Hi friends! So I’m on day 5 of juicing* and I feel GREAT! Like, really good guys! I try to juice– and solely juice often, but it’s usually pretty difficult for me (or most people) to stick to it. But this time around— it’s been working! And really well!

I think it helps that Alex had some sort of food poisoning this weekend (sorry babe) — so it was pretty easy to make simple meals for Marlowe while I just focused on juice– and fruit. And it helps that my gut was a mess too (but not as bad as Alex). I just wanted to CLEAN my system.

One of the things that was important to me in this process was to create a general outline of what I wanted to do/carry out and set a list of specific “no no” items– without being like, “ONLY JUICE.” or “ONLY RAW.” — I know myself pretty well by now. And I can never be too restrictive on myself or I fail. Yes, I rebel even against myself, haha. I need freeeedommm.

So this specific time I told myself I would juice often and fruit would totally be okay too. Which includes  my favorite smoothies too of course.  Because I wanted to cleanse– but I definitely did not want to lose weight. But just like with going vegan, I didn’t want to be super strict— no time line, no guilt trips, just day by day. I told myself that if I absolutely couldn’t hold out and “needed” something warm, then I could and would. But I gave myself a specific list of foods I thought would be supportive and not. So if I went for warm food– fine!  But only veggies— and no nightshades.

Why not night shades? Not for any important reason honestly. Only because in this c. diff healing process I never fully gave them up and I wanted to see how my body would react. I’m going to give nightshades a go again in about two weeks and see how I do. But honestly, I think I’ll be totally fine and non-reactive to them. At this point, I can live without gluten, but take away my potatoes? I might die. (Dramatic much, drea?). I’m cutting out grains too– for two weeks and then I’ll give them a go. I feel like grains could be hit or miss to add back in to my body though. Maybe I’ll be okay– but I wouldn’t be surprised if my body just functions better without them. I mean, I truly believe grains should be kept to a minimum or avoided with gut issues anyway. (Says the girl who eats rice noodles like its her job).

And here we are: day five and I feel amazing. I have so much more energy than I’ve had in the longest time. Maybe you guys remember when I switched from high fat/protein/ low carb diet to a high carb/ low-fat/low protein diet? That was the last time I felt a really good (since. c. diff) and had an amazing shift towards health and healing. Now I recommend that diet to any and everyone who asks. I was so stuck on trying to gain weight after I got sick, that I didn’t focus on anything else. But after about a year or so it was easy to see that I wasn’t getting anywhere. Fats and protein are hard to digest! Natural, found in nature carbs are not– and they’re SO GOOD for you. So now? With just juice and fruit? Gosh, I feel that amazing shift again.

Yesterday I had a few leftover baked sweet potatoes Alex had made for himself (no use in wasting those, haha!). And a few days earlier I had some steamed kale and a bit of steamed sweet potato, but other than that I’ve been completely raw. My biggest tip is set yourself up to do it! I stocked up the fridge on all the juicing and smoothie things I would need! That way there’s no excuses or reasons to skip the plan– other than, “I don’t want to juice anymore.” You know? No use starting without having what you need 🙂

You guys know how I have intense colon flares since c. diff  that I haven’t been able to figure out. I’m not sure if it’s food intolerance, hormones, both, or something else. I know corn and gluten definitely triggers it for sure.  Anyway, I was in a bad colon flare last week (I think I got gluten-ed at my favorite noodle place) that really seemed to not be improving at all. I was so nauseous, ill, and tired feeling. It was lasting for almost two weeks! But on day 3-4 of this juice fast? Boom, better.

I’m not sure how long I’ll do this for. (I also said that when I switched to more fruit, haha– and here I am a year later!). I had planned to eat some steamed veggies tonight for dinner, but then by the time dinner came around, I thought, “nah, I can keep going. Let’s go for some more fruit instead.” It totally helped that I had finally found myself some organic pineapple this week! haha. But yeah, I’m going to see how long this mini cleanse lasts and go from there 🙂

Honestly, I’d like to be completely and totally raw one day, but I don’t know if I could ever fully let go of cooked foods. But never say never right?  So for now, I’m definitely happy to just give this a go. And after this go around, I will definitely plan to do these cleanses every so often and more often. Fruit and raw foods truly are so healing. I only wish I could have done this sooner <3<3


You probably don’t, but if you guys have questions, ask away, you know i’m always down for a chat 😉

some last notes on juicing:
  • just in case, I already talk about juicers and the juicer I use and how I LOVE it. THIS juicer. Totally not sponsored, but it’s just such a good tool if you intend to juice daily– much easier clean up than my previous juicer. I also cannot live without this blender. It is everything. We bought a refurbished one so it was a lot cheaper.
  • I link these books all the time, but again, just in case, the books I read that helped my decision to become high carb low fat are: this book and this book.
  • don’t be fooled and think it’s all just a piece of cake– I totally would love a piece of cake. Or more than that: pizza, lasagna, pancakes, and enchiladas— and I can’t even tell you the last time I had or even thought about pancakes and enchiladas. But now, the cravings for them are here and are serious! It takes determination for sure! But at the end of the day– I’d rather keep feeling good and keep this thing going than have those things 🙂
  • I’m full of typos in my everyday life, but if you see extra ones lately: you know why. That late night hunger strikes a little harder now. It doesn’t help when I’m writing, haha.
  • I totally know how dorky those pineapple photos are and I totally don’t care. Viva la pina: mi amor.

9 Comments

  1. Hello Drea! Thanks a lot for this post. I as well felt a lot better when I went almost perfectly raw for three weeks but then I got that sugar crash. I’m used to eating more proteins and fats and switching to mostly fruits and veggies for the whole day just really left me hungry all the time. So yeah, I’m returning back to my protein-laden diet again. You mentioned colon flares and I have so many of them as well.. I get them at least once a month and I don’t know what to do. With or without bread, I get them. They’re really disturbing, aren’t they? The worst thing is the water retention and bloating for me. I hope our bodies heal eventually. Still trusting mine along the way. (:

  2. I was so sad when I found out nightshades made me sick (Hashimotos), but I actually am fine with potatoes as long as there is NO green under the peel, that induces vomiting and is horrible, but so long as there’s no green (that’s the toxin that makes it a nightshade) then I’m totally fine. Peppers are what make me sickest, and tomatoes mostly give me acid reflux so I avoid them, but I’m hoping my gut heals enough to reintroduce them eventually! Anyways, I was hoping that would be encouraging to you, just on the off chance you have some issue reintroducing nightshades, I don’t think they all react at the same level. I have heard eggplant is the easiest one to reintroduce, and hot peppers/paprika are the hardest.

    • I bought the plant paradox book this read to read more up on nightshades– because to be completely honest, I don’t know much on them! All I know is that my favorite food are nightshades! But I truly think I’m fine with and without them– because I seriously eat nightshades all the time and don’t notice any difference whatsoever. But if I eat gluten, corn, nuts, it’s painfully obvious I have a problem.

      I started being super careful about the green potato thing– I had made some potato salad last month, but I noticed a lot of the potatoes had a green tinge and both marlowe and I felt super queazy that night. It almost makes me not want to eat them– but I love them so much.

      And yes, I totally think you’ll be able to eat tomatoes again! Gotta build up your gut acid so that you can digest all the things! 🙂

  3. Hi Drea, I’ve been reading your blog for more than five years now and came to it purely because I liked your vibe. I wasn’t vegan, didn’t have kids, didn’t even have my own home, it was just your writing about life that was compelling. Fast forward to this year, I got life threateningly sick last winter with stage 4 Epstein Barr. I’d been paleo for several years after experiencing a decade of living with stage 3 Epstein Barr and strep-based mystery illnesses. Needless to say, the paleo was no longer going to work and as I was working on recovery I devoured the knowledge of Anthony William and just knew. I went all out in his protocols with the morning celery juice and the heavy metal detox smoothie and the low fat high fruit ways. I have never felt better in my life, even as I’m still detoxing remnants of the virus. All those years of reading your posts and I’ve finally joined you in the vegan world, except honey, always except honey. Thank you for role modeling to my subconscious all these years the joys of fruitarianism, especially lately. I always wanted to get there, it just took the illness to show me how I could do it! Hooray for fruits and juices!

    • Aw crystal! I’m so sorry you went through that– it’s SO hard coming down with something suddenly and having to shift. I started doing all the stuff you said before eI even read MM. Except celery juice– that I can say, he convinced me to do. But the smoothies I stared making cause they were delicious and high carb thing I had read 801010 first and that pushed me over. The diet definitely pushed me over. I’m not sure if I notice a difference with the celery juice or not– but I definitely do it. In this juice fast thing, I start with celery juice and then make a giant green juice while I drink my celery 🙂 I’m starting to hate it less, haha. Healing is no joke– I’m just so grateful that something like eating more fruit makes me feel better 🙂 ps. I love honey too.

  4. Thank you for this article, I always like your healthy diet/food posts. Please share any advice on not-losing wight if going on a juice diet, when you have the chance.
    Thanks and good luck!

    • Thank you 🙂 I’m just making sure to eat loads of bananas (in smoothie form) and pineapple, since both are easy to digest + high in calories 🙂 I can’t whither away anymore!

  5. I always enjoy you sharing your current diet/food ideas. A few years ago my husband was diagnosed with Celiac and I was diagnosed with Crohn’s shortly after so we are pretty restrictive in our diets but we live up in Canada and having good access to fruits and vegetables just doesn’t seem as easy as it does down in the US. I must have totally missed your high carb/low fat/low protein post from awhile ago, definitely going to check that out next (because I’m a carb lover!). One thing I don’t know if you’ve shared about before -do you do anything exercise related? I’m seriously hoping you say no. 😉

    Oh, and have you ever read the book The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin? She talks about 4 different kinds of people and it’s all about how they react to external and internal expectations, you sound like me, a rebel who goes against internal and external expectations, which can be annoying when trying to stick to restrictive diets.

    Thanks once again for sharing your story. <3

    • Hi! off topic– but is Chantel a Canadian name? The only other one I know is my aunt– who is Canadian. Haha.

      on topic: Have you checked out the book about crohns Ive linked? I think you totally should. I also feel like the author should be paying me royalties at this point because I recommend it so much. But it’s an interesting read for anyone with gut issues! And great for carb lovers 😉

      exercise: No, not really. I went to the gym about 5 times in the last three months– but only because my friend had a membership where she could bring people, so I went. But then she left– and she won’t be coming back for months! I haven’t gone since she left. I should sign up for a membership. I was going to go this week, but I got my period, haha. #excuses. But I do feel better, more energy when I go. And when I do go– I really only do stairs and weights. Cause I want a better butt and some muscles.

      I have no read or heard of that book! I’m totally going to check it out! Thanks for the suggestion!