First of all, to reduce the amount of fresh fruit we need, which can be quite expensive, we mix our fresh juice with all natural and organic pre-made juices found in the produce department. These juices are super healthy and often have lots of added vitamins and minerals. The brands we have in our area are: Odwalla, Naked and Bolthouse Farms. With prepared juices, be sure to read the label carefully; not all are juice/puree mixes. Make sure they don’t contain anything with milk, caffeine (like green tea or cocoa beans), or sugar (even plain, like “cane juice/extract” or “evaporated cane juice”). My favorites so far are “Odwalla: Original Superfood” and “Naked: Green Machine Superfood”. The “Odwalla” brand gives you lots of super healthy stuff like Spirulina, Wheatgrass, Barley Grass, and Wheat Sprouts, but just try the delicious Apple, Peach, Mango, Strawberry, and Banana Fruit Mix; the “Naked” brand contains the same as the “Odwalla” brand but even more, including broccoli, spinach, parsley, chlorella, blue-green algea, odorless garlic, and ginger. You want to be sure to limit your intake of fruit juice because the body has to work harder to break down the sugars in fruit and you may find yourself feeling down by mid-afternoon.

I have found that the best way to save money on your grocery bill is to store hops. I start at the lowest cost store in my area and work my way up to the mid-price store and end up at the specialty food store. That way, I get all the organic food I need at the cheapest prices I can. I also check the newspaper before I head out to see who has a bid on the items I want. For example, I typically get my bagged spinach at Wal-Mart because it’s cheaper by 0.50 cents at $2.49/bag compared to . $2.99/bag at Publix. Some weekends Publix has their bags on sale 2 for $4.00 which saves me $1.00 which really adds up after a while. It takes me longer to shop, and I have to really factor in the time it takes to go slow and be able to read labels and compare prices, but it’s definitely worth it!

In our area, I start at Wal-Mart first; they have a lot of the pre-made juices, but they are usually .05 – .10 cheaper than any other store – when you buy as much as we do, that can go a long way. Wal-Mart also usually has some organic vegetables; again, at a lower cost than any other store. I usually get organic grapes, carrots, spinach and strawberries there. However, I would like to mention that the strawberries don’t look as fresh there, so I inspect them carefully and if I don’t feel like they will last me, I buy them at my next place, Publix.

Publix is ​​well known in our area for its superior meat and produce departments. They are well stocked, extremely fresh, and staffed by friendly, available, and knowledgeable staff. In recent months, its organic market had increased significantly. Instead of buying individual apples at 2.50/lb, I can buy a 5 lb bag of organic Gala apples for $3.89. I usually consume 1 ½ to 2 bags per week, so it’s a huge savings for me. Same for naval oranges, they have organic per 5 pound bag. I pick up organic raspberries and whatever pre-made juices I can’t get at Wal-Mart and move on to my next stop, my favorite place on earth, Whole Foods Market.

At the Whole Foods market, the produce department can seem pretty overwhelming when you walk inside. Its exquisite exhibits feature everything from the ordinary to the exotic. I have to remember to stay focused and not let my eyes get clouded by the wonderful colors and smells emanating from the takeout section of prepared foods. I don’t have to guess which fruits are organic and which are not; I don’t have to grind up boxes of berries to find ones that are mold free – everything in there is super fresh and is kept daily. I pick melons, pineapples, watermelons and blackberries from here.

Even when we are not fasting, we do this shopping routine. You wouldn’t believe how much money price shopping actually saves you. You have to spend a little more time shopping, but it’s worth it. When we get home, we prepare everything to store in the fridge. We have invested over the last year in several vacuum sealed storage containers called Ultra Vacs. We had a bag of spinach that lasted over 6 weeks before on these saplings. It probably would have lasted longer, but we ate it all sooner. our experience was over! So it goes without saying that our berries stay fresh all week long. We wash all our berries, grapes, apples and oranges and scrub all the carrots. We ultravacuum the berries and grapes and rebag everything else into clean gallon size bags. Organizing, rinsing and scrubbing on shopping day helps you go quickly and smoothly for the rest of the week and saves you a lot of time.

Now for the calculations. We have reduced our measurements to a science now. This is our daily eating plan:

Breakfast:
1 cup Bolthouse Farms C-Boost
½ cup of fresh juice (melon, apple, orange and carrot)

Lunch:
1 cup Odwalla superfood
½ cup naked superfood
½ cup of fresh juice (spinach, apple and carrot)

Sandwich:
½ cup Odwalla pomegranate juice
½ cup Bolthouse Farms Berry Blast
½ cup fresh juice (grapes, strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries)

Dinner:
1 cup Odwalla superfood
½ cup naked superfood
½ cup of fresh juice (spinach, apple and carrot)

So, with this menu in mind, I continue with my calculations. Juice for two people, for seven days, I need the following in pre-made juices:

112oz C Boost:
3 33 oz bottles (Wal-Mart, Publix, or Whole Foods Market)
1 16 oz bottle (Wal-Mart, Publix, or Whole Foods Market)

56 oz Pomegranate Juice:
1 bottle of 64 ounces
(Publix or Whole Foods Market)

56 oz Berry Blast:
2 33 oz bottles (Publix or Whole Foods Market)

Odwalla Superfood 224oz:
3 64 oz bottles (Publix or Whole Foods Market)
2 15 oz bottles (Wal-Mart, Publix, or Whole Foods Market)

112 oz Naked Superfood:
3 33 oz bottles (Publix or Whole Foods Market)
1 16 oz bottle (Publix or Whole Foods Market)

The biggest benefit of an extended juice fast, relative to grocery shopping, I have to say is that we know exactly how many fruits and vegetables we need for the entire week. So, we don’t waste money or food; we only buy what we need:

Breakfast:
¼ melon, 1 orange, 2 small apples, 4 carrots
(Yield 1 cup; 2 ½-cup servings)

Lunch:
3 apples, 4 carrots, ¼ bag of spinach
(makes 1 cup; 2 ½-cup servings)

Sandwich:
1 cup grapes (black, green, or mixed), 1 cup raspberries, 1 cup blackberries, and 12 strawberries
(makes 1 cup; 2 ½-cup servings)

Dinner:
3 apples, 4 carrots, ¼ bag of spinach
(makes 1 cup; 2 ½-cup servings)

During a seven-day week, this is what fills our shopping cart:

3 melons
2.5 pound bags of apples
1.5 pound bag of oranges
1.5 pound bag of carrots
2 bags of spinach
2, strawberry containers
3, raspberry containers
3, blackberry containers
1, small bag of green grapes
1, small bag of black or purple grapes

A couple of days during the fast, as an extra special treat, I bought a couple of bananas, a pineapple, an Odwalla Tropical Energy, and a can of coconut milk. I juice ½ pineapple and 2 oranges. I add that with the Odwalla juice, 1 cup of pineapple, ½ can of coconut milk and 2 bananas to the blender and make a tropical juice smoothie.

It is important to remember that our menu is tailored to our specific tastes. We don’t have the stomach to juice all the different kinds of vegetables; We did the first week to have a super charged detox week, but after that, we just couldn’t do it. If you don’t mind, we say from the bottom of our hearts: “Go ahead!” – Juice all vegetables to your heart’s content: celery, parsley, kale, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. A Bolthouse Farms pre-made juice to mix is ​​called “Veg” – it’s tomato based, so if you like tomato juice, you’ll love this. Stay away from V8 – it’s very high in sodium and V8 Splash has more high fructose corn syrup than the actual vegetables. Stick with all natural and organic juices in the produce department.

Stay tuned for our next article on “The Art of Splurging.”