If I had written this post a few days ago when I had really wanted to (but couldn't find the time) it would have said something totally different.
Since getting off juicing... my "diet" plan has consisted of no limitations and no real structure. I haven't gone and eaten fried chicken and pigged out till I hated myself, but I haven't been watching and calculating calories or anything either. I feel like I've just been in limbo and I honestly hate it. I hate not moving towards my goal.... not moving at all.
My scale has gone up just a few pounds but its more than likely some water weight mixed with just junk from eating unhealthy lately. I just can't seem to get the kick in the pants I need to get motivated to do better. And then I get depressed.... its an awful feeling to be the only one who can help yourself and her you can't seem to do it
Until yesterday.... yesterday, I felt like I finally had my life settled enough to put the focus back on my health. It mostly came with the revelation that we have scheduled a family vacation to Disney world in November. I'm beyond excited... I mean, into another dimension of excitement that I just have no words for! I can't wait to see the look on my kid's faces when they experience the magic that only Disney can create.... did I mention I'm just a tad excited?
What I realized yesterday is I have about 3 months till our trip. The trip that we've been planning for a year is only 3 months away... 3 months! I'll have November weather on my side, so I won't die in the heat, but honestly, if I were to go today... I'm not in good shape. Let's just leave it at that.
And so, 3 months... that's my next goal. I want to be in the best possible shape for Disney that I can be.
Tomorrow I'm going to the grocery store and I'm going back to juicing. I have lots of cooking ideas for fresh veggies so I can get some 'real' food in my diet too. I've recently discovered an unknown love for zucchini. Healthy food. Healthy mindset. Healthy body.
I hate to say this, but I'm going to have to call it quits for a bit on the juicing. I've loved the way I feel while juicing, I've loved the clear thinking I've been able to do, the lower blood sugar numbers I've been seeing by not eating processed carbs, and most certainly the weight loss I've seen. Its been quite an experience... but ... (ugh... I can't believe I'm typing this right now...) I can't take the diarrhea anymore! It makes sense, juice in, juice out! I've researched the internet and the green dense juices (what I eat most of the time) has this effect on some people.... I have a life that doesn't allow for constant bathroom emergencies!
I had a stomach bug last week that I thought was mostly to blame... yet my stomach bug is gone andits still here!... the last week or so I've veered off the 100% juicing ways and did maybe 75% juicing and 25% whatever real food that was relatively healthy/clean. I thought it would be enough food to help slow things down. Not so. Not enough. :(
I know this is gross... so its with some sadness that I end my juicing fast while my shorts are still clean!
I've learned a lot and I definitely plan to do it again... just for a shorter period of time :) maybe 3 day fast every 2 weeks or something? I'm still planning it out... right now, I just have to eat something un-juiced....
(Again, my apologies if this was too much information and more than you wanted to know!!)
So, I was driving earlier today (drinking a yummy glass of juice!) and I counted up how many days I've been juicing... holy cow! Today is Day 5! WOOHOO! Its already been 5 days! I did the 5 days with minimal veering off the juicing path. Just the other day for 1 meal... then I got back on. I have had a few minor slipups, but I'm trying to listen to my body too. If I'm hungry now and I can't quench the hunger with juice, I've eaten a few fruits and veggies unjuiced too. I figure its better to eat a bit now of the good stuff rather than catch myself after a weak moment in the kitchen alone staring at an empty bowl of..... everything lol
I'm still looking to see what the scale says tomorrow morning after juicing for one more day before I call it final, but I've lost 5 pounds so far. 271 (my scale had gone up some since my lowest. boo.) But I'm back to losing!
I tried to get a good variety of fruits and veggies in my juices, try new things, keep an open mind... Y'all, I'm a failure at beets! :( Remember I said they came wrapped in bundles of 3? yeah, I made it through 2 whole beets and the 3rd one I just couldn't do. 1 poor beet, wasted. It has a funky after taste and it stains absolutely EVERYTHING it touches. After several days of trying new things and being open minded... I just am not down with the beet! (haha)
I mentioned in my last post about the water weight loss and seeing my ankle bones again.... still yay for skinny feet!
Another change I've noticed is my energy. I've felt really good this whole time. (minus the almost Sasquatch like hunger spells a few times)
Last night after putting the kids to bed I decided to deep clean and reorganize my kitchen. I worked like 2.5 hours... (its a big kitchen). Granite counter tops now sparkle... I organized drawers and cabinets to be more efficient. I've been wanting to do it for a long time but never could get the proper motivation. check check, consider it done! And I'm totally counting it as exercise because I was working up a sweat dancing while doing it.
Its a really weird feeling to explain, but my gut feels... good? Like, I feel... clean. light. hollow, but not in a hungry way. I've heard people talk about feeling "better" when they eat healthy. I used to eat relatively healthy before I juiced but not really consistently. I never noticed a different feeling in me before. Maybe I wasn't in the experimental mode like I am now and really trying to be receptive to whats I feel like my needs are (not wants. i.e. a cookie). I feel quicker, more energy.... its a good feeling. And I can now see why this feeling is addicting for some people.
My blood sugar levels have also been so great. Maybe thats partly to blame for the general 'good feeling' I've been having. Less ups and downs and steady numbers mean less mood swings and foggy feelings.
I don't miss meat... but I'm not a huge meat fan anyways, because of my TMJ issues. (thats a whole different story for a different day) So its kind unfair for me to say that I could turn my head and never look back on meat after juicing.
So... plus plus plus... all good things to say about this juicing experiment of mine. The only negative or downside that I can find is... going out and being with other people. "You're doing what?" that is usually followed by "why? I could never do that!" Its tough to explain... at least quickly... its kind of a long story. I've been very lucky to have the full support of my family and friends. But I understand restaurants are going to be a difficult hurdle.
Right now, I don't know that I have the willpower to go a full 60 days (though, I kind of would like to try it??), but I don't want to stop either. So my plan (if you can even call it that) is to keep going with this. Its definitely good for me and I feel like this is very limited and easy for me to control.... sooooo.... lets go another 10 days! We'll continue the experiment and see what happens! :)
I've been juicing and doing great.... hungry, but great. My blood sugar levels have been phenomenal! I feel like I have a good amount of energy despite the rumbles coming from my tummy occasionally.
Tummy: " me needs food"
Me: " nope you just had juice"
Tummy: "me needs cookie! ( in the choice of the cookie monster)
me: "no! I just fed you!"
Tummy: "just a bite?"
Me: *sigh* I thought we were together on this??
I'm just adjusting to planning ahead too.
I've seen some really good changes in my body too... a few pounds of weight loss but I'm going to wait a few more days to see if if sticks. I do notice water retention is down. I tend to hold water weight in my feet off and on... so I have skinny pretty feet again! Yay!
After 3 days of doing really good.... I fell off the wagon tonight. :/ I was so hungry and just craving real food. I went to dinner with my best friend. I got 6 grilled shrimp, no rice, double grilled veggies.... and water. And it was fantastic! There was a bit of oil on the veggies.... that's the only thing I can feel guilty about though. I'm going back to juicing tomorrow. I feel satisfied and not deprived. Pleasedon'thatemeforbeingweak!
Slight mis calculation on the amount of veggies a though. Need to go to the store tomorrow again. Still have some left but I really can't see myself just drinking celery and romaine :/ also, not a huge fan of beets. They're OK but they stain everything they touch and (FYI TMI) My pee was neon red. Scared the heck out of me. Lol I'm used to spinach having a color effect too but it never occurred to me that the beet would.... never crossed my mind. I'm also not a fan of juiced ginger. I like them in the snap variety. (Aka Ginger snaps) men, learning experience I guess. I'll still finish using the beets and ginger tomorrow.
My favorite thing so far... adding oranges in my mean green juice! So good! And lemons too!
That's really all I have tonight. I'll post my weight loss numbers and any other discoveries in a few days!
So, in my last post.... (if you couldn't tell) I was way totally bummed after my doctor's visit on Monday. Like I was sobbing on the way home. I had such high hopes that my new doctor was going to be able to point her magic doctor pen and say, "Here! this is what you can do and you'll be fixed!" and then all would be good in the world.
Sounds a bit silly when I think about it now. I don't know. I'm trying my best not to throw a pity party because I have much to be thankful for, but I just didn't think I'd really run out of options so quickly. Its time to start taking things into my own hands and see if I can fix this on my own.
A while back I wrote a blog on a documentary I saw about Hungry for Change. I love my juicer. I don't use it every day but at least a 4 times a week right now. I sat down last night and I watched another documentary. Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. Basically, guy has medical issues, maxed out on his meds.... decides to go on a crazy 60 day nothing but juice fast. He loses a crazy amount of weight and gets taken off of all his medications, gains extreme health and learns to continue to eat healthy afterwards. If you get the chance, watch it. (Its on netflix) It's amazing what the body can do when given the proper nutrition. I 'll put a youtube link at the bottom with a short trailer to his film.
(I can see some of you shaking your heads right now) .... Just Chill. I'm just thinking of trying it for 5 days. After those 5 days I'll see where I stand and make a plan from there. I'll either continue to 10 days or quit. And move on from there. What have I got to lose? I think it'll be a good amount of time to see if I'm able to tolerate it.
I want to share this with you...
TaDa! It's my groceries for the week! (at least I think it is... I may have miscalculated some? We shall see!) It can get expensive. I always buy a mix of organic and non organic produce, when I shop. For those that are curious, (and for my own knowledge) I totaled up my grocery bill on produce from thsi trip... $38.39. Not too terrible in my opinion. There is celery, oranges, carrots, cucumber, apples - green and braeburn, lemons, romaine, spinach/kale mix, blue berries and pineapple, ginger....
Aaaaand this.....
Y'all....... I bought beets. Apparently you can't just buy 1 beet. To move them off the shelf faster, they only sell them in bundles of 3? Never in my life have I been walking through the grocery store, passed the beets and went "mmmm lunch!". But while I was standing there second guessing my decision and if I wanted to possibly waste my money.... A quote popped into my head. If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got. Not sure who said it originally, AND I'm pretty sure he wasn't referring to any form of beets, but ... It was what I needed to hear so I bought the beets! Embracing the change! In with the new!
I didn't go full on juice today because we were having a BBQ lunch at work today. (I know its a sorry excuse, but I love BBQ!) I did have a mean green juice this morning and another juice this afternoon. By the way, Beets: not half bad. Terrible on their own, but when mixed with other juices... tolerable.
I was contemplating pushing my full time juice fast off till Saturday because I'm taking the kids to the movies tomorrow and I love popcorn. Then it hit me. As if God stuck a huge note on my forehead that simply said "nope." There isn't ever going to be a perfect time to start. Its now or never. So tomorrow it is! I'll be sipping on water!
Its not hard to drink juice. I like juice... the hard part is going to be willpower to not eat EVERYTHING else. I know I'm going to be doing a lot of praying and relying on God to give me the willpower to complete this.
Anyways, I can't totally tell if I'm super excited about this yet or not. Whats the worst that can happen right? It certainly can't be any worse than what I'm dealing with right now surviving on pills every day. Also, I have no objections to ending my fast early if I don't feel right.... Its just more or less an experiment to see what my body can do when given the right super foods. I probably won't post every day, but I'll be back to update on how things are going... :) Wish me luck!
