Day 16

I am just over half way there!The end of my second week was bad. I had a terrible juice that wasn't juice at all. It was almond milk (homemade), a banana and spirulina. (Which is one of the best sources of protein you can get, if you blend it properly). Oh it was gross! I was feeling lonely and I didn't think I could do it anymore. Here's what I realized after I held on and watched Jason Vale's coaching videos on an app on my Ipad.

 #1-I realized I feel weak when I don't drink enough water.
#2-I had a dinner party over the weekend and that was hard! Sushi, Chinese food are some of my favorite foods, but I brought my juice and focused on people instead of eating.
#3-The next day my husband brought over some good friends with a whole lot of appetizers from a restaurant. That is when I felt truly alone. I held it together and I am so grateful that I did. I had a yummy juice to drink as I watched them eat greasy food. I was amazed I felt satisfied and fed. It was very empowering!
So moving on...

The best part of this 28 day journey, is I started exercising with some ladies in my neighborhood at 6 AM!! Although they are not juicers, we have so much fun together and get a great workout over and done with early! Plus they don't ask me stupid things about why I'm juicing and where I get all my nutrients. UM...people never cared when I was killing myself with nasty fast food and processed junk. Now suddenly everyone is worried that because I am drinking and blending raw veggie and fruit juice with avocados, they are concerned now? Doesn't that seem weird? I do! Anyway, those girls with their amazing calves and strong chests...they make me laugh and keep me motivated! They all have saved my life during this journey.

I have lost 9 pounds and I am very close to my goal. My skin is clearing up and my skin heals itself very fast. I have more energy even though I still have long days and I get tired, I feel really good! It's working! I am starting to see the light! I am feeling gratitude for good and wholesome food, and I am looking forward to eating with my family again. Well, eating what I have prepared with them. Even though I sit at the table with them, it's not the same. This journey has helped me gain control of my life again and especially the way I see food and what role it plays in my life. I love the process of making juice in the morning. It is a metaphor to my life.

 Prepare, Do, Clean up and Give Thanks...

REPEAT!

DAY 9

Today I am starting to understand and recognize my feelings I have toward food. I feel energetic, positive and I feel very clear headed of the things I should do and the goals I have for myself.
I went swimming alone a few days ago. My husband came home early from work and said, "Go do something fun." I had no earthly idea what to do with myself. I didn't want to go spend money and I didn't want to exercise outside (I strongly dislike being cold). So I thought I would go swimming. I had a punch pass to my local Rec center so I packed up my suit and headed off. I felt kind of weird not having my kids with me and getting in the hot tub was new because you can't let your kids get in there. I was super relaxed and just about the time I started to feel light headed from the hot water, I jumped in the pool and swam around the BIG kid pool. In the corner of my eye, I saw the big, yellow, indoor water slide that my kids love so much. I realized I have never been on it since I always had a baby in my arms or a toddler in the water to keep safe. I took my 35 year old self up the stairs and went down that water slide!!! It was so fun! I may or may not have raised my arms in the air as I plunged into the water at the end....IT WAS SO FUN! So I did it again! Who does that? Well...I did and you can to! Find that thing that you used to love doing as a kid and play! It was balm to my soul!

I had a really good juice today and it has:

-2 apples
-2 carrots
-1 stalk of celery
-1 inch slice of ginger
-3 to 4 basil leaves
-1 inch slice of fennel bulb
Juice together and serve on ICE!

Yeah it was legit! It was tasty and I very much dislike fennel!

DAY 7

Well I have one week of Super Juicing under my belt. The longest amount of time I have juiced is 7 days. My acne is improving and I have more energy, especially when I exercise! The first 3 or 4 days I was more tired and I tried to take a nap on those days. I have been drinking 2-3 Liters of water as well so I haven't had any headaches like I have had in the past. The greatest thing is that I have had the energy to exercise everyday!

My husband was gone this last week and I discovered my loneliness combined with taking care of my children has a tremendous impact on my moods. DUH! However, combine that with addictive eating, that is not good for me or anyone! Usually I will hunker down and get pizza, candy, and popcorn and pig out and watch movies while he is gone. This week, I called up my support team! I called my sister and invited myself over for dinner. That helped a lot! Another day I wore his coat because it smelled like him and it sounds crazy, but it helped. I also made dinner and hung out with my kids. At times it has been difficult to cook food for the family, but if I have my juice and drink it during it's not a big deal. Turning to people instead of food or TV for support is key in this journey of health for me.

By day 4 I was feeling lighter! The pizza party at a neighbors house was tough, but I kept thinking, I CAN have anything I want, I just DON'T want that right now. That was a massive mind shift for me and I felt empowered.

Now on Day 7, I feel momentum to keep going and I feel very clear headed! When I wake up, I wake up and I'm not dragging my feet to get the kids ready for the day. I also asked a neighbor if I could exercise with her and that too has motivated me! I just weighed myself today and I have lost 7 pounds!!!! Woohoo! I will post about my juices! There have been only 2 that have not been great. One of them I tweaked a bit and that. was. BAD!!! Happy Juicing!

28 DAYS-NO MORE EXCUSES

DAY ONE

So far so good! I am feeling good! Probably because I took a nap today!

 I just got back from a trip in which our family rode the train for 27 HOURS....so I got back really late so I decided to get my produce for the next day, in the morning! Got up and had hot water with a slice of lime(I was out of lemon).

After the kids went to school, I went to the store to get the fruit and veggies. My biggest tip for juicing or really anyone with families who eats a lot of apples, is to buy a case at the store. Did you know that you can buy a case of apples? My husband got me a case of GOLDEN DELICIOUS apples for a birthday present! So lame I know, but that is true love people!

I am following Jason Vale's 28 day Super Juice me program. The first week you need 32 apples-Golden delicious or gala only! I bought a weeks worth of produce for my juicing and without the box of apples (I still had a lot from the last case I bought) and minus the pineapples because a neighbor so sweetly left 2 in my fridge while I was gone, it came to $80. A little pricey, but the alternative for me is obesity in the future, acne forever, depression, and needing therapy = lots of money you will never get back! Invest in your health before you get sick! I don't want to waste my money anymore on pills, creams, and other things that only mask the problem!

So I got out the juicer and blender and got crackin'...or juicin', I should say. I made the first juice fresh and then I made the 2 juices that I drink in the afternoon and stored it in my airtight containers. As quickly as possible I put them in the fridge! I also have been drinking a lot of water!
The night juice I made fresh so I could have it with my family for dinner! Day one of a juice day is always good for me. I feel optimistic and I only feel hungry when it's time for my juice. I feel lighter and my skin already looks more hydrated. The junky food terrorist is what I am determined to starve! That is what I call the thoughts that pop into my head that tell me to eat things I don't want to have! I'm sure I will have my cranky day soon...so for now...I'm going to bed feeling satisfied and hopeful!

I use an app to make my juices! Preparation is key! A clean kitchen is always a must! 

This was my first juice which I think a little tart because my pineapple wasn't ripe.

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

-Hippocrates

Well I'm doing it! I am going to see juicing through 28 days to heal my body! I have struggled for years with terrible acne, allergies and food addiction that has lead to a lot of weight gain! I also struggle with depression after the birth of my children. 

I love juicing and I have lost 25 pounds doing it. I love the way I feel and how juicing is my medicine most days! I have seen improvements in my acne during different times I have gone 5 or 7 days only consuming fresh fruit and vegetable juice, but slowly stress creeps in and I seem to go into the same food addictions as before. Then my acne returns and the weight starts to go on again. Although not as severe as before, I start to incorporate juicing more in my routine again. I can get back on track faster and sooner.  I still have 15 pounds that have stayed around, I get depressed mostly in the winter and my acne is so severe sometimes, it consumes my life and I loose my confidence!

I saw the Super Juice Me documentary by Jason Vale and I was blown away with the results of the healing that took place by people living on fresh juice for 28 days! So for the past 6 months, I really thought about doing this. I want to see how I can reduce or even eliminate my acne, severe hay-fever and my weight issues.

With food addiction, I am always feeling like I am depriving myself of something rather than I GET to nourish my body by eating. When I juice, I truly feel I CAN have anything I want, I just don't WANT it. But I have never gone long enough to really heal my body and starve the junky food terrorist to death. What I realize is that I use food as the exact thing to create more stress in my body than to heal it. I heard it explained once this way.....If you have been wearing ski boots all day, what is going to feel the best at the end of a day of skiing? To take them OFF! So normally after a stressful day I think that to make myself feel better, I should eat a PAN (I'm not kidding) of brownies! That is the exact thing that stresses my body out! Not to put those boots on and walk around the house for a few more hours! I have become like a drug addict that to get that high again I have to consume the very thing that made me have that low of low's in the first place. And that my one reader- is why I need to change...again! I hope that makes sense. 

So I'm going to do it! Prepare to be amazed! Actually I am preparing so that I can be amazed to be honest! Here's to you making and living your true life and accomplishing hard things that you never thought possible! See you in 2015!

Martin Luther King Jr.- The Drum Major Instinct

Today I was inspired! I was inspired by my 10 year old son.

Our school district held a competition for grades K-12 to deliver a speech that  Martin Luther King Jr. gave. With a lot of coaching from a special teacher at his school, he learned and recited one the most inspiring speeches I have ever heard. In it's entirety, the sermon was almost 40 minutes. It was given in 1968 just days before his assassination. In it he talks about the drum major instinct. He explains that it is an instinct of a quest for recognition to be better than someone else. It is an instinct that should be "harnessed".  He says, "it drives us and sometimes leads to selfish behavior and in some cases in history, leads to the most tragic expressions of man's inhumanity to man."

So as I thought about this drum major instinct, I think I have this instinct a lot. But the drum major instinct is real in all of us. We want to be important, we want to be first. If we want to be important, that's great! We can be important by not screaming at the 3 year old that just wrote with marker all over the wall. We will be great in their eyes. We can earn greatness by love. We can be the first to come the aid for someone else. We all have the ability to be a drum major! We all can serve! We have the ability to be a drum major for others and not ourselves. We can live our lives to HELP others. It doesn't matter what things we have that show what amazing human beings we are. MLK says he wants to be known as a drum major for justice, for peace....for righteousness! I love that! He was certainly that! The more I learn about him, the more I am inspired by his spirit and influence. I believe that I can be a drum major in a more positive way. I want to be known as someone that cared for people and reached out to those around me with tenderness. I want my children to be a drum major for truth. I hope I can be a drum major for joy, for family.....for love!
I hope this little boy's rendition of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech inspires you!

Josh's speech

here is the link to the entire sermon given by Martin Luther King Jr. February 4th 1968:
MLK drum major instinct
 

Starting....on a Monday

Starting again...on Monday...is easier said than done! So many times I have started a week with high hopes only to crash and burn miserably when I wake up on that fine Monday morning late because I stayed up late watching Netflix. When that happens, the only thing I want to do is curl up and lay in  bed and forget about those "goals" I made the day before. 
(I blame winter) Has that happen to you? I have such high hopes Sunday night that I will get up early, exercise, shower and not yell at the kids before they walk out the door for school. Enter the high hopes and crashing miserably...
So here is me holding MYSELF accountable and encouraging the one person who reads this blog (Hi Meliss) to set your goals, stick to it and trust! Trust that God will help you when you can't possibly face one more Monday because your house is a mess or you have a stressful work week coming up and you really, really want to watch Netflix or Jimmy Fallon and eat Doritos till midnight. Trust in your goals that you want to achieve! The only way I have learned to trust God in his promises is by getting on my knees and humbly thanking Him for giving me the opportunity to begin again! And then amazing things happen when I let him in on my goals and needing heavens help. I know that prayers are heard! We can all start the day with gratitude that we have the most powerful and loving person on our side. And that is our Savior Jesus Christ. I know it because I have felt his spirit guiding me to take charge of my life and LIVE! The only way to have a better day for me is to start! Start today! Start by going to bed early tonight and waking up tomorrow and accomplishing those things that you want to do! Enter the high hopes and not. Because you may giving up. Chances are you have people that are counting on you to keep trying....

This was all of us on a ride at Lagoon! This is a fabulous time to be squished!