Day 21-23 - Over Did It On Fruits!

Down 17 pounds in 23 Days! 

 23 Days Total!

18 Days of 100% Juicing - Down 17 Pounds

Had a rough couple days from to much Fruit Juicing!

Saturday morning I got up and juiced Grape Orange and Strawberry, along with my green juice. When I came home later in the day and early evening - I decided to make a Grape, Strawberry Banana smoothie (I had frozen the the bananas). So I juiced the Grapes and Strawberries, then poured the juice in the blender and added the bananas. All is well.

I woke up Sunday ( the 26th) with some pretty hefty lower abominable pains. Not thinking, I went ahead and made another juice of Grapes and Cantaloupe - I pretty much laid low all day, but my abominable pains (cramps) kept getting worse. Bruce made me some Smooth Move Tea.

Nothing really helped and I was seriously considering breaking the fast - but I talked to a few VEGAN friends, and almost everyone concurred. I had injested to many acid fruits in my stomach and as one person said I was having a gastrointestinal crisis - and that I should eat some Soy Yogurt. Of course I went over to the Health Food store and bought some - it's funny, it was Blueberry and because I haven't had solid food in awhile, I didn't eat the blueberries (AT FIRST) then I figured, for crying out loud Debbie Mae, it's not going to kill you so I ate the few that were there! Bruce also bought some Acidophilus which is suppose to be good bacteria.  As of 6:28 2/28 things are much, much better than Sunday or even Monday!

So this morning I made a Cauliflower Cocktail

(3 Tomatoes, 3 Carrots, 1/2 Cauliflower, 2-3 spears of Brocolli, 2 Apples, 2 Celery Stalks -

Yum Yum and even tasted EXCELLENT for breakfast! and The Mean Green For Lunch.

 

I'm actually cooking dinner tonight for Bruce I'm roasted vegetables in a dish called "Escalivada", and Pea Soup! I have to tell you it's driving me crazy and I have licked the spoon!

In my video blog above I talked about the ingredients for the Field of Greens,  which you can add to your juices (or water). You can buy this in large containers (about $30.00). But I just bought some small packets to give it a try.  I'm going to use it with my Green Juice ingredients (Spinach, Cucumber, Celery, Ginger Root, 2 Apples, 1/2 lemon and if I don't have Kale I'll use this).   I am curious to know how much of juiced Kale I get using 6 leaves, vs one of these?) - But this sounds like a good alternative if you are somewhere where you cannot juice and you want to be good!

Still Loving It! Ya Hoo!

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!

Bruce Makes Portuguese Soup

Without Linquica Sausage. (No I didn't eat any)

 

Here is his receipe

2 Tbls olive oil

1/2 white onion

2 Carrots thinly slices

2 Celery Sticks

2 Tomatoes chopped or diced

4 Coves of garlic, smashed and diced

1 Red pepper diced

1 large potato diced (I would have used a sweet potato)

2 no salt beef bouillon cubs with 1 quart water (he forgot I made Vegetable Broth)

1 Bunch Kale

Tyme and Rosemary (he just eyeballed it)

Not using the Linquica, he spiced it up a bit by using Red Pepper flakes (your choice)

I tasted the broth- it was yummy!  Something to look forward to when I finish my fast!

2.23.12

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 17 - Trying Senna Tea

Everything is great- except for the plumbing! Think I need roto-rooter! I bought some Organic Smooth Move Senna Stimulant Laxative Tea today when I did my veggy shopping. It's suppose to work in 6-12 hours so I'm going to be drinking a cup of it in another half hour or so!

 So for the next day or so the breakfast drink is going to to include Licensed Plumbers (Beets, Pears, Apples) along with some carrot (which I really like the taste of in all kinds of juices).

I know I've lost the weight but I don't see it other than my clothes are fitting better (I look in the mirror and honestly don't see any changes).  So. my belt is my measurement guide, Bruce put a marker of where I started. That really puts it into perspective from my point of view.

Smoking is non-existent in my life now! Don't even think about it unless someone asks. Great Stuff.

When I got home from shopping I was sooooo hungry - I made a Green Juice with  Kale, 1/2 head Green Cabbage, 4 Carrots and an Apple.  It was GREAT!

Bruce is also doing great, while he's eating (vegetables), he's still very much Juicing and drinking tons of water. 

Well That's all for day 18!

Day 16 - Hmmm Bought Some Prunes Today

Moving into new territory extending my Juice Reboot - 100 % Juice as many times a day as I want, with lots of water.  Felt pretty good, but I'm just a little bound up. With just juice going into my body, I understand that it can create this kind of hold up on the pipe cleaning. So this morning I made a Beet Juice (Have I mentioned I HATE Beets!), with Honeydew, Carrots, and Pears.   I wouldn't say it helped but it sure tasted good!

Had Green Juice all day with TONS of water -

On the way home I stopped and bought some dried prunes and made a concoction of  1 Yam, 1 tomato, 2 oranges, juiced it up then poured it into a blender and added about half dozen prunes and strawberries and ice.  Made a hell of a smoothie!  Will it work?  don't know. 

Bruce made a Portebella burger  (dam I didn't take a photo of it ) for his dinner with a salad.  It was a big huge Portebella with roasted red peppers, jalapenos, spinach and pickles stuff in a whole wheat Pita (with spicy mustard and ketchup?) God it looked delicious and apparently was.  He woofed it down with his salad.  We'll see how he feels in an hour.

With the exception of this constipation, I'm feeling good. Bruce is all over the Internet looking for plant based recipes!   This is really becoming a comfortable routine each day. 
Oh, several people asked how will I break the fast when I'm done.  According to Join The Reboot, you ease your way back, by going back to week 1 (juicing and eating fruites and veggies) and eating that way for one week. The next week you'd add nuts, beans...., then the 3rd week ease into your regular diet (hopefully you've learned new habbits and will be eating healthier foods )....  That's what I plan to do.  Well, that's all for today.

DAY 15 OF 15 - The Results

Day 15 of 15

Well we have completed 15 days on the Join the Reboot Fruit and Vegetable "Reboot"

In 15 Days -

I quit smoking - and quit using the "gum" and feel great

I quit Caffeine and feel great

I'm working out 3 times a week (to start)

Our sleeping has improved

Our energy levels are incredible

Our Stress levels are WAY lowwwww

We are more focused in what we do

Our clothes fit MUCH better

Our skin is smoother

We've developed a new appreciation for fruits and vegetables

We've had our eyes opened to new ways of getting our nutrients from sources

other than Dairy (which was a big one for both of us - eggs, cheese, milk, butter) which we will incorporate into our way of eating. When we eat Meat, Poultry, Fish it will be fewer days a week, and smaller portions - I don't think I'm 100% ready to give that up just yet, but may feel different by the time this journey is over.

The 15 days were broken out as follows

We ate and juiced nothing but fruits and vegetables for the first 5 days

Then I Juiced 100% of the time for the remaining 10 days

Bruce juiced 100% day 6-10 and the remaining 5 days he juiced for Breakfast, Lunch and then ate Vegetables for Dinner

Our Juices were for the most part Super C & Mean Green (but now I have the Juice Bible with tons of receipes)

In 15 Days

We both lost 14 pounds each

(yes that's my weight on the scales below, have 25 more to go)

So you might think we are anxious to get back to a regular diet  again. 

We have both decided that we are going to continue the Reboot

 (I will continue with 100% Juicing, Bruce will do both)

 so tomorrow will be day 16 of ? (We will extend it 5 days at a time,and see how we are doing)

I cannot recommend this enough!

Video Receipes

I discovered some recipes in video format from a website called www.wholefoodmarket.com  - And when I finish my Fast, I'm going to be using some of them.  I've embedded a few of the video recipes  I liked below.  I like them especially for their marinades and ingredients which I can't wait to make.
 (here is the link to their video page with more recipes  click here)

The first one is a smoothie made in the blender - I haven't used the blender much during my reboot - but I liked this one and I'll try it with (non dairy milk - that will be a first for me! ) - I think the longer I stay on this fast the more enticed I am going to be about a "Plant Based" diet. 



Kale Salad - Since I'm still Fasting - this had my mouth watering!
Quinoa with Balsamic Roasted Mushrooms - I'm in heaven

Day 14 - The Journey Continues

Day 14 of 15 Day Reboot - Just Getting Started!

Cabbage Patch Juice - Yummy

Today was the first day I felt hungry and I know why -   I left the house without any water, or my Green Juice and ended up doing a bunch of running around all day.   So by the time I hooked up with Bruce in town, I was feeling hungry. But what do you order when your Fasting!  We weren't planning on staying in town so we ordered some herbal tea and because I was hungry, sitting in the restaurant and smelling the food was starting to get to me (had I had my juice I would have been fine).

So it was time to get out of town, I picked up some more veggies, stopped by the office to check the mail and the two books I ordered were in.   I bought the Juicing Bible and Skinny Bitch (both recommended by someone else doing the Reboot).  After getting home and having the Green Juice I forgot to take with me earlier,  I was skimming through the Juicing Bible and liked how the book is laid out. There are all kinds of recipes for this condition, or that emotion or ailment...  so I took a couple and mixed them together to come up with a dinner juice.   I named it Cabbage Patch - I didn't really measure anything, just cut a big slice of green cabbage, about a 1/4 head of  Cauliflower, a zucchini, red bell pepper, 5 carrots, and a tomato - I just kept adding until I had enough for the 2 of us.  The flavors were very different from the Green Juice (which is the primary juice we are drinking).  It tasted crisp like a big salad, the cauliflower really popped and with the cabbage it had a spicy "salty"  taste to it.   It was what I needed. Bruce didn't like it as much as the Mean Green Juice.  Oh Well,  but  I guess what I'm saying, is you can pretty much juice any kind a veggy's and it (so far) tastes good.

Just thought I'd share that!

Oh my god, the book Skinny Bitch is hysterical! I just started reading it and can't help laughing. I love the way these women write - they are in your face.  For example, Chapter 1, page 1, first paragraph  "...You need to get healthy if you want to get skinny. The first thing you need to do is give up your gross vices. Don't act surprised! You cannot keep eating the same shit and expect to get skinny".     And it goes on like this as they try to help the reader understand that it is about changing what you are putting into your body if you want to loose weight and keep it off.  I understand they have a cook book as well, I can't wait to see how they describe their recipes.

Time for some type of night-cap juice!  Ya hoo!

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!