A long-time student of mine, Marcus Antebi, is founder and CEO of Juice Press. Marcus has been training with me off and on since before there was even a Five Points Academy, so we're going on over 12 years together. Before he became the Czar of Juicing, Marcus was a pretty good muay Thai fighter. That's him in the leopard print; stylish, right?
Two weeks ago out of the blue Marcus asked if I would do a Juice Press Juice Cleanse for 30 Days. I've been following a plant-based diet for going on 25 years and am (extremely) familiar with cutting weight as a result of fighting and training fighters for nearly that long. But I'm not exactly heavy -- I walk around somewhere between 150 and 155 at 5'11" -- and eat healthy, so I wasn't really sure what the motivation would be. But Marcus raved about how great it would be for me and mentioned that the fast was approved by Fred Bisci, Ph.D, who is a pretty amazing testament to the the benefits of decades of raw eating. So I figured I'd give it a try. The catch was that Marcus asked me to keep a record of my experience; hence this blog. It took me a week to get this thing up and running so I'll summarize that time period. Going forward I'll update daily -- and the posts won't be so damn long!
Week 1 (January 27 - February 3)
I was warned that the first three days of the fast would be the worst in terms of hunger pangs. I must honestly say that I have yet to experience any. I don't know if that is because I'm used to not eating for extended periods when cutting to make fight weight, because I often practice some form of intermittent fasting or because the the juice intake is so often (6 juices per day mean you're taking something in about every 2-2.5 hours). Whatever the reason, I've not been hungry at all.
A bigger concern for me was that I wouldn't be able to handle my normal schedule. My work days are long (I start at 5:30 am daily and go through the evening), physical (I hold pads and teach muay thai students and fighters all day long) and I enjoy training (both muay thai and strength). I'm also the father of an 11 year old son, have a very active 4.5 year pit bull and own a home that I enjoy fixing and maintaing so I've got a life outside of work and training that requires my attention, as well. I can report that I have had absolutely no problems carrying on with my normal work-load:)
SO... not hungry, feel strong. What else might one want to know? Ah, yes: are the juices disgusting? The answer to that is absolutely not. Juice Press puts a lot of effort into having fresh, cold-pressed juices and it shows. The fast comes with three pre-selected options: Basic, Alternate and Winter Solstice. I've been rotating them daily, as it keeps things from getting dull. I like food with a kick, so I'm a big fan of options like Ginger Fireball and Spicy Citrus. But there are also plenty of sweeter selections (Lait de Coco and Fountain of Youth are like dessert!) and the green selections are also very palatable. There is enough variety that I'm never bored and I get to look forward to and appreciate my favorites.
OK. Week one summarized and down. Daily updates and additional training info (both my own and my students) to come. Hope you find it useful.
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