This post comes courtesy of Williams-Sonoma Test Kitchen manager Amanda Haas.

Ever since we started talking about juicing here at work, I have been really excited about the idea. The movie Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead was a wonderful wake up call to so many people who struggle with health issues and have forgotten the connection between what they eat and how they feel. I include myself in that disconnect. So I decided to kick it up a level and try to eat raw foods and juice for a week in order to see if it helped some of my own ailments.

I look like a healthy mother of two young sons in my (very) late 30s. I have great blood pressure, cholesterol levels and a healthy weight. But the joke in my family is that I only look normal! I’ve suffered with chronic back pain for years, have severe allergies, and now am dealing with a type of arthritis. Let’s just say my health gets me down.

So off I went, foolishly taking on the world of juicing without much prep. If I had taken the time to do more homework, I would have learned that you really need to transition from your regular diet to raw foods, then a blend of raw foods and juice, back to just raw foods, and then slowly work your way back into a typical diet.

But nooo…I had to jump in cold turkey last Monday, which was NOT a good idea. The first day of juicing and raw food was fantastic. I immediately felt less swollen, and my joints felt better, but I didn’t prepare well enough for work. I should have juiced more in advance in the mornings so I’d have some to sustain me throughout the day when I didn’t have time to juice. Thus, when Wednesday night came around and there were no veggies or juice to be found, I went straight for the Haagen-Dazs. Oops! Not my brightest idea. I noticed immediately how hard it was for my body to process dairy and sugar. Lesson learned.

So what to do now? Start over! I know committing to juice and raw fruits, vegetables and nuts will make me feel so much better, but I need to be prepared. I’m on my way out the door for an amazing food adventure where I will eat to my heart’s content — but when I return in a few weeks, I’m doing it right. I hope you’ll join me on my adventure the second time around!

About the author: Amanda loves spending her days talking about food as the Manager of the Test Kitchen at Williams-Sonoma. She moonlights as a cookbook author, recipe tester, and founder of the website One Family One Meal. When she’s not thinking about food or eating food, she loves hanging out with her husband and two young sons. She lives in the Bay Area.