My First Time Juicing and the 10 Step Process

I have always wanted to give juicing a shot. I even picked up a few books over the years and have utilized my Pinterest for a few good combinations. 

Funny thing is…I have had a juicer for over 5 years now. I received it as a Christmas present years ago when I first thought about starting. I really was extremely into juicing before I asked for one.  

The problem I had once I receive the juicer was that I am a perfectionist. It makes it hard for me to start things that I feel as though I won’t do to the fullest. I read through the manual, because I found the machine to me quite intimidating. One of the big things it points out is how important it is to thoroughly wash the machine after each use so not to start collecting bacteria.  “Oh rats,” I thought, “This machine is going to suck to clean.” I used that as my excuse to not give it a shot until now, because I tremendously hate doing the dishes. 

I’ve been feeling bad for awhile now that it has just been a pretty expensive dust collector.  Each time I would make a point to gather the groceries that I would use to juice with the machine, I would end up forgetting about them in the back depths of the refrigerator or end up using the groceries to make other meals. 

Well, I finally used the juicer! All it took was a new 2021 spirit (after a quite depressing 2020) and having a supportive husband that was in on the plan with me. 

Step 1: My husband went out while I was sleeping and gathered the juicing supplies. (What a blessed woman I am! 🙂 ) 

Step 2: I had already cleaned it and had it on the counter for a few months…I put it back in the cabinet giving up. He took it back out. 

Step 3: After lunch, while our son was sleeping, we prepped the celery and carrots. I always wanted to try celery juice. It is said to have a lot of health benefits. I am not a fan of celery (without peanut butter–like those cute little Pinterest pics of Ants on a Log). I am also not very fond of carrots (without tuna). 

Step 4: Struggled turning on the machine. Apparently, this version has to be latched at the top perfectly in order to turn on. Which really is a good safety measure. 

Step 5: Machine turns on and scares the crap out of me, because it was so loud! 

Step 6: Started throwing in the cut up celery. We could not believe how much juice we got for about $1 of celery stalks.  

Step 7: Taste celery juice before moving on to carrot juice. The celery juice tasted just like watery celery. No real change. I really wanted to make sure I drank it so I added apple juice that was already in the refrigerator and liquid chlorophyll that I had purchased recently from the vitamin shop. That combination made it taste much better. I do feel like straight celery juice is an acquired taste. I will have to get my taste buds use to drinking it. For now, I will keep my combination. As for the carrot juice, it was sweeter than I expected. Still not a fan. I gave that to my husband who preceded to guzzle it down with no problem. 

Step 8: Time to clean up. 🙁 At first we had a bit of trouble figuring out how to take the contraption apart. For this machine you have to push the top pieces of metal off the plastic part that I adjusted at the beginning when it wouldn’t turn on. 

Step 9: Holy Guacamole! No! Holy Pulpamole! There is a lot of pulp! What are you even suppose to do with all of it? Do people save it and make other things with it. I would hope so. I hated the thought of just throwing away pounds of nutritious vegetable fiber.  Well, when I ran off to check on our son, my husband threw it away. I guess I will look up som “After Juicing Recipes” before my next juicing experience. 

Step 10: Have husband clean the machine. He was happy to do it…I think. Phew! I am off the hook. This time. 😉 

What I learned: 

• Juicing is pretty fun. 

• Celery juice and Carrot juice doesn’t taste the best, but mixed with other things they are tolerable. 

• It is time consuming and there is quite a bit of clean up, but a great way if you want fresh juice where you know every ingredient in it. 

• The juicing machine isn’t as intimidating as your mind makes it out to be. 

• There will be a LOT of pulp left over. Best to try to figure out unique things to do with it so you don’t waste it. 

• Having a person who supports your health and happiness is very important. 

Thanks for reading about my FIRST experience juicing. I hope that you give juicing a try here in 2021! Remember not to push off things out of fear of doing it right, not making a mess, or all the other reasons you could come up with. Many times we think we will fail, but most of the time we don’t end up doing so…we just gain amazing, fun experiences. Let’s say you do “fail”. Failure is the breeding ground for success in the future. Just try it a different way, or find a totally new adventure. 

Sweat and Love,

Coach Ash