Day Three Ends

Today was pretty good!   I did eat some solid food along with the juicing - but it was pomegranate seeds, raw almonds, and 1 baby carrot.  So I don't consider that a failure at all :)

Instead of laying around the house, I went and visited my daughter and grandson.  He is absolutely adorable and we played outside on his scooter......  I was even actively playing with him.  And then he asked me if I could take him to Humpty Dumpty's house.  This is a child's place that has things for little ones to do based on nursery rhymes and has alot of walking and activity.   After getting my daughter's permission, off we went.

Now I do have to admit that I was a bit out of breath getting ready in the morning, but throughout the day, my energy level was relatively good.  I was able to walk the entire time with my grandson and stand there watching him play without feeling the need to sit!   (my chronic illness).   We had a blast and spent an hour there.  But I was glad when he said it was time to go :)

My son even tried some of the appley juice I made this evening and said it wasn't that bad.  I left out the collard greens and the bitterness was gone (still had broccoli and spinach though).

Working tomorrow, so we'll see how things go.

Day Three Begins

And so begins Day Three.   I feel pretty good overall, but lazy about the juice.  I don't really want to make myself get up and make a juice.  But when I push myself and do so, I make the cucumbery tasting juice, it is so easy and I actually tolerate this flavor pretty well.   In fact, I kind of like it - I can see myself drinking this one regularly.

I think I'll go see my grandson today instead of laying around all day.   And I need to go to the store for non-food items so gotta keep my motivation up to walk past all the food items.    But I have to go to the store :(

2.5 days and counting!!!!!

p.s. I've lost 4 pounds so far which is always a bonus!

Day Two - oops

Day Two started and I was very tired until I had my first juice.  I made the same kind with the cucumbery taste and I did decent in drinking it down.   I gradually gained energy and did some puttering around and even picked up my drycleaners.......but then around 2, the cravings started.

Every time I saw a snack or food on tv, I wanted a snack sooooo bad.  I was watching Season 1 of 90210 (yummy Dylan McKay lol) and boy does that show have alot of food!

So I reached out to all my supports.....and everyone said, stay strong.   So I went to bed and turned on Jack Lemmon, The Front Page - cutest movie.  I dozed and had a dream I was eating sunflower seeds.   I woke up around 4 and CAVED!    I figured 1 m&m from the pack of m&m's leftover from my grandson's Halloween candy wouldn't hurt..and maybe 1 ritz cracker.    So I did it.  I ate them........and then 2 more ritz crackers.....and then I justified eating a zone protein bar because it's "healthy enough" and would make me stop craving foods.   Funny thing, it didn't taste nearly as good as it normally does.   But the ritz crackers did so I kept eating them until the entire roll was done.    Again, I justify it all as they say not to feel like a failure if you relapse.

I know what my problem is, I should have made a juice for lunch but I was so lazy and didn't want to drink one.  I know if I had, then I would have stayed stronger

I did make a juice for dinner.   A new recipe with radishes, carrots, celery, kale, and green onion.  Tastes very dirty and radishy (yes, I wash my veggies first).    Definitely the worst of the 3 recipes I've chosen for my 5 day juicing.

So 3 more days to go......   I'm committed, even if I"m not perfect.  

Day One Evening

Well the evening of the first day was achy and tired.  I went to Target with my daughter and halfway through our shopping extravaganza I had to ask her to go get me a scooter.  Now, before you freak out thinking this happens to everyone who juices - this is my body with my illness and I am known to use scooters on occasion.  But last night turned into one of those nights :(

My daughter stayed and hung out with me watching the old movie, Clue.  A bit odd movie, but it was nice to hang out and lay on the couch while she made crafts and we watched a movie.   Thanks to my Randi :)

Day One

Day One started with lots of motivation and energy......and then I began drinking my juice.  It was the same one from the night before and the taste was very apple-y and bitter too. I began drinking it on my 5 minute walk to work and gave myself 30 minutes to drink it all.   Well, it took about an hour and determination and water to wash it down.  It's not that bad, it's just different and the more I drank, the more my stomach didn't enjoy it.

But I did it.

Then I got lazy and didn't go home to make a juice for lunch.  Instead I decided to skip it and wait for dinner.  I think because I didn't want to drink it.   I came home a bit tired from work and took an hour nap.....the tiredness and achiness were setting in.   And I realized, OOOPS, I haven't factored in my body's reaction to things.  I tend to get achy and tired from my illness.  What if Day Two and Day Three of the crash extend to a longer period of time because my body is not 'normal'?   I guess we'll have to wait and see!

So I have made my juice for dinner.  I am getting a bit proficient at using the juicer :)   This drink has cucumber in it, which I am ok with cucumber.   However, the drink is like liquid cucumber and that is a bit odd.   There is spinach, kale, carrots, apples, and cucumber in this drink.  I have my water ready to  help me wash down this juice before I head to Target with my daughter.  I have realized that I should get some more cups (with the fitted lid/straw) because one cup isn't going to be enough unless I wash constantly.  And it's bad enough I have to wash the juicer immediately after making juice. 

My movies are set up in my room so I can lay in bed and watch movies tomorrow.  I selected my old Jack Lemmon movies - he was such a cutie.  And I have all my supplies I'll need.   Of course, the kiddo's are on standby too and they will come assist me if needed.

So, here's hoping that tomorrow isn't completely bedridden!!!!

The Practice Juice

I did it!!!!!   I made my first juice.  I chose a recipe that had some fruit along with the veggies so it wouldn't be totally awful.   It's broccoli, kale, collard greens, apples, and green grapes.

It was quite interesting and exhilarating at the same time!   Watching the produce turn into GREEN juice was cool.  The smell was overwhelming - maybe the spinach.  

And I drank 3 sips so far.  The taste is just sitting in my mouth, I can taste the apple...but its a bit bitter too.  And my stomach is not sure whether it likes it or not. 

BUT I DID IT!!!!

I'll drink about 1/3 of this cup tonight and then the rest in the a.m. for breakfast. 

Now I'm off to go clean the juicer....thank goodness I like to clean LOL

Why Green?

Why am I on this juicing journey?  Why green and why now?

As I've struggled over the past 4.5 years of chronic illness impacting my life, I've known that improving my diet could only be beneficial to me.  But the willpower required to stop the Pepsi-aholic ways just was more than I had.  A couple months ago, a friend of mine mentioned the movie 'Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead' and the juicing journey that significantly improved a couple guys' health issues.   I became intrigued and slowly warmed to the idea.

But then I decided to celebrate my 5 year anniversary of being sick (yes, I celebrate each anniversary) by going to a Maroon 5 concert.   I splurged and bought floor seat tickets for myself and my two sisters, along with plane tickets to the state my sisters live in and where the concert would be.  This is a huge deal for me and I knew I had to 'train' for the concert because of the crowd, noise, and amount of standing that would be required.  Yes, standing for lengthy periods is difficult for me still.

Combining all these emotions of being tired of being sick, learning about juicing, excitement to see the concert, all increased my willpower and motivation. Then I thought about the possibility of maybe even getting off my medication - if this juicing and healthy eating/living allow my body and my autonimic nervous system to begin working 100% or even 90%.   Even more motivation.  And then there is always the benefit of weight loss - and while I"m excited for this, it isn't my primary goal.

And lastly, but not last, my sister is on her own journey toward health and I am so proud that she is walking miles daily...in fact, I'm a bit jealous.  But her journey is only motivating me more.

I started by eliminating Pepsi and eating as healthy as possible.  I started this on Nov 26th.  4.5 weeks later, no Pepsi's although I have eaten junk a bit here and there.   I decided to do a 5 day juice cycle and the more I thought about the benefits, the more excited I became.

I expect that I'll be crashing on day 2 and 3 so I planned it around that.  I start tonight to do a practice juice and then tomorrow is Day One.  The weekend will be Day Two and Three.   Monday will be Day Four and I figure I'll be able to work anyways.  Then Day FIve is New Years Day.  So I only work Day One and Four.

At the end of Day Five, depending on how I'll feel then I'll decide whether to do 5 more days of just juicing or whether I'll start adding in food.  But when I do add in the food, it will be as unprocessed as possible.  Veggies, Fruits, lean meats.

I'm excited.........so here goes :)

Intro to Green

Green is my favorite color.  And when I say favorite color, I mean FAVORITE color.  You come into my home and all you see is green.  Green frog knickknacks, green couch pillows, green couch throws, green towels, green bedding, green clothing.   When I go shopping, I always turn to purchase green things.   It is the most relaxing color and dare I say it, I look good in green.

So why would it take me so long to realize that I should eat green.  If I love green on the outside, then wouldn't my body love green on the inside? 

My love of green has increased over the years, but my love of junk food has been there since childhood.  I remember having to drink milk - YUCK - and all I remember from childhood is how we had to eat our veggies and fruit at the dinner table.  I always wanted junk food, so badly that when I began making my own money from babysitting and then a job at Burger King the majority of my money started going toward candy, soda, fast food.

And this love of junk food didn't change even though I raised 3 children.  I was drinking a six pack of Pepsi a day and candy bars by the handful.   My choice of candy would change periodically but you can never go wrong with a Reeses.

This brings us to Feb 14, 2008 at 9 pm pt.   Yep, I remember the exact moment my life began its new journey.  The moment my autonomic nervous system went out of whack.   Upon retrospect, my body had been troubled for years but I always assumed it was blood sugar issues and the only people who knew I struggled were my kids.  On this date, at this time, the problems were no longer occasional and minor but were constant and horrible.  I became basically bedridden and couch ridden.  I could no longer clean my house, walk to the mailbox, or basically do anything - even taking a shower became very difficult.   After 3 months of the local doctors not knowing what it was or what to do, I sent myself to the Mayo Clinic.  They diagnosed me with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) which is a form of dysautonomia.   After medication and a year of physical therapy, I was able to walk a mile in an hour using my walker.

Gradually I've improved and throughout the last nearly 5 years, I've worked here and there on my diet.  I've eliminated Pepsi only to start backup.  I've eaten healthy only to binge again on junk food.  I call Pepsi my gateway drug as when I'm drinking Pepsi, my body has cravings for junk food.  Junk and Pepsi go hand in hand.  But when I drink alot of water, my body tends to crave healthy food.

So here we are........back to green.  I've decided to change my focus and approach to food.   I'm embarking on a new journey of juicing and healthy eating living.   Tonight it starts..5 days of green juicing and you get to come along with me.  (aren't you lucky?)