I want to start jucing

I'm actually trying to keep my calories at 1200 a day... I'm also working out 3 times a week and hiking once a week. Its a matter of making all this a habit that is going to be hard for me!.. totally gonna need a lot of support or *kitten* kicking either one should work I guess.. lol

I wanted to start juicing because well I had heard it was good for you. but as I keep reading all the comments not sure if I should or not.

1200 net, right?

I'm actually trying to keep my calories at 1200 a day... I'm also working out 3 times a week and hiking once a week. Its a matter of making all this a habit that is going to be hard for me!.. totally gonna need a lot of support or *kitten* kicking either one should work I guess.. lol

I wanted to start juicing because well I had heard it was good for you. but as I keep reading all the comments not sure if I should or not.

1200 net, right?

what's the difference? .. excuse my ignorance but I'm very new to this =(

1200 gross = eating a flat 1200 calories every day, without adding exercise calories back in (no bueno)

1200 net = eating 1200 calories AND any exercise calories you earn

Please check these links

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants?hl=sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161976-adopt-a-noob-official-mfp-thread

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/328-juice-fasting-fat-sick-and-nearly-dead


First one is the best introduction to MFP you will find.

Second one is if you'd like to find a MFP mentor, who would work with you, one on one, for FREE, which anyone just starting out here, would be crazy not to consider.

Third, is a juicing group. We run the gamut there, from casual users, to hardcore, mainlining, juicing addicts. I've got a couple of threads there, that might be of some interest to you.... describing my experience with juicing ( the good, the bad and the ugly ) as well as another thread, where I just did a 3 day, juice / protein powder experiment, and the results, ( so far ).

Just eat the fruits and veggies.
Tastier and cheaper.

And fiberier. :-)

Juicing gives you a lot of sugar and some vitamins, but you leave out the fiber and other things that actually fill you up and are good for you.

I agree -- eat your fruits and veggies and forget juicing. I do make a smoothie almost every evening as my "dessert," but it includes the pulp from the berries and banana.

I juiced for a little while and it was a gigantic pain in my *kitten*. The juicer was expensive, 3/4ths of anything I juiced turned into this "pulp" that I could either jam my juicer with to try to get more juice out, or just throw away. The quantity of food "pulp" I threw away was ridiculous. With juicing, the juice you make basically has no fiber in it, and any fruits I juiced gave me a giant sugar rush (because it went right into my blood stream) and then I crashed.
I highly recommend you google search "blending vs. juicing" because blending is so much easier. I blend breakfast (sometimes lunch too!) and it allows me to add things to it like nuts or flax seeds which can not go into the juicer. I use all of the product and I'm not throwing anything away. Also, I'm not, for lack of a better word, sh*tting my brains out because I'm getting the fiber as well.
Blenders are so much easier to clean and I bought the nutribullet when I got serious about blending-- it's amazing and a fraction of the cost of my, now dusty, juicer.
10/10 would recommend blending instead.

I have done juice fasts a few times, and I also juice every so often for a meal or snack, especially if I have a bunch of extra veggies laying around. I highly recommend you check out www.rebotowithjoe.com - they have a ton of tips and recipes, and it is a very supportive community. Yes, juicing can be a pain, hard to clean, expensive, etc. But you also get a lot of vitamins, and sometimes it's nice to have a big green juice instead of eating a giant salad. I recommend you start with sweeter juices with just a little bit of veggies (a handful of spinach, one stalk of celery) and work your way up. Green apples, lemons, and grapefruits give you a good amount of juice without a ton of sugar. Most mainstream juicers don't extract a lot of juice from greens and can't juice things like wheatgrass, but it's better to start there than buy a crazy expensive juicer if you are just using it once in awhile.

One thing I wish I'd known early on - celery juice is surprisingly salty, and can ruin a juice if you use too much!

Good luck!

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I have a professional grade juicer. I juice a lot in the summer because I do a lot of trail riding and it's easier to take liquids than fruits and vegetables on the trails. You can save the pulp and add it to meals to add flavor. There are a lot of great recipes out there. In my experience the keys are to find a really good juicer, I don't get a lot of waste with mine and to find some good recipes. It's a personal choice. Don't depend on the juice to be any kind of meal replacement though. You still need to eat food and IMHO probably more than 1200 calories with your activity (just my opinion though). Also, you have to drink the juice within 12 hours or throw it away.