Woke up this morning at 5 a.m. and spent 45 minutes on the treadmill before weighing in. 241 lbs. That's 24 lbs lost in 3 weeks. That's nice and all, but it's only 4 lbs. since last week. That's after a few sessions on the treadmill and several hours of walking last weekend in Seattle. I don't know what gives.
Not much else to report. I'm still doing good. I still feel good. I miss eating though. But I'm determined to lose more weight in this coming week than I lost in this past week. Joe Cross in his documentary, Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, lost an average of more than 1 lb each day over the duration of his fast (60 days). I need to be seeing losses similar to that if I want to make my goal of 55 lbs lost in 56 days. I've stepped up the walking, and I'm going to cut back on the high-carb juices. For example, I used a calorie counter program to see how many calories were in my breakfast juice this morning. 800. I know. I was blown away. 3 oranges, 1 grapefruit, 2 kiwi, 3 carrots, 1/2 of a beet, 6 prunes and a chunk of ginger came to 800 calories?! It's easy to see how fruit-based juices can lead to too many calories in the daily diet.
I'm watching Food, Inc. right now. I'm not sure whether I should turn it off and remain content to live in my blissful world of ignorance, or if I should keep watching.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Day Twenty-One
Day 21 is winding down. I'm sitting here listening to the kids chatter and drinking my juice. It's not a bad batch. It's been awhile since I posted a recipe, so here's what I'm drinking tonight:
Today's lunch juice didn't turn out so well. I don't know what I did, but my Breville got clogged up or something. It wasn't juice dripping from the spout, like usual, but rather a thick smoothie-like liquid. When I took the juicer apart, the basket walls were all coated and thick with pulp. I don't know what the deal was. I can only guess that it was the order in which I juiced the fruits and veggies. I used a kiwi in place of the lemon, but other than that, I didn't do anything I haven't done dozens of times prior. I wish I knew what the cause was so I could avoid it in the future. So, I had a smooth, thick, pulpy juice today. It wasn't very good.
I'm not losing weight as quickly as I'd expected or hoped to. I can only assume it's because I'm not drinking enough water. Last week I started working for a new code in a new building. It's more of an office environment, complete with a water cooler, which my last building did not have. I signed up, paid my dues, and I fully intend on drinking plenty. Plus, I only recently started walking again. I'm hoping that these few adjustments pay dividends next week, because I think I've only lost 3-4 lbs. this week. We'll find out tomorrow at weigh-in day.
It's been awhile since I've made a genuine breakfast juice. I normally just make a big batch of mostly veggie juice for lunch and drink for breakfast whatever doesn't fit in the bottle. But tomorrow, I think I'll make a batch of orange-mango-grapefruit-kiwi-ginger-beet-carrot juice to kick the day off right...
...after I weigh in, of course.
- 1/2 of a large beet
- 1 Fuji apple
- 1 large lemon
- 1 large carrot
- 3/4 of a English cucumber
- 3" wedge of green cabbage
- 7 prunes
- 3 stalks of celery
- 2 big hands full of spinach
- 1/4 sweet onion
- 6 leaves of Romaine lettuce
- 1" chunk of ginger
- 1 small tomato
Today's lunch juice didn't turn out so well. I don't know what I did, but my Breville got clogged up or something. It wasn't juice dripping from the spout, like usual, but rather a thick smoothie-like liquid. When I took the juicer apart, the basket walls were all coated and thick with pulp. I don't know what the deal was. I can only guess that it was the order in which I juiced the fruits and veggies. I used a kiwi in place of the lemon, but other than that, I didn't do anything I haven't done dozens of times prior. I wish I knew what the cause was so I could avoid it in the future. So, I had a smooth, thick, pulpy juice today. It wasn't very good.
I'm not losing weight as quickly as I'd expected or hoped to. I can only assume it's because I'm not drinking enough water. Last week I started working for a new code in a new building. It's more of an office environment, complete with a water cooler, which my last building did not have. I signed up, paid my dues, and I fully intend on drinking plenty. Plus, I only recently started walking again. I'm hoping that these few adjustments pay dividends next week, because I think I've only lost 3-4 lbs. this week. We'll find out tomorrow at weigh-in day.
It's been awhile since I've made a genuine breakfast juice. I normally just make a big batch of mostly veggie juice for lunch and drink for breakfast whatever doesn't fit in the bottle. But tomorrow, I think I'll make a batch of orange-mango-grapefruit-kiwi-ginger-beet-carrot juice to kick the day off right...
...after I weigh in, of course.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Day Nineteen
Whew! Just put in a solid hour on the treadmill. Feet, knees, ankles and toes are feeling fine. I'm going to try and walk at least three times each week for at least half an hour each time. I felt good tonight. Had energy to spare. I wanted to jog but where we put the treadmill the rafters are just inches above my head. I have to be careful.
Dinner with my parents went well on Saturday. They enjoyed the salmon, the garlic mashed potatoes and the sauteed green beans with summer squash. It all was very hard to resist but I made myself a large batch of juice and sat with them and drank my dinner as we conversed. I told them all about my juicing thus far. My mom said it was obvious to see that I've lost a bit of weight. She wanted to know how I was feeling and I told her that I feel fantastic. I have lots of energy. I was honest and told them both how much I missed food.
In fact, on Sunday I made another vegetable soup. I made it mainly for Tresa, but I admit I had some. It was good, too. Carrots, onions, celery, fennel, kale, garlic, peas, corn and beans. It was good to have something hot and filling. It'll be another week before I do it again. I always feel guilty afterwards. I know I shouldn't. Vegetable soup is about as healthy a dish as there ever was. Still, it's breaking the "rules." I just remind myself that I'd rather "break the rules" with something like vegan soup than with something like a double cheeseburger.
Most of my juices lately have had a beet thrown in. I really like the flavor it adds. Ironically, I'm not a fan of beets, whether cooked (hot or cold) or raw. But put them in a juice and I'm down with it. I also like cabbage in my juices. I've been experimenting, obviously. Since I've started, I don't think I've had the same juice twice. They've all had slight variations, each one different from the next. Sometimes, a jalapeno. Other times, fennel bulb. I throw in whatever I have, or whatever I think might make a good combo. I still try to limit the fruit to just one or two pieces per batch, and the rest are veggies. Spinach and chard have taken the place of kale for now, but I'll be stocking up on kale soon enough. Oh, and I juiced those lemon cucumbers I bought last week. I highly recommend them. Very mild and slightly sweet. They'd go great in a salad.
I went clothes shopping with Tresa yesterday. I wanted to buy a wool jacket in 2XL because it fit me. The XL didn't fit as well, but it will soon. I decided to buy the XL, knowing that I'm going to meet my goal. I left the tags on, just in case. Even if I get to my goal weight, I'm still 6'3" and I have long arms and wide shoulders. I may need the extra room that only a 2X can give. Then again, some of the bulk across my back may be fat and a smaller size will fit fine. Only time will tell. If I make my goal weight, it'll be the first time in 17 years that I've been that size.
Tresa's son (my future stepson) and I were flipping through his cub scout handbook tonight. There's a section in there about nutrition, meal planning, cooking, etc. He asked me if he could cook with me. I'll admit, that made me proud. I love to cook. I think I'm pretty darned good at it too. Sharing that love for cooking with him will allow us to connect on common ground. It'll be fun to work with him and let him plan a couple of meals, look up recipes, make a grocery list, evaluate the nutritional value of the meal and then cook it. I think kids should know that kind of thing.
I don't want any of my kids to make the mistakes with food that I have.
Dinner with my parents went well on Saturday. They enjoyed the salmon, the garlic mashed potatoes and the sauteed green beans with summer squash. It all was very hard to resist but I made myself a large batch of juice and sat with them and drank my dinner as we conversed. I told them all about my juicing thus far. My mom said it was obvious to see that I've lost a bit of weight. She wanted to know how I was feeling and I told her that I feel fantastic. I have lots of energy. I was honest and told them both how much I missed food.
In fact, on Sunday I made another vegetable soup. I made it mainly for Tresa, but I admit I had some. It was good, too. Carrots, onions, celery, fennel, kale, garlic, peas, corn and beans. It was good to have something hot and filling. It'll be another week before I do it again. I always feel guilty afterwards. I know I shouldn't. Vegetable soup is about as healthy a dish as there ever was. Still, it's breaking the "rules." I just remind myself that I'd rather "break the rules" with something like vegan soup than with something like a double cheeseburger.
Most of my juices lately have had a beet thrown in. I really like the flavor it adds. Ironically, I'm not a fan of beets, whether cooked (hot or cold) or raw. But put them in a juice and I'm down with it. I also like cabbage in my juices. I've been experimenting, obviously. Since I've started, I don't think I've had the same juice twice. They've all had slight variations, each one different from the next. Sometimes, a jalapeno. Other times, fennel bulb. I throw in whatever I have, or whatever I think might make a good combo. I still try to limit the fruit to just one or two pieces per batch, and the rest are veggies. Spinach and chard have taken the place of kale for now, but I'll be stocking up on kale soon enough. Oh, and I juiced those lemon cucumbers I bought last week. I highly recommend them. Very mild and slightly sweet. They'd go great in a salad.
I went clothes shopping with Tresa yesterday. I wanted to buy a wool jacket in 2XL because it fit me. The XL didn't fit as well, but it will soon. I decided to buy the XL, knowing that I'm going to meet my goal. I left the tags on, just in case. Even if I get to my goal weight, I'm still 6'3" and I have long arms and wide shoulders. I may need the extra room that only a 2X can give. Then again, some of the bulk across my back may be fat and a smaller size will fit fine. Only time will tell. If I make my goal weight, it'll be the first time in 17 years that I've been that size.
Tresa's son (my future stepson) and I were flipping through his cub scout handbook tonight. There's a section in there about nutrition, meal planning, cooking, etc. He asked me if he could cook with me. I'll admit, that made me proud. I love to cook. I think I'm pretty darned good at it too. Sharing that love for cooking with him will allow us to connect on common ground. It'll be fun to work with him and let him plan a couple of meals, look up recipes, make a grocery list, evaluate the nutritional value of the meal and then cook it. I think kids should know that kind of thing.
I don't want any of my kids to make the mistakes with food that I have.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Day Seventeen
My. Legs. Huuuurt. Tresa and I got up early this morning to spend the day in Seattle. Earlier she had stumbled across a self guided walking tour of downtown Seattle clocks and wanted us to do it. I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I agreed. I'll bet we walked 4-5 miles total today. We started in the International District and ended up in Belltown, zig-zagging our way between 1st and 5th avenues on our scavenger hunt. I took photos of every clock for posterity. We event stumbled upon a few hundred Occupy Seattle protesters as we crossed Westlake Park. We had a great time and got in a lot of walking. We even let ourselves get sidetracked a few times (downtown Seattle - come on, who doesn't get sidetracked?) and shopped in a few of the small stores along the way.
We ended up at Pike Place Market, one of my favorite places in Seattle. I was there to get some fresh wild caught Coho salmon. Went to a different fish market and got it for a much better deal than last week. Also picked up some fresh green beans and summer squash. The salmon is marinading in dill, parsley, marjoram, basil, garlic, olive oil and lime. I'm about to par-boil the beans and prep the squash for sauteing. I'm also serving garlic mashed spuds. I won't be eating, but I will juice up a hearty batch of juice for dinner. Believe it or not, it's the first time Tresa and I have had my parents over for dinner. I hope it goes well.
Started the morning with yesterday's leftover juice. It was a great way to start the day. I really love juicing with beets and red cabbage. It makes a deep purple juice, unless of course you add it to the "mean green", in which case you get a lovely brown muddy water cocktail. I made up a juice to take with me on our trip through downtown. When Tresa stopped to get a hot coffee at Starbucks, I broke out my juice and had lunch. It did the trick. If my knees and feet could've held up, I had the energy to walk all afternoon. I felt really good today. I often found myself walking much faster than my lovely fiancee, which forced me to slow down.
Speaking of my fiancee, she's down 10 lbs. in two weeks. Woo hoo! I haven't been on a scale yet, but I'll bet I'm down another couple since Day Fifteen. Less than 40 days left. I can do this.
We ended up at Pike Place Market, one of my favorite places in Seattle. I was there to get some fresh wild caught Coho salmon. Went to a different fish market and got it for a much better deal than last week. Also picked up some fresh green beans and summer squash. The salmon is marinading in dill, parsley, marjoram, basil, garlic, olive oil and lime. I'm about to par-boil the beans and prep the squash for sauteing. I'm also serving garlic mashed spuds. I won't be eating, but I will juice up a hearty batch of juice for dinner. Believe it or not, it's the first time Tresa and I have had my parents over for dinner. I hope it goes well.
Started the morning with yesterday's leftover juice. It was a great way to start the day. I really love juicing with beets and red cabbage. It makes a deep purple juice, unless of course you add it to the "mean green", in which case you get a lovely brown muddy water cocktail. I made up a juice to take with me on our trip through downtown. When Tresa stopped to get a hot coffee at Starbucks, I broke out my juice and had lunch. It did the trick. If my knees and feet could've held up, I had the energy to walk all afternoon. I felt really good today. I often found myself walking much faster than my lovely fiancee, which forced me to slow down.
Speaking of my fiancee, she's down 10 lbs. in two weeks. Woo hoo! I haven't been on a scale yet, but I'll bet I'm down another couple since Day Fifteen. Less than 40 days left. I can do this.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Day Fifteen - PM
Note to self: don't skip juicing.
I haven't had fresh juice all day. I've had one 32-ounce bottle of Odwalla Superfood. Period. I still haven't made my dinner juice. I came home from work feeling run-down, cranky and famished, but I had to get dinner started for the kids. Then it was time to head off to Cub Scouts. I never had time to juice. And now, even though I know I need to drink my juice, it's 8 o'clock and I'm just not in the mood. I definitely feel "off", and I can only assume it's the result of not getting my "fix." I'm going to prep my produce tonight, so that I don't make the same mistake tomorrow.
There was another charity farmers' market today at work. I grabbed a grocery bag full of swiss chard, about a dozen medium tomatoes, a bulb of elephant garlic, two good-sized turnips (w/greens) and a few lemon cucumbers. Yes, lemon cucumbers. I had never seen them before. They're supposed to be sweeter and milder than an English slicing cucumber. I'm going to juice up one of them in my lunch juice for tomorrow. I also picked up two packages of lamb chops. Someone raises lambs on their farm and brought in some of the meat to sell. Don't worry; they were wrapped, frozen, and USDA stamped. Butchered by a professional. I've only eaten lamb once in my life. I'm anxious to cook these sometime in December.
Today I discovered that my new office building has showers in the restrooms. That can mean only one thing: there is an exercise room nearby. I have decided that I will make it my quest to find it tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, it's Friday and the start to another weekend. Plenty of opportunity to get out, get some fresh air, some sun (wait....this is Western Washington in autumn. Who am I kidding?) and maybe a little exercise. It's certainly the chance to get in several batches of fresh juice.
I haven't had fresh juice all day. I've had one 32-ounce bottle of Odwalla Superfood. Period. I still haven't made my dinner juice. I came home from work feeling run-down, cranky and famished, but I had to get dinner started for the kids. Then it was time to head off to Cub Scouts. I never had time to juice. And now, even though I know I need to drink my juice, it's 8 o'clock and I'm just not in the mood. I definitely feel "off", and I can only assume it's the result of not getting my "fix." I'm going to prep my produce tonight, so that I don't make the same mistake tomorrow.
There was another charity farmers' market today at work. I grabbed a grocery bag full of swiss chard, about a dozen medium tomatoes, a bulb of elephant garlic, two good-sized turnips (w/greens) and a few lemon cucumbers. Yes, lemon cucumbers. I had never seen them before. They're supposed to be sweeter and milder than an English slicing cucumber. I'm going to juice up one of them in my lunch juice for tomorrow. I also picked up two packages of lamb chops. Someone raises lambs on their farm and brought in some of the meat to sell. Don't worry; they were wrapped, frozen, and USDA stamped. Butchered by a professional. I've only eaten lamb once in my life. I'm anxious to cook these sometime in December.
Today I discovered that my new office building has showers in the restrooms. That can mean only one thing: there is an exercise room nearby. I have decided that I will make it my quest to find it tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, it's Friday and the start to another weekend. Plenty of opportunity to get out, get some fresh air, some sun (wait....this is Western Washington in autumn. Who am I kidding?) and maybe a little exercise. It's certainly the chance to get in several batches of fresh juice.
Day Fifteen - AM
Weighed 245 this morning. 20 lbs. down in 14 days.
I didn't prep my veggies last night and woke up late this morning. I'm not going to have fresh juice until dinner. Thankfully I bought the Odwalla. It's not great, but it'll do in a pinch. At least it has spirulina for protein and B12.
It's Cub Scouts night and a trip to the farmers' market but I'll post again tonight, if I can remember.
I didn't prep my veggies last night and woke up late this morning. I'm not going to have fresh juice until dinner. Thankfully I bought the Odwalla. It's not great, but it'll do in a pinch. At least it has spirulina for protein and B12.
It's Cub Scouts night and a trip to the farmers' market but I'll post again tonight, if I can remember.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Day Fourteen
Well, two weeks down. Six more to go. Weigh-in day tomorrow morning. I'm hoping for at least 6 lbs. lost this week. We'll have to see.
Nothing really exciting to report today. Made the kids a pepperoni pizza for dinner tonight and was able to resist stealing a slice. That was my big willpower moment of the day.
I've been thinking about what I'm going to do after this fast is over. What I mean is, what kind of "diet" am I going to put myself on? I've been reading a lot lately. Just so you know, I generally take everything I read with a grain of salt. These days, every so-called "expert" believes they have the secret to a healthful lifestyle. Some say to stay away from all cereals and grains. Some say that animal protein, including dairy and eggs, is proven to cause cancer. Others tell you that your blood type determines what foods you should and should not eat. Atkins. South Beach. Caveman. Vegan. Then there's the FDA and whatever gimmicky plan they're currently pushing on the American public. It doesn't help that, for every supposedly healthful eating lifestyle, there are physicians, scientists, nutritionists, etc. backing it up with research. I want to keep my weight down but I also want to enjoy eating. I want to make sure I'm getting a full spectrum of micronutrients, vitamins and enzymes in my diet, but I also want to occasionally eat like a pig. I want my gout to go away for good, but I also don't want to have to give up certain foods I love, like beer and shrimp. I want to eat lots of fish, but I don't have a ton of money. I'll continue doing my research. It's a simple enough concept, "eating right," but practicing it is an entirely different matter.
Damn those people who eat like pigs and never gain a pound.
Nothing really exciting to report today. Made the kids a pepperoni pizza for dinner tonight and was able to resist stealing a slice. That was my big willpower moment of the day.
I've been thinking about what I'm going to do after this fast is over. What I mean is, what kind of "diet" am I going to put myself on? I've been reading a lot lately. Just so you know, I generally take everything I read with a grain of salt. These days, every so-called "expert" believes they have the secret to a healthful lifestyle. Some say to stay away from all cereals and grains. Some say that animal protein, including dairy and eggs, is proven to cause cancer. Others tell you that your blood type determines what foods you should and should not eat. Atkins. South Beach. Caveman. Vegan. Then there's the FDA and whatever gimmicky plan they're currently pushing on the American public. It doesn't help that, for every supposedly healthful eating lifestyle, there are physicians, scientists, nutritionists, etc. backing it up with research. I want to keep my weight down but I also want to enjoy eating. I want to make sure I'm getting a full spectrum of micronutrients, vitamins and enzymes in my diet, but I also want to occasionally eat like a pig. I want my gout to go away for good, but I also don't want to have to give up certain foods I love, like beer and shrimp. I want to eat lots of fish, but I don't have a ton of money. I'll continue doing my research. It's a simple enough concept, "eating right," but practicing it is an entirely different matter.
Damn those people who eat like pigs and never gain a pound.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Day Thirteen
Still going strong. Plenty of energy. Alert. Positive. I feel great.
On a side note, I'm finding it easier to fall asleep at night. I'm also finding it easier to wake up in the mornings, which leads me to assume that I must be sleeping better at night. One thing's for certain: I haven't had any acid reflux, bloating or cramping since I started juicing. I feel good about this, too.
In fact, I've felt so good lately that today after work, I got on the treadmill and walked for 45 minutes without a problem. I felt great while I was walking, and I feel even better now. No trouble with the ankle. I didn't feel any pain whatsoever. I'm not going to push it though. No steep inclines or speed walking. Just moving for those 45 minutes (on top of the 15 minute walk home from work) made me feel good about getting in some cardio work while on this program.
Juiced up a grapefruit, lemon, orange, kiwi, ginger and a couple cups of strawberries this morning. It made more juice that I intended and I had to chug it down before work. I think I had 30+ ounces of fruit juice for breakfast. Not what I wanted, but it was delicious. I felt the energy surge all morning.
Because of the super-sized breakfast, I felt I didn't need lunch until about 11 today. It consisted of 1 Granny Smith apple, 1/2 cucumber, 4 stalks of celery, handful of spinach, handful of kale, 3 carrots, 1 beet, 1/2 lemon, ginger, 1 jalapeno and a 2" wedge of green cabbage. Made about 32 ounces, which is perfect for my jug. I drank it over the course of about an hour and a half. I'm just beginning to feel hungry again. I'll shower and then get to work on my dinner.
Since I missed yesterday's blog, let me fill you in on the highlights here: made oatmeal for the kids. They enjoyed the brown sugar and cinnamon I put in it. I also let them add their own raisins. I juiced up 5 oranges, the last of the pineapple, lemon and mango and served it up for the kids to have with breakfast. They liked it. So did I. I made a couple of loaves of spiced zucchini-carrot bread. I had to do something with the zucchini. I suppose I could have juiced it, but I really wanted the kids to eat it. I figured I'd have a better chance of that happening if it were in bread rather than cooked and served on a plate. My daughter loves zucchini bread. The boys were indifferent. I guess it was a hit with Tresa. She raved about it, then promptly called me a saboteur. I juiced about 6 apples yesterday and made spiced cider on the stove for the kids to have with their PB&J. I even had some. Delicious. Brought back memories. I also fixed Tresa's treadmill from rocking back and forth and did about 4 loads of laundry. I can't remember what was in yesterday's lunch or dinner, just that they were variations of the Mean Green recipe.
All in all, things are getting easier. I'm developing a juicing routine. The cravings are slowly easing. I "feel" thinner, even though it's only a relatively small amount of weight that I've lost. November 23rd (my proposed end date) still feels like an eternity away, but I'm confident that I'll make it. I read a guy's blog today after he had just completed 60 days of juice fasting. Over 60 lbs. lost so far, and he's going to continue. I love reading stories like that. In about six weeks, people will be reading my success story too.
On a side note, I'm finding it easier to fall asleep at night. I'm also finding it easier to wake up in the mornings, which leads me to assume that I must be sleeping better at night. One thing's for certain: I haven't had any acid reflux, bloating or cramping since I started juicing. I feel good about this, too.
In fact, I've felt so good lately that today after work, I got on the treadmill and walked for 45 minutes without a problem. I felt great while I was walking, and I feel even better now. No trouble with the ankle. I didn't feel any pain whatsoever. I'm not going to push it though. No steep inclines or speed walking. Just moving for those 45 minutes (on top of the 15 minute walk home from work) made me feel good about getting in some cardio work while on this program.
Juiced up a grapefruit, lemon, orange, kiwi, ginger and a couple cups of strawberries this morning. It made more juice that I intended and I had to chug it down before work. I think I had 30+ ounces of fruit juice for breakfast. Not what I wanted, but it was delicious. I felt the energy surge all morning.
Because of the super-sized breakfast, I felt I didn't need lunch until about 11 today. It consisted of 1 Granny Smith apple, 1/2 cucumber, 4 stalks of celery, handful of spinach, handful of kale, 3 carrots, 1 beet, 1/2 lemon, ginger, 1 jalapeno and a 2" wedge of green cabbage. Made about 32 ounces, which is perfect for my jug. I drank it over the course of about an hour and a half. I'm just beginning to feel hungry again. I'll shower and then get to work on my dinner.
Since I missed yesterday's blog, let me fill you in on the highlights here: made oatmeal for the kids. They enjoyed the brown sugar and cinnamon I put in it. I also let them add their own raisins. I juiced up 5 oranges, the last of the pineapple, lemon and mango and served it up for the kids to have with breakfast. They liked it. So did I. I made a couple of loaves of spiced zucchini-carrot bread. I had to do something with the zucchini. I suppose I could have juiced it, but I really wanted the kids to eat it. I figured I'd have a better chance of that happening if it were in bread rather than cooked and served on a plate. My daughter loves zucchini bread. The boys were indifferent. I guess it was a hit with Tresa. She raved about it, then promptly called me a saboteur. I juiced about 6 apples yesterday and made spiced cider on the stove for the kids to have with their PB&J. I even had some. Delicious. Brought back memories. I also fixed Tresa's treadmill from rocking back and forth and did about 4 loads of laundry. I can't remember what was in yesterday's lunch or dinner, just that they were variations of the Mean Green recipe.
All in all, things are getting easier. I'm developing a juicing routine. The cravings are slowly easing. I "feel" thinner, even though it's only a relatively small amount of weight that I've lost. November 23rd (my proposed end date) still feels like an eternity away, but I'm confident that I'll make it. I read a guy's blog today after he had just completed 60 days of juice fasting. Over 60 lbs. lost so far, and he's going to continue. I love reading stories like that. In about six weeks, people will be reading my success story too.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Day Eleven
I'm writing this with the smell of broiled salmon and baked acorn squash hanging in the air. That's what I made for Tresa and the kids' dinner. Sigh. There was plenty left over, so we decided to have my parents over next weekend for dinner. I get to suffer all over again. I will save myself a piece and freeze it to have after my eight weeks are up.
For me, breakfast this morning was some leftover Mean Green from yesterday and freshly juiced OJ with a little pineapple and mango thrown in. For the kids, I made a frittata of sorts. Fried diced new potatoes, diced onions and green peppers, crumbled bacon and whisked up eggs. It's one of my favorite things to have for breakfast, so it was hard to resist. I know, I know....between breakfast and the salmon, it's a wonder I'm sticking to this fast at all. But in a way it serves to steel my resolve when I can look at the foods that I used to indulge in, and turn away.
I had second breakfast around 11, on our way to Hunter Farms. More Mean Green, but for this batch I kicked it up a notch with some Jalapeno. It was a hot one too. I felt it going down with every gulp. Hot enough that the juice from the pepper got on my hands as I was cleaning it and I can still feel the burning between my fingers. Word to the wise: juice peppers with care.
Hunter Farms was a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed the straw maze and the covered wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch. They picked out some small pumpkins that we'll paint later this month. The produce stand had 2/$1 cucumbers. Guess who picked out 10 of their best? Tresa also grabbed a jar of their homemade blackberry jam. I hope there's some left for me when I'm ready to eat it. My mom bakes bread about once a week. If I'm lucky, she makes me a loaf or a pan of dinner rolls. Let me tell you, there are few things on God's earth tastier than fresh bread, butter, and homemade jam.
Tresa bought the kids carmel apple ciders from Starbucks on our way to the farm today. That got me thinking: I could pare and core a bunch of apples, run them through my juicer, save the juice for making spiced cider and use the apple pulp for making applesauce. I doubt the kids have ever had homemade applesauce. My grandmother used to make it quite often from the apples that grew on my grandparent's property. I miss those fruit trees. I grew up pressing and bottling cider every fall. Kids these days rarely get to see that.
I spent about half an hour cleaning and bagging the four huge bunches of celery that have been taking up room in my fridge. That way Tresa also can snack on a couple of stalks when she's craving something to chew. Her new diet is just as restrictive as juicing, but in different ways. I should really prep all of my veggies this way. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow when I have some free time. I need the space in my fridge.
I get to play Mr. Mom tomorrow for a day. Tresa has to work, but Uncle Sam saw to it that I have the day off. The kids want oatmeal for breakfast. OK. I can handle that. I like oatmeal, but it not high on most people's list of cravings. Amiright? I already have the ingredients for a batch of Mean Green prepped and bagged, ready to go. I'll be set for the day. I'm also gonna stabilize her treadmill so that we can start walking on it. There's nothing wrong with the 'mill itself, it's just rocking back and forth because of the uneven ground. Now that my ankle is feeling better, I'm going to start walking again. I'm going to make my goal one way or another.
For me, breakfast this morning was some leftover Mean Green from yesterday and freshly juiced OJ with a little pineapple and mango thrown in. For the kids, I made a frittata of sorts. Fried diced new potatoes, diced onions and green peppers, crumbled bacon and whisked up eggs. It's one of my favorite things to have for breakfast, so it was hard to resist. I know, I know....between breakfast and the salmon, it's a wonder I'm sticking to this fast at all. But in a way it serves to steel my resolve when I can look at the foods that I used to indulge in, and turn away.
I had second breakfast around 11, on our way to Hunter Farms. More Mean Green, but for this batch I kicked it up a notch with some Jalapeno. It was a hot one too. I felt it going down with every gulp. Hot enough that the juice from the pepper got on my hands as I was cleaning it and I can still feel the burning between my fingers. Word to the wise: juice peppers with care.
Hunter Farms was a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed the straw maze and the covered wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch. They picked out some small pumpkins that we'll paint later this month. The produce stand had 2/$1 cucumbers. Guess who picked out 10 of their best? Tresa also grabbed a jar of their homemade blackberry jam. I hope there's some left for me when I'm ready to eat it. My mom bakes bread about once a week. If I'm lucky, she makes me a loaf or a pan of dinner rolls. Let me tell you, there are few things on God's earth tastier than fresh bread, butter, and homemade jam.
Tresa bought the kids carmel apple ciders from Starbucks on our way to the farm today. That got me thinking: I could pare and core a bunch of apples, run them through my juicer, save the juice for making spiced cider and use the apple pulp for making applesauce. I doubt the kids have ever had homemade applesauce. My grandmother used to make it quite often from the apples that grew on my grandparent's property. I miss those fruit trees. I grew up pressing and bottling cider every fall. Kids these days rarely get to see that.
I spent about half an hour cleaning and bagging the four huge bunches of celery that have been taking up room in my fridge. That way Tresa also can snack on a couple of stalks when she's craving something to chew. Her new diet is just as restrictive as juicing, but in different ways. I should really prep all of my veggies this way. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow when I have some free time. I need the space in my fridge.
I get to play Mr. Mom tomorrow for a day. Tresa has to work, but Uncle Sam saw to it that I have the day off. The kids want oatmeal for breakfast. OK. I can handle that. I like oatmeal, but it not high on most people's list of cravings. Amiright? I already have the ingredients for a batch of Mean Green prepped and bagged, ready to go. I'll be set for the day. I'm also gonna stabilize her treadmill so that we can start walking on it. There's nothing wrong with the 'mill itself, it's just rocking back and forth because of the uneven ground. Now that my ankle is feeling better, I'm going to start walking again. I'm going to make my goal one way or another.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Day Ten - PM
Had a great time in Seattle. Pike Place Market was packed, as usual. Got some great deals on some beautiful produce though. Also bought my honey a big ol' bouquet of flowers. The market has some gorgeous arrangements for $10-$15. So I picked up about 2-1/2 lbs of ginger for only $7.50, two big bunches of purple kale for just $2/ea., some fresh from the garden carrots, two bunches of 3 fist-sized beets for just $2/ea., big cukes for a buck apiece, and 20 big lemons @ 2/$1. And my impulse buy of the day was $54 worth of fresh wild caught Alaskan coho salmon. I think I'll bake it with some parsley, butter, pepper and lemon. Yeah, the kids and Tresa are gonna eat great tomorrow. I brought the second half of this morning's juice with me and drank it on the way. We'll call it "2nd breakfast." Around 2, I had a serving of Odwalla Superfood. I knew that stuff was gonna come in handy. Downtown Seattle is full of smells coming from scores of restaurants. It really tested my willpower, and the bottled juice helped.
Drove home from Seattle instead of taking the ferry. That gave us an excuse to stop at Tacoma Boys and see what deals we could find. $0.50/lb for Fuji apples! They weren't the pretty grade A ones you find in a grocery store, but who cares?! I'm juicing them! So I grabbed about 15 lbs. I also picked up kiwis at 4/$1, celery for $1/lb., spinach ($10/lb.? Good grief!) a head each of purple and green cabbage, and some radishes. I love Tacoma Boys. They have great produce, great meat, and a sweets counter all at pretty good prices. A lot of things you can't find other places. They also sell fresh local salsas, jams and candies. I wished I lived closer.
Came home and went straight to work making scratch sauce for tonight's spaghetti and meatballs. Fresh parsley and fresh basil from our garden made this sauce out of this world. Yes, I tasted half a teaspoon of sauce before I served it. What cook doesn't? I love spaghetti. I love all pasta, for that matter. I used to ask my mom to make a huge pan of lasagna each year for my birthday. I would wolf down 3 pieces by myself, each the size of one serving at Olive Garden. It's no wonder I'm fat. But this time I was good, and made a big batch of Mean Green for my dinner. My kids are eating gourmet and I'm choking down liquefied fruit and veggies. What's wrong with this picture?! I feel good though. Spaghetti is relatively cheap and I made enough for the kids to have some for lunch tomorrow and some to freeze for another day. Juicing is time-consuming, and I'm always looking for ways to save time in the kitchen cooking for everyone else.
Anyway, the kids had fun at the Pacific Science Center, we did a fair amount of walking, the weather was nice, and my fridge is re-stocked. I'll need to buy some more cucumbers soon, but I'm set for making Mean Green for the next few days.
On our agenda for tomorrow is a trip to Hunter Farms down in Union so the kids can play in the corn and hay mazes and pick out their pumpkins. They also have a little produce stand I wanna check out. What I'm not looking forward to, however, is the kettle corn, roasted ears of corn, caramel apples, handmade ice cream and hot dogs that they'll be selling there. I'll do alright though. My cravings don't control me.
Drove home from Seattle instead of taking the ferry. That gave us an excuse to stop at Tacoma Boys and see what deals we could find. $0.50/lb for Fuji apples! They weren't the pretty grade A ones you find in a grocery store, but who cares?! I'm juicing them! So I grabbed about 15 lbs. I also picked up kiwis at 4/$1, celery for $1/lb., spinach ($10/lb.? Good grief!) a head each of purple and green cabbage, and some radishes. I love Tacoma Boys. They have great produce, great meat, and a sweets counter all at pretty good prices. A lot of things you can't find other places. They also sell fresh local salsas, jams and candies. I wished I lived closer.
Came home and went straight to work making scratch sauce for tonight's spaghetti and meatballs. Fresh parsley and fresh basil from our garden made this sauce out of this world. Yes, I tasted half a teaspoon of sauce before I served it. What cook doesn't? I love spaghetti. I love all pasta, for that matter. I used to ask my mom to make a huge pan of lasagna each year for my birthday. I would wolf down 3 pieces by myself, each the size of one serving at Olive Garden. It's no wonder I'm fat. But this time I was good, and made a big batch of Mean Green for my dinner. My kids are eating gourmet and I'm choking down liquefied fruit and veggies. What's wrong with this picture?! I feel good though. Spaghetti is relatively cheap and I made enough for the kids to have some for lunch tomorrow and some to freeze for another day. Juicing is time-consuming, and I'm always looking for ways to save time in the kitchen cooking for everyone else.
Anyway, the kids had fun at the Pacific Science Center, we did a fair amount of walking, the weather was nice, and my fridge is re-stocked. I'll need to buy some more cucumbers soon, but I'm set for making Mean Green for the next few days.
On our agenda for tomorrow is a trip to Hunter Farms down in Union so the kids can play in the corn and hay mazes and pick out their pumpkins. They also have a little produce stand I wanna check out. What I'm not looking forward to, however, is the kettle corn, roasted ears of corn, caramel apples, handmade ice cream and hot dogs that they'll be selling there. I'll do alright though. My cravings don't control me.
Day Ten - AM
Woke up this morning to some disappointing news. My juicing partner is quitting juicing and going on another diet plan. I think she's tired of all the juicing, misses real food, and is disappointed with the results so far. I've read that a juice/raw food/vegan diet doesn't work for everyone. I can't say I blame her. I've thought about quitting numerous times. I miss all the foods I've given up. I was looking around the kitchen the other day and saw that we still have about 15 lbs. of potatoes. I starting thinking of ways I could cook them: scallopped, baked potato bar, creamy potato soup with bacon, fried-over spuds, cheesy garlic mashed... I could go on and on. I love potatoes. Blame the English and German in me.
So anyway, I'm still determined to make it the whole 8 weeks juicing. I started off this morning with a big batch of fruit juice that I shared with the kids: mangoes, pineapple, kiwi, oranges, honeydew. It was very, very good.
We're off to spend the afternoon is Seattle, taking the kids to the Pacific Science Center, visiting the Pike Place Market (to stock up on produce - yay!) and check out Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe downtown. Just one problem: I can't remember the last time I was in downtown Seattle that I didn't stop at Ivar's for fish and chips.
I hate juicing.
So anyway, I'm still determined to make it the whole 8 weeks juicing. I started off this morning with a big batch of fruit juice that I shared with the kids: mangoes, pineapple, kiwi, oranges, honeydew. It was very, very good.
We're off to spend the afternoon is Seattle, taking the kids to the Pacific Science Center, visiting the Pike Place Market (to stock up on produce - yay!) and check out Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe downtown. Just one problem: I can't remember the last time I was in downtown Seattle that I didn't stop at Ivar's for fish and chips.
I hate juicing.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Day Nine
I apologize for missing the blog yesterday, folks. I had a busy evening, what with Cub Scouts, a trip to the farmers' market, dinner and watching a couple episodes of Sopranos with mama. I hyped up my weigh-in all week and then let ya down. Sorry.
Okay, so weigh-in results:
(drum roll, please)
251
No, I'm not kidding. That's 14 lbs. down in just a week. I'm pretty stoked too. It's more than I was expecting when I first started. I know I can't keep up those kinds of results. I've watched Biggest Loser. It's always Week Two that kills everyone. I don't expect as good of results next Thursday. And by the way, Tresa has lost 7 lbs. as of this morning. She would want me to remind everyone, however, that she is a day behind me in our juicing. Still very respectable results. I love her for doing this with me. I don't think I'd be able to stick to it otherwise.
Last night, after the kids went to bed, I cut up a sweet potato and an apple, placed them in a baking dish with some orange juice, cinnamon and nutmeg and baked it for an hour. It turned out pretty good and satisfied our craving for something hot. As nice as it was though, it wasn't fasting and it wasn't raw. I can only do that once a week or so. I need to be consistent in juicing.
This morning started off well. Even the kids had some of the juice and liked it. It was oranges, ginger, lemon, strawberries and fresh pineapple. Pineapple is my favorite fruit, so it's a real treat to put it in juice. I forgot to add mango to the mix or it would've been even better. When you've juiced about 30 different fruits and veggies in the last week, it's easy to forget what all you have.
Lunch was fine. I can't even remember what all was in it other than red lettuce and tomatoes. I like that stuff. It makes a lot of juice. I've had to get creative with what we have left in the fridge. It's definitely time to go grocery shopping again.
Speaking of shopping, I didn't find any cucumbers at the at the farmers' market last night. When I asked, they told me they were out of season. Bummer. Israeli cucumbers have a great flavor and a lot of juice. I'll try to find them in the grocery store.
Oh yeah (I know I'm jumping all around here) I did go a farmers' market of sorts yesterday at work. It was to raise money for charity, so I decided to check it out. Someone was selling an enormous head of green cabbage, tomatoes, Gravenstein apples, zucchini (anyone ever juice that?) some garlic and a big ol' gracery sack of kale. I bought it all for $15.
The cabbage went into tonight's juice. It's a simple one. Just cabbage, apple, carrot, celery, kale, parsley and ginger. The cabbage is sweeter than I had expected. I'm actually pretty happy with this juice. If I had any lemons left, they would've made it even better.
It's a long weekend coming up. Plenty of opportunities for some good juicing.
Okay, so weigh-in results:
(drum roll, please)
251
No, I'm not kidding. That's 14 lbs. down in just a week. I'm pretty stoked too. It's more than I was expecting when I first started. I know I can't keep up those kinds of results. I've watched Biggest Loser. It's always Week Two that kills everyone. I don't expect as good of results next Thursday. And by the way, Tresa has lost 7 lbs. as of this morning. She would want me to remind everyone, however, that she is a day behind me in our juicing. Still very respectable results. I love her for doing this with me. I don't think I'd be able to stick to it otherwise.
Last night, after the kids went to bed, I cut up a sweet potato and an apple, placed them in a baking dish with some orange juice, cinnamon and nutmeg and baked it for an hour. It turned out pretty good and satisfied our craving for something hot. As nice as it was though, it wasn't fasting and it wasn't raw. I can only do that once a week or so. I need to be consistent in juicing.
This morning started off well. Even the kids had some of the juice and liked it. It was oranges, ginger, lemon, strawberries and fresh pineapple. Pineapple is my favorite fruit, so it's a real treat to put it in juice. I forgot to add mango to the mix or it would've been even better. When you've juiced about 30 different fruits and veggies in the last week, it's easy to forget what all you have.
Lunch was fine. I can't even remember what all was in it other than red lettuce and tomatoes. I like that stuff. It makes a lot of juice. I've had to get creative with what we have left in the fridge. It's definitely time to go grocery shopping again.
Speaking of shopping, I didn't find any cucumbers at the at the farmers' market last night. When I asked, they told me they were out of season. Bummer. Israeli cucumbers have a great flavor and a lot of juice. I'll try to find them in the grocery store.
Oh yeah (I know I'm jumping all around here) I did go a farmers' market of sorts yesterday at work. It was to raise money for charity, so I decided to check it out. Someone was selling an enormous head of green cabbage, tomatoes, Gravenstein apples, zucchini (anyone ever juice that?) some garlic and a big ol' gracery sack of kale. I bought it all for $15.
The cabbage went into tonight's juice. It's a simple one. Just cabbage, apple, carrot, celery, kale, parsley and ginger. The cabbage is sweeter than I had expected. I'm actually pretty happy with this juice. If I had any lemons left, they would've made it even better.
It's a long weekend coming up. Plenty of opportunities for some good juicing.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Day Seven
Breakfast this morning was great. Tresa and I each had huge glasses of juiced fruit cocktail: grapefruit, orange, lemon, ginger, green grapes, strawberries, rhubarb,
apple, mango, and kiwi. It made a good sized batch, so I was energized and my stomach was full until I had my first lunch around 10.
Lunch juice was made from 4 carrots, 4 apples, 6 roma tomatoes, large handful of spinach, 3 leaves of collard greens, 1 cucumber, a big chunk of ginger, 1 lemon, 4 radishes, and 5 stalks of celery. I saved the pulp. We'll get to that later. So this batch of juice made almost 60 ounces, so Tresa and I both had nearly full bottles to last us through the midday. I felt great. Flushed and warm, but I had plenty of energy.
Tresa keeps telling me how much she has noticed a difference in how I look. She says my face looks thinner and can tell that my belly is smaller. I think I'm doing alright. I feel better, my pants seem looser, and yeah, I guess I see my cheeks getting thinner. All of it is encouraging. I got to see my daughter for the first time since I started juicing. When Tresa asked her, "doesn't your dad look like he's lost weight?" her eyes lit up and she exclaimed, "yeah, he does!" and gave me a big hug.
So, the pulp from this morning. Guess what I did with it? Broth. I simmered it for an hour or so with plenty of water, some seasonings and fresh herbs. I strained it really well and was left with a liquid both the color and consistency of stagnant pond water. Yum! To this I added a couple carrots and a couple stalks of celery and half an onion, all diced up small. When my back was turned, mama added another large carrot and about 4 more stalks of celery. "I looooove celery," she told me. (Poor girl. Tonight's soup probably seemed like a banquet after all our juicing lately.) My last soup ended up a little bland, so I made sure to add some chili pepper flakes and ground black pepper to this batch. Still no salt, and man, did it need it! We each had a full bowl and I froze the rest for another night when we can't stand to look at a glass of juice and are craving something hot to eat.
In related news, our compost bin is filling up fast. It had been looking good before we started tearing through all these fruits and veggies. Now, with all the peelings, stems, cores, seeds, rinds and juice pulp we've been adding, it's clumping together in wet balls, which is not good. I need to get ahold of some dry leaves or something. I shredded a few newspapers into the bin. That'll have to do for now. Just one more drawback to juicing that a lot of people don't think about, I guess.
Tomorrow is Day 8. Weigh-in day. Wish me luck.
Lunch juice was made from 4 carrots, 4 apples, 6 roma tomatoes, large handful of spinach, 3 leaves of collard greens, 1 cucumber, a big chunk of ginger, 1 lemon, 4 radishes, and 5 stalks of celery. I saved the pulp. We'll get to that later. So this batch of juice made almost 60 ounces, so Tresa and I both had nearly full bottles to last us through the midday. I felt great. Flushed and warm, but I had plenty of energy.
Tresa keeps telling me how much she has noticed a difference in how I look. She says my face looks thinner and can tell that my belly is smaller. I think I'm doing alright. I feel better, my pants seem looser, and yeah, I guess I see my cheeks getting thinner. All of it is encouraging. I got to see my daughter for the first time since I started juicing. When Tresa asked her, "doesn't your dad look like he's lost weight?" her eyes lit up and she exclaimed, "yeah, he does!" and gave me a big hug.
So, the pulp from this morning. Guess what I did with it? Broth. I simmered it for an hour or so with plenty of water, some seasonings and fresh herbs. I strained it really well and was left with a liquid both the color and consistency of stagnant pond water. Yum! To this I added a couple carrots and a couple stalks of celery and half an onion, all diced up small. When my back was turned, mama added another large carrot and about 4 more stalks of celery. "I looooove celery," she told me. (Poor girl. Tonight's soup probably seemed like a banquet after all our juicing lately.) My last soup ended up a little bland, so I made sure to add some chili pepper flakes and ground black pepper to this batch. Still no salt, and man, did it need it! We each had a full bowl and I froze the rest for another night when we can't stand to look at a glass of juice and are craving something hot to eat.
In related news, our compost bin is filling up fast. It had been looking good before we started tearing through all these fruits and veggies. Now, with all the peelings, stems, cores, seeds, rinds and juice pulp we've been adding, it's clumping together in wet balls, which is not good. I need to get ahold of some dry leaves or something. I shredded a few newspapers into the bin. That'll have to do for now. Just one more drawback to juicing that a lot of people don't think about, I guess.
Tomorrow is Day 8. Weigh-in day. Wish me luck.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Day Six
Not much to report today. I was tired last night and went to bed early. Thus, I didn't prep the produce for today's breakfast and lunch. I woke up and made a batch of juice that would have to serve as both. Here's what my fiancee and I had:
I made Hamburger Helper for the boys tonight. You know, as cheap and unhealthful as that crap is, it looked gourmet to me tonight. Still, I resisted stealing any and made a batch of Mean Green for mama and I. We're out of kale, so I substituted collard greens and parsley. Otherwise, it's the same as the juice that a lot of people are drinking as part of their Reboot program. If you're unfamiliar, here it is:
I'm tired again today - I'm waiting for this "I had a TON of energy when juice fasting" thing to kick in. Lately, I haven't had much energy at all. I think it's because I'm not getting enough juice. It's hard. Juicing for two people requires a lot of produce just to fill a 45 ounce pitcher. If we split it, that's a little over 20 ounces each. In order to get about 80 ounces of juice (or more) each day, I'd have to juice 4-5 batches each day. I'm going to have to find a way to step it up. If you have any ideas, share them with me.
- 3 apples
- 5 carrots
- 4 stalks of celery
- 1 small lemon
- 1" chunk of ginger
- 1/2 bunch of parsley
- 1 1/2 stalks of rhubarb
I made Hamburger Helper for the boys tonight. You know, as cheap and unhealthful as that crap is, it looked gourmet to me tonight. Still, I resisted stealing any and made a batch of Mean Green for mama and I. We're out of kale, so I substituted collard greens and parsley. Otherwise, it's the same as the juice that a lot of people are drinking as part of their Reboot program. If you're unfamiliar, here it is:
- 6 leaves of kale (I substituted 3 leaves of collard greens and 1/2 bunch of parsley)
- 1 cucumber
- 4 celery stalks
- 2 Granny Smith apples
- 1/2 of a large lemon
- 1" chunk of ginger
I'm tired again today - I'm waiting for this "I had a TON of energy when juice fasting" thing to kick in. Lately, I haven't had much energy at all. I think it's because I'm not getting enough juice. It's hard. Juicing for two people requires a lot of produce just to fill a 45 ounce pitcher. If we split it, that's a little over 20 ounces each. In order to get about 80 ounces of juice (or more) each day, I'd have to juice 4-5 batches each day. I'm going to have to find a way to step it up. If you have any ideas, share them with me.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Day Five
Breakfast this morning was yum-o. A blend of strawberries, blueberries (courtesy of my sister), raspberries, lemon, ginger and apples. It's always invigorating to start the day off with fruit. I used to skip breakfast. Now I look forward to it.
I prepared the produce for today's breakfast and lunch last night. And tonight, I'll do the same for breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. I think that's the smartest way to go. Zip-Loc bags make it all easy to store, easy to grab, and keep the moisture in. See? I'm learning all the time.
Speaking of learning, I found out today that Tresa can't drink juice with jalapeno pepper in it. Who knew?! I mean, juicing a jalapeno seemed fine to me. In fact, I really liked the juice I made. From memory, here it is:
I was a little foggy this morning. I had trouble focusing. Literally, in the sense that I had some blurry vision for a few hours, and figuratively, because my mind was wandering a lot. I thought about how hungry I've been, how I constantly have to pee, how much weight I've lost (more on that in a minute) and why I was sweating for no reason. Wait, sweating? Could it be that I've started to detox a little? No other real symptoms though. It certainly wasn't like Joaquin Phoenix portraying Johnny Cash going through drug withdrawals in Walk The Line.
I had a meeting at 10 this morning, right at the time I had planned to have lunch. No problem, I just carried my juice jug with me to the conference room. I walked in, and it was like show n' tell in 1st grade all over again, complete with the Q&A.
"What is that, swamp water?"
"Are you really gonna drink that?!"
"What's in it?"
I told everyone I was on a juice fast, how I had recently watched Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, that I was suffering from a gout attack, and so on. I listed off the ingredients in that day's concoction, took a big ol' swig and reassured them that it didn't taste half as bad as it looked. I expected a fair amount of criticism and teasing from the hecklers and cynics but surprisingly, I got a lot of support. No one threatened to take away my "man card." I mean, I'm 6' 3" and well over 250 lbs (not for long, hopefully) and I eat like a pig. They've all seen it cross my desk at some point, I'm sure: cheeseburgers, Hostess pies, Fritos, sodas, chocolate chip muffins, chili cheese dogs... They've heard me talk about how I love to grill steaks and drink beer. I was the first to offer up $5 when someone in the office would make a pizza run. My drug of choice? Supreme, on hand-tossed crust. I thought they'd all be in shock at my recent change in diet. Maybe they're secretly thinking "it's about time, fatty." Or, maybe, they want to see me succeed and inspire others.
Dinner tonight was:
I picked up some more cucumbers, mangoes, celery, carrots, onions and pears tonight. We also bought some Odwalla Superfood juice for times when we don't have time to juice, forgot it at home, etc. I know it's not the same as fresh juice but it's a healthful alternative in a pinch.
Okay, so... about my weigh-in. I know I said that I would only weigh in once a week. That was a lie and you ought to have spotted it from a mile away. Yes, I've weighed myself a couple of times since last Thursday. Yes, I've seen significant losses already. I was just telling Tresa that my pants are falling down and that I had to cinch my belt one notch. I think I also see it a little in my cheeks. It's enough to notice, anyway, and I'm encouraged by it. So just this once, I'm going to share my progress early. I weighed 254 lbs. this morning. That's a loss of 11 lbs. in less than 5 days. I know, I know....water. But, water or not, I'll still take it. I'm losing. I'm losing over here. I'm losing over there. I'm bi-losing.
I had Tresa take some photos of me last night. Front on, and profile shots. Yes, I know that yesterday was Day Four. When you see them, just picture me 11 lbs heavier and that's what I looked like before I started this crazy experiment. And don't even ask; no one sees the "before" pictures until the "after" pictures have been taken on the final day of the fast. By the way, I don't know if I mentioned the significance of my starting date, September 29th. It was last Thursday (technically I started Wednesday at noon, but I'm counting FULL days) and that was exactly eight weeks before Thanksgiving. Eight weeks. Fifty six days. I know I won't be able to turn down Thanksgiving dinner with my family. But if I meet my goal weight, I'll have one more thing to be thankful for this year.
I prepared the produce for today's breakfast and lunch last night. And tonight, I'll do the same for breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. I think that's the smartest way to go. Zip-Loc bags make it all easy to store, easy to grab, and keep the moisture in. See? I'm learning all the time.
Speaking of learning, I found out today that Tresa can't drink juice with jalapeno pepper in it. Who knew?! I mean, juicing a jalapeno seemed fine to me. In fact, I really liked the juice I made. From memory, here it is:
- 3 carrots
- 4 leaves of collard greens
- 1 cucumber
- 1 large lemon
- 1/2 head of romaine lettuce
- 4 radishes
- 1/4 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1" chunk of ginger root
- 1 small jalapeno, seeds removed
- 1 Granny Smith and 1 gala apples
I was a little foggy this morning. I had trouble focusing. Literally, in the sense that I had some blurry vision for a few hours, and figuratively, because my mind was wandering a lot. I thought about how hungry I've been, how I constantly have to pee, how much weight I've lost (more on that in a minute) and why I was sweating for no reason. Wait, sweating? Could it be that I've started to detox a little? No other real symptoms though. It certainly wasn't like Joaquin Phoenix portraying Johnny Cash going through drug withdrawals in Walk The Line.
I had a meeting at 10 this morning, right at the time I had planned to have lunch. No problem, I just carried my juice jug with me to the conference room. I walked in, and it was like show n' tell in 1st grade all over again, complete with the Q&A.
"What is that, swamp water?"
"Are you really gonna drink that?!"
"What's in it?"
I told everyone I was on a juice fast, how I had recently watched Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, that I was suffering from a gout attack, and so on. I listed off the ingredients in that day's concoction, took a big ol' swig and reassured them that it didn't taste half as bad as it looked. I expected a fair amount of criticism and teasing from the hecklers and cynics but surprisingly, I got a lot of support. No one threatened to take away my "man card." I mean, I'm 6' 3" and well over 250 lbs (not for long, hopefully) and I eat like a pig. They've all seen it cross my desk at some point, I'm sure: cheeseburgers, Hostess pies, Fritos, sodas, chocolate chip muffins, chili cheese dogs... They've heard me talk about how I love to grill steaks and drink beer. I was the first to offer up $5 when someone in the office would make a pizza run. My drug of choice? Supreme, on hand-tossed crust. I thought they'd all be in shock at my recent change in diet. Maybe they're secretly thinking "it's about time, fatty." Or, maybe, they want to see me succeed and inspire others.
Dinner tonight was:
- 3 carrots
- 2 cups of green grapes
- 1" chunk of ginger
- 1 granny smith apple
- large handful of spinach leaves and stems
- 3 leaves of collard greens
- 1 large lemon
- 1 cucumber
I picked up some more cucumbers, mangoes, celery, carrots, onions and pears tonight. We also bought some Odwalla Superfood juice for times when we don't have time to juice, forgot it at home, etc. I know it's not the same as fresh juice but it's a healthful alternative in a pinch.
Okay, so... about my weigh-in. I know I said that I would only weigh in once a week. That was a lie and you ought to have spotted it from a mile away. Yes, I've weighed myself a couple of times since last Thursday. Yes, I've seen significant losses already. I was just telling Tresa that my pants are falling down and that I had to cinch my belt one notch. I think I also see it a little in my cheeks. It's enough to notice, anyway, and I'm encouraged by it. So just this once, I'm going to share my progress early. I weighed 254 lbs. this morning. That's a loss of 11 lbs. in less than 5 days. I know, I know....water. But, water or not, I'll still take it. I'm losing. I'm losing over here. I'm losing over there. I'm bi-losing.
I had Tresa take some photos of me last night. Front on, and profile shots. Yes, I know that yesterday was Day Four. When you see them, just picture me 11 lbs heavier and that's what I looked like before I started this crazy experiment. And don't even ask; no one sees the "before" pictures until the "after" pictures have been taken on the final day of the fast. By the way, I don't know if I mentioned the significance of my starting date, September 29th. It was last Thursday (technically I started Wednesday at noon, but I'm counting FULL days) and that was exactly eight weeks before Thanksgiving. Eight weeks. Fifty six days. I know I won't be able to turn down Thanksgiving dinner with my family. But if I meet my goal weight, I'll have one more thing to be thankful for this year.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Day Four pt. 2
I got the machine last Wednesday, juiced that afternoon and evening and I have been juicing morning, noon and night for the past 4 days. Believe me when I say it feels like much, much longer. But my fiancee (who is also my juicing partner and source of encouragement) and I have done great. The real challenge is going to be this upcoming work week. I'll be surrounded by cafeterias, snack shacks, coffee stands and break rooms full of people eating real food. Delicious food. Hot food. Greasy food. Crunchy food. Sweet food. The very foods I still crave. I won't lie. If someone brought in a plate of steak nachos, piled high with all the fixings and covered in melted cheese, placed it down in front of me and walked away, I don't think I would have the willpower to keep from devouring them. I'm bringing it up because I am hoping that, one day, I can look back at this and laugh.
I think my weapon of choice in the war on unhealthful eating is going to be twofold: distance and substitution. Distance in that I MUST stay away from the places, people and situations that might influence me to cheat and eat the very crap that made me the fatty I am today. Substitution applies to both providing myself with enough juice that I feel full and satisfied, as well as substituting healthful and productive habits for what otherwise might've led to grazing and mindless eating. Yes, I often eat simply out of boredom and that always comes with an extra side order of shame.
Food prep for juicing cannot be understated. It's downright tedious. Our fridge is packed with a myriad of fruits and vegetables. Finding what I'm looking for takes awhile. Then it has to be cleaned and prepped. The amount of produce required to juice for two people takes up a whole counter! I've come to the conclusion that I won't be able to spend an entire hour in the morning juicing breakfast AND lunch for T and I before work. In other words, as soon as I'm done here, I have to prep tomorrow's Mean Green. I've already assembled breakfast: blueberries, raspberries, ginger, lemon, and Granny Smith apples.
A little positive news before I sign off: I'm already seeing results. My jeans fit looser. My face looks thinner. I weighed myself on Thursday (265 lbs.) and then again yesterday (259 lbs.) so I know I'm headed in the right direction. I feel good, but I admit I have done a lot of lounging around this weekend. The real test of my energy level will be tomorrow at work. I'll let you know how it goes.
I think my weapon of choice in the war on unhealthful eating is going to be twofold: distance and substitution. Distance in that I MUST stay away from the places, people and situations that might influence me to cheat and eat the very crap that made me the fatty I am today. Substitution applies to both providing myself with enough juice that I feel full and satisfied, as well as substituting healthful and productive habits for what otherwise might've led to grazing and mindless eating. Yes, I often eat simply out of boredom and that always comes with an extra side order of shame.
Food prep for juicing cannot be understated. It's downright tedious. Our fridge is packed with a myriad of fruits and vegetables. Finding what I'm looking for takes awhile. Then it has to be cleaned and prepped. The amount of produce required to juice for two people takes up a whole counter! I've come to the conclusion that I won't be able to spend an entire hour in the morning juicing breakfast AND lunch for T and I before work. In other words, as soon as I'm done here, I have to prep tomorrow's Mean Green. I've already assembled breakfast: blueberries, raspberries, ginger, lemon, and Granny Smith apples.
A little positive news before I sign off: I'm already seeing results. My jeans fit looser. My face looks thinner. I weighed myself on Thursday (265 lbs.) and then again yesterday (259 lbs.) so I know I'm headed in the right direction. I feel good, but I admit I have done a lot of lounging around this weekend. The real test of my energy level will be tomorrow at work. I'll let you know how it goes.
Day Four
Sunday morning. Normally, I'd get up and make a big breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs of some sort and maybe hash browns. My woman and I would have a couple cups of coffee with sweetened, flavored creamer. This Sunday was different. Today I drank my breakfast.
Let's see, 1 grapefruit, 1 small lemon, 2 carrots, 1 mango, 1 cup of blueberries, 1/2 pint of strawberries, 2 kiwis, 1" cube of ginger root, 1 granny smith apple. It yielded about 32 oz of smooth, delicious juice. A good energy boost for the day.
We had an early lunch around 11. We drank the juice left over from my "pulp soup" the night before. See yesterday's post for the ingredients. I'm not gonna lie; we choked it down. No fruit, no seasonings, no ginger, no lemon, nothing but vegetables.
I'm drinking my 2nd lunch right now. 1 cucumber, 4 carrots, two leaves of kale, 2 leaves of komatsuna, 1 sweet potato, 1" cube of ginger, 1/2 lemon, 1 granny smith apple, 2 gala apples, 3 stalks of celery, and 2 big broccoli crowns with stems. I juiced it all once and got about 56 oz of juice. Then I dumped the pulp container out on a plate and slowly fed it back into the juicer chute. To my surprise, I got another 8 ounces of juice out of it! So T and I each get about 32 oz of smooth, green juice that doesn't taste half bad. I really like the sweet potato in it. And using lemon and ginger in the juice really helps "brighten" up the otherwise bland taste.
I don't have any real significant detox effects yet. I've heard that the worse your diet was before the reboot, the worse the detox symptoms are once you start. That is encouraging. Maybe I wasn't eating as bad as I thought? Hell, who am I kidding? I've also read that some people detox early and some might not detox until a week or more later. That's probably more likely. I'm still waiting for the headaches and such. For now, I feel pretty good. Still limping slightly on my left ankle/foot. My big toe is still sore from the gout attack two weeks ago. I think some of that joint damage is irreversible. I see gout commercials on TV with images of rough, arthritic bones and I cringe, because I know that's what my toes look like now.
Anyway, I should be working on some paperwork instead of blogging away. Gotta run.
Let's see, 1 grapefruit, 1 small lemon, 2 carrots, 1 mango, 1 cup of blueberries, 1/2 pint of strawberries, 2 kiwis, 1" cube of ginger root, 1 granny smith apple. It yielded about 32 oz of smooth, delicious juice. A good energy boost for the day.
We had an early lunch around 11. We drank the juice left over from my "pulp soup" the night before. See yesterday's post for the ingredients. I'm not gonna lie; we choked it down. No fruit, no seasonings, no ginger, no lemon, nothing but vegetables.
I'm drinking my 2nd lunch right now. 1 cucumber, 4 carrots, two leaves of kale, 2 leaves of komatsuna, 1 sweet potato, 1" cube of ginger, 1/2 lemon, 1 granny smith apple, 2 gala apples, 3 stalks of celery, and 2 big broccoli crowns with stems. I juiced it all once and got about 56 oz of juice. Then I dumped the pulp container out on a plate and slowly fed it back into the juicer chute. To my surprise, I got another 8 ounces of juice out of it! So T and I each get about 32 oz of smooth, green juice that doesn't taste half bad. I really like the sweet potato in it. And using lemon and ginger in the juice really helps "brighten" up the otherwise bland taste.
I don't have any real significant detox effects yet. I've heard that the worse your diet was before the reboot, the worse the detox symptoms are once you start. That is encouraging. Maybe I wasn't eating as bad as I thought? Hell, who am I kidding? I've also read that some people detox early and some might not detox until a week or more later. That's probably more likely. I'm still waiting for the headaches and such. For now, I feel pretty good. Still limping slightly on my left ankle/foot. My big toe is still sore from the gout attack two weeks ago. I think some of that joint damage is irreversible. I see gout commercials on TV with images of rough, arthritic bones and I cringe, because I know that's what my toes look like now.
Anyway, I should be working on some paperwork instead of blogging away. Gotta run.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Day Three
Last night, all I wanted was something completely unhealthy. I wasn't really hungry, but I craved pizza, cheeseburgers, corn dogs, onion rings, etc. I've never been one to crave the sugary sweet things that some people do. No, I am a grease junkie. Anyway, last night was pretty difficult. I was talking with my fiancee about it and she suggested that we watch the documentary Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead a second time for inspiration. And so we did, and it helped a lot. First, it reminded me why I need to lose weight and change my eating habits. Second, it kept my mind occupied, and that is actually pretty important.
The hardest thing so far has been battling my psychological addiction to unhealthful foods. Let's face it; juicing doesn't keep a person full for very long. Every couple of hours my stomach is growling. And when I feel hungry, my brain reverts to the old "quick, easy, hot, greasy" mentality. It's going to take some time to change my way of thinking about food.
I'm still not feeling too bad, really. I was prepared for the worst: headaches, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue. I haven't experience any of that. I actually feel pretty good. Had a slight headache today but nothing major. My foot/ankle is feeling better too. I'm moving around on it more. Eventually, I'll get the range of motion back and it'll be almost like it never happened. I say "almost" because gout has a funny way of permanently affecting the joint it attacks, usually in the form of reduced flexibility. But for now I'm happy that it appears the gout is subsiding. Believe me, once this attack is over, I'm going back to consistently taking my allopurinol. I hope that one day I won't have to take it at all.
Breakfast this morning was around 8:30. Plums, strawberries, red grapes, carrots, celery and apples. Approximately 20 oz. for each of us.
Lunch was 11:30 and consisted of apples, carrots, green grapes, cucumber, celery, kale, collard greens, and komatsuna. Again, about 20 oz. It wasn't bad. Wasn't very good either. Let me tell you, putting something like komatsuna, which is also known as Japanese mustard spinach, into your juice isn't ever going to taste good. I don't care how much fruit and carrots you add. But I paid for it, and I'm going to drink it.
The better half and I stopped by Tacoma Boys this afternoon. We bought $68 worth of produce. I got some good stuff too: radishes, pineapple, roma tomatoes, mangoes, kiwis (4/$1!), a sugar pumpkin, ginger root, lemons, romaine lettuce (just $1/head!), and some granny smith apples. The real deal of the day was the strawberries for just $5 a flat. If you don't know, a flat is EIGHT pints. It was like stealing, I'm not even kidding. So we bought two flats and now have a ton of strawberries that we need to do something with tomorrow. We'll probably freeze them in quart bags for future juicing.
Stopped by the Tacoma Mall so the fiancee could do some clothes shopping. While there, we stopped at Jamba Juice and treated ourselves each to a drink called Apples N' Greens. Delicious! Made with fresh apples and a green veggie medley and then blended with ice, it was a welcome change to what we have been drinking for the past three days. It was her treat, and I appreciated it immensely, especially being so close to the food court.
Our local Fred Meyer is selling 2 lb. bags of carrots for just $0.99 each. I never thought I'd be so excited to buy carrots, but when you're trying to juice on a budget like I am, seeing a steal like that is worth mentioning. I bought 4 bags.
This evening, I juiced up an all veggie blend and then used the pulp in a hot soup. Hey, it's World Vegetarian Day, after all. I bottled the juice for tomorrow, but we ate the soup tonight. With all the pulp added, it had the consistency of thin chowder. I thought it was a bit bland. T said she loved it. It definitely satisfied our bellies and broke the monotony of drinking cold juice. At T's suggestion, I'll post my recipe here:
4 carrots (you juice two and cut up the other two)
1 bell pepper (you juice half, and cut up the other half)
8 roma tomatoes
4 stalks of celery (you juice two and cut up the other two)
1/2 sweet onion (juice 1/4 and cut up the other 1/4)
8-10 sprigs of parsley, stems and all
2 cloves of garlic
1 cucumber
2 big leaves of kale, chopped up small for adding to the soup, not the juicer.
Juice everything except for what you're going to cut up and put in the soup pot. I put a tablespoon of EVOO in the bottom of the pot and sauteed the carrots, celery and onions until soft. Then I added the pulp, being careful to take out as much of the big chunks and stringy crap as I could. I added about 4 cups of water and brought the whole thing to a boil. I seasoned it with some organic no-salt seasoning from Costco and let it simmer for about 20 minutes before serving.
Finally, tonight we went to see a movie (Dream House, and I don't recommend it at all) and so we stopped at Trader Joe's along the way and picked up a bag of sugar snap peas to snack on. I found it amusing that two adults sneaked veggies into a movie, not to avoid the high prices of the popcorn and candy, but to avoid the concessions altogether. I also picked up some more lemons (they were a better deal than the ones I found at Tacoma Boys) and some sweet potatoes. Our fridge and countertops are now full. The juicing possibilities are endless.
I'm tired, so I'll sign off. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's breakfast. It'll be a fruit juice blend to really energize us for the rest of the day. Again, if it's a winner, I'll post the recipe on tomorrow's entry.
The hardest thing so far has been battling my psychological addiction to unhealthful foods. Let's face it; juicing doesn't keep a person full for very long. Every couple of hours my stomach is growling. And when I feel hungry, my brain reverts to the old "quick, easy, hot, greasy" mentality. It's going to take some time to change my way of thinking about food.
I'm still not feeling too bad, really. I was prepared for the worst: headaches, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue. I haven't experience any of that. I actually feel pretty good. Had a slight headache today but nothing major. My foot/ankle is feeling better too. I'm moving around on it more. Eventually, I'll get the range of motion back and it'll be almost like it never happened. I say "almost" because gout has a funny way of permanently affecting the joint it attacks, usually in the form of reduced flexibility. But for now I'm happy that it appears the gout is subsiding. Believe me, once this attack is over, I'm going back to consistently taking my allopurinol. I hope that one day I won't have to take it at all.
Breakfast this morning was around 8:30. Plums, strawberries, red grapes, carrots, celery and apples. Approximately 20 oz. for each of us.
Lunch was 11:30 and consisted of apples, carrots, green grapes, cucumber, celery, kale, collard greens, and komatsuna. Again, about 20 oz. It wasn't bad. Wasn't very good either. Let me tell you, putting something like komatsuna, which is also known as Japanese mustard spinach, into your juice isn't ever going to taste good. I don't care how much fruit and carrots you add. But I paid for it, and I'm going to drink it.
The better half and I stopped by Tacoma Boys this afternoon. We bought $68 worth of produce. I got some good stuff too: radishes, pineapple, roma tomatoes, mangoes, kiwis (4/$1!), a sugar pumpkin, ginger root, lemons, romaine lettuce (just $1/head!), and some granny smith apples. The real deal of the day was the strawberries for just $5 a flat. If you don't know, a flat is EIGHT pints. It was like stealing, I'm not even kidding. So we bought two flats and now have a ton of strawberries that we need to do something with tomorrow. We'll probably freeze them in quart bags for future juicing.
Stopped by the Tacoma Mall so the fiancee could do some clothes shopping. While there, we stopped at Jamba Juice and treated ourselves each to a drink called Apples N' Greens. Delicious! Made with fresh apples and a green veggie medley and then blended with ice, it was a welcome change to what we have been drinking for the past three days. It was her treat, and I appreciated it immensely, especially being so close to the food court.
Our local Fred Meyer is selling 2 lb. bags of carrots for just $0.99 each. I never thought I'd be so excited to buy carrots, but when you're trying to juice on a budget like I am, seeing a steal like that is worth mentioning. I bought 4 bags.
This evening, I juiced up an all veggie blend and then used the pulp in a hot soup. Hey, it's World Vegetarian Day, after all. I bottled the juice for tomorrow, but we ate the soup tonight. With all the pulp added, it had the consistency of thin chowder. I thought it was a bit bland. T said she loved it. It definitely satisfied our bellies and broke the monotony of drinking cold juice. At T's suggestion, I'll post my recipe here:
4 carrots (you juice two and cut up the other two)
1 bell pepper (you juice half, and cut up the other half)
8 roma tomatoes
4 stalks of celery (you juice two and cut up the other two)
1/2 sweet onion (juice 1/4 and cut up the other 1/4)
8-10 sprigs of parsley, stems and all
2 cloves of garlic
1 cucumber
2 big leaves of kale, chopped up small for adding to the soup, not the juicer.
Juice everything except for what you're going to cut up and put in the soup pot. I put a tablespoon of EVOO in the bottom of the pot and sauteed the carrots, celery and onions until soft. Then I added the pulp, being careful to take out as much of the big chunks and stringy crap as I could. I added about 4 cups of water and brought the whole thing to a boil. I seasoned it with some organic no-salt seasoning from Costco and let it simmer for about 20 minutes before serving.
Finally, tonight we went to see a movie (Dream House, and I don't recommend it at all) and so we stopped at Trader Joe's along the way and picked up a bag of sugar snap peas to snack on. I found it amusing that two adults sneaked veggies into a movie, not to avoid the high prices of the popcorn and candy, but to avoid the concessions altogether. I also picked up some more lemons (they were a better deal than the ones I found at Tacoma Boys) and some sweet potatoes. Our fridge and countertops are now full. The juicing possibilities are endless.
I'm tired, so I'll sign off. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's breakfast. It'll be a fruit juice blend to really energize us for the rest of the day. Again, if it's a winner, I'll post the recipe on tomorrow's entry.
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