Juicing day 16-21

I'm still juicing! Just have been very busy with work and tired and not taking pictures! I'm surprised how not hungry I am. I still want the taste of bad for me food... But am not hungry! I probably won't post much this week... I'm in trial again... But will do a "recap" on the weekend! Cheers!

Juicing day 15 4/30

Mexican again today! I'm still feeling great. Sleeping well and waking up refreshed. I added horseradish this time! Great addition! About a thumb size piece after it was cut and peeled (just thought it was a good idea... I don't peel the ginger, just scrub real well). I also added 4 stalks of celery and 2 cloves garlic not in the picture. So here we have: a whole lot of grape tomatoes, strawberries, green grapes, a plum, 2 grapefruit, 2 blood oranges, 3 limes, 4 bunches parsley, a few leaves spinach, 3 cucumbers, shallots, a red bell pepper, a peach and a daikon (I think that's right- got at Fm, will check this week and update if wrong).

Look at how DARK green that juice is! That was parsley, daikon, cucumber, celery and spinach!

Juicing day 14, 3/30

Today I took it easy. Stocked up on fruits I didn't find at the FM yet, worked on landscaping in the yard and worked on the garden and compost. I made a huge batch of juice tonight, enough for tonight and tomorrow morning. It's delish! Grapes, strawberries, blackberries, huge bunch of curly parsley, watercress, 2 cucumbers, lots of ginger, 3 limes, 3 lemons, 3 plums, 2 oranges, 2 apples & a peach. It made about 3 liters! Wow! Moms getting a bunch and the boy will get some too.

Juicing day 13 AKA 2/30

So today mom and I went to the farmers market and got some stuff to juice. One of the great things I got was a flat of wheatgrass!!! I hadn't juiced WG before, so I was very excited! Plus mom's jumping on the juicing train! She's agreed to try my crazy juices. I think she will love what she will feel like drinking all the juices! So I had her over and made a juice for her, her very first juice, and SHE LOVED IT! Yay! I added about 4 stalks of celery and a piece of ginger a little bigger than my thumb in addition to the picture below of wheatgrass, 2 grapefruit, lemon, 2 golden apples, one pink, handful of strawberries, 2 small limes.

I will say, after just water and lemons yesterday, then my lemon citrus "tea" last night I'm feeling 100% better today! No nasty sluggish feeling lingering around anymore.

Day 12 AKA Day 1 of last 30 days of juicing

So after the mishap of red bean and rice and hush puppy... Oh? Did I not mention that before.... Strange! But yes... The body needed a reboot after my night off... So I gave it only lemon water all day and a lemon water with orange and a touch of honey last night.... So no juicing.... Just rest.

Day 11 juicing

So this is plus one day from my original goal of 10 days... I will admit I had a little rice and beans tonight... Don't feel good afterwards.... So it's back on the juice only tomorrow.... And this time Ill know how much it hurts if I get tempted.... :( but my juice today was great!! It was creamy and green green green! I had this all day, then the rice n beans tonight.... It was totally an emotional call I know I already regret! Back tomorrow to finish my last 30 days no slip ups!

Day 10

Another long day. I'm tired for the first time since day 3. I will say my skin is sooooo happy. It's gotten very very soft. All in all great juicing day. This was truly delish! Soooo yummy! And look at that color! Purple kale and blackberries make great bases to purple "power" drink!! I also love a pineapple in the juice! Very uplifting and refreshing!!

This is purple kale, celery, parsley, pineapple, grapefruit, orange, grape, ginger, limes, apple, strawberries and blackberries.

Day 8-9 juicing

I have been a little busy the past few days in trial so this will be a short post. Yesterday I was majorly craving something not juice.... But I think it was just the stress of the day and mental exhaustion.... I just kept thinking of a burger and beer.... I guess that's my "comfort food." The past 3 days I have made the juice the night before as I've been having long long days at the office. So day 8 I had the Mexican juice from night 7. Yesterday, day 9, I had a purple power juice that was BEAUTIFUL and delish. It had a ton of ginger and purple kale. In fact I added extra kale and ginger after the main pic was taken. I'll post today's juice later on. I'm still not physically hungry, just an emotional desire to eat. My body though is very satisfied with all the liquid nutrients its getting!!!

P.S.~ the giant grapefruit looking thing is a pummelo!

Day 7~Spicy Mexican Juice!

So I made some Mexican Juice tonight with cilantro, parsley, tomatoes, onion, garlic, bell pepper, jalapeño, celery, cucumber, blood oranges, strawberries, peach, apple, grapefruit lemons & limes. The juice is not the most visually appealing but it sure was pretty being made! Look at all that green juice! That was just the greens, celery and cucumber!  Taste just like a bloody mary sans vodka!

Juice Fasting!

So today is day 7 of juice fasting... I have been juicing only fresh veggies and fruit. Let me take a step back.  What started this and how did I get here... Well it starts several years ago... I went vegetarian.  I loved it!  My body loved it too… At  first it was hard (I LOVE a rare steak and bacon… but I digress..), after a few months of eating no meat I noticed I felt better, more vibrant, less “sluggish”, all sorts of wonderful things…I was also actively doing Ashtanga Yoga several times a week, I was on my way to true health!  In May of 2011 I was offered an amazing opportunity to become a prosecutor and fulfill a life dream, and be able to truly help people who are going through some of the hardest times in their lives.  I was ecstatic and jumped at the opportunity…  My work life has never been so full…Still on that vegetarian train too.. But then I noticed slowly with time at the office some of the weight I had flushed when I went meatless was coming back… I was none too happy, so in October of 2011 I started CrossFit… Very dynamic workout that I truly enjoyed with some amazing people… After several months of CrossFit, I did a 6 week challenge with the gym and followed the “Paleo Lifestyle”… Now, I know many people love paleo and it works great for them… but meat. Just does something to my body… not good… and so then I fell off the bandwagon completely and my last 6 months of 2012 were filled with fried chicken, bacon, steak… all the things I love and my body detests… Insomnia set in, along with some extra pounds, my skin was lacking its normal radiance… All around just yucky!  Back on the veggie train I went in January of 2013 to clean up my act.  I have been eating a lot of homemade stir fry and fried rice in my wok (LOVE my authentic hand hammered wok from The Wok Shop in San Francisco!  AMAZING!).  I was starting to feel better, but still just not quite right… And then I saw “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” … it was incredible… and I couldn’t get it off my mind…  I had done a 21 day detox a few years ago eating only fresh raw veggies and fruit, but this was radical even for me… This lovable Aussie named Joe is on lots of medications, including strong steroids, has a debilitating skin disease, and is very overweight.  He takes off on a 60 day juice fast and travels across America from NYC to the West Coast.  And the changes to his health are so inspiring, not to mention all the weight he lost, his glowing complexion and the dramatic rise in energy he had as a result… I woke up Monday morning, feeling yucky, and decided, today is the day!  I’m fasting! Luckily I had some fresh fruit and made a morning juice… and away I went!

That first night after work I went to the grocery store and stocked up on lots of fresh greens, veggies and fruit…  So here is my first juice...

I started taking more pics after a couple of days... And then got inspired to blog about my juicing experience as I've had so many people ask what the heck I'm doing!  I will say that days 1-3 were the worst as far as the way I felt.  Day 1 I was hungry... I missed food.  I had leftovers in my fridge taunting me.. they got tossed!  Day 2 I was generally just icky feeling.  I had a mild headache and was tired.  Day 3 I was grumpy and tired.. but I kept on.. and magically day 4 I woke up as if from a fog... I woke up at 6:30am, on my own, wide awake!  And anyone that knows me known I love my sleep, so this was eye opening!  I had energy and was really looking forward to my green juice!  I was juicing celery, cucumbers, parsley, spinach, tomatoes, all types of berries, LOTS of ginger, sweet potatoes, onion, garlic, apples, peaches, lemons, limes... literally everything I could find.  My mixtures started off simple... then got exciting!  I will start to break down what I am doing daily (HOPEFULLY!), but here are a few of the ones I have made over the past week!

MMMM!  This was YUMMY!  I made it for breakfast Saturday as I was going on a day road trip and needed lots of fuel. This had lemons, grapes, strawberries, grapes, blackberries, ginger, cabbage, pineapple, flat and curly parsley... TOTALLY OUTRAGEOUS! 

My first attempt with beets.  It was good, but I suggest peeling the beet, keeps them a little sweeter.  This juice had bell pepper, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, lime, apple, lemon, beet, cabbage, curly and flat parsley (BTW-parsley is super super great for you!  TONS of chlorophyll and helps with bad breath and BO!  WOW!!!!)

Simple Green Juice (this was day 1 I think).  This is lots of spinach, pear, apple, lemon, celery, 2 carrots, cucumber and apple.. Oh and that's my juicer and set up I use in the background.  LOVE my Champion juicer!  It does great with greens!  I do suggest juicing the leafy greens first, and running juicier stuff later through the juicer as it cleans out all that good green stuff!

Gazpacho!  Delish!  Totally satisfied a Mexican food itch! This was 3 tomatoes, lots of curly parsley, cilantro, grapefruit, onion, garlic clove, 2 lemons 2 limes, an apple and peach!

Here's a few pics of the process...

 The above and the juice directly below was all from juicing lemons, grapes, strawberries, grapes, blackberries, ginger, cabbage, pineapple, flat and curly parsley.  Outstanding!

BEETS!!! So pretty!

Bell pepper, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, lime, apple, lemon, beet, cabbage, curly and flat parsley juice!

The "sausage" is the pulp.

This is nothing but parsley... so amazingly green!

Blackberries are so delish and they are thicker and thicken up the juice just slightly.

mmmmm... pineapple and lemon!

Look at that bright beet juice!

I keep the pulp from all the non acidic, non ginger, non onion and feed it to my worms- they love it! (I have a worm compost for my spring/summer garden that is in the works)

 

Here are a few pics from my fridge and counters of all the goodies I've been buying up to juice!  I have really found it a lot like cooking.  I feel a little like a juicing chef!  I open my fridge, look around, see what catches my eye and develop my juice around that...  I make sure there are a variety of colors in and flavors, and have yet to make a bad juice.  I will say that some are more palitable than others, but they all are good!

So.. I think that's enough today... I am feeling amazingly energized... And look forward to the juice, for the most part.  I think the weekend has been harder than the work week.  I'm used to lots of cooking and eating on weekends, but all in all I am very happy with my juice fasting... One thing I am sure you are curious about is how long am I going to fast.  When I started I thought "I'll try to 10 days, and maybe longer..." after a few days I thoughts "10 days for sure and my goal is 30!"... now a week in my goal is 40 days.  I can't believe I said that out loud!  I had only told one person my "secret" goal... We shall see... Always an adventure!  Cheers!