The Juice-capades! Days 5 - 6 wrap-up.

Watermelon, cantaloupe and blueberries. Heaven in a glass.

I don't have much to say about Days 5 and 6 other than DON'T JUICE SWEET POTATOES. I don't know why, but they come out extremely chalky. They do have a great flavor but the texture made me gag like crazy. So, there's that.

I am happy to report I am officially off Prilosec! It's a miracle. When I started juicing, I was on 20 mg Prilosec in the morning plus 150 mg Zantac at night and was still having regular stomach pain and other reflux symptoms. I knew the next step was either more Prilosec or a drastic dietary change (obviously, I chose the latter). Now, I just take 150 mg Zantac before going to bed each night as a precautionary meausure. No more gnawing stomach pain, no more sore throat in the morning, no mucous whatsoever! I feel like I can sing with ease and there's no pollution in my sound, which is amazing. Now that I'm no longer on all juice, I'll really need to watch my sugar, oil and wheat intake so as not to aggravate things again. But this is very exciting news for me. I thought I would have to live with that awful stomach pain forever, and now it's gone.

Other problems I've said goodbye to this week: daily afternoon headache, struggling to wake up in the morning due to stiffness and exhaustion, sleepwalking, irritability and anxiety. Hard to believe I ever lived with all that. I guess I wasn't really living!

I thought the hardest part of doing a juice reboot would be preparing food for other people. That was really only a challenge the first day. After that, I lost the desire to eat junk food so the temptation to lick the Nutella off the knife was gone. Last night, I did have some cake and ice cream at my niece's birthday party and felt a little sick afterward, but I was careful not to eat too much so the pain went away quickly. Like I said before, I'll just have to be more mindful from here on out.

FAQ's: Now that you're done, are you going to officially buy your own juicer? Heck yes! In fact, I'm gonna get the one at the top of my sidebar. And even if I never do a juice reboot again, there's something special about homemade apple or orange juice. It's just delicious. And I think an occasional one-day cleanse would also be beneficial for me.

Should I do a juice reboot? I'm not going to tell you what you should or shouldn't do. But if you're feeling like this might be the route for you, then by all means go for it! Just be sure to read up on the benefits of juicing and educate yourself before you take the plunge. My official juice reboot length ended up being six days (we went to Ringling Bros and I had a blogger crafty party on Saturday so I decided to quit juicing a day early to accommodate these events). Joe recommends 3 - 15 days depending on what you'd like to accomplish. I knew I didn't want to lose weight but I wanted to fully detoxify so I gave it an earnest six days. What you decide will ultimately be up to you. If you have medical conditions like me, you'll want to consult with a doctor first, and probably a holistic doctor.

Do you regret your decision to juice? Absolutely not. I feel better than I ever have and my reflux is all but gone. The results speak for themselves. Was it hard? At times, yes. Juicing takes preparation and patience. But it was absolutely worth it. And I have also found that an entire week of getting fruit and veggies ready to be juiced and cleaning the juicer five times a day made me realize it's not so hard to whip up some eggs and fruit for breakfast. I am a lot more patient when it comes to meal preparation and more appreciative of what I'm eating. So, all in all, I reaped plenty of benefits from juicing and I don't regret doing it in the least.