Start Over – Day 3

I’ve been having the usual cravings that come in the first 3-7 days of a juice fest. But I’m staying strong because I know it gets LOTS better.

Here is my lunch smoothie:

Delicious and this kicks cravings' butt!

• 1/2 cup frozen blackberries (we found a great forage last year!)
• 1/2 cup frozen peaches
• 1 banana
• 1/8 tsp super green bee pollen powder
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon

 

I used to take Nia classes, but our local teacher left the area. I learned that her teacher, a Nia Brown Belt who teaches up the mountain produced a dvd and she offered me one. So I’m very excited to check that out.

If you haven’t heard of Nia, it combines martial arts, dance and healing movments to gently manipulate your total body. It is totally invigorating and keeps the body lubed and flexible. I’ll share more after I try this dvd. It won’t be tomorrow because we’re going on a wilderness adventure with a Cherokee Shaman. I’ll share about that, too!

 

Starting over – Day 2 of 30

Morning juice:

• 1/4 head romaine lettuce
• 1/2 sweet potato
• 3 brussel sprouts
• 4 carrots
• 2 apples
• small piece ginger

This didn’t make as much juice as I normally do – so I’ll have to make another juice later after I go to the grocers, which I’d planned to do yesterday but didn’t…

I’m feeling a little stiff and sore – my hips have been feeling better, still not perfect but better. So I restarted the C25K program. I made it through okay – huffed and puffed a bit, but no pain or cramping. Stretched really good when I got home and did my 4-minute fitness that I like to do after my runs.

What a great way to start the day – do the morning’s abultions, fixed a nice cup of hibiscus & rose hip tea (good Vit-C!),  took Shelby on a good walk/run, stretched, made my juice, cleaned out the juicer, dumped the pulp on a lucky camillia with flower buds on it,  (love to float cammillia blooms in a crystal bowl of water) came back in, drank my 16oz juice, drank 8oz icey cold water. and now I leave this post with you as I am off to seek the rest of the day’s adventures.

Starting over – Day 1 of 30

so refreshing!

I feel great today. Starting another commitment to juicing only. This morning juice (which will also be dinner juice) is:

• 1/4 head romaine
• 4 brussel sprouts
• 2 large carrots
• 2 small apples
• 1/2 large cucumber
• small innner stalks of celery
• small piece of ginger
  

  Juice glass, waiting patiently

Mighty tasty! I pour  my juices into a thick 16oz cobalt blue glass I keep in the freezer so it is good and cold – I don’t care to add ice to my juices because I feel I’m losing too much good fiber as it coats the surfaces of the ice.

Today I need to get out into the garden and pick some kale and turnips. I also have go to back to the grocers as I’m out of lemons, celery and cucumbers. So odd, I really thought I had some when I went to the grocers yesterday. The cucumber and lemon add a lot of juice. And cucumber is so refreshing and detoxifying, a wonderful addition to a full juice fest. Cucumber water is really good too!

Starting over – Day 0 of 30

Been out shopping and I have romaine lettuce, swiss chard and red & green cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts and parsley to add to my cucumbers and lemons, celery & carrots –  ready to begin juicing tomorrow morning for another stab at 30 days.

This time I’m letting Herb know and I’ll remind him every so often, too!

We’re having our version of loaded baked potato with an avocado, bean sprouts & boiled egg salad. A nice healthy crunchy send off meal, eh?

Reboot Over

Day 16

 I’m officially off the reboot, (although I’d LOVE a pair of these!)

I ate dinner last night. 

Herb & I both had lots of stuff going on Tuesday, so we decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day on Wednesday. My honey, who supports me in my juicing and also juices some meals with me on occasion, made me a surprise Valentine’s Day dinner.  

Herb knew I was juicing, but not that I’d made a commitment to a 30-day juice. He’s used to me juicing a lot rather than eating meals so because I was just doing it, not really talking about it like I’d done during my 60-day juice last summer, he didn’t (still doesn’t) know.  

So for Valentine’s Day he cooked a dinner of steamed Maine lobster, broiled wild sockeye salmon, steamed fresh brussel sprouts and asparagus spears. Dessert was a Triple Threat Chocolate cake with blackberry filling and a blackberry glaze over the top, all from scratch. What’s really sweet and ironic, is he made us each a glass of carrot, apple & celery juice , too!

 

Glasses of juice, not wine, how romantic!

Good seafood, beyond trout, is rare here in rural western NC. I knew the strings he pulled to get the lobster & salmon through our local grocer, and there was no way I was going to tell him I would not eat it because I was on a 30-day juice. So I just sat down and enjoyed it – everything was cooked perfectly, the lobster was so tender and juicy, not rubbery at all – Herb made drawn herbed butter, but I didn’t use it because it really didn’t need it. The salmon was seasoned and broiled beautifully, too. 

I’m really picky about how my seafood is cooked. I grew up on the Chesapeake Bay, lived 3 different places/times on the California coast and lived 8 years in south Florida. Herb grew up and spent most of his life in south Florida (its where we met!) so the man understands seafood! 

Once I was on a business trip in Lincoln Nebraska and as usual, you ask the locals about where to eat – one of the guys said we have a good seafood restaurant and I thought to myself, no, you don’t. He was talking about Red Lobster!  As it turns out, I found a truly awesome tandoori Indian restaurant. 

The veggies were steamed just right and I liked that he had two green veggies rather than a veggie and rice or potato. Brussel sprouts and asparagus are my two favorite veggies (my man knows what I like!) 

So I did eat and I even had some cake, very small piece – pure heaven – the marriage of the dark chocolate with the blackberry flavors was a stroke of genius. I am a lucky, lucky girl! 

And I do not consider it a cheat because I am changing the way I think about food. And I do not consider it a failure or a moment of weakness, because if I had it to do over again, I’d have made the exact same choice. 

My honey made me a healthy meal, cooked perfectly, and I honor my body, heart & soul sharing it with him.

Tomorrow – back to juicing, because I want to. I’m down another 9 pounds during this 15 days juicing and I feel great!

Reboot 30 – Day 15

When i was growing up, back in the days of the dinosaurs and peace, love & beads, maybe one kid in the whole school had any kind of food allergy, most likely seafood, and maybe one or two had asthma. Now in our advanced society, a substantial percentage of kids in each class has at least one life threatening food allery and asthma.

According to the folks like the Journal of American Medicine Association (JAMA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that track this kind of thing, food allergies in children has tripled from 15% to 40% in the past decade and asthma has increased 50% in that same 10 years.

Can’t bring cupcakes or cookies to a bake sale anymore – wasssup wid dat? Wheat, what nurished man for thousands of years, is now one of the top allergens? Gluten intolerance is four times more common than it was in the 1950s.  

Childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years and 68% of the overall population of America is obese. Another chilling fact is the number of people dying as a result of being overweight more than doubling in less than a decade. And that’s middle aged people. Obesity is fast becoming a bigger health issue than smoking.

Is it really as simple as people eating more and exercising less? I don’t think so. I think it is a double whammy of what they are eating.

Whammy number one is a systemic allergic reaction to the introduction of genetically modified food into our food chain.The scientific research and studies showing GM food is “sustanially equivalent” to natural food and not bad for us reminds me of the scientific community producing studies showing tobacco was not bad for us and did not cause cancer. Studies I’ve seen seem to indicate a direct link between the herbicidal protien manipulations of GMOs to how protien sensitivites cause allergic reations in people. Allergies, especially in grownups, are not necessarily an immediate reaction, but one whose severity increases with exposure over time.

Whammy number two is sugar addiction. Makes you want to eat & drink more processed junk. You’d think more sugar would be more energy, but it actually has the opposit effect.

These whammies are designed to keep the body from getting the full nutrition and energy it needs. They work on the brain invoking depression and indifference – I’m getting fat so I’m getting sad so I’ll eat ’cause that gives me a sugar spike high, but it doesn’t last because I am fat and I’m sad so I’ll eat – viscous, viscious cycle

Do we really have to wait until more people die and become sick and the evidence is beyond overwhelming to do something about processed and GM food? People can choose not to buy and smoke ciagrettes. When we see an ear of corn in our grocers there is no way to tell if that corn is the product of genetically modified organisms (GMO).

The way Monsanto is trying to control all seed production and distribution in the world is the subject for a different post…

Reboot 30 – Day 14

 

                                                    “Your words are my food, Your breath is my wine”

 

It is the day of LOVE and I am lovin’ it!

Kaleidescope of celery, romaine lettuce, apples, sweet potato, strawberries and brussel sprouts

Made juice this morning in the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Juicer with my new blade and it is working like a dream –  I used these veggies  and got almost a quart of juice! The pulp was much drier and finer, too.

 

 

A most light & delicious juice!

 

Reboot 30 – Day 13

My shiny new blade disc strainer, woo-hoo!

I’m so amazed and pleased! The blade disc strainer for my fabulous Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Juicer came TODAY!!  I ordered it mid-morning on the 9th and it is in my hands in this afternoon’s mail.

My experience with Hamilton Beach is most excellent – a surprisingly good performer for an inexpensive appliance and  perfect customer service from start to finish! Soon as I’m done with this blog I going on Amazon and give this juicer & Hamilton Beach a rave review!

I’ve made my juice for today already, so I’m sooooo looking forward to making juice tomorrow.

The grocer has had sweet potatoes on sale lately and it makes a wonderful addition to my juice. Check out all the good metabolism supporting minerals in sweet potato.

When I’m adding sweet potato to my juice, I don’t juice carrots, too. So it is a nice change and I like to get a good variety.

What I didn’t know was sweet potato greens pack a lot of good nutrient’s too so next time Herb grows them I’ll be on the lookout for those and try ’em.

Reboot 30 – Day 9

Yeeeeow-sah – feeling much better today!

But I can no longer ignore the degraded performance of my fabulous Hamilton Beach Wide Mouth juicer. I’ve jucied this poor appliance to the max and after 3 years of faithful service, the last 8 months juicing at least once a day, if not twice. it is showing its wear. The blade disc/strainer is just not as sharp as it should be.

I’ve juiced pineapple rinds, coconut, sweet potoatoes, turnips, beets, eggplant, all manner of greens like spinach, cabbage, kale, lettuces, citrus and much more. And this baby handles everything pretty darn well… until now.

Since I cannot afford a Norwalk Juicer

 (oh, Gods of Juicing, hear my plea, get me one, pleeeease?!?!?!)

and no other juicer I’ve researched thrills me, I called the good folks at Hamilton Beach to see about getting a replacement part.

Imagine my delight at getting a live person, rather quickly. She was able to let me know the part is available and for only $12.95 plus S&H. It will be conveniently delivered right to my door in 7 to 10 business days (oh joy!)

So until the new blade/strainer comes, I’ll still be juicing, albeit in a less efficient manner. Juice on!

Reboot 30 – Day 8

Not a good day today. Don’t know why, just one of those days.

Normally the people in my life find me disgustingly perky in the morning. Usually I sleep very deeply and well. I didn’t sleep well last night, kept waking up.

Seemed like every hour I was up, tossing & turning to find a comfortable position. I don’t feel like exercising, my quadriceps ache in both legs and for no good reason. Just going upstairs was a grunt, yet I haven’t upped any reps or otherwise stressed my legs.

I have a very slight headache just behind my left eye. I’m not hungry, I’m not thirsty, I’m kind of numb.

This is one of those times when ya gotta cowgirl up and do what you know you need to do.

So I put on a video recording of Tom Petty Live from Gainesville, FL – cranked it up and started dancing. Then I began doing my regularly scheduled exercise, (Power90 Cardio Circuit 3-4). I finished and felt a little better.

Made a juice of kale, broccoli, pineapple, cucumber, parsley, celery, carrots, apples, lemon & ginger and it tastes really, really good.

The day started out as rather grey and now it is sunny.

 I’m still not firing on all cylinders, so to speak, but the headache is gone. Just one of those days.