Juicing!?

[sirensiren 67]

I've been doing great, and eating Protein for me is fun (I love eggs, lower fat cheese, fish etc.)- I enjoy veggies, but find I run out of room and I'm virtually done.

My personal trainer (we do moderate intensity kick boxing and weights 2x a week) is a huge advocate of getting a juicer for all his clients. He is especially interested in me getting one, because my food intake is low.

When he talked to me about my surgery, and how many calories I likely get a day, his response to be answer "maybe 1000-1200 a day" was a 8O face and the explanation of "when we get advanced with you, you can burn up t 900 calories in a workout, how are we going to get your calories up a bit? I'd really like to see you get a juicer!"

(No, he does not personally sell juicers, he truly believes in juicing)

Calories up?! Wasn't the point of VSG to keep my calories low??

Pre-VSG, I've avoided juice-I was told that juice is simply the veggie/fruit minus the Fiber, and therefore contained more sugar and could lead to weight gain. But...obviously, I have an easier time taking in liquids than solids.

How does everyone else feel on the juice topic?

[Globetrotter 1,340]

^{I would very much like to hear responses on this issue as well, I am a year and a half out and am on the hunt for ways to jump start my weight loss again and have become interested in juicing.}

[mesaucedo 207]

I have used juicing fasts many times, as a quick way to lose a few pounds (I know, bad!) and also as a way to cleanse my body.

Juicing is completely different from buying pre-made juices. You do not add sugar or really anything but the fruits and veggies.

I have a really nice juicer, that was purchased for my father when he was sick, and it has the option of adding in all the Fiber in a pulp form. My juices never exceeded 300 calories because I used mostly vegetables. I also rarely finished a whole drink. I like to add carrots and celery to most juices for a healthier kick.

I sometimes add a kale powder and Protein powder if I am going to eat it as a meal. When I juice, it is usually only juicing for a week or so. It makes me feel so energized and gets my digestive system back on track.

I would try to find recipes that involved lots of vegetables instead of fruit and try a few!

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

I tried juicing shortly after getting sleeved since I was able to get a hand-me-down juicer for free, and the cost became a turn-off real fast. I just drink Bolthouse juices now - they are pricy at $5/liter here in Canada, but if I tried to make them myself, it'd be at least twice as much. I just use discretion with brands and read labels to ensure there's no added sugar, and choose juices that have a veggie component to them.

[sirensiren 67]

It may be a great way to get nutrition in considering fluids are much easier to go down with the sleeve than solids.

My concern is weight gain from the sugar content of fruits. I know not all sugar sources may be equal, but fruit sugars can certainly put on weight for those of us prone to gaining.

I'm really considering getting one, but I'll be getting creative with the discounted fruits/veggies for sure!

[Catracks 865]

As I posted in another thread, I have fruit trees and an old fashoined hand reamer. I just picked about 170 oranges and froze the juice into ice cubes. I didn't bother to strain the juice and it's full of pulp. Orange juice is very high in sugar so that juice will be considerable watered down after I melt those cubes. I also have a pomegranate tree and plenty of pomegrate cubes. I tend to get turned off by vegetables being blended into the juice. I like eat the veggies.

[mnbsleeve 87]

I only juice green vegies, especially leafy greens. Some are a bit more bitter, like spinach. Cucumber is "watery" and has a delicate flavor so it's good to mix in with the more intense ones so they don't taste as strong. It is an acquired taste but very worth it. There's very little calories, very litte to low sugar unless you juice fruits or carrots, and very, very high in antioxidants. I've juiced for years and I find that I rarely catch a cold and I heal pretty quickly. I think it really boosts my immune system. My NUT had me continue juicing up to the day before sugery. I missed it during the weeks after sugery where my surgeon had me on lilquids. There is a bit of a fiber content. When I resumed juicing again, I strained it, even thought it was just liquid! And indeed there was some fiber. Eventually I didn't have to strain it anymore once my stomach healed. I juice organic greens, the greener or more colorful the better - like purple cabbage, which has a very sweet taste! You don't really need a whole lot! In fact, even if you just juice a few leaves of kale and a bunch of parsley you may get 2 to 4 oz and it's plenty. I'll have a full 8 oz. but you don't need to. Some of the leaves render a very rich, green juice but not necessarily lots of quantity. Again, it depends what you juice. I find the cost to be well worth it and definitely not that much... lets say, it's not more than a piece of junk food one may have when not minding our health. Good luck and happy experimenting :-)

[Finding MeMe 204]

After watching the movie "fat, sick and nearly dead". I decided to start juicing for my hubby and I daily. He loves the fact that they are healthy and nutritious. I juice beets, apples, carrots, ginger, cucumbers, pineapples, melons and spinich. I will never buy processed juice ever again because the fresh taste is so much better. I am hooked on my jacklalane juicer.

[crossedpaws 0]

Wow. I just started my WLS sx journey in December and have yet to decide between the lap band and VSG. I started juicing once a day back in October ( a mix of fruits and veggies) and have been bummed b/ c I thought I'd have to give it up for good. It's great to hear some of you are juicing!

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

hi fellow sleevers

thank goodness my dr. never required the mushy stage, where i heard all those stories about blending meats and other "good stuff" it just sounded so gross, what can i tell you.

the truth is the thought of juicing vegatable sounds yeah, 2nd cousin to gross.

if i could just could get passed the fact "of juicing" smushing up blending veges etc. - i know they would be so good for me - and i don't love alot of veges, but for ex. i love purple cabbage, and others, carrots etc. But those leaves and stuff too?

I'm just "afraid" to put this together, making a drink, then drink like it was a glass of iced tea.

Am i the only one who has trouble with this? Help, help, i'm a 58 year young baby!

kathy

[Patienlywtng on my Curves 73]

I asked about Juicing in Support group on Tuesday. The response I received was a big fat negative. So much for my Jack Lalane sitting on the counter. However, I plan to ask againg. I used to juice my fruits mostly in the morning and my veggies in the evening. The really were not that bad.

Word of warning....do not juice an entire beet! Delicious but ummmm....

[crossedpaws 0]

LOL re entire beet. Love beets, but, um, no!

I have only been to 2 of the 4 required before-sx nutritional counseling sessions and the nut ( that abbreviation sounds so negative, but i really like her) doesn't get that juicing doesn't mean drinking a giant container of processed juice.

I originally started juicing because I do not get nearly enough fruits and veggies in my diet, so this was a great compromise and it turns out that kale and other greens I would never touch normally are very palatable when juiced together with lemon and orange.

Wow this is getting long. It was nice hearing different thoughts on juicing and I look forward to exploring this forum and seeing what this group has to say.

Barb