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For those of you who are new to this blog: This is the link to the experiment I am currently conducting Juicing In NYC: My Health & Wellness Experiment
Well, my first week of juicing just came to an end and I must admit that in many ways it went smoother than I expected. It was on September 26th that I decided to start this juicing diet and by September 27th I had everything I needed to get started. And, as an added bonus, on Sep. 29th I received a very encouraging tweet from Joe Cross 
Highlights of My First Week of Juicing
- 4LB weight loss (Almost 1/2 pound a day)
- No loss of energy
- No disruption to my sleep patterns (As is common in most diets)
- No significant increase in cravings
- No significant drops in blood sugar levels and no associated diet side effects such as crankiness, headaches, dizziness, etc…
Concerns:
- Rapid weight loss: Since these fruit juices are so effective at controlling appetite I am not sure how much fruit juice I need to drink to slow down my weight loss to a healthy pace.
- Lack of protein: I wonder if it’s ok to mix protein powders into these juices. I will ask Joe Cross this question in a tweet and let you know his answer.
What made last week somewhat unique was the fact that I ended up working a great deal of overtime. In fact, I worked seven days in a row (Sep. 26th to Oct. 2nd) with a 14hr shift on Saturday Oct.1st. Though getting through last week took a great deal of energy, I must, in all fairness, admit that I neither felt tired or hungry. Interestingly, I felt an extra burst of energy on the days when I drank a great deal of fruit juice.
Though Joe Cross’ juicing diet asks participants to consume a variety of both fruit juices and green drinks (mixture of vegetable juices), I found that fruit juices were more effective at controlling my appetite and helping keep my blood sugar levels up than green drinks. Overall, fruit juices also taste better than green drinks. In short, I had more energy and less cravings on the days when I drank at least 4 glasses of various fruit juices.
Though I am pleasantly surprised by the effectiveness of Joe Cross’ juicing diet, I can’t say the same for the quality of the fruit, and especially vegetables, that I received from FreshDirect.com. This image below is one of the beets I received from this Online grocery store. 2 bags of these beets cost me $3.98, as illustrated in my initial post. As you can see from the size of these beets, I was barely able to get one glass of juice out of them. I was equally disappointed with the organic carrots that I received. Carrot juice is one of my favorite type of juices. But, the organic carrots that FreshDirect.com sent me were small, dry and slightly bitter. 2 bags of organic carrots cost me $4.50 and after juicing both 1LB bags I had 1 glass of bitter tasting carrot juice 
Cost of My Initial Week of Juicing Diet
I must admit that the amount of fruits and vegetables I had purchased would not have nearly been enough to last me a week had I not also purchased a great deal of fresh fruit juice from the health club in which I am currently employed. As you can see in my initial post, I purchased approximately $60 worth of fruits and vegetables in order to kick-start my juicing diet. But, the reality is that I needed at least three times this amount.
The fresh juices that I purchased normally cost $6.75. However, as an employee I pay $3.25 per 12oz glass. During the long hours I spent at work this past week I purchased 16 fresh juices (about 3 a day) at a total cost of $52 which means that I spent a total of $112 on my juicing diet this past week.
