Anyone who has ever dealt with IC knows the debilitating pain that follows. Countless hours spent in doctor’s offices; thousands of dollars spent on supplements, all to no avail! In the wallows of desperation, I searched the internet relentlessly for help. One sleepless night I stumbled across an old article on the benefits of juicing. In a last ditch effort to find some relief I ordered a juicer after reading it. Some may say it was impulsive, but I was at the end of my rope and I could not live like that anymore. I figured I had nothing left to lose. The juicer arrived and with no clue of what I was doing, I began to juice tons and tons of kale and carrots. As you probably can figure out, my body began to go into a hard detox as it tried to cope with the shock of transitioning to an all juice diet so abruptly. Out of sheer stubborn blind determination I pressed on. To my astonishment something amazing happened!

I work up one morning with almost NO PAIN! After 5 years of agony, finally, I had a moment to breathe. To further my amazement my urologist was shocked at my next check-up; there were no traces of blood on my urine analysis! Therefore, I was saved from undergoing a very painful procedure. I never fully understood the term of having an epiphany until that moment. Like connecting the dots, I suddenly realized the healing power of food! Juicing is not a fad, it is not a sales gimmick. This is something real. It changed me in a profound way. I no longer viewed my body as the enemy. I began to respect, love and cherish myself and my body’s innate ability to heal itself. Our body’s can flourish when provided for nutritionally. Unfortunately, shortly afterwards I had some hard struggles come up in my life. I was forced out of my apartment in the middle of a pandemic. My husband and I, along with our 2 children moved into the upstairs bedroom of our friend's house. Needless to say; with no kitchen and everything we had left stowed away in storage, I was unable to juice. Later that year we were able to purchase our first home. It was a true blessing and with my health declining again I knew I had to start juicing. Easier said than done. Yes, we had a lot of renovation work to do and yes, it was a struggle to adjust to working from home and homeschooling both my kids. However, that wasn’t the real reason that prevented me from getting my juicer back up and running. I didn’t even know the real reason until halfway through this juicing program. So here is where my juicing journey begins. It started with a Tribest email for a FREE 7 day juice fast program. I said to myself, “ok here is your opportunity”. So, I signed up! I pulled out my juicer and tried making my first juice in years. It was a pineapple disaster! I got so frustrated that I just shoved the juicer to the back on the counter. Shortly after I received my first email with a shopping list and I joined the Facebook group. Looking at all the yummy juices and seeing Jenny’s raw vegan taco post motivated me to get myself to the store. I loaded up on veggies and a lot of grapefruit. Unexpectedly I got an urgent call from my husband’s employer when I got home. He was taken away by ambulance to the hospital. Fear and anxiety swept through my veins and it shook me to my very core. I dropped everything, left all my newly bought produce on the table and ran out the door. My husband was finally discharged and sent home with a holter monitor. Morning came and I looked at the pile of fruits and veggies still sitting on my table. What was I going to do with it all! Robotically I just began to juice it. Storing mason jars after mason jar of juice in the fridge. I thought “what am I doing”? About to throw in the towel; juice and all, I got a text alert on my phone for our first video chat. I logged in and everyone was so passionate about what they were doing. Jenny, Brett, Jonny and the Sprout Brothers! It was certainly the pick me up I needed to get myself started. The first few days were rough. My body again went into detox mode and I was still caring for my husband around the clock at home. I was so discouraged and exhausted, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue. A few days later I reluctantly logged into our fireside video chat. I told the team of my struggles with detoxing and they gave me a few great suggestions. Once again seeing their passion fueled me on. I immediately put their suggestions into practice. With a few minor tweaks, here and there, I started to reap the rewards. Midafternoon the next day it was like I got an adrenaline shot. I perked up and started feeling refreshed and vitalized. My body was finally getting the nutrition it so desperately needed. More now than ever taking care of my husband I needed that nourishment! I needed that energy! Hearing the grinding noise of my juicer woke me up the next morning. Walking into the kitchen I was surprised to see my husband. He proudly held up a beautiful emerald-green cup of juice. Apparently, he too had been listening in on our video calls! He was watching me juice and saw my progress. I began to piece together the real reason I failed my first time trying to juice. I figured out why it was so hard to get back into it again. It wasn’t life’s circumstances, it wasn't being too busy. It was from feeling all alone. We as humans have a fundamental need for a sense of community. We need each other for support and guidance. This program, the video calls, the Facebook group, this is what gave me the push I needed not to give up. That in turn encouraged my husband to take the first step in re-claiming his health, starting his own healing journey. Seeing this is what motivated me to write about my juicing experience. I hope that it may help others take the plunge and embark on their own juicing journey to better health. I believe in the power of community. I believe in the healing ability of juicing! Thank you to Jenny, Brett, Jonny, The Sprout Brothers and everyone in our Facebook juicing group. Happy Juicing!As an update my 5 and 11 yr old have both started drinking juices too. My 11yrs daughter made herself and carrot apple juice today to have with her lunch I am one proud momma We as parents can do so much for our children by teaching them healthy eating habits. Thanks again for everything! Have a wonderful blessed day as well.

- Rhi