Juicing Slideshow

Below are a few pictures that I've taken while juicing throughout the last few months.

Cleaning Your Juicer

This post probably could've been combined with my most recent one, but I decided to give the topic of cleaning juicers its own section because it's something that has been inquired about. Also, I'm sure that if many people were to say what the most frustrating thing about juicing is for them, then I'm guessing a pretty common response would be "cleaning the juicer." This is understandable. We've already been through the process of acquiring, prepping, and juicing our fruits and vegetables. Now we have a delicious, healthy, big glass of nutrients to drink, and there's nothing we'd rather do than sit back, relax, and enjoy the fruits of our labor, literally. There's just one thing, that big, dirty, juicer sitting in the kitchen staring back at us.

Much like the title of my last post, cleaning a juicer, takes some effort. The good thing is that a few tips can save a little time and make the cleaning process a little bit easier. All juicers are different, so the specific cleaning steps might vary some, depending on the juicer, but the basics are the same. I decided to do a little searching on the subject before writing the post, just to make sure there weren't any gems that I didn't already know about. I came across a video on cleaning a juicer, and was surprised to see that the juicer in the video appears to be the same juicer that I own. So, I figured instead of telling you my step by step guide to cleaning a juicer, I could just show you the video instead.

One thing I saw in the video that I haven't been doing was using a small pipe-cleaning brush to clean the pour spout on my juicer. I'll definitely start doing this because this is one area that I've noticed a bit of a build-up occurring.

I have just a couple of tips that the video doesn't mention: It's best to clean the juicer shortly after using it. I've made the mistake several times of waiting too long after making my juices to clean my juicer, and it's something I've always regretted, because it doesn't clean up near as easily. Another thing I usually do is put a plastic bag in the area that catches the pulp. That area is easy to clean, but it's even easier to simply take out the bag full of pulp and discard it without washing a thing (other than the rest of the machine.)

Here's the link to the video about cleaning a juicer. Unfortunately there's a 30 second ad that you're subjected to watching beforehand (man, I hate those things.)

Juicing Takes Effort

Like other household appliances, juicers can oftentimes be tucked away in cabinets and other hidden places, rarely seeing the light of day, forgotten, eventually put back in its box and into an attic or other storage place, waiting for the next garage sale or swap meet.

There's some good reason for this. Juicing can be a bit of work. You have to buy fruits and veggies (which are more expensive than many processed convenience foods,) clean them (some people go to great lengths to ensure their veggies are cleaned,) prep the fruits and veggies (cut off bad parts, peel some of them, take cores out of some, dice into manageable pieces depending on your juicer, etc.,) juice them (finally,) and then you have to clean the friggin' thing. That seems like an awful lot of work just to get some healthy fluids in your life. 

These are some of the reasons that I've gone days, weeks, even months on end without juicing. It's funny how much a person's opinion on the ease, or difficulty, of juicing can vary from one individual to another. I either hear some juice enthusiast talk about how easy it is and how it only takes a couple of minutes out of a persons day, or I hear someone who's new to juicing talk about it like it's the most difficult, frustrating part of their day. Really? My thoughts about it tend to be right in the middle. Juicing isn't really easy, and it isn't really hard, it's just, a process. A process that takes a little time, thought, and effort, much like many other activities in our lives. 

Excuse me here for getting a little deep and turning something like juicing into some sort of life lesson, but my best advice is to think positively about the whole situation and experience. If there's one thing I notice about myself it's that a certain mindset or way of thinking can make a big difference as to how I perceive something. The difference between a pleasing juicing experience and a stressful one is often something as small as our current frame of mind. Listen to your favorite music (for some reason I really like Bob Marley when I juice,) do it when nobody else is around, think about the positive effects it will have on your health, just do whatever you have to do to and think however you need to think to make the experience as positive as possible. 

How My Journey Began: Part I

How did my juicing journey begin? I'm glad you asked. I've been juicing fruits and vegetables for about three or four months, but I first learned about juicing a little over a year ago. It all started one evening when I was browsing Facebook. One of my friends posted a status stating he had begun a juice fast (only drinking juice and water, no eating.) To me this sounded absurd, and I quickly disregarded it as a yo-yo diet that probably did more harm than good. Each day that he fasted he posted his weight loss and how he was feeling. By day five he had lost 20 lbs., without any exercise whatsoever. The weight was falling off and he claimed that he was feeling better than ever before. He started to get quite a bit of attention from his fellow Facebook friends and many of them wanted to try what he was doing and wanted to know where he heard about such a thing. It turns out he had watched a documentary and that's what started it all. I was intrigued, I didn't need or want to lose a lot of weight, but I wanted to check it out for myself. I had to know more about this documentary...