And finally::: The Afters!

So last night was the community screening of Fat Sick and Nearly Dead.  It was rewarding to share this with other people.

One of the audience members is also a reader of my blog and she had remarked that I hadn't written in quite a while.

Updates:  I got a new job, a more active job.  Much like Phil Staples did in the film.  I'm also more busy that I have been in a while.

So I feel like I need to produce The Afters.

The Before and Afters:: (Or really, the Afters and Befores because I didn't logically order them)

So, I'm still quite a bit away from where I want to be yet, but now comes the real challenge:: Maintaining without fasting.

Some Juicing Tips::

I'm going to share these awesome tips from the Fat Sick and Nearly Dead website as a follow up to my last post about how every juice doesn't have to be a party in your mouth.  However, I should have also added:: Don't drink something that is absolutely HORRIBLE either.  I don't mean for you to gag down something everyday that you wouldn't feed to your worst enemy.  Just kind of like how you drink water; you're not always dying of thirst and it's not absolutely flooded with flavor, but you drink it (maybe with some indifference) because you know it's good for you.

I would also like to add: I LOVE food, cooking and flavor.  A ton.  I said the other day, that I don't miss eating solid foods as much as I miss cooking them, and when this fast is over I hope to continue my blog with some awesome healthy cooking recipes.  But for 30 days I'm sacrificing that a little bit to be healthier in the long run, and that's not a bad trade off.

This article is called Juice S.O.S. and was written by  Stacey Kennedy who is the nutritionist for Reboot Your Life (the company that spun off of the documentary).

"We’ve all done it at some point. Juiced up a bunch of vibrant, healthy and delicious vegetables and fruits only to taste it and think – ick!

My first botched batch of juice had way too much ginger. I love ginger and know how good it is for immunity and digestion so I figured, the more the better! When my beautiful green juice, made with local, organic veggies from my CSA/farm share box, like kale, swiss chard (silverbeet), dandelion greens and collards (cabbage leaves), celery, cucumber tasted awful, I was determined to rescue it and turn my juice into something palatable. No way was I wasting all that green goodness!
Here are some tips for how to turn any juice disaster into a delicious drink. Start by adding more ingredients to boost nutrients and tweak the flavor. If this doesn’t do the trick, then try diluting and pouring your juice over ice. If all else fails blend in some smooth and creamy fruits.
Step 1: Don’t throw it away!
With a bit of creativity and determination you can transform your juice from icky to yummy, strong to subtle or bitter to sweet.
Step 2: Add more ingredients
• sweet- apple, pear, strawberries, peach, watermelon, butternut squash (baby pumpkin), celery root/celeriac
• tart – pineapple, mango, orange, clementine, grapefruit, kiwi fruit, blackberries, raspberries, lemon, lime (remove citrus peels for less zest/bitter flavor)
• heat- jalapeno, serrano, habanero or other hot pepper (capsicum), sprinkle some cracked red pepper, chipotle, cumin or other spice on top
• flavor- fresh is best but dried works too sprinkled and mixed in. Thyme, cilantro (coriander), basil, mint, fennel, cinnamon, parsley, ginger, scallion, red onion, garlic, etc…
• neutral- zucchini (courgette), summer squash (yellow squash) cucumber, jicama (yam bean,) grapes, romaine lettuce (cos lettuce)
Step 3: Dilute with
• coconut water
• water
• juice of just one fruit/veggie (like 100% carrot, apple or orange)
• your favorite juice
• pour over ice
Step 4: Blend in more flavors
• banana
• avocado
Here are more good ideas to try http://jointhereboot.com/jamin’s-juicing-tips/
Have fun with your new creation. We’d love to hear about your juice adventures!
Cheers,
Stacy"

So... Not to contradict myself:: Just kind of saying:: Your juice is not going to taste like this::

Thanks for the pic.

But you shouldn't deal with it tasting like this:

Thanks for the pic.

For Those Considering::

We did a sample of juicing at fellowship last Sunday.  My Pastor has been juicing and has gotten his family into it as well as some other church members.  We're planning on a screening of Fat Sick and Nearly Dead as well as starting a community program in the DeMotte area where we help people get started on small juice fasts.

With the sample of juicing there was some mixed feelings.

Some people thought it tasted very good.  Others thought it was gross.  Still others wouldn't even try it.

And with this, Stacey (pastor's wife and my friend) brought up a very good point::

"People need to get over this notion that every meal that they eat needs to be the best thing they've ever put in their mouth.  You really have to get into the mindset that what you're eating is fuel and it does your body good."

It's very true.  Not every juice I make is delicious, though some are.  They're definitely not all pretty.  If you're used to a lot of "bad" foods in your diet, even the good ones will probably not be good to you at first.  But the mindset needs to be changed to This Is Healthy.  And also to remember: It's not for forever.  Can you really not go a week (for most people this is what is recommended) without having the best meal of your life?  If it takes a week to jump start health goals that have been in the back of your mind for ages, why not just do it?  What do you really have to lose?

I'll post as soon as I know when the screening will be, everyone should witness it and make an informed decision on if this is the best thing for your health and your body. 

Days 11-16:: Stephy the Slacker

So I haven't been posting everyday.

Apologies!

So what have I been doing?

• Catching up on cleaning
• Running
• Hanging with family
• Getting a second job.

And dum dum dummmm Having a cheat meal!

I know I know, but I was surprised by my wonderful boyfriend after work last Saturday and didn't bring juice with me.  And as a meal what did I get? Pizza.  Like I said I wouldn't.  So big fail on my part.

But let's spin it::

It was an experiment so I could prove what I said in This Post right.  Pizza is not a good break the fast meal...It made me very sick.  And happy to be back on the juice and where I should be the next day. 

This last week has brought me three Juice Fast tips::

1. Definitely don't eat bad food when you're used to eating good food.
2. Always be prepared with some juice made ahead of time.
3. In fact, always make big pitchers of juice at a time. 

That last one comes from me just making huge pitchers of juice all week.  I feel like it saves a bit of money because the more veggies and fruits sit in bags or on top of each other, the quicker they rot.  You have to be a little more strategic with your combos with this method though.  Generally, unless you plan it this way, you won't have enough of the ingredients to make a "recipe" of juice.  Recipes generally consist of 4-5 fruits and veggies and herbs and you have a pretty good handle on what it will taste like.  What I've been doing though, is just trying to put my fruits and veggies in decent proportion. Warning:: It's almost never a pretty color.  This method definitely saves a ton of time as well.  Only cutting up veggies and cleaning the juicer once a day (or once every two days if you do it right) makes your Juice Fasting Life a lot better. 

If you are doing a Giant Juice because you've overbought and your produce is starting to look a little wilty, add some lemon or lime which is a natural preservative (as is salt, but I don't recommend that).

Remember though, Natural juice separates when it sits.  A wonderful product (especially if you're making juice once every two days) is the Family Quick Stir Pitcher.  Leave me a comment on this post if you'd like one.  The large size holds a ton of juice, It can close and strain (or if you want it a little more pulpy, just open flow), it's cute (polka spotty) and it's got a plunger so you can mix the juice before pouring every time.

So that's all for catching up...

Day Ten:: Clothing Lust

Today was awesome.  I went to the mall with my sister.  We went because she had this idea that each of us should get jewelry with a purple stone in remembrance of my mom.  Just a little reminder of her because 1. Her birthday is coming up (It's Valentine's Day) and amethyst is her birthstone and 2. Purple is a color that represents lupus.

 Here's mine::

Then we went to American Eagle and Delia's so I could look around and get some further inspiration for getting back into shape.  There were so many things that I saw that I decided "next month, I'm going to be ready for new clothes."

We're in the midst of wedding fever now that we're planning my sister's wedding.  We've got the dress and whatnot but we still wanted to look at wedding stuff.  So she showed me where the ceremony will be (I was working when they went to pick it our) and also the wedding rings her and her fiance picked out. 

She came over to hang out with me and dad and we had fun laughing at some wedding cakes gone wrong before I went off for my run.  (Prior post tells about how my run went.)

After I was done running I put my aching self to bed.  It was a day truly about family and reaching my goals.  And those are the most satisfying.

Me, God, Lady Gaga, and Modest Mouse

All went for a run tonight.

Although that started like a beginning to a bad joke, the only bad joke may be my mile time::

So remember how I said I'm preparing to run the IU Mini Marathon?  I figured I should probably get on that since it's a half-marathon and I'm in no shape to run it yet. 

I meant to do 5 miles tonight, because I figured if I could bump myself up one mile per week, I'll get to my 13.1 in time.  I'm glad that I started out better than 5 miles because Bloomington has a lot of hills that I have to work to master. 

In the devotional Pray Fit that I've mentioned in earlier posts, it encourages the reader/exerciser to do your exercises "to fail".  This means you're doing pushups and you keep doing them until your arms will not push you back off the floor again.  The next day you do the same exercise only you should do at least one more rep of it in less time.  I decided I should use this principle in my run.  So I ran my five miles and then kept going until my legs just wouldn't keep going.  And tomorrow I plan to do at least 6 miles at a better time.

A lot of times when I'm doing something difficult, I mentally make deals with myself.  Like, "okay, you're going to do 5 more minutes on this stationary bike but if 5 minutes is up before a commercial break, you have to keep going until the commercial break."  Silly, I know, but usually if this happens and commercial break comes up, I go, "oh well now you've done 6.7 minutes, you may as well do 10..."

So I loaded my "On-the-Go" playlist with songs that I LOVE.  You know, songs that when they're on the radio when you pull into your driveway you will finish them out before you turn off the car and go inside. (Is that just me?)

So I had things like::

Yoü and I - Lady Gaga

Black Cadillacs - Modest Mouse

And Darling - Tegan and Sara

If It's Love - Train

Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down

Beautiful Mess - Diamond Rio

Serenade No. 13 in G, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik", K 525 Andante - Mozart Modern

That Time- Regina Spektor

...and etc and etc.

When I had hit 4 miles, "I want you (She's so heavy)- The Beatles" came on and I pictured a darling retro, 50's-esque dress that I saw and loved when I was at the mall with my sister today everytime the song's sultury lyrics sang "I want you...I want you so bad" and then used "She's so heavy" as some negative reinforcement to keep on keeping on with my run.

As soon as that song ended I got off Abbey Road and the soulful rendition of "Let It Be" from Across the Universe played and brought me to a peaceful place.  I started to talk to God until it was time for my body to stop and cool down and walk the rest of the way home.  Earbuds in, iPod off.

One day, in a conversation about being wholly healthy, I told my pastor, Jeremy VanKley and his wife Stacey (who are two amazing people when it comes to spiritual leaders, motivational supporters, and just plain great friends) that a lot of times I run with absolutely no music but my iPod strapped to me and my earbuds in because I'm praying and I don't want anyone interrupting me. 

"God my legs are aching!

Thank you for giving me working legs.

God my heart feels like it's going to burst!

Thank you for giving me a healthy heart.

God I'm sweating a ton!

Thank you for this beautiful night.

God, I feel like I'm going to puke

Thank you for providing me with food to eat."

I'm really not the most formal prayer.  That's why I'm happy to not get singled out to pray in crowds very often.  Me and the Big Guy are cool and he knows my heart, and that's what matters.

Tonight I learned::

If you're feeling bad for yourself

Or if you're giving yourself permission to quit

You are forgetting all that you're blessed with.

Day Nine:: Back to Work

Today was my first full day at The Job since Day One.

Which means it was another 10.5 hour day at The Job.  For the last month I've been trying very hard to make sure that I stand up while working.  Not just, as the rules suggest, while there are customers present.  The whole day.  The .5 hours is spent on lunch break, so I did sit then.  Otherwise I sat a total of 6 minutes just to give my feet a break. 

Why do I do this?

Sitting: 111 kcal/hour
Desk work: 118 kcal/hour
Standing: 158 kcal/hour
Standing while doing desk work: 165 kcal/hour

There are just little things you can do to burn a few extra calories a day.  And since when I have long days like that, it really cuts into my motivation and time to exercise, standing really makes a (47 kcal/hour) difference.

Normally, this is very hard for me to do and I sit 5 minutes or so an hour because my body just feels very worn out.  Today I did not feel that at all.  Also, the way I talked to customers was not only more cheerful, but it also more focused and I was able to solve their problems more efficiently.  Not that I'm not a friendly person, but I was always so worried about trying to remember what I had learned in training and recently about certain things that I wasn't as focused on my cheerfulness.  Today though, it came so easily to me that I made sure to keep eye contact and didn't feel like I needed to reference my cheat sheets or the computer or other staff to effectively answer their questions. 

Also, when I had an angry customer,(you know, the kind that decides that if something is wrong with their account it is never their own fault and that who ever is in front of them should now take the blame) it didn't bother me as much.  Sometimes it would effect my attitude that someone was that blatantly rude to me (it never used to a year+ ago) but today I was very able to quickly put that behind me.

When I got home I worked out a bit in our brand new home gym stationary bike (woo) and of course watched the Big Bang Theory. I then wrote for a bit (but obviously not in my blog....sorry about the delay of posts). And went to bed.  And slept like a rock.

Friday's Measurements::

Day Eight:: Let's Play Ball

Today, along with my beautiful little sister, my nephew came over.  His name is Coby and he's a German Shepard/Lab/Boxer puppy.  So we took Coby and Austin Danger Powers the Second for a walk together and then we watched them chase each other around::

Okay, so these weren't action shots.  Then Austin and I played ball for a while. 

     The significance of this?  Usually after a walk I would feel that my energy was spent (he's a smart dog, but he never learned to heal).  But I still wanted to play with them afterwards.  I was running around with him getting the ball and throwing it.  I haven't done that since we were both much younger. 

    That night my dad and I (now living in a four bedroom house with two people in it) decided we should turn the upstairs rooms (Guest room and storage/craft room/office) into something resembling a sad home gym.  Since my old room now houses my hobby type stuff, it also houses a TV.  While I'm, sometimes accompanied by a friend or my sister, working on things, I watch TV or a movie or listen to music.  So we put my bike on a stationary stand up in that room so that we could watch TV while riding a stationary bike.  In the other room, which has more space in it, we put some weights, a stability ball, and other home fitness type equiptment.

All in all it was a day that I felt the fun of having more energy the most. 

Day Seven: I Cheated.

I drank a can of Diet Pepsi.  Wha Wha Wha....

Okay, so Diet Pepsi is not really evil.  But, it made my belly hurt :(

Sooooo some updates::
I was told not to weigh myself every day anymore.  That weight can fluctuate so much in a week that it's can be self sabotage.  And like my Bonus Post said yesterday, I don't want to make this about the weight anymore.  I want this to be about how I'm feeling.

Me sleeping better, thinking better, having more energy, etc.  Those should be the daily victories.   Just to keep up interest for those of you who are reading strictly for the weight loss though, I'm going to weigh in every Friday.  Also I'm going to charge up my old Blackberry.  I think on my FatSecret app (the same one I use on my iPhone) there is a note about my measurements.  That could be a better indicator than the actual weight so I'm going to see if those make sense as a starting point and if not I'm going to take new measurements. Week 2 is going to be sweet :)

So my day: 

Coupled with my soda habit, some old habits started to resurface.   I watched a lot of TV.  I stayed inside even though it was GORGEOUS, and I only started preparing for my meeting at The Job when it was last minute to do so.  While in the midst of having days like that, I feel like I'm just giving myself time to relax.  But it upsets me at the end of the day when the daylight runs out.  So it doesn't make any sense why I would do that.  After my bonus post last night I decided that just can't happen anymore.

I think the worst part of it is, I had a ton of energy, I've just been on this self sabotage kick for two days now that needs to stop.  I felt good.  I felt focused. 

At my meeting last night a coworker actually said that she was impressed at how much I talked and the valid points that I brought up.  Before, I was always worried that I'd sound stupid if I brought things up because I couldn't organize my thoughts enough to say what I needed to clearly and when I did bring things up and I could tell they weren't being said right, I got nervous.  I also was able to kick a habit that I'd been noticing in myself lately.  For a while if I inputted anything into a conversation it was just my addition to it (playing to the selfishness I had mentioned in the earlier post).  Last night I was putting in my ideas while helping to find solutions to those things other people had said.  I felt more heard and more productive and that was a really good feeling.


This was the end of week 1.  I'm excited and hope the my new attitude will bring a better journey for me and less monotonous posts for you in the next three weeks.

Jesus is a friend of mine (in fasting, as well)

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.

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. 

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 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::

(4 Servings)

2 Sweet Potatoes

3 Stalks of Celery

4 Plum Tomatoes

6 Carrots

2 Apples
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)

What About Day 31?

(thanks for the pic)

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!

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.

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)

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.

Find this helpful tool HERE.

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::

 

All in all, it was a day of very good juices and I'm looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

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::

• 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.

Pretty much:: If you've been eating poorly, I'll allow you the first couple days to let your body detox and chill a little, but after that KEEP YOUR BUTT OFF THE COUCH!!  You are going to have a ton of energy and feel great, so use this as the opportunity to rearrange your lifestyle a bit.