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::

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::

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.

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 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!