another day, another juice

InGREENdients

Since my last post I have stayed pretty green.  Lots of green juices and salads......I feel great.  My rosacea has definitely calmed down since the last pics I posted.  I am trying to eat/juice as many fruits and veggies as possible, especially those touted for their skin healing and enhancing properties.  According to Dr. Sandra Cabot, author of Raw Juices Can Save Your Life (easily one of my favorite books on the subject of raw juicing....,) cucumber, mango, radish, strawberries and watercress are especially helpful for skin health so I am trying to incorporate them all in my regular juicing rotation.  Cucumber is great because it is so cooling & refreshing during these hot summer days.  It also has a very high water content so it is ideal to use as a juicing base.  Mango and strawberries are very rich, very sweet fruits so they are best to use to balance the  powerful flavors of "strong" greens like broccoli, kale and watercress.  Radishes add a spicy dimension to juices, so I try not to use to much....a little goes a long way and too much imparts a bitter after-taste.  I do love throwing in a habanero pepper....it adds a metabolism-boosting kick and makes the juice so much more interesting.

Brian is doing well incorporating more raw plant-based food into his diet and has lost a noticeable amount of weight through a combination of yoga 5-6 days a week and diet moderation.  My diet weakness is easily cheese and starches and his is sugary desserts.....he's not a pastry chef by coincidence!

Brian's dinner: chicken, cheese, sweet peppers & corn

One of the things that is making staying strong easy with my raw-living pursuit is reusing old jars.  If I have juice on hand throughout the day I am less tempted to stray from my intentions.  Since juice oxidizes rather quickly the best way to store fresh juice is in an airtight glass jar to prevent leaching.  I have been using empty pickle, pepper and pasta sauce jars to store the extra amount I make in the morning to drink later in the evening, or the extra amount I make in the evening to drink the following morning.  The short shelf-life of raw juices makes drinking the juice immediately after pressing ideal but sometimes inconvenient.  Jars are definitely a life-saver.....repurpose, reuse, recycle!

Unchartered Waters....Day 1 blogging

Me & Brian, May 2012

REASON FOR THIS BLOG:

I have always considered myself a fairly healthy eater but as I am now closer to 40 than I am not, I realized my old dieting "tricks" no longer work and logging long hard hours in the gym no longer fit my lifestyle.  I also have suffered for several years with rosacea....I am plagued with terrible red blotches on my cheeks, nose and forehead that are prone to flaring into acne-like blemishes.  I have toyed before with the idea of a raw foods diet but never got very far.  I read books, bought gadgets, etc but usually after 2 or 3 "gourmet raw" meals I lost interest and returned to my normal way of eating (lots of chicken, fish, cooked veggies, little fruit, minimal white sugar....i preferred aspartame, little to no caffeine and lots of wine and beer.  I'm not sure what exactly clicked in me to give juicing / raw foods a concerted effort once again, however this time it's taken on a whole new light and I want to record and share my journey to track set-backs and achievements and connect with like-minded souls.  I also want a place to post recent crafts and DIY projects.

For the past week I have eaten primarily raw foods....I'd say about 90%.   Upon adopting this take on eating I have enjoyed my Breville juicer immensely and have felt an immediate sense of lightness after every meal juiced or consisting of raw fruits and vegetables.  I have allowed myself this past week to eat some cooked vegan foods as well of a tiny portion (3 forkfuls) of a "healthy" chicken pasta meal Brian cooked for Caroline and himself a couple of nights ago.  Funny, when eating raw foods I instantly can tell the difference of how I feel (heavy vs. light) when I intake cooked foods....vegan or not.  It's a weighed down sort of feeling.

Juicing for vitality

When I began attempting to change my body this go around, I weighed approximately 148 lbs (I am just shy of 5'8").  For two weeks I stayed at that weight while increasing my weekly yoga workouts and eating what I consider healthy cooked food (chicken, grilled veggies w/ olive oil, etc)....finally I pulled out my juicer and began juicing and got down to 147.  Losing just that one pound took a hell of a lot of effort.  I guess it was at that point that I internally decided to amp up my fruits and veggies and began cutting out meat.  I weighed in earlier this week at 143.  I must say those four lbs came off much easier than the first.  As of this morning I am holding at steady at 143.

Last Wednesday night my parents took me, Caroline and Brian to Urban Crust (one of our favorite pizza joints in Downtown Plano).  They left for France the following day and it was to be a treat meal for us since we are caring for their house while they are on vacation.  Brian and I split a pizza with pepperoni, spinach, carmelized onions and feta cheese.  I think I had 2 1/2 peices and 3 big glasses of Sonoma Cutrer chardonnay followed by half of a small gelato.  That night I came home from the restaurant miserable.  I was stuffed, nauseated, had terrible acid reflux and swore I would not do that to myself again.  I woke up Thursday morning after a rocky night of poor rest and felt terrible until I got out of bed and made a juice at which point I instantly began to feel better.  My skin has also calmed down which I attribute to the vitamin and nutrient richness of the organic juices as well as a change to a more natural skin cleanser & night-time moisturizer by Andalou Naturals.

I truly have felt great since that event until this morning.  I went to bed last night before midnight, exhausted but feeling good.  I slept like a rock, which is unusual for me, until the 7am alarm went off reminding me to get out of bed for my 8:15 yoga class.  I got up, fed my cats and came back to bed.  I was no longer exhausted, just achey.  My shoulders, neck and gums all feel sore which I am attributing to detoxification.  From what I have read this might be due to heavy metal elimination....especially the part about my gums being sore....kind of feels like they do when I floss after not have flossing in awhile.  This past week I have switched from Secret Anti-Persperant to a natural, aluminum-free deodorant and from Close-up toothpaste to Tom's of Maine, a more natural alternative.  I wonder if these small changes are related to this detox side-affect?

I am feeling better now.  I finally eliminated so I am going to make a watermelon / lemon juice and then water the backyard in order to get my daily intake of sunshine.  Since I didn't make it to yoga earlier today I must find a class later in the day or get to the gym for cardio.

Getting to know my body's abilities and processes is a very eye-opening endeavor.

Getting ready to juice  a typical dinner

Caroline helping out, adding broccoli