Apples for Oranges

This is harder than I thought it would be. I went into this hoping that all of the juices would taste good but expecting some of them to taste bad. What I didn't want or expect, however, was that they -all- would taste bad. Even the good ones, if I'm being honest, taste pretty bad. I guess I'm just not one for smoothies. This diet's been a fight the whole way through.

The thing is, it wouldn't be all that bad if it was at least convenient. But the process of washing, cutting, organizing and preparing all of the fruit, of operating and cleaning the machine between each type of juice, of dealing with the pulp and cleaning up the kitchen afterwards... it's an ordeal! This is -with- the chores split evenly between two people, too.

To that extent, I've been thinking more and more of my old shake diet. This juice fast isn't my first go at an all-liquid diet; I used to eat these powdered protein shakes, doctor approved, that provided me with all of the nutrients and energy I needed. Drinking nothing but shakes, I went from 420 pounds all the way down to 320. The fact that it was so simple (add water, stir, drink) made it much easier to stick to; I didn't have to think about food, I didn't have to dedicate so much time to thinking about the diet. I just did my light exercises, chugged my shakes and lost pound by pound.

After all, that's what it's about, right? Losing weight, getting healthy? It doesn't really matter which way I get there, so long as I'm whole and sane when I do. This juice diet is quickly becoming far more trouble than I was ready for, though the fire required to fuel a complete meal-replacement still lingers. On top of this a friend of mine who joined me in my initial shake weightloss diet is jumping back on it as well, and is looking for someone to join him.

Pros?

• Comparable price to the veggie diet, if not cheaper
• Less hassle and maintenance, virtually no prep time
• Tastes great
• I've got a friend who'll go whole-hog into the fast with me for months
• Complete nutrients; not lacking in protein, fats and carbs, like the juice
• Less calories than the juice - Fasting on calories helps aid and accelerate the weight loss
• No wandering around weird hippie markets XD

Cons?

• I just went in 50% for this juicer; that was a pretty decent investment
• There are only 3 flavors of shakes, so they can get monotonous
• I can only get them online; if I run out and didn't preorder, I'm screwed

So far, the Ayes have it. I'll stick with the juices for now, though, and try and get my money's worth out of it. I'm still trying to figure out a way to incorporate both, just so I can get some fresh stuff (non-teflon-packed) in my system, but there's no real reason to.

Ultimately, the goal is to eat healthy, and neither an all juice diet nor an all shake one is a reasonable, realistic way to live life. But, it'll help me get to the point, weightwise, where I can start considering what a real diet should be like.