30 Day Challenge JUICING!
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My journey into a 30 day of drinking at least one juice per day. Start date 2/11/2014
Day 6-Of The 30 Day Juicing Challenge
Sunday, I found a coupon in the newspaper for $10.00 off a $40.00 shopping spree at Sweetbay’s and my hubby and I jumped in the car and drove over to Sweetbay’s. I picked up some great organic veggies for my juicing and FINALLY picked up some fresh ginger.
At home, I juiced a blend of herbs, kale, a 1/2″ of ginger, celery, a cucumber and a handful of frozen raspberries. This was the first day that I did not add an apple and I later regretted that. Ick! It was so bitter and the ginger was overpowering but want not waste not and I drank it down in a few gulps. Yikes! The ginger burned and I expected heartburn to kick in 10 minutes after drinking, but no heartburn. Hmmmm
Anyway, tomorrow I will add the apple or apples and cut down on the ginger.
The old Hamilton Blender was making some grinding noises so I don’t expect it to last much longer but I have a spare extractor in the garage that I picked up at a garage sale, so I’ll keep using the Hamilton until it finally kicks the bucket.
And sorry but have to add this…talk about a cleanse. I spend some time on the toilet yesterday and I could go in for a colonoscopy today. Some people had told me that may happen with the juicing and yup, it did.
Today I got on the scale to see how much weight I lost now that my sis-in-law said I was looking thinner and my pants were fitting looser, and according to the scale; not one freaking pound. Wow! Was that disappointing. Numbers mean a lot to me.
But I will not give up…not for 30 days. I will not surrender.
Day 6 done. Check!
Day 5-The 30 Day Juicing Challenge
Left over salad works!
Day 5 was a Saturday and it was almost going to be a no juicing day. On the weekends we have a lot of people in and out of the house and usually eating, so I didn’t have much of a chance to get close to the extractor or the veggies.
Dinner time came and my sister-in-law and mother were here for dinner so they helped themselves to leftovers in the refrigerator from the Valentine’s dinner we had on Friday night. I saw my sister-in-law grab my special organic veggie mixture I use for juicing to make a salad. I thought, oh well, I may have to miss a day of juicing but that’s how it is. They also heated up the stuffed shells which is a no-no on my diet of no gluten or high glycemic foods, so I grabbed a glass of water and went to my room to read.
After awhile I came back to the kitchen and they were finishing up eating dinner and I looked and saw the bowl of salad with a lot of the greens left over; plus fresh tomatoes from the garden and cucumber slices. Perfect!
I got the extractor out and put the veggies through with blueberries, celery, and an apple. Plus, I added powdered ginger. (I still haven’t bought the fresh ginger.)
Everyone wanted a taste and they all agreed it tasted pretty good. My sister-in-law made a comment that last night she noticed that i was getting my waist back. That’s a good thing! Oh yea!
I made everyone hot fudge sundaes with home-made caramel and salt ice cream for dessert (a neighbor made the ice cream) which is amazing we still had because the normal is that if there was any ice cream in the freezer I would have consumed it all in one sitting, but it was still there and since the juicing I have had no cravings for sweets and I had no sundae and didn’t even lick the spoon. That’s new to me and didn’t really see that one coming. Shocking! Shocking, that the juice fills me up so much and satisfies me.
Day 5 done. Check!
Day 4-The 30 Day Juicing Challenge
Today I was feeling a slight gag response when I thought about the juice so I decided it would be a good idea to add more fruit today to make it more appealing. That worked and it was better tasting. It’s funny throwing the blueberries down the extractor’s shoot…they pop back up so you have to be quick and cover with your hand so they don’t fly all over the kitchen.
The extractor I am using is an very old Hamilton Beach which still works really well. I am doing this 30 Day Juicing Challenge with an extractor and not a blender because there are claims that the nutrients are absorbed into your cells better without the fiber. I still haven’t found a use for the leftover pulp that I throw away everyday from my extractor. Joe the Juicer uses an extractor but many people prefer the blender. Do whatever feels right for you.
So, today I used blueberries, apples, celery, and a carrot. Pretty simple. I kept it that way because I am hosting a Valentine’s dinner party tonight and didn’t have time to add anything extra. I made 8oz. and slugged it back. Clean up was a snap with the kitchen brush and it’s dried and put back into the pantry until tomorrow.
I am using this as a meal replacement and I have noticed already my pants are fitting looser. Do I feel any amazing burst of energy as of yet? No. Still waiting but this is only day 4.
What I can’t imagine is how anyone can do a complete juicing fast as Joe Cross did in the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. I find doing it once a day enough for me.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Day 2-The Juicing Challenge
Earth Origins
Today I went to Earth Origins that has a juice bar. The guy next to me was ordering a “shot” (one ounce) of wheat grass; the miracle juice drink that has supposedly a major amount of nutrients and minerals in one tiny shot. Most people slug it back like it was a shot of whiskey. I have tried and let me tell you, it tasted like stuff that grows on your lawn. In fact, I have done it twice trying to acquire a taste for it but I’d rather eat kale. If you know me well, you know my opinion of kale.
Then the guy who just drank the wheat grass tells the juicer girl with the dreadlocks that he has his 83 year-old mother drinking wheat grass and her hair is returning to its original brown color. I take a good look at the guy and he looks like he has seen a few too many insides of a bar room with deep wrinkles and stringy gray hair in a pony tail. Hmmmm
I order something off the menu that has carrots, celery, apple, spinach, and some vanilla whey protein. It cost $4.99 and it looked and tasted terrible. She may have left out the apple because there wasn’t a hint of sweetness in the drink and it was warm. I also could not taste the vanilla whey protein which I saw her put in but she might have used plain instead of vanilla. What I do know is that I sucked it down as fast as I could, all 8oz.of it. A Bloody Mary would have tasted a lot better.
Day 2 completed. Check!
Day 1 of The 30 Day Juicing Challenge
Total time…5 Minutes.
I was inspired by another blogger to take a 30 Day Juicing Challenge, and I accept that challenge. I have seen Joe the Juicer’s movie and checked his blog. I also have juiced once and awhile but it was once every 6 months. Not too committed but that was then and this now. My health has been hitting rock bottom and my weight is at an all time high. I have friends suffering from heart disease and cancer, and I want to have some control over my health. Maybe juicing is the answer. I don’t know but I am giving it a try for 30 days.
What makes this juice plan doable for me is that all it requires is that you juice once a day. I just had a 5 ounce glass of juice that consisted of celery, carrots, apple, lemon and powdered ginger because I couldn’t find the fresh ginger I thought we had in the frig. I also used an extractor, Hamilton Beach, which I have had for 15 years and still works great. I like just cutting the veggies and fruit into chucks and throwing it down the shoot. Works great and clean up is a snap when you use a kitchen brush.
I feel it is a shame to waste the left over pulp and wish I had a compost pile, but I don’t. I could make a broth out of it so I will think about doing that but today I threw it in the trash. Any helpful suggestions on what to do with the leftovers would be great.
All veggies and fruit were organic and the lemon I picked off my tree in my backyard. I used the rest of the lemon (I only put half in the extractor.) in a large glass of ice water and will be sipping on that. By the way, it was yummy.
Here’s to my first day of my 30 Day Juicing Challenge. Cheers!
D5 Creation