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Day 8 – The 30 Day Juicing Challenge
Day 8 and still juicing. Hooray for me! I thought I was going to fold a couple of days ago but I have been re-energized! Yes, I actually have a little more energy today but nothing up to hallelujah strength! I’m still waiting for that moment Joe Cross of Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead talked about in the movie. Come on, Joe, don’t tell me I have to go all the way with juicing? I’m finding once a day hard enough. I want my hallelujah moment. This morning my juice recipe was as follows:
- Celery
- Apple
- Carrot
- Slice of fresh ginger
- Mixed greens of kale, collards, chicory
- Star fruit (yes I had to climb the fence again to get to the fruit)
- Snap peas
- Frozen raspberries
Easy cleanup
A rainbow of color.
Frozen raspberries don’t work.
What did it taste like. Wonderful! Yummy! I chugged, chugged, chugged. Down the hatch. I learned to fill the shoot with things like blueberries or frozen raspberries with the motor off and that way you can put the plunger over the shoot and turn on the extractor and no berries fly around the room. I also started with the frozen raspberries and noticed that they just went through without depositing any juice in the cup. So I scooped them out and waited until they defrosted to put them back through. Mental note: I will take raspberries out of the freezer the night before to defrost so they will be juicer. Juice and learn. Day 8, 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 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!
Are You a Binge Eater?
Are you a binge eater? Nothing to be ashamed to admit. You are amongst friends. I was a binge eater and I started young. Let me clarify that I am not the kind of binge and purge kind of binge-er. I am the eat everything sweet or carbohydrate in the house kind of eater. Or I should say I was.
I have kicked that habit right out the door and I am a better person, or I’d like to think I am. Heck, haven’t we all binged a few times? My typical binging always had the TV involved. Boy, there was nothing like a cold, snowy day; a good movie on and a bowl of popcorn and pint of Ben & Jerry’s. Then after I consumed that, I would rip open the pantry doors searching for something else. Usually I would make my own chocolate chip cookie dough (without eggs) and eat it raw. Yup, then the guilt would come.
When I was younger I could get away with the typical binge but now that I am older, I cannot without the added weight gain. Binging had to end.
This is from Wikipedia, You know you are a binge eater if:
- Feels disgusted, depressed, or guilty after binge eating.
- Eats an unusually large amount of food at one time, far more than a regular person would eat.
- Eats much more quickly during binge episodes than during normal eating episodes.
- Eats until physically uncomfortable and nauseated due to the amount of food consumed.
- Eats when bored or depressed
- Eats large amounts of food even when not really hungry.
- Often eats alone during periods of normal eating, owing to feelings of embarrassment about food.
How I resolved my binge eating.
I knew I had to get a grip on my binge eating. It was becoming a growing problem and I had to face it once and for all. I did some researching and women are more likely to do it than men; usually has to do with depressions, loneliness or boredom; and you can learn from parents if they are binge eaters.
It seems pretty ridiculous that I was binge eating. I wasn’t depressed or lonely, but maybe I was bored. After all, binge eating isn’t really a group activity and I eat like a bird when I am at social functions. Well, unless it’s at the Christmas buffet where I go a little crazy on the sugary desserts. Oh well, that’s only one day a year. Why I really think I was binging is, I was having my own personal party with no one around to judge.
- So, I stopped eating in front of the TV.
- I eat smaller portions of healthy foods.
- I do not eat (or try not to eat) sweets.
- I do not snack unless it is a stalk of celery.
- I do not eat popcorn or chips.
- I no longer eat peanut butter in fact it is not even allowed in the house. (That’s my gateway food.)
- If I serve ice cream or pie after dinner, the leftover is sent to my neighbor’s house.
- I do not stare at the chocolate bars in the checkout line especially the Reese’s Chocolate and Peanut butter or take them home.
Because my willpower is at it’s lowest at night, I had to eliminate most of the sweets in the house or I will get up in the middle of the night and eat them. This is because I have cut my calorie intake to an all time low so I am usually hungry and will go to the freezer, pull out the pint of ice cream and with just spoon directly in to the container, eat it all in front of the TV. Ugh! Sometimes I don’t like ME.
It did take loads of practice but I kicked the habit and no longer automatically reach for something sweet or salty to eat while I watch TV. In fact, it sort has taken away the sport of TV watching which resulted in the many hours of TV I watch. Well heck, it’s not that much fun anymore now that I don’t binge. Funny how that worked. Hmmmm
Karen’s Story-It wasn’t About Losing Weight
I love Karen. She has always been a great friend and we have known each other since high school and we even went to the same college. After all these years, we have kept in touch.
Karen is a real beauty; close to 6 ft tall with dark hair and perfect features she could have been a model. But not only is Karen beautiful on the outside she also has a beautiful and caring personality. She cares so much about people and animals that she volunteers at a nursing home and at animal rescues.
Karen’s weight has always gone up and down on the scale. In college we all put on the freshman 10 or 20 but we would also lose them. As we grew older it was harder to lose and easier to put on weight. Karen and I both got heavier and heavier.
A couple of years ago, Karen and I met halfway between our homes at a coffee shop. Boy was I shocked when I saw her. She must have lost 40 pounds and looked wonderful and full of vitality. Karen told me her weight loss was a result of a healthier diet. She wasn’t feeling well and suspected it was the food that she was eating that was making her feel that way. She said she felt bloated and edgy. After reading a couple of health books she realized that she may have food allergies and started eliminating certain foods from her diet. Top of the list to eliminate: wheat and sugar. After 7 days of not eating these foods, she felt the benefits and started to lose weight…a nice side effect. “It was all about feeling better and never about losing weight,” said Karen. She never gets on a scale so she has no idea how much weight she has lost.
“It’s not about the weight, it’s all about the healing.
What I weigh does not matter.”
She did point out that when you start the better-health journey you should not look outside of yourself for validation. Most people will not understand your new diet or may even mock you, and your family will be eating differently than you do. She said she got her support through websites that concentrated on health, reading health/diet books, meditation, and meeting other people who felt the same way about food as she did.
“I feel good in my own body, and I have become aware of how different foods affect me.”
A typical day for Karen:
Breakfast~
2 Cups of black coffee and lots of water with Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar (When I asked her how much Braggs she puts in her water she said she doesn’t measure anything. She just pours some in the water and loves the taste.)
2 Hard boiled eggs with a drizzle of olive oil
Lunch~
Baked chicken with veggies
Dinner~
Same as lunch
Snack is a couple of spoonfuls of unsweetened apple sauce mixed with cashew butter throughout the day.
Karen’s tip is: Start the day eating just pure protein. It makes you feel more satisfied than starting the day with carbs.
I asked her if she ever binges. She said, “No.”
If she goes to a party and there is a cake she will have a slice and eat the entire piece (this is a rare occurrence), and she says she can feel that old sugar addiction kick in. But that is it. She then won’t have any sugar for months. She said it takes her about 7 days to get over the cravings for sugar.
Karen says what she misses most of all is crusty bread and dipping it into olive oil. She eats no dairy and drinks no alcohol nor does she miss it.
As far as exercise, Karen does yoga and takes walks but hitting the gym and sweating on a treadmill is not something she would do.
A good point that she brought up is the jealousy that you will sometimes feel when you see other people eat and drink what they want and seem to look fine or suffer no consequences. She said that you have to depend on self-loving yourself when this happens and also find your tribe; people who you relate to and that relate to you.
Karen has done a couple of fasts but does not recommend them unless you have thoroughly studied up on them and proceed under a professional’s care. She said they can be very dangerous if you are taking medications because a fast can be toxic. Proceed with extreme caution when considering a fast. She said her longest fast was for 4 days and that after 2 days she felt amazingly calm and had no cravings. But for other people who fast, they may feel horrible as toxins are released from their body. Again, the best advice if you want to do a fast is find a physician who is familiar with fasting and can offer advice.
Karen’s reading suggestions:
Alkalize or Die: Superior Health Through Proper Alkaline-Acid Balance
Theodore A. Baroody
Clean Gut: The Breakthrough Plan for Eliminating the Root Cause of Disease and Revolutionizing Your Health
Alejandro Junger
Apple Cider Vinegar Miracle Health System
Paul C. Bragg
Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health
William Davis
Sara Gottfried
Thank you for reading! Terry Ryan
D5 Creation