 4 = 20
Subtract 20 from the total 130 calories = 110
So if you juice an apple you would be drinking 110 calories
Make sense?

Ok, so with that in mind let's look at my favorite drink:

Suzi's Apple Green Lemonade ( the reboot recipe but I added an apple, less celery and more kale)
1 green apple 110 cals
1 Braeburn apple 110 cals

3 handfuls of spinach 70 cals
3 handfuls of kale 75 cals
1/2 cucumber 10 cals
3 celery stalks 5 cals
1/2 lemon 5 cals

I rounded and approximated but my favorite drink would be about 385 calories!

Where do you buy your fruits and veggies?
I like to go to Costco for certain things and the rest I go to Gateway Produce in Vancouver. I tried to go to the Farmers Market in downtown Vancouver, but I didn’t really find much of what I wanted or needed there. I will keep trying as it gets more vendors in. I was also thinking about checking out some local farms and coops, but for now this is just fine.

Do you buy organic veggies and fruits?
I try to when I can justify the cost. At Costco you can get a 3 lb bag of organic spinach for the same price as a 5 lb bag of regular spinach. When I am trying to be extra budget conscious then I obviously go for the regular. But there are some things I noticed have hardly a price difference. And of course if money wasn’t an issue then I would buy ALL organic. There are certain foods that are recommended to buy only organic due to the amount of pesticide residue on them. You can find a list here: http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/dirty-dozen-foods

How much are you spending?
Well, it all depends on how much organic you buy. I do a mix of both and I pay about $55 for 5 days. It will obviously depend on where you live and where you shop.

Can you plan ahead?
I like to juice the night or day before. I make one big pitcher of Green Lemonade that will last me at least 2 days (the 3rd day it starts to taste sour) and then I make one or two other smaller batches of another kind, like Beet, Apple, Carrot or Carrot Orange. I also like to wash all my fruits and veggies ahead of time so that when I need to grab something quick, at least it is washed.

What do you keep your juice in?
I find the easiest way for me is to put my juice in mason jars that seal right up. That way I can grab and go if I need to. When I make a big batch I like to use my Pampered Chef pitcher. It has a handle that you can stir with which is a must because of all the pulp settling, even just after 5 minutes of sitting, so you can imagine 3 days of sitting. I also find jars are the easiest to clean and of course dishwasher safe!

What is the difference between juicing and blending?
I have to refer you to this article to answer. It is so informative and I would just be plagiarizing if I tried to summarize it! http://girlonraw.com/2010/12/juicing-vs-blending/

What do you do after the 15 days?
Well, I am not quite ready to stop rebooting. It is not something that you should do the rest of your life. Ultimately I will add in lentils, nuts, grains, etc. I will add things that my body needs to thrive. When I get to my desired weight I plan to do the 15 day plan once a quarter. I am thinking that will keep my system clean. When I get to my desired weight I also plan to try eating 80% good whole foods at least, but leaving 20% room for a treat. I have read that many places and I think I will start there. This is still all so new, so I can only assume what will work and what won’t. I am on my second reboot now and I took off 5 days in between reboots. It took me two days back on the plan to lose all the weight I gained back. Which to me was worth it. I will probably do the same, 5 days off and then start again until I reach my desired weight.

How much are you losing a day?
This will vary on how much you have to lose. Now I am losing on average a lb a day. The first reboot I was 15 lbs in 15 days. Now I am on day 9 of my second reboot and I have lost about the same. But again, EVERYONE is different!

How do you feel?
I feel AMAZING! The documentary made it seem like the first 5 days were utterly miserable, but then again that was just juicing only. I didn’t really have a hard time until day 6 which was my first day of juicing. It was totally mental too. I had a minor headache off and on the first couple days, but noting extreme. I was really tired at night the first few days also. I slept very well, except getting up to pee a lot! I can’t even explain how AMAZING I feel!

Do you see a difference in your experience between the 1st reboot and the 2nd?
YES! The 2nd reboot has been sooo much easier. I think it is because I took those 5 days off and ate everything in site and felt sooo awful. The weight seems to be coming off just as fast. No headaches, no extreme tiredness except maybe the first day.

How did you feel when you started eating other food again?
Well, I wouldn’t call it real food, but everything I ate made me sick. I had permanent heart burn and felt awful. At first I didn’t gain any weight back, but I just felt so nasty.

What are the pros and cons?
Cons:
Headaches in the beginning
Have to be near a bathroom all the time
A little tired in the beginning
Can’t really eat from the pantry because everything has to be fresh
Harder to go out to eat
No chocolate

Pros:
(warning: maybe a little TMI in this part)
Tons of energy
LOSING weight!!!
Feeling so clean and healthy
The knowledge that you are feeding your body FRESH REAL FOOD
200% increase in my libido (sorry, but it is a huge plus, hehe)
Not feeling bloated or crampy during that time of the month
Skin feels and looks amazing
Great bowel movements
Fit into clothes I hadn’t in years
Learning to eat when I need to and not just because I want to
Almost a euphoria feeling
Eating veggies you wouldn’t normally eat
My doctor cut my thyroid meds in half!

 Please note: All information and opinions offered by me or my blog are presented solely for informational purposes and are not intended to replace the services of a physician or other qualified medical professional. You should not use any such information or opinions for diagnosing, treating, curing or preventing any medical or health condition. No such information or opinions are intended to constitute nor should be considered to be medical advice or to serve as a substitute for professional medical advice.

2nd Reboot starting May 1st, 2012

Try it out with me!

It is only 15 days! No shakes, no food out of packets, no counting, just straight fruits and veggies made from the earth! No offense to anyone using shakes or packet meals, I have done it all and to each his/her own! This has been the easy cleanse I have ever done!

Phase 1: 5 days eating fruits and veggies and juicing
Phase 2: 5 days juicing only
Phase 3: 5 days eating fruits and veggies and juicing

All you need is a juicer! Oh, and fruits and veggies of course!

Check out jointhereboot.com or joing our facebook group "Rip City Rebooters"

Cheers!

1st Reboot: Day 11

I can eat again! Wahoooooooo! And the funniest thing was, I didn't eat all that much, haha!

What I ate:
Caffeinated Green Tea at about 9

Strawberries, Cucumbers, Grapes, Watermelon

What I juiced:

Carrot Orange

Apple Beet Carrot

Suzi’s Apple Green Lemonade

My Thoughts: These all stayed well overnight in the fridge. I stored them in mason jars and my pitcher and they still tasted awesome

Overall mood: BUSY!

Thoughts: So maybe it is all a mental game. Just the fact that I CAN have fruits and veggies to eat didn’t mean that I HAD to eat them. In fact, I hardly ate them at all. Just as a tiny snack. My juices were just so much more fulfilling. How bizarre. I am hoping that when this is all over that I will feel that way about other foods that aren’t necessarily as good for me as fruits and vegetables. I am hoping to keep up this way of life and make other things more like a treat or an every once in a while type of thing. One of the meal plans at jointhereboot.com is juicing and eating veggies all day and then a healthy meal at night. That would be nice. We shall see. I have picked the date for my next reboot though and I am just as excited!

Today's weight loss: 1.8
Total weight loss: 14

1st Reboot: Day 10

My last day of juicing and it was easy peasy!  

What I ate:
Caffeinated Green Tea at about 11

What I juiced:

Suzi’s Apple Green Lemonade x2

My Thoughts: I made another quad batch of this because I love it so much.

Carrot Orange

My Thoughts: Love this one. Made a double batch for tomorrow too!

Apple Beet Carrot

My Thoughts: You know I am not a huge fan and pretty much suck it down, but I know it completes the rainbow I am supposed to drink. It also makes your bowels read remember, so don’t freak out!

Overall mood: Thrilled!

Thoughts: Wow, this is my last day of juicing! I am excited to actually eat some veggies and fruits. I went out and bought strawberries and cucumbers and watermelon, just to eat for tomorrow, wahoooo!! This has gone by so fast!

Today's weight loss: 1.2
Total weight loss: 12.2

1st Reboot: Day 9

Another EASY day juicing, yesss!!! Tuesday is my busy day of the week and goes by very fast!

What I drank:
Caffeinated Green Tea at about 9

What I juiced:

Celery Lemon Kale:

    4 handfuls of kale

    6 celery stalks

    1 lemon

My Thoughts: This was left over from last night. I drank it down quick. Nothing exciting.

Suzi’s Apple Green Lemonade

My Thoughts: I made a quad batch of this in my nifty Pampered Chef pitcher from Ma Belloni. I will tell you more about this pitcher later because it is a MUST HAVE! I drank it all day and still have 2 left tomorrow.

Overall mood: Inspired!

Thoughts: Incredible day! And I mean incredible. Many factors contributed of course, but I know when my body feels great, it spreads to most parts of my life. Only one more day of juicing only! Man, I don’t think I have craved eating vegetables and fruits this bad in my life! Mmmmm

Today's weight loss: .6
Total weight loss: 11.6

How are juicing calories counted?

First, let me start with saying I am obviously not a doctor, health expert, nutritionist, or anything even close. I am just a almost 30 something mom who is trying to get more healthy. That being said I have been wondering how the calories work when you juice, so of course, I googled it.  Got the info from ehow.com,.

Basically,

Every gram of fiber has 4 calories. When you juice, you are not getting any of the regular fiber of the fruit or vegetable so you must subtract the fiber calories to get an accurate count. So, take an apple for example.

One large apple has 130 calories and 5 grams of fiber
Multiply 5g of fiber x 4 = 20
Subtract 20 from the total 130 calories = 110
So if you juice an apple you would be drinking 110 calories
Make sense?

Ok, so with that in mind let's look at my favorite drink:

Suzi's Apple Green Lemonade ( the reboot recipe but I added an apple, less celery and more kale)

1 green apple 110 cals
1 Braeburn apple 110 cals

3 handfuls of spinach 70 cals
3 handfuls of kale 75 cals
1/2 cucumber 10 cals
3 celery stalks 5 cals
1/2 lemon 5 cals

I rounded and approximated but my favorite drink would be about 385 calories!

So if you are questioning how much I am eating per day, just 3 drinks would be about 900-1200 calories depending on how much fruit I have in them. And this also makes sense why you should make sure you are having more veggies than fruits. 


Nutritional values and photo from http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org I found this site really easy to use and if you just add a backslash and a fruit or veggie, the nutritional information comes up. You can find kale at  http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/kale

1st Reboot: Day 8

Well, once again, no change in weight loss. And that’s just fine because today I am totally pumped! And tons of energy today. Today was sooo much easier to just juice! I need to make a run for produce so I am being creative and using up all that I have left!

What I ate:
Hot water with Lemon as soon as I woke up
Caffeinated Green Tea at about noon

What I juiced:

Apple Pear Cucumber:

    1 pear

    1 apple

    2 cucumbers

My Thoughts: This is delicious. I like having fruit in my juice first thing in the morning. It seems to give me that extra umph. I will make this again for sure

Carrot Orange: (I had two of these)

    6 carrots

    3 oranges

My Thoughts: Well, you know I don’t care for carrot juice, but adding the oranges made it fabulous. Tim loved it too. Graham and Gavin-still not converts.

Celery Lemon Kale:

    4 handfuls of kale

    6 celery stalks

    1 lemon

My Thoughts: Surprisingly enough, this wasn’t bad. No fantastic, but fine. Again, I was trying to use up what I had in my fridge.

Overall mood: Refreshed!

Thoughts: Great day! I had fun mixing it up today with new, interesting recipes. That is why I am lucky that I can stomach pretty much anything- well, except liquid salsa that is ;)

I am a teency weency bummed that there was no weight loss and it reminded me on something my mom said. She told me before I started this to make sure I took my Omega Fatty Acids. I told her I would and I didn't :( So I started taking those today. 

I also wanted to note that I have been making my juice for the entire day all at once, or sometimes twice. I have been storing it in different sizes of Mason jars. And it seems to be keeping nicely! Cheers to Day 8!

Today's weight loss: 2.0
Total weight loss: 11

1st Reboot: Day 7

Yesterday's Beet Apple Carrot

So at about noon today I am about half way through my first reboot! Wahoo! I am feeling a lot more positive today, even if I didn't lose any weight! Yes, you read that right, another ZERO lb weight loss. But that's ok, I am feeling fantastic!

What I drank:
Hot water with Lemon as soon as I woke up
Caffeinated Jasmine & Green Tea
 
What I juiced:
Green Lemonade x 2
 My Thoughts: I had this leftover from yesterday and it was just fine in the fridge overnight. I still LOVE this drink.

 
 Greens I had left in my fridge:
      1 Braeburn Apple
      1 Romaine Heart
      3 handful of kale
      3 celery stalks

My Thoughts: I just plain sucked this one down. I need to go to the store and I was getting hungry so I just drank it really fast, hehe.





Carrot Pear:
     4 carrots
     2 pears

My Thoughts: Tim loved this, Tim's dad and stepmom said it wasn't bad, and I don't really like carrots so of course you know my thoughts. 

Overall Mood: Moderate


Thoughts: Today was a wonderful day. Lots of energy. Starting to think of food as fuel. Made delicious potato skins and salad for family dinner. The hardest part was making the bacon. I am not a huge potato fan, but they smelled so delicious. Kind of bummed that I didn't lose any again, but starting to feel proud of myself to being half way done. Stay tuned for a post on how calories are calculated when you juice!

Today's weight loss: ZERO
Total weight loss: 9

1st Reboot: Day 6

Here it is! The first day of the next phase of my reboot: ALL JUICING! I was a little nervous yesterday and probably rightfully so, hehe. This was by far the hardest day for me. It was probably just mentally knowing that I couldn't actually EAT anything. It didn't help that I didn't lose an ounce. Not one ounce! But that is still ok, I am still down 9 lbs in 5 days and I am feeling great!

photo credit

What I ate-ur-uh WHAT I DRANK:
Hot water with Lemon as soon as I woke up
Caffeinated Jasmine and Green Tea

What I juiced:
Suzi's Apple Green Lemonade 
My Thoughts: I made a triple batch last night. I was already nervous about only juicing all day so i thought I would start with something that I loved. Of course it didn't disappoint me.


Orange Strawberry Blueberry Raspberry fresh squeezed juice from Jamba Juice
My Thoughts: We were out and about longer than I planned and went to Mt. Hood vs. Clackamas baseball game. Tim used to play for CCC and his old (and favorite coach Korey Kier) coaches for Mt. Hood. The boys had a blast and I enjoyed my drink! It was good, but I ordered the biggest size I could and it was about 450 calories, ouch!

 Suzi's Apple Green Lemonade

Beet Apple Carrot:
     1 beet
     4 large carrots
     2 Braeburn apples

 My Thoughts: I am just not a big beet fan. It was fine and looked pretty, but not sensational!



Overall mood: Disgruntled
 
Thoughts: I had just told Tim the night before how easy this reboot was going and I could eat (or juice, ha!) my words. I did not like juicing today. Not in a house or with a mouse. (Sorry Sam-I-Am) But I am still excited for this journey and I am so happy about discovering juicing and making it part of my life for good. Also, I looked up how many calories were in my Jamba Juice and it was about 450 calories! WOW! Ouch. Maybe that is why I DIDN'T LOSE A LB! Still positive and determined!

Today's weight loss: ZERO
Total weight loss: 9