Join Me in a Juice Journey!

Folks, you can join a 15 day juicing event with me!  The next juice event starting on July 30, 2015.  

15 Day Juice Event

See you there!

End of the 30 Day Juicing Challenge (But Not the End of the Story)

By the end of the 30 Day Juicing Challenge on June 27th, I was maintaining a 10 pound loss.  No, it was not dramatic but physically, I felt better and the sense of accomplishment was huge.  The next Challenge will give me an opportunity to try for my goal weight, another 18-23 pounds loss.  For the moment, summer's bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables offer an adventure in the market.  Stay tuned!  

Revelations: Simple Lessons Learned from Juicing

Before I started juicing, spending time in the kitchen was to be avoided as much as possible.  Why should I spend time doing something that would just add pounds and make a mess?  There are other activities that are more fun and distract me from eating as a form of pleasurable recreation.  However, now that I juice, the responsibility of gathering fresh produce, storing the bounty, preparing it tastefully, and leaving the kitchen ready for the next session has become more rewarding because the perks are so plentiful.  Healing, increased energy, weight loss, and general sense of well being are like finding a pot of gold under the rainbow.  The array of beautiful fruits and vegetables available is both a rainbow and a pot of gold.

Bright Morning Faces f my Garden

Another new and surprising pastime is caring for my small garden.  Filled with small square foot sections of vegetables, herbs, and a few flowers for beauty and bug control, my little plot has lessons to be learned about the joy of tending plants.  Each morning is a moment of wonder as blossoms burst forth and leaves appear to have grown inches overnight.  Knowing that each plant has its purpose and benefit adds to pleasure of spending time with God's creation.  

Watching broccoli shoot up before my eyes has me asking Google whether the leaves are edible.  To provide more light for basil, unknowingly planted next to what would quickly become a green giant, I trimmed the largest leaves from the base and made a wonderful green juice.  Yum, who would have thought a juice made with broccoli leaves would be something to look forward to as a snack or meal.

White Flowers:  Future Purple Bell Peppers

As I wait for my little plot to yield more produce for juicing, I am reminded that the full benefits of juicing come with time and a dedication to eating properly as a way of life and not a quick fix weight loss regimen.  New habits take planning and discipline to make them happen daily.  I am grateful for the lessons learned and the support of the 30 Day Juicing Challenge to help as my juicing story continues.  

Progress?

Just as the hill doesn't look so bad after the hike up, the last 12 days have not been as daunting as they seemed at the beginning.  No, I haven't experienced the weight disappearing as quickly as some but the whole point of this journey was not to lose weight but to regain my health.

Last week I took care of my grandson twice.  He came with congestion and cough, and later in the day on Friday he started complaining that his ear hurt.  Normally, I catch whatever he has.  Not this time and I didn't even take vitamins to boost my immune system.  I'd say that something positive must be happening.

Also, I generally suffer from congestion after a walk around the neighborhood.  My environmental allergies kicked in so much in the past that I felt groggy and slow in the morning.  Eventually, I gave up neighborhood hiking.  I am rejoicing that I can resume with little negative impact.

And, yes, there has been weight loss.  By my weekly weigh-in last Wednesday, I had lost 8 pounds.  That was a pound a day!  Never have I lost so much so easily with so little effort and ill effects.  My major withdrawal symptoms were minor afternoon headaches on the second and third days; most likely from abstaining from my morning ritual of tea.

There is progress and for that I am grateful.

Follow the Recipe or Wing It?

Having juiced since October for at least one meal a day, a day or more a week, I went into the 30 Day Juicing Challenge with some experience but it has been an amazing revelation that juicing can be really delicious because I am actually trying recipes instead of just tossing in whatever I find in the fridge.  

The first time I saw a juicer's video, there were no recipe suggestions, just a view of the garden while Danny Vierra collected a variety of vegetables.  The veggies went in the juicer on whim and fancy, or so it seemed.

I panic when it comes to meal planning and grocery shopping.  It is not easy being vegan and disliking the chore of creating healthy meals.  To prepare a list for for juicing sent me into a tail spin until I made an Excel master list based on one in Joe Cross's free plan section.  The 15 Day Classic Reboot grocery list was basically my guide.  

With list in hand, I combed Joe's site for recipes to get a grip on how much produce I would need to survive three days, the most I could safely store at a time.  Since I used recipes to fill out my shopping list, it seem to follow that I would juice those selections.

All I can say is WOW!  Following a recipe has made the juices super delicious and an enticement to keep with the program.  I look forward to the tasty treats lined up in our fridge.  

So far my favorites have been the Joe's Mean Green and Just Beet It from the 15 Day Classic Reboot Plan.  In addition to the webite recipes, I borrowed the book, The Reboot with Joe Juice Diet Cookbook, from our library.  It's a great resource.  I am tempted to try the phone app, too.

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Reboot-Juice-Diet-Cookbook-Plant-powered/dp/1626341370

A New Leaf

Square Foot Garden:  May 30, 2014

Juicing has literally turned over a new leaf in my journey to wellness.  Up until a few weeks ago, I had never had an outside garden.  Yes, I am a successful indoor gardener.  My house has always had at least one houseplant.  My first has survived multiple moves and has been with us since our first apartment, a gift from Mrs. Held, our neighbor across the hall, in 1972.  

When my juicer joined the array of appliances that make preparing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains easier, I knew that gardening was no longer an option for me.  It would become a necessity.  With all the pulp, we immediately started composting and then I caught my neighbor's enthusiasm for Square Foot Gardens.  

With book in hand, my dear husband built me my first raised bed and mixed the soil for me.  Due to some major distractions which included having a new sewer line installed under our basement, I didn't start but a few plants from seeds and those went in with the purchased plants on the Friday before Mother's Day.

My bed is small but it is a start and now we're talking about another bed next to the first, near the house for more plants that will thrive in just the warmth of the early sun and converting the area down by the raspberries to additional bed for plants needing full sun. 

Juicing requires so much produce, I have even considered joining an organic CSA (Community Sustained Agriculture) farm.  But until my motivation for learning to prepare a greater variety of vegetables expands, our gardening efforts and the local markets are sufficient.

Facts, Figures, and a Disgusting Picture

Photo taken on September 14, 2014, the fateful day I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

The photo should have been enough to propel me into a juice fast but the thought of only juice and lemon water during the damp fall weather we experience in the Pacific Northwest, on the West side of the Cascades, didn't sound like something I could handle.  If I were to succeed, the weather had to be sunny and warm.  And additionally, we would have fresh produce from our garden to keep the expense low.  So I waited but before any yields from my garden, I could not pass up the opportunity to join a FaceBook group in a 30 day juice fast.  

The FB group formally began their fast today, but with fresh veggies in the fridge and eager to begin, my fast began yesterday.  I weighed in at 178 pounds in the morning before my lemon water and first glass of juice, a fair bit lighter than I was in the picture.  Juicing up to 3 meals a week through the winter had made an impact on my weight.  Now to see if it will bring healing to my immune and respiratory systems.  

Where Does the Story Begin?

Maybe it was that Sunbeam juicer my MIL bought in the 70's so my very picky eater would get more veggies in his diet. Or was it the small paperback book my SIL gave me to go with the juicer that documented a healing from cancer with green juices.  Sadly, the juicer was a pain to prep for and then clean, it stalled out frequently, my son didn't like the juice, and it seemed like a huge waste of produce on our limited budget.  The juicer and I soon parted and eventually, the book disappeared from our shelves, but every so often I would think about the impact green juice had on cancer and wonder what special powers it had over just eating vegetables.

In the summer of 2014, Danny Vierra of Modern Manna, posted entries on FaceBook about his juice fast using a Breville Juicer.  It was the weight loss that held appeal but knowing my failure rate with Weight Watchers, how could drinking just juice keep the hunger pangs away for 5 days, much less 30?  So why should I even think about buying an expensive juicer even it was the most amazing gadget I had seen next to my Vitamix?

One very warm Sunday in mid-September, the movie Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead made it's appearance on my laptop screen.  I can't tell you how or why or what link put me at Joe Cross' site but I was mesmerized by the documentary and each and every success story posted on his site.  It was then and there that I wanted to find out if green juices could heal my immune and respiratory system to prevent the frequent bouts of bronchitis I have experienced since moving to the WE(s)T side of the Cascades.

I mentioned Joe Cross' movie online to a vegan friend and not long afterwards, she drew my attention to a Breville sale at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  With a store only 2 miles to the north, how could I not check it out.  My DH enabled me and I came home with one.

I made friends with the juicer by substituting at least one meal a day a couple of days a week.  But during our damp cold winters, I couldn't face an extended juice fast until the weather warmed up.  The perfect opportunity came up when an email from Juicing Radio announced the opportunity for a juice fast with support from some the of the juicing greats in a special FaceBook group.  I was accepted so now the story will really begin.