A Picture Worth 1000 Calories or more...

When I look at these two images and realize that I began the journey to change the way I eat almost 5 months Ago - it really hits me that there has been substantial change going on here!  Look at those Chipmunk Cheeks in 2011!  The photo thisyear/2012 I look like my younger self!  (younger is a relative word - but which is appropriate as I feel younger!).

June 25- Next Monday, we are going to do another 5 Day JUICE ONLY Reboot.  It will be interesting to see how I (we) do. I'm checking out my friends over at www.JoinTheReboot.com web site as well as the Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead face book page.  When I began this in February, it was really helpful to be able to log on to those forums and read other peoples experience as they work their way through a multi day JUICE ONLY reboot.  It's a supportive and encouraging way to NOT EAT for a week.  Some people don't need the support, but I personally enjoy it.

This past Wednesday I did break a little - but I'm not worried about it, we had a sales meeting and Danielle French from Blue Water Mortgage came in to talk with our Associates about 203K mortgage programs for buyers (in case you didn't know, I am an Associate Broker with Weichert Realtors Points East Yankee Trader serving  the Seacoast areas of  Maine & NH), ANYWAY, Danielle brought in refreshments including cheese, crackers and Wine!  I ALMOST had a glass of wine but then "chose" not to, but I did have some cheese and grapes....... I'm pretty comfortable at this stage not drinking (don't even desire it)  and as far as the cheese - I just consider it a little treat,  I try to remind myself that it's a lifestyle change, not a prison sentence. 

It's Been Almost 5 Months - Down 30 Pounds (5 more to go) - No Meat, No Poultry, No Dairy, No Processed Food And Still NOT SMOKING 

For those who haven't seen Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead yet, you can watch it on your computer by going over to http://www.JoinTheReboot.com  -  FOR FREE - or you can see it on Netflix -  We watched that and Forks Over Knives again last weekend when we went for a visit up to a friends Camp.   

Speaking of friends, we had a great time at camp and I actually took my Juicer with me.  Ted and Tammy enjoyed the juices I made each morning and were excited to continue with it after I left.  I gave them my juicer (the Waring Pro) so next time we go visit I know we'll have juice!

This is Beet, Celery, Cucumber & Apple

This is Celery, Cucumber, Apple, Spinach

There is nothing quite like going to someplace else to relax and unwind - This place was amazing as are the friends who own it.   Juice On!

Days 27-33 Change Takes Time Video Update

You've got to try this!  Cocoa Smoothy!1 Frozen Banana, 3/4 cup soy milk, 2 tsps 100% cocoa powder ( you can add some soy yogurt if you want) Amazing!  175 calories (not including yogurt)

I've been pretty busy this week - fortunately the Real Estate market in this part of the country seems to be turning around a little and things are beginning to move again.  And our juicing journey is becoming more a part of our daily lives.  33 Days!  Amazing - As I write this I'm drinking a  juice with- 6 Kale leaves, 1 beet with greens, 6 celery stalks, 1/4 cauliflower, 2" leek (white part), 2 apples.  Very refreshing.   Here's this weeks video blog.  

Days 24-26 Video Update

I had some Mushroom Puree! Does this mean I've broken the Fast?   

Day 19 & 20 - It's been 20 DAYS Today!

    20 Days!   Still Juicing 100% of the time, Still working out,  Not Smoking, No Caffeine, No WINE, No Solid food.  And I'm feeling Great.  I do find myself thinking about food every once in awhile, but I get over it pretty quickly.   I'm Going to extend my fast and try for 25 Days -  and we'll see how I feel at that point.    Bruce is still doing the modified fast (juicing and eating fruits & veggies). 

I'm actually going through my closet now looking for different pants to wear and the ones I've been wearing are getting pretty loose.  This is fun! 

This morning I made my First Grape Juice - 2 Cups Red Grapes, 2 Oranges (even though 4 are shown) 2 cups of Strawberries.   Enough for 2 8oz glasses.  Bruce said it was his favorite so far.  Great way to start a Saturday morning.  I got it from the Juicing Bible, a worthwhile purchase . 

This is becoming contagious.  It appears that if I spend anytime talking to someone about what I've been doing this last month they end up going out and buying a Juicer!  I think that is awesome!  Even if you juice once a day - the goodness that you get from it is felt immediately -  My niece Rochelle sent me this great photo today - She could be the Poster Child for Juicing.  But it's a little funny she's drinking what she calls Mutant Ninja- (carrots, lemons, apple,red grapes,celery,spinach ) in a Cola Glass. Hey what ever works!

Day 18 Plumbings Frixed

SMOOTH MOVE - Senna Tea!  Works in 6-12 Hours - Drink before you go to bed.

        Evening Juice (Bruce Hated this) - 1/4 Green Cabbage, 1/2 head Cauliflower, 6 Carrots, handful little tomatoes, handful broccoli crowns, 1 celery stalk - I love this taste!

Day 11, 12 13 Whew!

I can't beleive it's already been 13 Days!

Been busy, havent' posted in a few days.  I feel Great!  Going to keep juicing 100% of the time for another 5 days beyond what the program calls for.  Will play it by ear!  I recorded my post for today - Ya Hoo!

Day 10 - Decision Time

(sorry about the quality of audio, the treadmill picked up the sound  Oh Well!)

Decision Time! 10 days down 5 to go - We've been juicing 100% of the time for the last 5 days - Should we continue on for another 5 days of 100% Juicing or go for what the Reboot calls for and finish up the program with 5 days of Juicing and Eating Fruits and Veggies?   The decision is in - I am going to go for another 5 days of 100% juicing and Bruce will do the next 5 days Juicing and eating (fruits and vegetables).  I'm sure he is going to be preparing some amazing Vegetable dishes and by the time I'm ready to eat solid food again, he'll have some great dishes for me to try.  This is good!

This afternoon when I left the office I was getting whiffs of the food being cooked at the Blue Mermaid and it smelled sooooo good and I thought, we'll maybe I will go back to the juice/eat - but then I thought, this has been so easy, and I really want to completely change my eating habits, so what do I have to loose other than more weight!   I'm thinking 30 pounds is a good start and I'm already down 10! 

I ordered 2 books today as I had some credits left on an Amazon gift card I was given. These books  have been recommended by various people I've met through this process. The first one is  "Skinny Bitch". Here is the link to some testimonials Skinny Bitch Testimonials  from those inspired by it.  And the second one is the Juicing Bible.  "The Juicing Bible" is made up of easy-to-follow sections. Section 1 lists the properties and healing qualities of almost 100 herbs, fruits, and vegetables. Section 2 lists 60 common ailments and the recipes specifically created to alleviate those conditions. The last section contains over 150 delicious recipes and even suggests which types of juices work best during specific times of the year. Figure I'll look at these while I'm on the Treadmill!

For dinner Juice today I  made a delicious drink - Cauliflower, Broccoli, Carrots, onion (maybe a little bit less of that next time), Red Pepper, tomato, apple, strawberries!  I even gave some to the cats mixed with their food and they liked it (they liked the green juice better). 

Well that's all for now.  I'm still inspired, feeling great, (I swear, when I woke up this morning and looked at the clock, I didn't have to use my glasses - could this be?)  and still NOT smoking.

Day 9 - Where is the time going?

Day 9 of the 15 Day Reboot.   Day 4 of 100% Juicing - and Day13 of Not Smoking!  We enjoyed a variety of fruits in a breakfast juice this morning that seemed appropriate for Valentine Day - Strawberry, blueberry, honeydew, orange and apple,  Very refreshing way to start the day.  Since it was time to restock the greens, I made a green juice with a few additions:   Kale, Cucumber, Celery, Ginger, Broccoli, Carrot, Red Bell Pepper, and some Romaine ( I needed the liquid and was doing what I could to get 64 ounces for the two of us )   It tasted wonderful - We had to make another run to the vegetable store. Am sipping on a concoction of Papaya, Kiwi, Pear, Orange and Lemon Rather yummy!  

According to the Reboot program, tomorrow would be the last day of 100% juicing and we go back to juicing and eating fruits and vegetables for the last 5 days of the 15 day reboot.  I'm inclined to continue the 100% juicing a little longer - Hey I'm just getting started!  Bruce on the other hand would really like to be able to at least eat the fruits and vegetables - We'll see how it goes.

Did I mention we are sleeping like babies at night, and the juices are wonderful, and we feel great!

Oh yeah, last Tuesday I bought a scale  and when I stood on it I was at 170- this morning 160. 

And now that I've started the treadmill -  Yeah I want to keep this up - whoo-hoo! 

Well, I've got an early day tomorrow so it's time to go enjoy what's left Valentines Day with My Sweetheart!

Day 8 - Finding A Groove

8 Days of Juicing & Fruits &Vegetables only

   now Day 3 of Juicing Only

It's amazing to me that we have not had solid food since Friday.  I for one am feeling VERY Calm (Bruce as well feels calm), and I have had no desire to eat something or smoke cigarettes today.  In a million years I wouldn't have thought I'd feel this way (based on what I've been reading).

We are both waking up very early (without an alarm clock), feeling very good, and have the energy to do all the juicing that is required for the amount that we are suppose to drink during the day, and clean up afterwards before we do what we normally do in the morning. This does take a little getting use to.

I do have to say, however, that the amount pulp that is left over from juicing is amazing. If I had a compost pile, it would be working serious overtime! I hate to see it go to waste, but I just don't have the time to make broth out of it all (Nor do I have the room in my freezer).  If anyone wants it...! Bruce wants to make Pulp Chips (doesn't sound very appetizing).  Being a very good cook himself, he is thinking about solid food more than me, but is a real partner in this journey we are on. 

Bruce would also like to have some of his juice meals hot!  But the heat destroys the nutritional value of the vegetables, so whats the point there?  We are dealing with that by drinking lots of herbal tea in between, at least it's hot!.   Finding a groove... it is a learning experience no doubt! 

I'm all set up and ready to start using my treadmill again. Bruce put up a stand for my laptop so I can use it while walking (talk about multi-tasking)  Walked for 30 minutes today (taking it slow to start).

I'm loving the way I/we feel- Ya-hoo!

Here's our easy juicing for the day.

Breakfast
16 oz each Super C juice





Lunch
32 oz each Green Juice





Evening Juice - 
16 oz each - Cauliflower/Broccoli Pop (I made this up) - 2 handfuls of broccoli florets, 1/4 head of cauliflower - 1 carrot - 1/2 red bell pepper - 1 tomato - 1 celery stalk - a chunk of jicama 1/2 apple.
(pretty Yummy)

Water throughout the day
Bruce had an additional 4 bottles (16 oz each) of water
Deb had 3 additional bottles of water  (16 oz each)
Plus lots of herbal tea.

Day 7 - Juicing Day - Day 11 No Smoking

After 7 Days total, today is Day 2 of 100% Juicing only - I'm actually surprised that I'm not going completely crazy wanting solid food.  I think starting the 100% juicing on the weekend helped as we've stayed in, laid low, made a fire, watched some movies and tried some different juices.  Just taking it easy. 

Other than that I feel fine- haven't even used the gum today! Bruce is doing well also - He'd really like to have some "chewable" food but I keep bugging him to drink more water . WATER IS GOOD!

Did some walking today on the Treadmill for about 35 minutes. Nice and Easy!

However, feeling a tad bound up if you know what I mean- Apple cider Vinegar in a glass of water (hasn't helped), broke down and had a cup of black coffee (didn't help)...  Not going to worry about it today.   

I have to admit we did go to BJ's yesterday as Bruce wanted to try some of the 100% juice already made (processed) - so we bought a couple quarts one Green one Carrot.  I like the fresh juice better, but in a pinch I suppose that would work.

Morning - we both had
Sunset Blend Juice (from reboot recipes) (1 sweet potato, 1 carrot, 1 red bell pepper, 1 beet (it called for 2) 2 Apples, and  1/4 lemon (it called for 1 orange optional).

Mid Morning
Carrot Juice (We bought some from BJ's to try it out - In a pinch this would be ok)

Lunch / Dinner
Green Juice- 1/2 cucumber, 6 leaves Kale, 2 cups spinach, 4 stalks Celery, 2 Apples, 1" ginger - Today I added some additional ingredients - I added about 1/4 butternut squash (with peel), 1 golden Beet. (I made a very big batch of this so we'd have it for the day).

Drank lots of herb tea

Will probably finish up the evening with some Berry Drink! But I'm all done with the computer today so ---- Tomorrow is another day - Ya Hoo!

Day 6 - Moving on to 100% Juicing

After 5 Days of Juicing/Eating F&V
Today BEGINS 5 DAYS of

100% Juicing

Fruits and Vegetables 

80% Vegetables to 20% Fruits.

We will Drink All of our meals and snacks for the next 5 Days! 

  

I found a great website called www.RawFoodsExplained.com  and the following is from lesson 21 and  says
 "...The person who starts a better diet... During the initial phase (lasting about ten days on the average to several weeks in some), the vital energies which are usually in the periphery or external part of the body much as the muscles and skin begin to move to the vital internal organs and start reconstruction. This shunting of much of the power to the internal region produces a "feeling of less energy in the muscles which the mind interprets as some weakness. Actually, the power is increased, but most of it is being used for rebuilding the more important organs and less of it is available for muscular work. Any weakness which is felt here is not true weakness, but merely a re-deploying of forces to the more important internal parts. Here it is important for the person to stop wasting energy, and to rest and sleep more. This is a crucial phase and if the person resorts to stimulants of any kind, he will abort and defeat the regenerative efforts of the body. It is important that he have patience and faith here and just wait it out, and after a while he will get increasing strength which will exceed by far what he felt before he began the new program. Success in recovery or improvement of health hinges upon the correct understanding of this point—realizing that the body is using its main energies in more important internal work and not wasting it in external work involving muscle movements. Be wise—take it easy here and relax. Just coast in your work and social obligations until you're out of the woods."   read more

Well it's off to do something interesting today - going to make it up as we go along!  Maybe explore the Health Food Store! Heard they make fresh juices!    Another Day of Not Smoking!  Ya-hoo!

Foods Juiced for Day 6 - 100%
Morning - we both had
8 oz Super C Juice  - (1/2 Red Bell Pepper, 1/2 Grapefruit, 1/2 orange, 1/4 lemon)

Mid Morning - we both had
8 oz Green Juice ( Kale, Spinach, apples, cucumber, ginger, celery)

Lunch
I had the Gardner 10 oz (from Portsmouth Health Food Store)
Bruce had The Beetnick 10 oz (from Portsmouth Health Food Store)

Mid afternoon - both had
8 oz Green Juice (see above)

Dinner:
8 oz The Invention (Bruce had 16 oz) (this was a mistake and I'm not sure it's okay to use. I steamed, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Onion, Mushrooms and butternut squash) then I took some humus and put it all in the blender with some mustard, apple cider vinegar, celery, apple and some vegetable stock I made and blended it for a long time.  Cold is was mustardy - Bruce  put his in the microwave and added some Siracha to it.   I think everything but the humus was ok - I'll just stick to juicing! Ha!

Evening We both had
8 oz - Us - Berry Cantaloupe Shake- 1 Cantaloupe (with skin & seeds) - 10 Strawberries - makes 2 servings -

Numerous cups of herbal tea throughout the say as well as water

Haven't Slept Like That In A Long Time

Amazing amount of sleep last night. And I feel Great this morning.  Is it the juice? is it the fact I quit smoking, or quite Caffeine?   Don't know and really don't care. It was great.   Did pretty well - day 1 of not smoking . Day 2 here I come! 3 Days Until Reboot -

Super C Juice for breakfast - 1/2 red pepper, 4 Carrots, 1/2 grapefruit/1 orange, 1/2 lemon made 2 servings and it was yummy - 

Prepared Lunch while still drinking Super C!  Green Juice  - 2 Cups Spinach, 6 leaves Kale, 4 stalks Celery, 1/2 Cucumber, 1" Ginger, 2 Apples, 1/2Lemon-  added extra of everything to yield 2- 16 oz glasses.  Take them to work and drink during the day. 

I am Off and Running (not literally)! I love the colors!

Quit Smoking Today, Stopped Coffee...

Well today is Day 1 of NOT smoking -
And only 4 days until Reboot!

 I bought Equate Nicotine Gum to aid in this process - You are suppose to chew one piece every 1 to 2 hours.  Each piece has 2mg of nicotine (but none of the other bad stuff).   My last cigarette was about 7:30 last night.  And I chewed my first piece of "gum" at 8:30 this morning, then another one at 10:30, 1:30, (tried to stretch it out) 3:30.... I'll be doing this every couple of hours (increasing the time between pieces at specific timeframes) during the next  12 weeks if you follow the guidelines on the box!  How does it taste you might ask?   Like Mint Gum, with a strange little tingle to it.

I guess you could say I'm Just  A LITTLE HYPER SENSITIVE  right now - I've cried 4 times at my desk today when I read or heard something even slightly sad or slightly heartfelt.... And I don't seem to have much patience for stupid things!  Maybe I should take a week off and hide - NOT - JUST DO IT!

Green Juice

Oh yeah, I've been cutting down on the caffeine in preparation for the 15 Day reboot (NO CAFFEINE or ALCOHOL during the Reboot) and yesterday was my last day for Caffeinated Coffee.  This morning I had a Berry/Ginsing decaffeinated tea before my breakfast (which was the Green Juice).   So far, I've not had any headaches!   

I'm drinking bottled water and keep 3 bottles on my desk (each is 16oz), so I know what I have left to drink.  Beleive it or not - that takes getting use to!  For llunch I made the Green Juice and added Beets and Carrots to it!   Interesting, but it's certainly better than eating the beets (yuk).  Actually it was good.

I did a little restocking last night - as I'm finding I really like the Greens and am using them in most of my Juicing. 

I went to Market Basket and was pleasantly surprised at the variety of fruits and vegetables and their prices!   Only Spent $40.00 and filled the Refrigerator and Fruit Bowls.

It was so cool to just go to the Vegtable Department
 and skipped everything else (what a no-brainer)

I Like this and haven't even started the Reboot Yet!

By the end of my work day, the twinges to get up and go outside to have a smoke were their but not the craving to have a smoke (if that makes sense).  But I think in order to preserve sanity and my relationship, I should follow the gum directions to the T - (ever 2 hours not 3 like I did today).

If you want to comment, or ask any questions, or even voice your support, please do,
and I hope you will follow our little adventure.