Hi everyone!!!

Does anyone here do any juicing? It has occurred to me that I don't get enough fruits and veggies. I am considering starting to juice. It is a battle for me to not snack in the afternoon after work. I just want to eat... not because I am hungry. But anyway, I am thinking this would be a good time to juice some veggies. I would be getting something to 'snack' and some nutrients that I am missing.

I keep watching the infomercial for the Health Master by Montel Williams. And of course, I have seen the VitaMix but that is waaaaay too expensive. I like that those machines make drinks without losing the pulp part which has a lot of nutrients.

I have a juicer and I have a ninja so I won't be buying anything else for now. I will try to use those two appliance to see if I even like the juice.

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with juicing or any thoughts on it.

Short answer, "It depends".

I am sure there will be many replies to your question, cautioning you about "drinking your calories" and you are not using your band/tool properly when you do slider or liquid meals....

But honestly, I think it depends on what you are juicing, and the volume we are talking about. If you are juicing fruit, and getting 300-500 (or more) calories out of Apple, orange, name your fruit juice here, or even a whole bag of carrots, you are definitely going outside of what you know you should be doing. But if we are talking about juicing vegetables, and doing a 3-4 oz shot of greens, with 1 (maybe 2) carrots, or quarter of an Apple for flavor to whatever you are juicing, and you are TRACKING, journaling, whatever works for you, and not exceeding your Doc/NUT's recommendations on total calories etc. As long as you are not doing this INSTEAD of a meal with Protein first.... You have to live with this long term, and if this is part of your "lifestyle adjustments", then work it into your day. Don't be afraid to try a little here or there. Just make sure it is "a little" (Caution: Speaking as someone with a juicer, who has tried the "juice fast" and other not so healthy diets in the past, pre-band, I can tell you, it is a pain to constantly be running to the store for more fresh fruits and vegis, and to constantly be cleaning the juicer, and of course, the ahh, ummm, practical side affects of drinking lots of juice and how it "goes through you".... You don't want to go overboard on this. )

this is one area where I disagree with my doctor. This is strictly a personal opinion. He discourages juice of ANY kind. While I don't drink big tumblers of juice, I do drink a couple ounces of O.J. and acai with mangosteen to take vitamins with in the AM. Also, sometimes in the afternoon, I need a little something around 3:00. A 5.5 oz. can of low sodium V8 juice has just 30 calories. It's a perfect afternoon snack for me. It's low in carbs, low in sodium, low in sugar. It's loaded with vitamins A & C, and even has a gram of protein. I can't reasonably see the harm in it.

I am not a big veggie eater either and just got banded this week. I took the broth from the vegetable soup and ate that today. In a few days I will take the veggies I saved in the freezer and pulse them up a bit to make a veggie smooth enough for me to eat. So like veggie soup puree.

For me veggie soup is the only way I got them in before the band, maybe my tastes will change. But I am strarting off trying to get some in.

I am a huge veggie eater and have considered juicing. But I just cant take fruit juice. It spikes my blood sugar and sends my hunger into overdrive.

I just got a vitamix as a christmas gift from me to me lol. I love green smoothies and I do drink some calories it keeps me regualr and i dont need to do the benefiber or any other fiber. I like to add fresh raw greens to my smothies like baby spinach or kale.

Thanks for the responses! Yes, I am mostly looking at things like greens and veggies. Those things I am not eating. When I do eat them, it certainly is not in adequate quantities. I am looking at the vitamix so that I can have the whole fruit. I have a juicer but then you lose the fiber benefit. I think I will start with my juicer since I already have it. Then when I can afford it, I will get the vitamix. Hmmmm... I do have a birthday coming up....

If you don't like veggies, why juice?

You get the missing Vitamins in pill and powder form.

Pills can never take the place of fresh veggies. You may be able to get your basic vitamins in a pill, but they will never have all the additional nutrients that are also present in vegetables.

btrieger,

I do like vegetables. I just don't really have room for adequate intake. I can only eat 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of food at a meal. Once I get my protein requirement in, doesn't leave very much room. I would be willing to take the calories that come with juicing for the nutrients. And I don't believe we get all we should have from the supplements. They help but I want to up my intake a little.