I didn't want to look at The Juice as merely a diet. I wanted it to be a refreshing of my mind, a way to focus my day less on what I was taking in nutritionally and more on what I'm taking in educationally and spiritually. Lately I haven't been. It's been a focus on my diet and my weight.
So I'm going to refocus a bit.
I have to admit, I pretitle these "bonus posts" based on passing thoughts throughout my days and then sit down, pick a topic, research a bit and write about it. Also, as you have probably figured out already, my posts are a day behind. I try to pick the "bonus post" that most represents the tone of the day because it's the easiest to write. And after tomorrow's main post you may see why this was an important one for me today.
When I thought up this topic, and titled it, I was going to pretty much do a brief history lesson on what it meant throughout the years to fast. I was going to use other cultures as well as the Bible to do this. Someday I may write that post. But right now, I'm just going to freewrite this one. So bear with me.
In the documentary, "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" Phil Staples uses his faith as a driving force to continue on his fast. While walking on a wooded trail as his daily exercise, he remarks that Jesus had fasted and so had John the Baptist. He liked the footsteps he was following.
Phi lwas sick, as Joe was, with the auto-immune disease Cronic Urticaria . He was desparate, in pain, and he had cut himself off from his family because he felt ashamed of the way he had let himself become so out of shape and ill. But once he started his Juice fast he humbled himself and he never complained. He said things like the above remark. For Phil, this wasn't just about the weight, it wasn't just about getting healthier physically, it was about getting wholy healthy. Emotionally, physically, socially, and spiritually healthy. Just as I had said in my first post that I have been working on doing.
I promised to always be honest and accountable in this blog and to its 5 loyal fans.
I focus on my belly a lot. It's not so much because I so strongly dislike the way I look, but it's that I strongly dislike the way I feel, I dislike the way that larger belly reminds me of the 6 months I decided to check out of life and the following 6 months I had to use only to dig myself out of the hole I had dug for myself.
Mainly, lately, I've been focusing on ME a lot. I've been a selfish. I've ignored phone calls and emails, been persistantly late, been really lacking at seeing how my friends and family are doing in their own lives. Really, I've been lazy.
I suffered a great loss, and I truly hurt for anyone who has experienced tragedy in their own lives, but also, it does no honor to yourself, your God, or your loved ones for you to check out of life. Mourning needs to be done and I'm thankful to be surrounded by people who allowed me that. But at some point it became less about missing my mom and more about not wanting to face this new unfamiliar life that no longer included her. It was easier to let myself be swallowed up by the sadness. It seemed like too large a task to start rebuilding.
This life is always going to be strange without being able to talk to my mom whenever I want to or need to talk to her. I'm always going to miss that. There is a bigger picture out there, though. A life to spend honoring the person she was, the person I want to be, and the people that are in my life now and in the future. Not moving forward and not working toward improving oneself does absolutely nothing for those goals.
This whole blog is titled My Resolution. A lot of people say they don't do resolutions because they're tired of breaking them. I think sometimes the way to stick with something is to look at it a different way. This isn't a diet. This isn't a way to be able to wear a swimsuit at the lake this summer and not feel judged. This is a reset, a refocus, and a new perspective on my life.
My driving point being:: Fasting should not be about the diet, it should not be about the outward appearance, it should be about the commitment and the work that it does on your mind, body and soul inwardly. My pastor's departing message this Sunday was to think about how your life would be if you started every week with the important soulful parts and then continued everything that you did based on how that lesson had worked on your soul. How different would your life be if whatever lesson this week hit your soul the hardest lead the way you looked at every decision the next seven days?
I want to commit myself to looking at this fast in the same way. The lessons I learn while doing this: the trials, the things that it does for my mind body and soul, I want to continue to influence the rest of my life. I want to think this clearly, feel this goal, and be this connected to the things that matter most on this earth for the rest of my days, and I want it to start here, with the lesson that's been hitting my soul the hardest.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Day Six: And then it hit me.
In the film Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, Joe Cross stayed in bed the first 3 or 4 days he juiced. He said he felt tired and sick and was just basically feeling sorry for himself. As you know from the Day One post, the day that I started, I could not stay in bed feeling sorry for myself. I had a 10.5 hour shift at The Job. Plus I was excited about starting this new journey.
Today, though, I got up at 5 am like I have been doing since the 2nd day of the year and got up stairs and put my butt on the scale. I had actually gained weight! Which is actually fine, because like I had aluded to yesterday, the 6 lb weight loss in a day kind of freaked me out. So I thought about it, yesterday I had drank enough calories so my body wouldn't think I was starving (anything under 1200 kcal/day, your body will generally fight to keep your fat on you because it thinks you ran out of food). But water-wise....I think I only drank one full glass!! So my theory is, my body probably thinks I ran out of water and is now holding onto water weight. We'll see tomorrow.
But even after I worked out these theories in my head, seeing my scale with the little upwards pointing arrow made me upset. I told myself "Okay, what normal person gets up at 5 am?" and "Dad's sleeping so you can't get on the treadmill or make juice anyways." and "It's too early and dark to take Austin Danger Powers the Second for a walk." (Yes that is our pretty little border collie's registered name.) And I went back to bed, feeling sorry for myself, just like Joe Cross did his first few days.
I woke up a little before nine by a text from my brother saying to check out his morning's post. So I did and I saw this:
It put some GO back into me to be encouraged like that. I chided myself for allowing myself to be so down in the dumps on something that really isn't a big deal, vowed to drink more water today and every other day and got myself out of bed.
I did a repeat of my Smile Juice for breakfast::
I had my left over Everything Juice for lunch::
I had a short shift at The Job, just scheduled to cover lunches. I made sure to bring a bottle of water with me and made a mental note to not leave before it was all the way gone. I ended up drinking the full thing plus another small plastic bottle I found hidden in my purse.
When I got home, I made A TON of Juice. I almost juiced every vegetable on The Table until I realized I'd probably need to use some before the next time we hit the grocery. All the cutting and peeling and juicing and cleaning of the juicer took a little minute and it made me very happy that I had decided to do it like that. So I packed it again into my Family Size Quick Stir Pitcher and have enough juice to get me through the next couple days. Although the exact amounts are excaping me, I know there are the following ingredients in this juice::
Red Cabbage
Carrots
Celery
Tomatoes
Bell Peppers
Green
Yellow
Red
Orange
Lemons
Sweet Potato
Cucumbers
Pear
Can't wait to see if my changes helped for tomorrow.
Today, though, I got up at 5 am like I have been doing since the 2nd day of the year and got up stairs and put my butt on the scale. I had actually gained weight! Which is actually fine, because like I had aluded to yesterday, the 6 lb weight loss in a day kind of freaked me out. So I thought about it, yesterday I had drank enough calories so my body wouldn't think I was starving (anything under 1200 kcal/day, your body will generally fight to keep your fat on you because it thinks you ran out of food). But water-wise....I think I only drank one full glass!! So my theory is, my body probably thinks I ran out of water and is now holding onto water weight. We'll see tomorrow.
But even after I worked out these theories in my head, seeing my scale with the little upwards pointing arrow made me upset. I told myself "Okay, what normal person gets up at 5 am?" and "Dad's sleeping so you can't get on the treadmill or make juice anyways." and "It's too early and dark to take Austin Danger Powers the Second for a walk." (Yes that is our pretty little border collie's registered name.) And I went back to bed, feeling sorry for myself, just like Joe Cross did his first few days.
I woke up a little before nine by a text from my brother saying to check out his morning's post. So I did and I saw this:
It put some GO back into me to be encouraged like that. I chided myself for allowing myself to be so down in the dumps on something that really isn't a big deal, vowed to drink more water today and every other day and got myself out of bed.
I did a repeat of my Smile Juice for breakfast::
I had a short shift at The Job, just scheduled to cover lunches. I made sure to bring a bottle of water with me and made a mental note to not leave before it was all the way gone. I ended up drinking the full thing plus another small plastic bottle I found hidden in my purse.
When I got home, I made A TON of Juice. I almost juiced every vegetable on The Table until I realized I'd probably need to use some before the next time we hit the grocery. All the cutting and peeling and juicing and cleaning of the juicer took a little minute and it made me very happy that I had decided to do it like that. So I packed it again into my Family Size Quick Stir Pitcher and have enough juice to get me through the next couple days. Although the exact amounts are excaping me, I know there are the following ingredients in this juice::
Red Cabbage
Carrots
Celery
Tomatoes
Bell Peppers
Green
Yellow
Red
Orange
Lemons
Sweet Potato
Cucumbers
Pear
Can't wait to see if my changes helped for tomorrow.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Greens Greens and More Greens!
Yesterday I had posted about my juice that was mostly greens with a little bit of grapefruit. It wasn't the most pretty thing on the planet::
Spinach: I love this leafy green. I like it on my Subway sandwhiches better, I like it to add some texture to my homemade pasta sauces, I like to put it into about anything. It's not a really strong flavor, but it's got good texture and holds up a lot better than lettuce. Also to be noted, when I went to a breakfast for the American Cancer Society in August, spinach was on the list of foods that are known to be part of the cancer fighting diet and thus served to us at the breakfast.
Kale: This has kind of a tough texture and a strong flavor. It holds up really well in stew. I used to combine roasted tomatoes, tomato juice, corn, black beans, seasonings and kale to make a hearty winter stew. To me the flavor is too strong to be the only leafy base in a salad, but in juice, you don't really notice it.
Swiss Chard. This is one that I've never seen or tried before The Juice. It's what made the deep purple color of my Green Juice. This is regarded to be amoung the healthiest veggies available to incorporate into your diet. It's loaded with vitamins K, C, and A, protein, fiber, and minerals.
Watercress. This is very high in Vitamin C, amoung a ton of other vitamins and minerals making it a great antioxidant and seen as a veggie that benefits has tons of health benefits, one of them being cancer defense.
Keeping your greens fresh::
There are two ways to keep greens fresh. The first is to wrap them in a dish towel and then refrigerate them.
So go ahead and stick some greens in your diet, I know that it will be an effort I will undertake even after The Juice is over.
This juice included a ton of greens like I said. A lot of time (in my neck of the woods) people have no idea what you're talking about beyond cabbage, spinach and lettuce. Greens are a great source of Vitamin K. K is the Vitamin that helps regulate blood clotting, as well as helping to protect from osteoporosis, diabetes, and inflammatory diseases. They are important for your normal diet as well as to stick into your juice every once in a while. You may not like the strong taste of these veggies but with any juice, just add a few apples and it'll just taste like apples. And some good news for those of you who love your dressings (unlike the standard iceberg lettuce) these are actually better for you if you eat them with some kind of oil. What?!?! Yes, Vitamin K is a fat soluble vitamin which means it's absorbed better by your body if it's taken in with a fat source.
So for those of you who are a little concerned about the 6lb weightloss I reported today in my Day 5 blog, add some olive oil or some avocado oil to your juice to beef up the calories and absorb more of that awesome vitamin K.
Some common dark leafy greens in my juices::
Keeping your greens fresh::
There are two ways to keep greens fresh. The first is to wrap them in a dish towel and then refrigerate them.
The Second is to treat it like any other plant and stick it in water::
So go ahead and stick some greens in your diet, I know that it will be an effort I will undertake even after The Juice is over.
Day Five: "Oh my word are you kidding me?!?"
Is exactly what I said on the scale this morning
When I weighed in at 162.2. A 6 lb weight loss since yesterday.
So when you're dieting, you're told not to step on the scale more than once a week. I know because I've been putting my chubby self on diets since I was ten (despite my parents' disapproval). But with this I told myself that, "It's so extreme that if it works you should have the little victories to keep you going." And also, if anyone is considering this (I know there's at least a few people using me as their guinea pig) it'd probably be good for them to see daily victories too.
Six pounds is pretty fantastic but I have to admit, I hope it slows down a bit. That's 1/10 of the weight that I wanted to lose all together, including the time of going back to normal diet and amped up exercise after the juice fast is over. Really, I just don't want to have to quit before 30 days is up, but I need to be safe with my body as well.
Calorie-wise I take in about 1600 kcals which is 400 more than I was when I was strictly monitoring my caloric intake and output. And I am being sure to be hydrated. I am being monitored by a doctor (as you should when you're doing anything extreme with your body) and I think I'll go see him sometime this week just to be sure (I'm shooting for Tuesday).
Okay, Morning Juice::
I'm going to be a dork and call it Smile Juice::
2 Cucumbers
1 Pear
1 Green apple
1 Yellow delicious apple
This came out to just be the color of cucumber juice. So light it was almost like water. I threw this in a big giant cup and took it to church with me. This was delicious!
I knew that the rest of my day consisted of mostly me running around and I probably wouldn't be home before bed. So I made a pitcher of Everything Juice::
1 large Grapefruit
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
1 Orange Bell Pepper
1 Cucumber
...literally almost everything I had left on my table assortment of fruits and veggies. (except what I knew I wanted for breakfast in the morning and enough to make some veggie juice tomorrow). This gave me enough for midmorning, lunch, and dinner and then an extra to take to work tomorrow so I wouldn't have to rush around preparing anything. (Note Day One's Blog).
Today was awesome. I fit into a size smaller jean (first time I had dared to try) without even having to do the suck it in lay on the bed and then zip charade. On January 1st I had to do that with the bigger size jeans so that was a major plus. I went to church and really listened to the sermon, which was a story I'd heard a million times and even seen animated as a child, with brand new ears and appreciation. We did communion which (I am not Catholic) is not something we do too often. I noticed that the wafer felt weird to eat and chew already.
After that I had a side job (which is weird for me on a Sunday but didn't bother me at all) and I noticed that I was having more fun than usual at it. I felt like I had more energy and that I was thinking of more problem solving ideas than usual.
Then I went to hang out with the best friend/boyfriend and watch Animation Domination. I felt great and it showed. I did get pretty sleepy pretty early so I left before American Dad came on and crashed pretty early into bed (I was out at 9ish)
When I weighed in at 162.2. A 6 lb weight loss since yesterday.
So when you're dieting, you're told not to step on the scale more than once a week. I know because I've been putting my chubby self on diets since I was ten (despite my parents' disapproval). But with this I told myself that, "It's so extreme that if it works you should have the little victories to keep you going." And also, if anyone is considering this (I know there's at least a few people using me as their guinea pig) it'd probably be good for them to see daily victories too.
Six pounds is pretty fantastic but I have to admit, I hope it slows down a bit. That's 1/10 of the weight that I wanted to lose all together, including the time of going back to normal diet and amped up exercise after the juice fast is over. Really, I just don't want to have to quit before 30 days is up, but I need to be safe with my body as well.
Calorie-wise I take in about 1600 kcals which is 400 more than I was when I was strictly monitoring my caloric intake and output. And I am being sure to be hydrated. I am being monitored by a doctor (as you should when you're doing anything extreme with your body) and I think I'll go see him sometime this week just to be sure (I'm shooting for Tuesday).
Okay, Morning Juice::
I'm going to be a dork and call it Smile Juice::
2 Cucumbers
1 Pear
1 Green apple
1 Yellow delicious apple
This came out to just be the color of cucumber juice. So light it was almost like water. I threw this in a big giant cup and took it to church with me. This was delicious!
I knew that the rest of my day consisted of mostly me running around and I probably wouldn't be home before bed. So I made a pitcher of Everything Juice::
(4 Servings)
2 Sweet Potatoes
3 Stalks of Celery
4 Plum Tomatoes
6 Carrots
2 Apples1 large Grapefruit
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
1 Orange Bell Pepper
1 Cucumber
...literally almost everything I had left on my table assortment of fruits and veggies. (except what I knew I wanted for breakfast in the morning and enough to make some veggie juice tomorrow). This gave me enough for midmorning, lunch, and dinner and then an extra to take to work tomorrow so I wouldn't have to rush around preparing anything. (Note Day One's Blog).
Today was awesome. I fit into a size smaller jean (first time I had dared to try) without even having to do the suck it in lay on the bed and then zip charade. On January 1st I had to do that with the bigger size jeans so that was a major plus. I went to church and really listened to the sermon, which was a story I'd heard a million times and even seen animated as a child, with brand new ears and appreciation. We did communion which (I am not Catholic) is not something we do too often. I noticed that the wafer felt weird to eat and chew already.
After that I had a side job (which is weird for me on a Sunday but didn't bother me at all) and I noticed that I was having more fun than usual at it. I felt like I had more energy and that I was thinking of more problem solving ideas than usual.
Then I went to hang out with the best friend/boyfriend and watch Animation Domination. I felt great and it showed. I did get pretty sleepy pretty early so I left before American Dad came on and crashed pretty early into bed (I was out at 9ish)
Sunday, January 29, 2012
What About Day 31?
I've been thinking, already, about what food I am going to use to break my fast on Day 31.
In the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, Joe breaks his fast with a fresh green apple. Up in a hot air balloon. It made a point, and to him it symbolized a commitment to continue to eat healthy and not go back to his unhealthy eating habits. But he was also trying to make a film.
For me, and the 5 people who read this, it's not going to be a huge deal if I crunch into an apple in a hot air balloon, or bite into a veggie burger in my own dining room, but one thing's for sure, I am not going to be headed for the pizza first thing. "But why, Stephanie? You love pizza more than any other food on this planet," you may ask.
Well let me tell you a story:
Once apon a time in Bloomington my group of best friends (who are, decidedly, hippies and proud of it) all went on this cleansing diet. Essentially in the same way I am doing now, eating very restricted healthy meals. Only this one was a little less severe: no sugar, no alcohol, no wheat, no dairy. So I did it with them This diet introduced me to vegan cheese and wheatless bread. It also reduced my lactase enzyme and made me lactose intolerant (though I usually ignore it). The end of this particular 15 days was actually my 20th birthday, a day in which I asked for my dad to bring me a homemade birthday favorite of mine (simple yellow cake with chocolate fudge icing) and ordered my all-time favorite Bloomington pizza Mother Bear's Spinoccoli at dinner. And made myself absolutely ill. Stomach cramps and bloating and whatnot.
Okay, so there weren't many plot twists in that story. But my point is clear. No matter how much you may want the bad food when you're eating the good food, it's not great for you, and your body will tell you as much. I'm not saying: Never ever have the treat of your favorite meal ever again. I'm just saying to wait a bit. Ease into it. Or your stomach will hate you.
I do think that I will most likely eat something cooked. Everytime I open the pantry to grab a plastic bag for the stuff left over after the juice is made, I am spying a can of Campbell's Garden Vegetable Soup. When I went to babysit the other day, my boss had made a heaping pot of cabbage soup.
If day 31 was tomorrow, veggie soup it would be.
Day Four: Getting SO Ready for "The Afters"
I know that in the losing weight game, looks shouldn't be the ultimate goal, but it sure helps. I did not lose as much weight as I did the last few days... (Weigh in: 168.2, .4lb weightloss) but for the first time since I've started all the dieting (this whole time; before The Juice) I can actually see a difference. My stomach is visibly shrinking, and the fat that I started to notice on my back is also going away. Before The Juice, I did not see any changes in my body, and it made me think about John Pinette's Kool Aid reference everytime someone said that they could see it in my face.
Also, my skin isn't as red as usual which is why I decided to give you a preview of The Afters (just this once!) with this pic of me drinking my morning/midmorning juice.
(and yes, I do see the irony in wearing an IU shirt while driking out of a Purdue glass)
This juice was fruity and refreshing:
(For two servings)
2 cucumbers
2 grapefruits
2 green apples
1 pear
Today I was feeling better than a week ago, went to my sidejob of the day and finished in way less time than usual because my mind was more focused. Even though I slept well the night before and woke up easily, I lost energy throughout the day yesterday, today I did not.
Today I decided to make my diet a little more green, in two ways. The first is that my third/fourth juice contained all this:
The second is that, the Juicer leaves a lot of solids behind, so I'm going to start composting them to make our veggie garden better this summer and continue to eat a veggie rich diet.
I also put two grapefruits into this juice. You may ask, "Stephanie, you put grapefruits in everything, is there a reason for that?"
There are many health benefits of grapefruit, yes, but I also think, like adding cucumber, this makes the juice way more refreshing. Also, even after these few days I still have this many left::
The bags are on sale...
I only made two juices today because the first one I took with me to my side job and the second one I really just made too much. This one was good, and actually a little salty without adding any salt.
But it doesn't look that great::
1 bunch swiss chard
1 handful spinach
1/2 bunch watercress
2 handfuls kale
2 grapefruit
This color looks black but it's actually a deep red from the Swiss Chard. The foam is, in fact, green though.
As always, excited for tomorrow!
Also, my skin isn't as red as usual which is why I decided to give you a preview of The Afters (just this once!) with this pic of me drinking my morning/midmorning juice.
This juice was fruity and refreshing:
(For two servings)
2 cucumbers
2 grapefruits
2 green apples
1 pear
Today I was feeling better than a week ago, went to my sidejob of the day and finished in way less time than usual because my mind was more focused. Even though I slept well the night before and woke up easily, I lost energy throughout the day yesterday, today I did not.
Today I decided to make my diet a little more green, in two ways. The first is that my third/fourth juice contained all this:
I also put two grapefruits into this juice. You may ask, "Stephanie, you put grapefruits in everything, is there a reason for that?"
There are many health benefits of grapefruit, yes, but I also think, like adding cucumber, this makes the juice way more refreshing. Also, even after these few days I still have this many left::
I only made two juices today because the first one I took with me to my side job and the second one I really just made too much. This one was good, and actually a little salty without adding any salt.
But it doesn't look that great::
1 handful spinach
1/2 bunch watercress
2 handfuls kale
2 grapefruit
This color looks black but it's actually a deep red from the Swiss Chard. The foam is, in fact, green though.
As always, excited for tomorrow!
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Beets Stain Pandas
And really, everything else.
Sadday for my panda slippers, found on my feet whenever I'm home and pictured on my feet in my before pics. But with the Panda Revelation came another revelation, "As a vegetarian since I was 7, shouldn't I know that already?".
When I decided to juice, I went on FatSickAndNearlyDead.com and looked up some of the Recipes. I then redid my grocery list to fit whatever veggies, fruits, and herbs that seemed to occur most often in these recipes and that I know I didn't have. Beets, Swiss Chard, Kale, and watercress are amoung some of the things I put on there, but have never really given a shot in my own cooking.
I've decided that after this is all over I'm going to have to incorporate some of these things into my cooking. Afterall, they taste good in juice.
I think it's funny whenever I meet someone new and food comes up, or perhaps is part of the meeting place (meeting someone's new partner at a dinner gathering, for instance) and so it becomes obvious in the Midwestern part of the country that I live in, that I am a vegetarian. And they always ask, "Oh, for health reasons?" And to be honest I want to always say, "Does it look like it's working?" But even though sarcasm is my thing, making people uncomfortable really isn't. So, no, not for health reasons. Not because I was raised in a vegetarian family, and not because at some point in college I decided to join PETA. Simply, for some reason, I did not realize until I was told the facts about the food chain, that chicken was chicken. Looking back on this now, I have no idea how I could have missed that for the first 7 years of my life, but somehow I did.
But as I mentioned before, I am in the midwestern part of the country, and also, in a rural farm community, so diet is basically
- a lot of meat
- corn as a vegetable
- potatos as a vegetable
- white bread
- white pasta
- any other veggie = fried or cooked FOREVER {with butter and/or sugar}\
- milk and cheese
And now as an adult who works a side job as a nanny, I can see why this is frustrating to a parent. When all you really have is chicken nuggets to feed the kiddos, and one of them decides all of the sudden they don't like chicken, what are you supposed to do?
I had two really accommodating parents who did not fuss too much about my new found vegetarianism but also had to ask themselves the question, "when all you really eat is meat and potatoes, what are you supposed to do with a vegetarian 7 year old (when children are notoriously picky eaters to start with)." The answer became, to keep making meals as usual and I'd just eat the non-meat parts. However, the meat in midwestern meals is generally the only protein, and thus the most filling part of the meal. With the meat gone, it was mounds of mashed potatoes and extra helpings of carrots cooked in butter and brown sugar. I think the hope was that I would revert out of this "stage", but I did not.
Eventually, both of my parents became more health conscious and more veggies and plant proteins and whole grains were introduced to family gatherings. When this started to happen I was already an overweight teenager, but instead of picking at the whole grain spaghetti and looking weirdly at the almond butter, I found that I actually really loved these things. I became somewhat of a foodie in college, finding that eggplant burgers are awesome and that almond milk makes everything more refreshing. As well as trying to try each of the non-chain Bloomington Restaurants to learn about more foods from different cultures (try Turkuaz Cafe or Roots on the Square if you get the chance) However, when I feel the need for comfort, I revert back to how I ate as a child: cheese pizza, tex mex style tacos, non-meat chili loaded with cheese, crackers, and Fritos. I did not experiment too much in my own kitchen. If I didn't know how to cook it, I generally didn't want to spend precious college job earned money on it.
So, when I was feeling in the need for some comfort, I did not make stew out of random veggies I found at the farmer's market, or try to make an unfamiliar dish from a vegetarian cookbook, I made something cheesy and crunchy and most likely gooey in some way shape or form.
Peeling and cutting beets, making the biggest mess in the kitchen that I've made for quite a while, I decided that I should have experiences like this more often. That I should feel the excited feeling I get while trying new things way more often than I do. I added to My Resolution, to try to incorporate more unfamiliar fruits and veggies more often. It can only do my body well.
I had two really accommodating parents who did not fuss too much about my new found vegetarianism but also had to ask themselves the question, "when all you really eat is meat and potatoes, what are you supposed to do with a vegetarian 7 year old (when children are notoriously picky eaters to start with)." The answer became, to keep making meals as usual and I'd just eat the non-meat parts. However, the meat in midwestern meals is generally the only protein, and thus the most filling part of the meal. With the meat gone, it was mounds of mashed potatoes and extra helpings of carrots cooked in butter and brown sugar. I think the hope was that I would revert out of this "stage", but I did not.
Eventually, both of my parents became more health conscious and more veggies and plant proteins and whole grains were introduced to family gatherings. When this started to happen I was already an overweight teenager, but instead of picking at the whole grain spaghetti and looking weirdly at the almond butter, I found that I actually really loved these things. I became somewhat of a foodie in college, finding that eggplant burgers are awesome and that almond milk makes everything more refreshing. As well as trying to try each of the non-chain Bloomington Restaurants to learn about more foods from different cultures (try Turkuaz Cafe or Roots on the Square if you get the chance) However, when I feel the need for comfort, I revert back to how I ate as a child: cheese pizza, tex mex style tacos, non-meat chili loaded with cheese, crackers, and Fritos. I did not experiment too much in my own kitchen. If I didn't know how to cook it, I generally didn't want to spend precious college job earned money on it.
So, when I was feeling in the need for some comfort, I did not make stew out of random veggies I found at the farmer's market, or try to make an unfamiliar dish from a vegetarian cookbook, I made something cheesy and crunchy and most likely gooey in some way shape or form.
Peeling and cutting beets, making the biggest mess in the kitchen that I've made for quite a while, I decided that I should have experiences like this more often. That I should feel the excited feeling I get while trying new things way more often than I do. I added to My Resolution, to try to incorporate more unfamiliar fruits and veggies more often. It can only do my body well.
Day Three: Can I Juice a Pizza?
I love starting my day waith a cup of Yogi Green Tea. And was thrilled to see that I could still do that on this diet. However, I'm sorry coffee drinkers, Coffee is out if you're being strict with yourself.
Weigh in: 168.6. Almost a 2 lb weight loss from yesterday.
Morning Juice: Brain Juice
I know usually take pics of the fruits and veggies that go into the juice, but this morning I took one of the finished product. As you can see, it doesn't exactly look like the sugar filled, over processed juices that you find in your grocery.
1. Cup strawberrys (cored)
1 Pear
1 Green Apple
1 Golden Delicious apple
1 nub Gingerroot (refer to Day Two to see how to prepare)
Find this helpful tool HERE.
All in all, it was a day of very good juices and I'm looking forward to what tomorrow brings.
Weigh in: 168.6. Almost a 2 lb weight loss from yesterday.
Morning Juice: Brain Juice
I know usually take pics of the fruits and veggies that go into the juice, but this morning I took one of the finished product. As you can see, it doesn't exactly look like the sugar filled, over processed juices that you find in your grocery.
1. Cup strawberrys (cored)
1 Pear
1 Green Apple
1 Golden Delicious apple
1 nub Gingerroot (refer to Day Two to see how to prepare)
To core the strawberries I used a Core and More. This innovative tool takes only the core out, leaving more of the fruit than traditional slicing.
Now it should be obvious why I called this morning's juice Brain Juice, but it has a double meaning too. Today I found that I was thinking clearer. I was able to process what I was learning a lot faster as I was studying both my devotional and my personal training test books. I found myself to be more mindful and to speak more clearly to others (if you know me, you know sometimes I have a bit of a stutter especially when I'm a little off my game). Also, WAY MORE ALERT and ENERGIZED. Woke up with a start this morning, it was awesome!
For lunch I made a deep purple juice out of this:
1 handful of kale
1/4 bunch watercress
1 handful spinach
2 carrots
1 grapefruit
4 beets
This was very good, a little earthy and very dark purple.
This next combo is where the cravings started. All this week I hadn't wanted a single piece of "bad" food. Today, I wanted pizza. It may have been the basil...
1 Grapefruit
1 Red bell pepper
1 Orange bell pepper
1 Yellow bell pepper
2 Plum tomatoes
1 bunch basil
This one was SO GOOD. I drank half of this concoction for lunch and the other half i drank at night.
The actual juice looked like this::
Friday, January 27, 2012
Working Out on The Juice
I have been doing my morning devotional of Pray Fit. It is a great book for Christians who want to get healthier spiritually and physically. It starts off very slow exercise-wise. I will be teaching this class at DeMotte First Church of the Nazerine sometime in the upcoming months.
Also I am training for the IU Mini Marathon so I am doing a little more cardio and strenght training so that I will be able to run 13.1 miles on March 31, 2012.
This is probably not the body builder's diet, but you should be exercizing. If you're losing weight as fast as I am...You want to look like a fit person and not a skin bag that used to hold a heavy person.
An important thing to remember is to ALWAYS BE HYDRATED! The juice is liquid, but it does not replace your 8-10 cups a day! Post workout, you should be drinking either coconut water, or celery juice (neither of which replace your water intake either).
Right now I am making sure to take a walk. Normally with this little guy::
And slowly working on my running for my half marathon. I also do yoga, pilates, and Just Dance as more fun and centering ways to get fit.
There are also smaller things you can do to stay a little fitter::
Also I am training for the IU Mini Marathon so I am doing a little more cardio and strenght training so that I will be able to run 13.1 miles on March 31, 2012.
This is probably not the body builder's diet, but you should be exercizing. If you're losing weight as fast as I am...You want to look like a fit person and not a skin bag that used to hold a heavy person.
An important thing to remember is to ALWAYS BE HYDRATED! The juice is liquid, but it does not replace your 8-10 cups a day! Post workout, you should be drinking either coconut water, or celery juice (neither of which replace your water intake either).
Right now I am making sure to take a walk. Normally with this little guy::
There are also smaller things you can do to stay a little fitter::
- Take the stairs
- Park the car futher away from the store in the parking lot
- Stand at work
- Clean your home
- Play with your kiddos and pets.
- Don't allow yourself TV time without active time (ie, only while on the treadmill or doing small exercizes during commercial breaks)
- Commit to more active dates with your partner.
Day Two: Fingers can be juiced.
But I don't recommend it::
Moral of the story: UNPLUG YOUR JUICER BEFORE YOU UNCLOG IT!!
So, Weigh in: 170.4 So that's a 2.8 lb weightloss in a day!
How did I feel? Not bad actually, the only time I got nauseaous was about 10 minutes before the above pic was taken and my hand was covered with blood. I enjoyed every juice I drank yesterday and I was hanging out with the kiddos and felt very energetic, playing with them and talking to them and cooking them a healthy dinner.
Gingerroot, just a nub of it, you can see it pealed right under the red apple on the left there. This is a great natural anti-inflamatory. A trick to peeling it is to use a spoon. It's a groovy root (in more than one way) so the spoon actually does more of scraping off the thin skin and avoiding taking big divets out of it.
A Pear
A red apple
A golden delicious apple
A grapefruit. Now with this you do want to remove the skin, start by first slicing into fourths, then take your knife and gently cut it away from the peel. It's a citrus fruit so it's VERY juicy so when you do this, do it over the juice catcher part of your juicer so you're not missing out on getting every bit of juice.
For my midmorning/lunch meals, I used a combination that I like to call Dirt Juice. It tastes very good, but it's not very pretty.
This was a VERY light juice, it would be excellent after a day of heavier activity because it was very refreshing. Maybe even try it over ice.
1 Grapefruit
4 Carrots
1 Cucumber (peeled)
2 Stalks of Celery
2 Plum Tomatos
I went to bed pretty early and fell asleep really soundly. I haven't been able to sleep that well in probably a year or longer. And I woke up the next morning with a start, a clear head, and an attitude ready to tackle my lengthy To Do list.
So, Weigh in: 170.4 So that's a 2.8 lb weightloss in a day!
How did I feel? Not bad actually, the only time I got nauseaous was about 10 minutes before the above pic was taken and my hand was covered with blood. I enjoyed every juice I drank yesterday and I was hanging out with the kiddos and felt very energetic, playing with them and talking to them and cooking them a healthy dinner.
I've decided it's probably best to do my fruits in the morning and kind of fase them out as the day goes on, to avoid sleeping on a tummy full of sugar so breakfast was mmm mmm good:
A Pear
A red apple
A golden delicious apple
A grapefruit. Now with this you do want to remove the skin, start by first slicing into fourths, then take your knife and gently cut it away from the peel. It's a citrus fruit so it's VERY juicy so when you do this, do it over the juice catcher part of your juicer so you're not missing out on getting every bit of juice.
For my midmorning/lunch meals, I used a combination that I like to call Dirt Juice. It tastes very good, but it's not very pretty.
Watercress
Spinach
Cucumber (peeled)
1 plum tomato
2 Green apple
1 sweet potato. I did peel this after the picture was taken. And BIG SURPRISE: Sweet potatos actually have A TON of juice.
I drank half of this and then took the rest of this concoction to babysit. to do this I used a Family Size Quick Stir Pitcher::
The reasons being:
- It closes. This is important when you're traveling with it.
- It has a plunger. When the natural juice sits, it separates, you need to reblend it before drinking so that all the more solid parts are mixed in and not sitting at the bottom, unpleasant to drink, and therefore left behind.
- It's a very large size. If I ever needed to take juice on a daytrip, it would fit enough for all of my meals.
By the time I got home and took some time to unwind and watch The Big Bang Theory, it was time to make an evening juice:
1 Grapefruit
4 Carrots
1 Cucumber (peeled)
2 Stalks of Celery
2 Plum Tomatos
I went to bed pretty early and fell asleep really soundly. I haven't been able to sleep that well in probably a year or longer. And I woke up the next morning with a start, a clear head, and an attitude ready to tackle my lengthy To Do list.
The Befores
Just to give you what I look like now, so we can see if it's any different than 30 days from now: (You've got to know I'm serious, because these pics are embarrassing.)
This one is mainly for my skin. It is always red and lately has become very blotchy and dry. The micronutrients in the juice are supposed to help with skin tone and hydration of the skin.
So the stats::
Weigh in 173.2
my body shots. And a close up of the belly that I want to go away!
So the stats::
Weigh in 173.2
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Day One: The Day I Wished I Wasn't So Spontaneous.
I realized that there was a reason I was making grocery lists the night before. There weren't really a whole lot of fruits and veggies available for this Juice Fest. So the above is what I juiced in the morning. A delicious combo, however an UGLY juice. Brown. But since I didn't make anything ahead or run to the grocery store before work, I had to fit in this into my lunch break. Go to our dinky town grocery and get all the fruits and veggies that weren't (too) overpriced and get home cut and peel and let the dog out and feed the cat....UGH! I would've made it back to work just in time if the juicer didn't get clogged up. My rushed senses could not figure out what was up though it was such a simple fix. I ended up juicing way more than i needed to because all of the clogged juice came rushing out the top. So with my mixture of basically all of the above pictured (except the tomatoes) I ran to work and drank my (pretty) bright bright green juice at work. I got home and looked around at what i bought and felt like I had taken in too much sugary fruits today. So I wanted "dinner juice". Great idea taste wise....awful idea breath-wise. It took four times of brushing and one time of mouthwashing to try to extinguish the breath:: 1 red bell pepper 1 yellow bell pepper 1 orange bell pepper 1 small onion 1 plum tomato, several cherry tomatos, and 3 large cloves of garlic. Yummy but smelly.
And then I started to feel the energy drain. I went to bed as soon as I could get all the juice down and the dishes washed.
But then there was a knock on my bedroom door and my dad said he had gotten me some things:
Now we could get our juice on properly! Thanks Daddy!
The Juice!
So last year I created a blog that some people followed for all of two posts. And then abruptly stopped. It was about getting back into shape. In it, I admitted to my emotional eating. Right after that second post was published, my mom passed away very suddenly. And it was holiday season. The peak of the social eating coupled with some major depression. It's been over a year and when my mom's death anniversary rolled around, I took a good hard look at myself and the belly I created. I was now 20 pounds heavier than "Resolution 2011" posts and needed to do something about it badly. I was careful about what I ate, exercised, made some fitness goals for myself.
I started to eat COMPLETELY clean at January 1st, as most do, after a New Year's Bash I couldn't not participate in. I also started exercising daily, sometimes to lengths where my friends remarked that I was crazy. And I'd lost 8 lbs from when I started. Good, but not great. Every time I look at the belly on my tiny frame and feel the padding on my back and see how my clothes don't fit, I am reminded of the last year. Sick and sad and angry. Not like myself at all. And I want the reminders to go away.
I learned in every single health class I took in college that for a person to be truly healthy, they need to be socially, emotionally, spiritually AND physically healthy. After blocking out those in my social circle and crying way more than I've ever been used to, I thought what would really help is to get that spiritual thing in line. My mom was a Christian and I was raised as one, but to get healthier I felt I needed help to get to the place where I respected others, respected the body I was blessed with and had both a human and a spiritual support for the emotional stuff. I found a church and in it I found a whole congregation of amazing people. This is me getting baptised this summer::
So from there they started to heal me, socially, emotionally and definitely spiritually. And I started formulating goals for myself and goals with my best friend/ boyfriend Matt. I got a job, started paying down my debt. Signed up for a race I've always wanted to do. Started studying to get my personal training certification. Everything was lining up EXCEPT my weight. I was working my butt off (unfortunately not literally) keeping track of what went in and how many calories were going out, taking supplements that were supposed to help you burn more. Nothing worked. At least not as fast as it would take to make my goals this Spring.
So last Sunday, my pastor incorporated a documentary he'd watched into his sermon. This film was Joe Cross's "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead". I love documentaries, and believe it or not, I love veggies (I've actually been a vegetarian since I was 7). So when my dad came home two nights ago, I sat with him and watched it. Joe Cross, an Aussie man juiced veggies and fruits only for 60 days. It not only helped him look better and feel healthier, it helped him kick a dibilitation autoimmune disease called Cronic Urticaria. I'm not quite at the point of obesity that he was, but I'm headed that way and the doctors have told me diabetes is on the horizon.
He said the first days sucked. A lot. But when I do things (and am myself) I do them wholeheartedly and as extreme as possible, So I got out my juicer right then::
I set it up for the morning, and changed my grocery list to just fruits, veggies, and herbs.
I started to eat COMPLETELY clean at January 1st, as most do, after a New Year's Bash I couldn't not participate in. I also started exercising daily, sometimes to lengths where my friends remarked that I was crazy. And I'd lost 8 lbs from when I started. Good, but not great. Every time I look at the belly on my tiny frame and feel the padding on my back and see how my clothes don't fit, I am reminded of the last year. Sick and sad and angry. Not like myself at all. And I want the reminders to go away.
I learned in every single health class I took in college that for a person to be truly healthy, they need to be socially, emotionally, spiritually AND physically healthy. After blocking out those in my social circle and crying way more than I've ever been used to, I thought what would really help is to get that spiritual thing in line. My mom was a Christian and I was raised as one, but to get healthier I felt I needed help to get to the place where I respected others, respected the body I was blessed with and had both a human and a spiritual support for the emotional stuff. I found a church and in it I found a whole congregation of amazing people. This is me getting baptised this summer::
So last Sunday, my pastor incorporated a documentary he'd watched into his sermon. This film was Joe Cross's "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead". I love documentaries, and believe it or not, I love veggies (I've actually been a vegetarian since I was 7). So when my dad came home two nights ago, I sat with him and watched it. Joe Cross, an Aussie man juiced veggies and fruits only for 60 days. It not only helped him look better and feel healthier, it helped him kick a dibilitation autoimmune disease called Cronic Urticaria. I'm not quite at the point of obesity that he was, but I'm headed that way and the doctors have told me diabetes is on the horizon.
He said the first days sucked. A lot. But when I do things (and am myself) I do them wholeheartedly and as extreme as possible, So I got out my juicer right then::
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