Juicing... again.

Well... it has been a while for sure.

I have continued doing various healthy things to remedy my weight issues. Nothing helps. I tried counting calories again most recently. For over a month I stayed within 1200 calories per day, sometimes 1000. NOTHING. I didn't budge an ounce.

So, my memory recalled some success with juicing a while back. I came to this very blog to review my past adventure, and I realize it was something I really should have stuck with. I remember the feeling I had after just a week or so when my clothes started to fit better.

That was a great feeling.

I have a friend's wedding coming up next month on March 22, 2015... and I am the Maid of Honor.  This body of mine needs to do some improving before then. On July 11th, 2015 my cousin in Upstate New York is also getting married... and I am going to travel East for that (we're really close). Flying fluffy is miserable... and from Alaska to the East Coast? Oh heck no, that is not gonna happen. And my family... I don't want to see them like this. I have always been the fat one. This time... things are gonna be different.

On March 3rd I have a neurologist's appointment.  I have not changed in weight since the last appointment I had with them sometime around September. During this next appointment, we'll see how much change 14 days of juicing does. After that, I will start weighing at home again. I just want to let the next 2 weeks go by without thinking about numbers.  The last time I juiced for longer than just a couple days in a row, I lost 14 pounds in 8 days.  Cross your fingers!

So, here's to another round of juicing! May my will power be strong!

This is pretty much an entire package of celery, an entire package of carrots, and 2 apples.  Next time I'm holding back on a piece or 2 of celery, taking out a carrot or 2, and adding an apple.  The juice from this filled up 2 bottles that hold 750ml each.

Day 1... Again

Operation Outsmart My Food Allergies & the Issues They Cause, day 1... Trying the  juicing thing once again.

Day 11

Well, I learned a valuable lesson today.  If you don't give yourself enough time in the morning to wash and juice your produce, then package it and clean the juicer, you live on water for the day.

That's right. I walked into the kitchen this morning knowing I was running behind, looked at the clock, and made the executive decision to just go to work and drink a lot of water.  Of course, this had to happen on the same night that I had class after work (Murphy's Law) and when folks were chowing down on pizza.  

Y'know, it wasn't that bad.  Yesterday around 4pm I drank my last mixed juice, and around 10pm enjoyed the delicious lime juice (I love sour stuff!). Since then, just water.  I feel fine and rather than bother with the juicer tonight, I am just going to bed and juicing in the morning. 

Goodnight!

Day 10

Hello, it's the end of day 10.   Holy socks, I can hardly believe I'm about halfway done with this juice cleanse.  As of this morning, I officially juiced the last of my fruit... which meant there was a trip to Costco in my recent past.  As a single person, buying produce at Costco is not always the best deal given that often it goes bad before in can be finished.  Keeping this in mind, I purchased "Costco-sized" quantities of the fruits I know I will use most (grapes, apples, strawberries, etc.), and will pick up some smaller quantities of other fruits at a normal grocery store later (like kiwi fruit, for example).

My day began with freshly juiced grapefruit juice.  I cannot put into words how delicious it was, or how great it is to start out one's day with fresh juice from one of my favorite fruits.  One of my past roommates (please let me know if it's you) left behind an etched wine glass and I just couldn't resist using this morning for the grapefruit juice; it was too fun!

100% pure grapefruit juice!  Sometimes it's just fun to drink out of a pretty glass.

I experimented today with the 2nd half of the pineapple.  That juiced with a cucumber and an apple made a juice that I wouldn't say was outstanding, but it wasn't necessarily bad.  I'm learning that despite the fact that I enjoy eating pineapple, I really don't like pineapple juice much.  Yes, I suppose that's a personal problem (oh, the things we discover about ourselves later in life). 

It would have been yummy if I liked pineapple juice.

My next juice was smaller in quantity than the others, and only filled one of my handy-dandy mini plastic jars.  

The photo above is the "before" picture of what turned out to be a tasty juice made with 1 mango and 1 kiwi.  I absolutely love mangoes, they are my favorite fruit of all time.  I love mangoes so much, my crazy orange cat is named Mango!  On my way to the rescue/adoption place a few years ago I was thinking that if I found an orange female kitten, I'd name her Mango.  When I got there, they had 1 female kitten left, an orange tabby cat... and her name was already MANGO! It was kismet!!  Below you'll see that she found a spot on my piano this morning, and I got distracted while juicing.

Crazy cat! 

 With only 3 limes left, I decided this morning that I couldn't accept defeat; I had to use them today.  So, I juiced them and added fresh lime juice to my chilled lunch bag.  I JUST drank the lime juice.  It was superior; I have always been the weird kid who drinks straight lemon and lime juice, and eats both like oranges... and freshly juiced lime juice just took it to a whole new level of awesomeness!

This morning I also started with some stretches and other things (crunches, push-ups, lunges, squats, endurance exercises I learned in belly dance a few years ago, etc.).  It felt good to get moving in the morning.  What I don't understand is why Mango, the cat, decided that she wanted to cuddle when I was in the middle of push-ups!  Crazy cat!

This morning at work I weighed-in.  Nothing to write home about.  Nothing I really want to blog about even.  However, I'm accountable to this blog and whomever may read it, so must confess that I actually put on 2 pounds. It's odd, but it's not unheard of.  I guess we'll see what Friday morning brings!

Days 7, 8, and 9

Nowhere did I ever promise to post every single day.  My unwritten intention has been to do just that, but I release myself from all feelings of guilt over not posting since Saturday.  Life is busy.

Sunday, Day 7, was uneventful as far as juicing was concerned.  My Saturday was so full that I didn't get 2 of my juices consumed; they stayed well in the fridge and were delightful on Sunday (especially the one with avocado in it).  Sunday morning didn't offer me a chance to juice, so I just was sure to drink a lot of water throughout my time at church.  Despite the apparent lack of nutrition for the first half of my day, I was full of energy and felt great.  After church and a few adventures afterward, I spend the evening with my mother; it was Mother's Day, what else would I do?  She tasted the cucumber, lemon, avocado concoction from Saturday and gave her stamp of approval.  Mom and I watched a movie together and while doing so, she got the munchies and indulged on some veggie crisp things (air puffed vegetable-matter with salt?).  I threw caution to the wind and shared a few (mostly crumbs).  I know I shouldn't have, but there's nothing I can do about it now.  No use beating myself up for it.

Monday, Day 8, was nice and simple.  I made fresh apple juice and fresh grape juice (from black grapes).  I never like grape juice growing up, I always found it absolutely repulsive.  Freshly juiced grapes though... FANTASTIC.  It just might go down as my favorite single-ingredient juice yet (yes, it just beat out orange juice).  Speaking of orange juice, my coworker gave me a few more of the oranges from Florida that her roommate's friend brought up.  Three were still good, one was bad and I threw it out.  The three good ones got juiced this morning along with two navel oranges.  I brought a jar of fresh orange juice to work and shared it with my team.  Mmmmm, yummy!

Apple juice on the bottom left, grape juice on the top right.

Day 8 also came with a weigh-in since it was Monday.  The total lost since last Monday, day 1, was 14.4 pounds.  Not too shabby!

Tuesday, Day 9, the late night of which I am typing this up on, was OK.  Since I laced some juices last week with carrot juice (I'm allergic to carrots) and everything went well, I decided to run a test today.  I juiced the last of my carrots into 2 cups of only carrot juice and drank them at work.  My theory is that I might only be allergic to the fibers in the carrots themselves.  If this is the case, there is a chance I can get a lot of my nutrition back through juicing other vegetables I'm allergic to as well (crossing fingers!).  I felt great after the first cup of carrot juice today.  A few hours later I had cup number two, and about an hour after that is when my throat started feeling funny.  It is almost 1am and my throat is still feeling a bit off.  It didn't swell shut, but it is irritate on the left side.  Perhaps I just am trying to catch a cold; who knows.  Mostly my allergies flare up in the digestive department.  A few months ago I experimented with chicken which made my throat swell instead of the usual violent gut reaction (chicken hits hard), so I'm a little scared reactions to other allergens may "morph" when I least expect them to.  I plan on lacing spinach into the juicing starting next week to see how it goes.

Mmmm, carrot juice at work!  All gone!

Day 6

Well, day 6 is over and done with.  For the first time, I blended a banana and avocado in the juices today (not in the same juice).  I've made the executive decision that on Saturdays doing that is going to be OK. In the past I have had issues with not having enough potassium, resulting in leg cramps ("Charlie horses") so bad they felt like someone was tying my legs up into individual pretzels. When those hit while driving, it's epic... in a bad way.  Since bananas (high in potassium) can't be juiced, I was planning on just pawning off the ones I had to my roommate during this cleanse.  However, I think my Saturday exception is a good idea.  Same goes for avocados.

First Saturday concoction:
1/4 cantaloupe (juiced)
1 kiwi fruit (juiced)
1 banana (added in the blender)

Beautiful Colors!

Gotta love my little blender.  It's knock-of "The Magic Bullet".  I have a "good" blender too, but this is perfect for the job-at-hand!

2nd Saturday Concoction:
2 cucumbers (juiced)
1 lemon (juiced)
1 avocado (added in the blender)

Oh, Avocado, how I love thee!

Remarkably delicious!  It tasted a little like plain yogurt (which I haven't been able to eat in a few years).  Oh, it reminded me of that Greek dip... Tzatziki!!  Yes, it reminded me of Tzatziki!!  It was sooooo good when I tasted it that I actually cleaned out the blender cup with a spatula to ensure not a drop was wasted. 

Day 5

Yes, I'm writing about day 5 in the early afternoon of day 6.  After work yesterday I finished all of my homework that was due by tonight, then spent the evening with my bestie of 16 years and 3 of her 4 children.  Priorities people, priorities.

So, yesterday morning I decided to try a juicing recipe with pineapple in it.  I put my pineapple on the cutting board, grabbed a large knife, and thought, "Sweet, this is gonna be epic!"  Obviously, I don't cut up pineapple very often.

Half of a pineapple, 2 oranges, and a lime went into the juicer and made beautiful juice.  At work when I drank the first cup of it, I quickly learned that it was NOT delicious juice.  Major bummer.  Needless to say, I didn't drink my second cup of it.  I did, however, give it to my roommate to try just in case I just don't favor citrus and pineapple combinations.  She drank it recently, and since she's sick and her throat is not doing well, it was a good thing.  Her words: "It's a little bitter, but it's helping."  Score!

Not a great combo.....

The other concoction of the day was a much better combination of fruits (thank goodness).  I combined 3 strawberries, 1 orange, and the last of my green grapes.

Yummy!

I have one more thing to say before I tell you the results of my weigh-in: Love your juicer!  Take care of it! For the old Champion Juicer that I have, that means oiling it.  A little bit of olive oil on the metal workings keeps it happy! 

The Champion Juicer will outlive everyone!

Alright, and the moment you've been waiting for!  The results of my weigh-in! Since the morning of Day 1, I have lost a total of: 12.2 lbs.  Next weigh-in will be this coming Monday morning.

Day 4

It is Thursday night and the close of the 4th day of this juice cleanse.  I feel really good, the cleansing "side-effects" (if you've cleansed before you understand) are tapering off nicely.  As stated yesterday, this has been much gentler than cleanses I've done in the past.

On a side-note before sharing the juices from the day, my boss noted today that my skin looked really good.  She used words like "healthy", "glowing", "rosy", and "radiant".  I am already blessed with good skin, at least on my face (my eczema is a whole other topic).  I'm sure some of the change has to do with the cleanse, but I'm convinced there is another contributor... TOMATOES & SUGAR.

Yes, I am allergic to tomatoes, but only when eaten.  I have been taking a slice of a tomato, dipping it in sugar, and using it as an exfoliating scrub on my face.  One of the days I was home sick in the past, I was camped out on the couch with the TV running.  Good ol' Dr. Oz (my mom loves his show) recommended this technique as a nutritional benefit for the skin, and to promote healthy, younger looking skin (tomatoes have vitamins that are good for the skin, while the sugar exfoliates gently and helps the vitamins get absorbed).  Approaching 28 and being able to pass for as young as 19 to some (on average I'm guessed at 22), I do not need to look any younger than I already do.  However, I acknowledge that I am getting older and in a few years, things might catch up.  It is by far better to preserve what we have, than try to reverse the irreversible.  Anyway, this is actually much less weird than it seems, and rather refreshing. Perhaps since I haven't been able to eat tomatoes for so long, I just miss them so much that any exposure is welcome.

And back to juicing...

All of the juices today were DELICIOUS (and one was just me throwing stuff in the juicer in a hurry to run out the door)!

My coworker's roommate obtained a bunch of "fresh" organic oranges from Florida (fresh, as in flown up here with a friend) and has been sharing them with us at work (apparently there were a ton).  She gave me 2 oranges yesterday, and this morning I juiced them!  There is NOTHING like fresh juiced GOOD oranges; holy moly, I'm in love!

Oh yeah, that's fresh orange juice!!  

 The first juice concoction made this morning consisted of 2 oranges, 1 mango (my favorite fruit), and about a quarter of a cantaloupe.  When I drank this at work, I shared with a coworker and got rave reviews!

So excited about the mango!

Ready to juice!

I confess that I was running out of time when I needed to make the second concoction of the day.  My goal was to combine fruits that I didn't have to do a lot of prepping for, and then pray the juice came out tasting good.  Believe you me this, my desperate experiment went FAR better than planned.  In fact, it might be my favorite juice yet!  I took the last of my strawberries, a bundle of black grapes (and then a few extra), and 1 kiwi fruit and juiced them in a big hurry.  Again, it came out sooo good.  After I drank the first cup of it at work, I was actually looking forward to when I'd feel hungry later so I could drink the other cup.  Crazy, I know.

This made the best juice yet!!!!!

Juicing IS possible with a busy life.  I work full time, am going to school, and it is totally doable.   And there you see my phenomenal studying snack!

Well, it has been a long day so I'm turning in for the night. Tomorrow morning is the next weigh-in.  I'm not all concerned about numbers right now, but am genuinely curious.  If anything, numbers are something to track.  I'm thinking next week I should add in exercise, especially now that I am getting some energy back.  It's a good thing to start feeling human again, right?

Day 3

Day 3 is done and I'm still alive and kicking!  I've had no "hunger headache" since the first day, and have not cheated at all.  I have energy, and for the first time in over a year I don't feel perma-bloated (that's a really bad feeling); my abdominal muscles are my own again!

I've decided not to weigh myself every day like others who have blogged their juice fasting adventures.  Weighing every day can really mess with your head.  I will be weighing myself 3 times per week; Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  Today is Wednesday so it is time to report.  Between Monday morning and this morning, I dropped...

7.8 pounds

Crazy, isn't it?  I'm fully aware and very sure that it is all water and crap (literally).  I'm OK with that, it's probably why my digestive system is feeling so much better.  I've always been a "go-er" (TMI, sorry) but this is different.  I know this is a cleanse, and I've done other cleanses (herbal and mineral) in years past; they were always rather rough on "the system".  This cleanse, thus far, has been less traumatic on my body with more positive results (namely the happy abdomen).   

Below are the juices of Day 3:

1/2 cantaloupe + 6 strawberries = YUMMY 

Next time I will add a few more strawberries.  It was delicious, just a little heavy on the cantaloupe. 

1 cucumber + another cucumber = 2 cucumbers

100% cucumber juice is very light and though I woke up this morning craving some, it's not all that super. 

All ready to go to work!
PS. If you have a problem with drinking something green... yeah, avoid cucumber juice.

Day 2

Folks, this is going to be a quick check-in... I'm very tired due to a long day and night.

Concoction number 1:
2 carrots, 2 cups of strawberries, and 1 orange

Ingredients of #1

Concoction number 2:
2 grapefuits
1 lemon
1 orange

#2 is on the right

BOTH absolutely DELICIOUS!

I have felt well today, no hunger headache, and I had energy.  The jars in the photos above are made by Ball and are BPA-free plastic.  They hold about 8 oz of liquid, are just the right size (GENIUS), and don't leak.

I had an epiphany today that made me feel really good; relieved even.  With my food allergies, when offered food my response always seems to go something like this: "Sorry, I can't, I have food allergies", which usually gets people to leave me alone.   Well, with this juice-fast project/adventure, my answer can be something along the lines of: "No thanks, I'm on a juice fast."

See the difference?  With the allergies, it's a mandate (or else I get sick)... with the juice fast, it's a CHOICE.  I am CHOOSING to not consume a, b, or c.  This is LIBERATING.

For tracking purposes, I will be weighing in on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.  Stop by and check out the post for Day 3 to see if anything has changed!

Goodnight World!

Day 1

Well, I made it through day 1 of the juice cleanse.  I weighed myself this morning at work (good and accurate scale in our nurse's office), but I'm not telling you what it said!  However, I will be tracking the numbers and reporting any changes. Deal? Deal.

Juicing this morning took significant time out of my day, though I managed to get to work an hour earlier than usual (don't ask me how, I haven't a clue).

All ready to go!!!

For breakfast I enjoyed juice from 1 Gala apple, 1 kiwi fruit (peeled), and cup of green grapes.  It was DELICIOUS! Really, I took one sip and found myself surprised at how wonderful it was.  For the record, when eating kiwi fruit, I normally eat the skin.  Juicing resources recommended peeling kiwi fruit first though; something to do with the inability to get the skin super clean first.

Washed, cut, and ready to be pulverized! 

How fun is that?!?!?  Juice on the left, pulp on the right!

Yup, there's something special about fresh juice.  Wow, it was so good!

In preparation for work I made extra juice, poured it into jars, and put the jars in my insulated lunch bag with freezer packs to keep it cold.  The first jar for work had the juice from about 1/3 of a butternut squash (tough to prep, but soooo worth it), 2 Granny Smith apples, and 1 medium carrot.  I know, you're thinking, "Squash? You can juice SQUASH??"  Yes, yes you can.  And for the record, it is quite tasty.  I confess, it was better than I guessed it would be.  I added a smidge of citric acid to the jar of juice before putting it in my lunch bag to hopefully help the apple juice not oxidize too much.  Notes to self: 1) I don't think that was really necessary and 2) it wasn't too bad, but the juice didn't need the extra sour burst.  I can't wait to try this without the citric acid; I think it will be PERFECT!

Surprisingly VERY tasty combination!

OK, I'm gonna have to find something creative to do with the pulp before I start feeling guilty...

The second jar of juice I prepared for work was nice and simple: 1 grapefruit and 2 cups of green grapes.  I kept busy at work and only drank the first jar of juice so... I'm drinking jar #2 RIGHT NOW AS I'M TYPING THIS BLOG POST.  Per recommendations I have come across, I am taking in 16 oz of water before drinking the juice (it was that, or dilute the juice - gross!). This morning I inadvertently drank 32 oz of water first; not smart.  I have to hand it to resources out there, I am definitely full after drinking everything.  And yes, the forewarning that you have to pee more frequently is totally accurate.  I'm sure you loved that TMI moment. 

Grapefruit and grapes!!!!  

The juice looks kinda like Neapolitan ice cream, and the pulp.... is.... pulpy. 

OK, so the juice I'm drinking right now (see photo below for proof) is really sour.  Not in a bad way though; in an I-just-ate-a-fantastic-not-too-sweet-grapefruit kind of way. I think in the future, this would be great for breakfast; citrus is nice in the mornings. 

Blog on the left, juice in the middle, and water on the right! 

Ideally I should have probably consumed the jar above at work, or at least earlier this evening, and made some fresh juice later to close out my day.  I kept busy today though, and didn't get to it.  It is approaching 10pm and since I have this juice to drink, that's gonna be it for the day.  I have homework to finish and some sleep to get.  This all starts over again tomorrow morning.... 

BONUS: I'm allergic to carrots, but I have to report (as of right now), I have had no violent reactions to the carrot juice in my second drink today.  No guarantees, my reactions range from 30 minutes to 72 hours... but I'm holding out hope.