Anytime is a good time to turn over a new leaf, so to speak. Adjusting to a new lifestyle can be rocky at first, as you may be tempted to go back to your old unhealthy habits. But as long as you are resolute and determined in achieving your goals – including having a slimmer body and a cleaner system – adjusting to this new period of your life will be easier.

You have chucked all of the junk food, processed and canned meats, sodas, and sugar-and-calories-laden “natural” fruit and vegetable juices out of the window. You have just scrapped the list of the pizza and fast-food places that you used to hang out at or place orders from. 

While your tastebuds are still slowly trying to acquaint with fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains, there’s one aspect of a healthier lifestyle that you’re definitely going to enjoy: juicing.

As long as you have a centrifugal or masticating juicer at home, juicing is an easy way to benefit their nutritional goodness. While eating fruits and vegetables is still the best way to consume them, you cannot help admitting that juicing is a much more enjoyable way of doing so.

There’s a lot of debate about whether going on a juice cleanse or juice diet alone is a healthy way of achieving weight loss, among other goals. A juice cleanse or a juice diet consists only of drinking freshly squeezed or pressed fruit and vegetable juices. In this diet, you are also forbidden to take in any solid food. Since fruits and vegetable juicers have relatively fewer calories, the less you’re going to have to burn them, and the faster you’ll shed those pounds.

The flip side of juicing alone is that its effects are only short-term. Worse, it can crash your metabolism, leading to cravings and binging on other foods once you’re done with your juicing diet. And that is not good.

So, better – juicing, along with a balanced diet, controlled food intake, and regular exercise, will help you achieve your weight-loss goals sooner than you’d expect! Plus, you’ll enjoy other benefits like increased immunity against diseases, clearer and healthier skin, improved digestion, and a system free of toxins.

A favorite juice recipe – check it out!

Some people say that juicing is expensive, and perhaps it depends on the type of produce you’re consuming. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are the cheapest and the most plentiful, so take advantage of that, especially if you’re into regular juicing. You may want to change the recipe a bit by adding some herbs or even spices.

Otherwise, stick to the fruits and vegetables that are available all year round, such as apples, bananas, grapes, oranges, kiwis, tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, and kale.

Here’s a favorite recipe, which is recommended especially for those who are into juicing for the first time:

• Two (2) apples
• One (1) orange
• Three to four (3-4) carrots
• One or two (1 or 2) handfuls of spinach
• Five or six (5 or 6) strawberries – optional depending on availability.

Put all of these ingredients into your juicer. Then watch the fresh fruit and vegetable juices pouring out of the machine and into your glass or cup. You have to make sure to stir it up really well and drink it immediately. Don’t save it for later because letting it sit for a while will oxidize the juice and therefore lose some of its vitamins and nutrients. So, what’s the point of juicing if you’ll lose those vitamins and nutrients, right?

Tip: it’s better to use a masticating juicer than a centrifugal juicer as the former juices fruits and vegetables more slowly. As it does so, the masticating juicer doesn’t use heat and speed that would otherwise oxidize the juice, thus retaining some of the vitamins and nutrients that your body needs.