For the past year, I’ve made juice a regular part of my life. I’ve always considered the possibility of sharing my love of the juice lifestyle with others but I wasn’t quite sure of the logistics: time, expenses, storage, delivery, packaging, etc. It’s almost impossible for me to think of starting a new venture while I’m working on NextChapter. But this weekend, I had some spare time and decided to test the idea. 

Juice by Janine is 100% all natural juice, prepared fresh in Columbus Ohio and frozen immediately in air tight jars to seal in all of the delicious nutrients!

What is all this about?

I’m not a doctor and don’t know everything about nutrition but I have been researching the benefits drinking juice for quite some time and find it to be one of the best things you can do for your body.

After buying a juicer, I began juicing each type of fruit and vegetable individually and creating concoctions in my kitchen until I mixed the most perfect recipes. Since then, I would juice a jar every morning for breakfast or lunch and found that 20oz of juice is just the right amount for a meal replacement. All of my friends began asking for recipes and wanted to know more, so I decided to make a round of juice for five select people that I knew would be easy to deliver. I packaged all of the jars with a note and sent them out into the world today excited to hear feedback.

The juice package that I made this weekend included four juices to be enjoyed as meal replacements:

Day 1: Breakfast – Lean Greens

Ingredients: Kale, Spinach, Cucumber, Celery, Apple, Pear, Lemon

Benefits: Kale is such a powerful ingredient. It is rich in vitamins and minerals like calcium which promotes strong bones and potassium which helps lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart diseases or stroke. Kale is high in fiber and detoxifies your whole body. Cucumber is a great tonic for encouraging healthy skin, hair and nails. It is also said to treat arthritis. Celery contains coumarin which helps with migraines and lowers blood pressure. Spinach is one of the most nutrient-packed foods and has more iron than any other vegetable.

Day 2: Lunch – Italian Picnic

Ingredients: Tomato, Carrot, Cucumber, Red Bell Pepper, Garlic, Apple

Benefits: Tomato has a magic ingredient called lycopene. It’s a powerful antioxidant that is said to have the nickname “the Cancer Destroyer”. Unfortunately, the body cannot create lycopene so we have to get it from fruits and vegetables. Garlic has been used to strengthen the immune system, lowers blow sugar and eliminate lead in the body. And finally, Bell Pepper juice is rich with Vitamin B6 and B9, both help control blood levels and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Day 3: Breakfast – Perfect Sunrise

Ingredients: Carrots, Orange, Mango

Benefits: Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A, B and beta -carotenes (anti-oxidants). Carrots are said to help prevent cancer, helps maintain vision and promotes weightloss. Just to be on the safe side, don’t eat TOO many carrots every day because a recent study at OSU shows that having excess amounts of beta-carotene every day could be bad for you. (disclaimer)

Day 4: Lunch – Beauty and the Beet

Ingredients: Beet, Carrots, Apple, Lemon, Ginger

Benefits: Beet juice is an excellent purifier and cleanser of the blood. It is said to promote brain health in older adults by increasing blood flow to the brain. It is also been found that beet juice is high in folate and stimulates the production and repair of cells, which helps protect against premature aging and wrinkles!

How can I get my hands on this amazing juice?

Glad you asked! Over the weekend, I made roughly 90 jars and boy was that a job! I’m still considering the weekly jar package price and will know a little more by the end of the week. If the demand is high, then it makes sense!

If you are interested in buying a weekly package of Juice by Janine, shoot me an email that just says JUICE.  me@janinerenee.com

 

Ever since my juice cleanse last summer, I’ve made juicing a big part of my life. I try to replace one meal per day with juice and sometimes even two. This is quite difficult when traveling because most cities don’t have juice bars but locally, there are a few different options to get juice.

1. Grocery Store – In Columbus, Market District and EarthFare will juice your ingredients for you while you shop. You will most likely have to freeze this juice when you get home to make sure it stays fresh but it is nice because you don’t have to clean up after.
2. Farmers’ Markets + Home Juicer – This is the best choice, in my opinion  You can purchase a juicer (ranging in price from $100-500) but then you have it when you want it! I juice in the morning before the gym, sometimes at lunch or even the night before. Having juice on hand is the easiest way to make it a lifestyle.
3. Juice Cleanses to Order – This is the most expensive route but you don’t have a mess to clean and the recipes are already determined for you. In this previous juice post, I link to several online juicing options.

The benefits of juicing are out of this world! Just to name a few…

• promotes weight loss
• energizes mind and body
• appetite and portion control
• helps lower blood pressure
• strengthens the immune system
• eliminates lead in the body
• helps prevent cancer
• promotes strong bones
• cleanses and purifies the blood
• reduces risk of heart disease or stroke
• detoxifies the entire body
• promote brain health in older adults

I will be posting photos and recipes to help create awareness in hopes that others will join me on my juice journey. If you have any questions about juicing or would like me to make you a glass to try it out, just write me a message. I’d love to hear from you.

I am a huge advocate on healthy eating, fitness and my most recent craze, juice! I have written a couple posts already about my three day juice cleanse and resources to learn more but I have decided to adopt juice meals as part of my life from here on out.

I bought a juicer three weeks ago and have been replacing one to two meals per day with juice. Since I began, I’ve noticed a lot of great changes to my mind and body: I feel much more energized. My portions of food have significantly decreased. I am craving raw foods and leafy greens rather than sugars or artificial flavors. I’ve lost a little weight and my skin is more vibrant looking.

BUYING PRODUCE

I love my Saturday mornings at the local farmer’s markets. This is the best way to buy fresh produce for your juice. Last weekend I was picking a couple bunches of kale when the farmer said “That’s the good stuff, we just picked it last night at 9pm.” It doesn’t get any more green than that.

Find the best farmer’s markets in your area and when you arrive, be sure to check the prices through the whole market first. One booth could have kale for $3.50 per bunch, while another is selling for $1.50.

If you do buy your produce from a grocery, try to find the organic fruits and veggies. It will be a little more costly but the benefits of eating pesticide free food will save you in the long run.

CLEAN THOSE VEGGIES!

Before juicing anything, make sure you thoroughly wash and rinse. Just like the kale picked from the farm the night before, most of these veggies still have soil on them. Washing your leafy greens and scrubbing your apples will ensure that your juice is healthy and fresh.

HOW LONG CAN I STORE JUICE?

After you shove all of those clean fruits and veggies into the juicer and you have your delicious juice concoction, how do you get the best out of it? As many nutritionists will tell you, drinking the juice within 15-30 minutes will provide you with the most nutrients. Depending on the veggie, you can store juice in the fridge from 12 -48 hours. Cabbage juice will only last one to two hours while carrot juice will stay great up to two days. With green juice, oxidation will occur within 24 hours and not only will your leafy greens lose nutrients but it will also lose the fresh taste. Freezing juice will hold the nutrients in longer so I usually like to make all of my juice in the morning, have it through the day and freeze a little for the afternoon.

GIVE ME SOME RECIPES.

Be creative! Some of the best recipes are the ones that you decide to whip together on a whim. Once you start mixing up your own juices, you’ll begin to know which type of veggies go well with each other. Here are some of my favorite recipes and the benefits of each.

Ingredients: Carrots, Lemon, Ginger

Benefits: Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A, B and beta -carbotenes (anti-oxidants). Carrots are said to help prevent cancer, helps maintain vision and promotes weightloss.

 

Ingredients: Onion, Garlic, Red Bell Pepper, Tomatoes, Zucchini, Cucumber, Basil, Oregano

Benefits: Onions and garlic hold great benefits for juicing. They both have anti-cancer properties and help lower blood pressure. Garlic has been used to strengthen the immune system, lowers blow sugar and eliminate lead in the body.

Ingredients: Kale, Spinach, Romaine, Celery, Pear, Cucumber, Ginger, Lemon (peeled)

Benefits:  Kale is such a powerful ingredient. It is rich in vitamins and minerals like calcium which promotes strong bones and potassium which helps lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart diseases or stroke. Kale is high in fiber and detoxifies your whole body.

Ingredients: Beet, Carrot, Spinach, Cucumber, Ginger

Benefits: Beet juice is an excellent purifier and cleanser of the blood. It is said to promote brain health in older adults by increasing blood flow to the brain.

Ingredients: Cucumber, Spinach, Celery, Kale, Swiss Chard, Squash, Apple, Pear, Cabbage

Benefits: Cucumber is a great tonic for encouraging healthy skin, hair and nails. It is also said to treat arthritis. Celery contains coumarin which helps with migraines and lowers blood pressure. Spinach is one of the most nutrient-packed foods and has more iron than any other vegetable.

Ingredients: Watermelon (rind, seeds and flesh), Cucumber, Lime (peeled)

Benefits: Watermelon rind contains citrulline which is an amino acids that helps dilate blood vessels to improve circulation. Watermelon is a natural diuretic and also helps with weight loss.

Do you juice? What are some of your favorite recipes? 

I’m obviously not a doctor, I just read a lot on the internet. It may or may not be completely accurate but it’s my reflection of what I’ve researched before starting to juice. Here are a few of the resources I used: http://www.fitlife.tv/juicing-recipes/ , http://www.livestrong.com/juice/ and more recipes: http://www.harvestessentials.com/juicsaucsoup.html, http://www.myjuicingrecipes.net/vegetable-juices

 

It has been over a month that I participated in a three day juice cleanse challenge and the effects have seemed to somewhat fade. I am determined to get back into the mindset I had after completing the challenge. I want raw eating and healthy portions to consume my thoughts. Are you thinking about trying it? Not sure if it’s for you? Take a look at some of these great juicing resources I found.

Benefits of juicing: 

Lose weight, fight sugar cravings, increased energy levels and mental clarity, improve sleeping routine, clearer complexion, lower blood pressure, be free from diet traps.

Juicing Entertainment: Movie, Book and iPad App

Crazy, Sexy Diet – New York Times bestseller by cancer-survivor Kris Carr. A book about how to improve your health, happiness and confidence. I just purchased it and will write a review once I finish but it looks exactly like the type of book to keep my spirits high and my calories low. She also includes a twenty-one -day cleanse and has a Crazy Sexy Juice e-guide filled with 60 recipes and plenty of

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead.  – A juicing documentary inspiring people to reboot the way they think about health and well-being. This Aussie man travels around the US and loses 80 pounds, cures himself of chronic illness and helps others change all by juicing.

7lbs in 7 days – One week juice cleanse iPhone and iPad App by Jason Vale said to have been completed by many celebrities.

Juice Cleanses to Buy Online. 

I haven’t tried any of the online juice cleanses but they seem to be very popular. The branding alone on these sites makes me want to try it out sometime, although they are pretty pricey.

1) Blue Print Cleanse – There are three levels in this cleanse for the beginner, intermediate and expert cleansers. The difference between the three is that the beginner has more sugary options and the expert is mostly all greens.

 

2) Pressed Juicery – These juices are separated into different categories, cleanses, packages and kits. They even have a kid’s kit!

3) Cooler Cleanse – They have the option of doing a 3-day, 5-day or custom cooler with many different choices ranging from almond nut milk to essential green.

4) Life Juice – The three-day juice cleanse that they offer is $180 and one of the most reasonably priced cleanses to order online. I love that they promote “juice cleansing for a healthy body, mind and spirit”.

Do-It-Yourself Juicing.

The Best Juicer for Any Budget – I usually just take my ingredients to the juicing station at my local grocery so that I don’t have to clean up the juice mess but I imagine some day down the road I’ll purchase a juicer of my own. I’ve heard the best is the Breville Extractor

Earth Fare or Market District – Purchasing your raw fruits and vegetables from a farmer’s market would be the best route but if you don’t have a market nearby, find a grocery that has organic and local produce to use in your juice.

Recipes – You can find many recipes for DIY juice cleanses on the internet but the ingredients I used are indicated on my blog after the photos in italics.

Have you done a DIY juice cleanse? Have you tried the bottled juice cleanse service? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

I participated in a juice cleanse challenge hosted by Piece of Chic and it was honestly one of the hardest tests I’ve had to endure. I tracked my progress through a journal and wanted to share my three-day journey to a more purified body and mind.

The Benefits:Kick start your metabolism, nourish your body, beat sugar cravings and drop some pounds!

The Rules:

• Drink 8 oz. of juice every hour for 8 hours for 3 days.
• Drinks lots of water and decaf herbal tea.
• One small protein + veggie meal for dinner and
• Regular workout routine.

DAY ONE

Ingredients: 6 apples, 6 beets, 7 carrots, 7 celery sticks, 4 cucumbers 3 lemons.

8AM: I’m just getting started on my first day of juice! I decided to start my day with a 3 mile run followed by a short walk with my dog. The juice is dark maroon and tastes like a sweet beet. Although I’ve never had a beet before, I know this is the strongest flavor in the juice. This is certainly not something I would blend up for myself, unless I could add coconut flakes, bananas and strawberries. Maybe I’ll just imagine this juice is a mixture of it all.

11AM: It’s almost lunchtime and I’m craving my mid-morning mixed nut snack. I usually have oatmeal in the morning (some days with pecans and some days with ½ banana) then around this time I enjoy a small handful of mixed nuts or an energy bar. For lunch I generally have a salad, ½ a turkey wrap or something similar. Right now all I’ve had is juice. Just heavily beet-contained juice. It’s as if all I do now is drink beets.

2PM: Time to take the dog to the groomer, work on some projects and drink juice along the way.

5PM: It’s an hour until dinner time, my beet juice is gone and I’m really not that hungry now. It’s like my body has just forgotten all about the hunger. That’s nice. I turn on my Kimbra album and start preparing dinner. Chicken, zucchini, squash and onions with a dash of salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes wrapped up in an aluminum foil pocket. Only 20 minutes on the grill and this dinner will be in my belly. I sat on the balcony awaiting my delicious meal and as the steam rose from the aluminum pocket, all I could think of was how divine the veggies smelled. Normally I would be thinking about where the closest froyo shop is. Seriously, I love froyo.

8PM: Upon finishing my meal I felt slightly unsatisfied at first but then slowly became accepting of the portion I had.

CONCLUSION: I’m hopeful that this cleanse will help me regain control of my portion sizes rather than just eating as much as America puts in front of my face. When you  travel to other countries, it seems that they are only giving small snacks as a meal but then you look around and the locals are thin and energetic. It’s no wonder America is about to topple over from obesity. It’s time to make a change. If this cleanse does nothing more than help my mind believe in honest healthy food, that would be enough for me.

DAY TWO

Ingredients: 6 apples, 7 celery sticks, 4 cucumbers, 3 handfuls of Parsley, 3 handfuls of raw ginger, 3 handfuls of Spinach

7AM: I woke up from a restless night with my hipbones popping out and my tummy grumbling. I’m definitely feeling skinnier from dropping so much water weight yesterday but I was dreaming about food all night. The juice today is very green and has an extremely strong ginger taste.

12PM: Around lunchtime I decided to turn on 90’s music and jam. It is very hard to concentrate today and I have a slight headache. I keep thinking about how I am not really enjoying this green juice but I know I only have one more day after this. That’s not too bad. If I can get healthy and rid all of the toxins in my body and blood stream by sacrificing a little flavor, so be it.

3PM: I just finished a great weightlifting workout at my gym focusing on upper body and abs. I felt completely energized and ready to get back to work!

4PM: My last 16oz of juice was pretty difficult to swallow but I promised myself that after I finished today’s juice, I get to have hot herbal tea. Yeah, how’s that for a little bribe? Well, it worked and I’m actually enjoying the taste of something other than the well-described “spicy grass” as Erika put it.

7PM: For dinner I had an omelet with tomatoes, onion, green pepper, chicken and a dash of salt and pepper. It was everything I dreamed it would be.

CONCLUSION: Most of the day I was thinking about what I would eat when I was finished with all of this. It’s a weird feeling when you can’t focus because your mind and body is craving something that it’s lacking. I felt like my entire life was revolving around this challenge. The time flew by pretty quickly but I had a hard time trying to stay on task.

 

DAY THREE

Ingredients: 6 beets, 7 carrots, 7 celery sticks, 4 cucumbers, 3 handfuls of ginger, 3 lemons, 4 handfuls of lettuce, 3 handfuls of parsley, 4 handfuls of spinach. (no apples!)

7AM: I awoke with energy and excitement… that it’s my last day of juice. After getting ready in the morning and hanging out with my puppy, I went to the fridge to shake up my juice and it was a little bit frozen still. I thought for a couple minutes about giving up but then opened the container and took a big gulp. DIRT! It tastes just like I cupped a handful of mud and grass and shoved it in my mouth. Yeah… it was thick and dark purple and just yuck. I started panting afterward as my eyes watered and I just thought to myself… “Fight through it Janine, this is the last day.” I convinced myself that once I choke the last couple bottles down, I will feel my body become purified and will crave the taste of raw vegetables and fresh organic protein. Let’s do it!

10AM: Choking down dirt juice.

12PM: I want cupcakes.

2PM: While running through the city for a quick 2.5 miles, I thought about the juice. Why couldn’t it just have a couple apples in it? Then maybe it wouldn’t be so dreadful. What is it that I’m supposed to be thinking about? Not food? Food? I don’t get it. I’m hungry. Ooh look, a poster with $3 burgers on it. Wonder when that starts? I don’t even like burgers. They probably wouldn’t taste good anyways….

5PM: The day passed rather slowly and I was having a really hard time drinking the muck. I finally made it to the last 16oz, chugged what I could and had to pour the finale down the drain… seriously, a finale of stringy beets and roots were settled at the bottom making me really want to cry. So there you have it… all of the juice is done. I did it! 

7PM: My tummy began to flop around most of the evening. I had a little iced tea and then for dinner I enjoyed trout, broccoli and green beans. To my surprise, the green beans were striking with flavor. Almost too much flavor.

 

THE DAY AFTER

After a night of full restful sleep, I awoke to a sliver of sunlight beaming through my curtains. It’s going to be a beautiful day. Before getting out of bed, I thought to myself about how I quit smoking three years ago and it was just like a switch, one morning I woke up and I was a non smoker. Today I felt a similar connection. My body just went through an emotional and rigorous challenge and I knew from this point forward, my outlook on artificial food and sweeteners would be forever changed.

Last night before bed I tried a salty Club cracker and it tasted like a shortbread cookie, then I tried a bite of green pepper with cucumber dill dip and I could immediately taste the artificial flavors in the dip. It’s almost unreal that only three days of training my body and mind to undergo a juice cleanse would change the taste of the food I’m consuming. Not only the taste but also the portion size! This is exactly what I had hoped I would achieve in this challenge.

As I was curling my hair this morning, I couldn’t help but think about how healthy and fresh I feel and then I honestly had a craving for juice! Before work I picked up a Naked – Green Machine because I figure with all of the fruit in this juice, it’s going to taste like Chiquita Banana Party compared to the muck I’ve been drinking the past couple days.

This challenge sure had it’s ups and downs but by sticking with it, I know that I am now on my way to healthier eating habits, a new outlook on cooking, eating out and lower sugar/carb consumption in general. Thanks to The Chic Chicks for putting this together and for the support throughout.

What a wonderful experience for my body and mind. XOXO.