Since early in our marriage, Eric and I have felt a need to improve our health, specifically in the area of eating. Unfortunately between school, work, and other obligations, we often settled for easy, processed convenience foods. After a long day at work, followed by a long night of counseling, our food source could be summed up in one word…
Wendy’s. Most nights after counseling couples, we would go through a drive thru, come home, plop in front of the television, and eat our meal. Most nights, we plopped in front of the television with our Wendy’s dollar menu feast. Needless to say, we did not feel healthy between our lack of sleep, lack of downtime, and lack of nutrients.
After grad school, we began eating a little healthier. We ate out much less but I still had a tendency to push my cart down the aisles of processed foods and past the aisles of fresh produce. “Fresh produce goes bad so quickly” was the excuse I used from buying, preparing, and eating them.
Along the way, we tried various dietary changes that never lasted very long. Once we went without sugar in any form (including fruit) for a month. I lost about twenty pounds during that month, but I also had vivid dreams about sugar and felt like a ravenous wolf once the month was over. In no time, I gained all the weight back and probably made up for all the sugar I missed during that long, sugarless month.
Each of our attempts to better ourselves would be good strides, but something was still missing. In my case, it was avoiding fresh fruits and vegetables. In Eric’s case, it was not having a wife that was willing to buy and serve fresh fruits and vegetables.
A few months ago, I ran across the movie Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead on Hulu.com after hearing about it from a lady at our church. This entertaining (and inspiring, despite the name) documentary followed a man through his journey with juicing. After watching, I wanted to try a ten day juice fast and then Eric watched it and jumped on board with me. We looked at our calendars and picked ten days that seemed eventless and planned our fast.
While paying for loads of fresh produce was not cheap, we began feeling the positive changes in our body almost immediately. We had more energy, and surprisingly enough, I felt like I was in a better mood during the fast than I usually was after eating a satisfying meal. Not only did my body feel lighter, but my heart felt lighter too. In ten days, we experienced a huge turn around in our health and came to enjoy fresh vegetable and fruit juices. Even though we’ve completed the fast, we plan to incorporate juicing into our daily lives as meal replacements and supplements.
As you prepare for your future marriage, think about your health, dietary habits, and ways you can start your marriage out on the right foot. The habits you create in the first three to six months will be difficult to break over the next several years. If you begin your marriage by eating well and learning to prepare nourishing, clean food, you will be more likely to carry that habit throughout your marriage than if you try to change your habits mid-stream.
If you have never tried a juice fast, and you have the means to purchase a juicer and fresh produce, we recommend trying a juice fast for ten days. If you are on prescription medication, or have any other physical issues, be sure to consult with a doctor prior to juicing.
Try a ten day juice fast and keep a running log of how you feel each day – the good and the bad – then carry this nutritious habit into your upcoming marriage! You’ll also need good support, encouragement, and accountability. Either do the fast with someone (e.g., your fiancé/fiancée) or have a lot of support waiting to encourage you daily.
If you would rather not try a juice fast, we still recommend watching Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead and adding fresh juice into your daily diet (if you don’t have a juicer, we recommend investing in a good one. We bought, and are happy with, a Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite). Some juice drinks taste great; whereas, other juice drinks are good for you ~smile~. Regardless, they will rush tons of nutrients into your body and make you feel cleaner from the inside out. Happy Juicing!
{After several requests for information, I put together this document of various recipes that we’ve compiled – some of which we’ve tried – and highlighted those that we’ve enjoyed to give you a good head start. You can download the document here: PreEngaged Juice Your Relationship Tips}
Have you tried a ten day juice fast in the past? If not, would you consider trying one now – why or why not? (Comment below!)
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