Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Strawberry Lemonade Juice

Just had an incredible dessert.

In the blender I blended up:

1 apple
1 lemon (peel and all)
about a cup of strawberries
a decent handful of spinach

I then strained it through a paint strainer bag.

If you like Lemonheads or other sour things, you'll love this!
If you just prefer a more lemonade flavor I'd do just half a lemon.

Perfect for a summer treat!

Day 8: Juice Fast... kinda

I have one child napping so I'm going to attempt to get you all up to speed here.

Last Tuesday night, while up with a grumpy toddler who refused to sleep, I watched Fat Sick and Nearly Dead on Netflix. I was inspired. So, the next morning, instead of cereal, I had myself some whole juice freshly made in my Blendtec blender instead. I loaded the kids in the car and ran as many errands as I could, knowing I would not feel like doing anything the next the couple of days. We hit Costco where I loaded up on fruits and veggies. We hit Jamba Juice where I had a fruit & veggies smoothie (fruit, vegetable, ice only). We then hit Whole Foods where I cheated and ate some broccoli and asparagus, as well as picked up some flax seed oil. By that afternoon I thought I was dying. So weak. In so much pain. Bleh.

I had done some research that morning and saw that someone added whey protein powder and flax seed oil to their juice to ensure they got enough protein and fat. I thought this was a good idea since I was hoping to do this "fast" longer term. The first 5 days I did add whey protein to 1-2 juices a day as well as eating a few nuts (cashews, walnuts, and almonds) to try to help get me through. I finally downloaded an app that kept track of all my calories and nutritional intake and it showed I got enough protein even before the nuts and whey protein powder were included, so the powder went bye-bye. I also went a couple days without the nuts. I continue to use flax seed oil, coconut oil, and/or avocado to help keep the fats in my diet. Why? I don't know, really, but it seemed right.

Day 6 I realized that using the blender is not the same as juicing. You still get all the fiber with the blender, which is great, normally, but it is kind of opposite of what a juice fast is supposed to be all about. The juice fast is supposed to give your digestive system a break in order to free up energy to heal the body. With a proper juice fast, supposedly, you no longer feel hunger. However, the Reboot website says you can do both. With juicing you can get nutrition from more fruits and vegetables than with blending because it is less volume. I was wondering how these people in the video blogs were able to drink so much in one day. The last two days I have been using paint strainer bags from Lowe's to strain my blended whole juice in an attempt to turn it into "proper" juice. Not all of them, but most. It doesn't work out too terribly well, however. There is still a decent amount of fibrous material in the juice. So, I ordered a juicer today. I hope to get it on Friday. It is a Breville from HSN, who offers 3 monthly payments making a very good juicer mostly affordable! Yay!

Another way I cheat is for my lunch and dinner juices I blend in the Blendtec blender until steaming hot. These are tomato, kale, parsley, zucchini, bell pepper, spinach, carrot type juices. I add an organic salsa to it to spice it up as well as some no-salt seasoning. I also add some fresh sweet corn and/or black beans to it after it is done. Not a lot, just enough to make it feel like soup. I then pour it into a bowl and eat it with a spoon. It is actually quite good and I look forward to it. I know the corn and beans negate the whole "rest your digestive system" thing, but it works for me. I have been having a hard time getting vegetables in because I'm not a big vegetable fan, and this makes it easy.

The Reboot website also said I could eat as many fruits and vegetables as I liked on their plan. So, when I don't have juice on me and hunger strikes I can eat a couple slices of apple or share a banana with the boys. At dinner time I eat the vegetables the rest of the family is eating, and there usually is some seasoning on those... maybe low-sodium, gluten-free soy sauce, or olive oil.
Last weekend we went to the quilt show in Sisters and spent the night at my husband's aunt's house, who made a large dinner for the family. I brought my juicer and a cooler full of fruits and veggies, as well as some pre-made juice for when we were out and during the 3 hour drive travelling there and back. I was amazed at how easy it was. My husband set aside some cooked potatoes for me to eat on during the dinner, I also had a couple bites of grilled fish. Other than that I stayed on the juice, with some nuts here and there. There was no desire to eat anything else.

So, that is what I'm doing. Originally I planned for 10 days. We'll see how I feel, I may go for 30. Right now I am more energetic than I have been for years and am losing weight. Some health issues I've been dealing with are decreasing as well. It is absolutely amazing. I am just so damn happy!

Here are my weights so far:
Day 1: 221 lbs
Day 2: 218 lbs (-3)
Day 3: 217 lbs (-4)
Day 4: 216 lbs (-5)
Day 5: ??
Day 6: 211 lbs (-10)
Day 7: 209 lbs (-12)
Day 8: 208 lbs (-13)

On day 7, when I measured myself, I had also lost a total of 12.5".

See? Amazing!!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

A Long Time Coming...

So, it has been nearly 2 years since I attempted this blog in the hopes it would motivate me (more hold me accountable) to lost weight. It didn't work. But now that I am losing weight I am motivated to update the blog. Yay!

I'm not going to go into any long update at the moment, I hope to do that tomorrow, but wanted to say that I am on day 7 of a modified juice fast. So far I have lost 12 pounds and I am feeling incredible! I'd love to share what got me to this point, but need to run off right now. I want to document my changes with photos, too. That will come.

I zipped up a pair of jeans today that I have been holding on for years in the hopes that I may wear them again at one point ~ and now I can! I am giddy and had to share... I'd shout it from the rooftops if I could ... it is, simply put, amazing.