Speed Bumps

My second 4.5-day juice fast was easier than the first.  I had no detox symptoms and felt pretty darn good throughout the whole thing.  I fasted Monday, January 12, 2015 – Friday, January 16, 2015.  Friday was actually the hardest day.  I gave in to food pretty easily by about noon.  I honestly can’t remember what I ate since I’m writing this post 14 days later.

On Monday, January 19^th I started my 30-day juice fast.  I was pumped and ready!

 

 

I cruised stealthily through the first 10 days without a problem.

For some reason on day 11 I gave in to temptation late in the evening.  I had some almonds and one Peanut M&M.  I could live with that slip up.

On day 12 (the day I’m writing this post) I slipped up again with some more almonds…but then…DISASTER!

My willpower toppled and I succumbed to a Pulled Pork Sandwich that was leftover in the fridge.

 

Poor lil piggy

 

What is my problem!!!!!!????

I will be going to the gym today for the first time in about 2 years.  I have to correct this back-slide.  I don’t want all my progress to be wasted.  I WANT TO KEEP GOING!!!

Speaking of progress, I need to post the weight loss progress I made during the fasts.

I have a Quantum Scale.  It “secretly” records my weight and then will only tell me if I’ve gained or lost.

 

I also just borrowed my mom's medical scale so that I will know my exact weight.  I will post that info at the end of my 30-day fast.

Here are the day by day readings from my Quantum Scale:

 

-2.8	Tuesday, January 6th	FAST DAY
-4.4	Wednesday, January 7th	FAST DAY
-5.2	Thursday, January 8th	FAST DAY
-6.2	Friday, January 9th	HALF-DAY FAST
-4.6	Saturday, January 10th	NON-FAST DAY
Didn’t weigh in	Sunday, January 11th	NON-FAST DAY
-0.6	Monday, January 12th	FAST DAY
-3.8	Tuesday, January 13th	FAST DAY
-6.0	Wednesday, January 14th	FAST DAY
-7.2	Thursday, January 15th	FAST DAY
-8.0	Friday, January 16th	HALF-DAY FAST
-8.2	Saturday, January 17th	NON-FAST DAY
-6.2	Sunday, January 18th	NON-FAST DAY
-3.8	Monday, January 19th	FAST DAY
-5.0	Tuesday, January 20th	FAST DAY
-7.4	Wednesday, January 21st	FAST DAY
-8.4	Thursday, January 22nd	FAST DAY
-9.8	Friday, January 23rd	FAST DAY
-10.4	Saturday, January 24th	FAST DAY
-10.4	Sunday, January 25th	FAST DAY
-10.4	Monday, January 26th	FAST DAY
-11.2	Tuesday, January 27th	FAST DAY
-12.2	Wednesday, January 28th	FAST DAY
-12.2	Thursday, January 29th	FAST DAY – Slip Up
-12.8	Friday, January 30th	FAST DAY – Slip Up

So this means that in 25 days I lost 12.8 pounds total.  Not too bad.

I think part of my cave to temptation was due to how little the scale moved in the past few days.  I’ve been told not to weigh every day, but that’s impossible for me.  Weighing every day keeps me motivated (or unmotivated in this case).  I must say, I'm going to be afraid to look at the number tomorrow, but I’m going to keep juicing.  And I am not resetting the fast to day one…I’m still going to be on day 13.  If I look at it as having to start over then I just might give up altogether.  It’s funny how food is such a mind game.  I’m still trying to train my brain to think of food as fuel and not as fun.  It’s a hard road.

My biggest worry is keeping the weight off that I lose.  Sometimes I think that’s harder than losing the weight to begin with.

I’m off to the gym now.  I might write more when I get back!

 

 

There Was a Rainbow Before the Rain

In the midst of all the sulking in my previous post I forgot to tell you what the entire fast felt like.  Oops.

Day one was pretty easy.  I don't think I got many of my juice recipes just right because they didn't taste the best, but they were tolerable and I got used to them quickly.

 

By the afternoon of day one I had a slight headache.  This headache lasted right to the end of my fast on Friday.

 

Other than the dull headache I really was feeling great.  I felt great about myself and about what I was accomplishing.  That is one of the best feelings in the world.  It's not often that I feel proud of myself.

Friday morning I threw on a pair of jeans...I didn't have to struggle to get them on or to get them fastened.  That was nice!

By Friday night I realized that I didn't even HAVE to unfasten the jeans to get them off.  What a phenomenal feeling that was!!!

 

 

I think I've learned my lesson...

 

I feel SO good when I'm doing something healthy and good for my body and feel SO bad when I'm not.

 

I MUST burn this into my brain and when I feel tempted, I need to reminisce on those bad feelings and know that I never want to feel them again!

Upswings and Downfalls

I ended my first juice fast on the afternoon of Friday, January 9th.  That morning I weighed in and had lost a total of 6.2 pounds since the start of my fast on Monday.  Great!

Come afternoon, I had only one juice that day so I was quite hungry and gave in to a little temptation.  At first I was going to go for the candy bars, but then I remembered that there was some cowboy salsa left in the fridge.  It consists of black beans, tomatoes, corn, red onion, and cilantro...so not too bad.  I had that with corn tortilla chips.  When I finished a tremendous wave of guilt washed over me.  I was planning to break my fast that evening at dinner with a salad and a plain sweet potato.  The guilt I felt was that I didn't follow my "plan".  We went to dinner that night with my husband's co-worker and his wife.  I was still in a funk about my broken plan.  The guilt was still smothering me, and coupled with dining with people who were strangers to me didn't help matters.  I ordered a margarita, a double house salad, sweet potato and broccoli.  I did NOT need that AMOUNT of food...and I definitely didn't need the margarita.

On Saturday morning I weighed myself and was up 1.6 pounds.  I decided to be okay with that.

My husband made fried eggs and toast for breakfast.  I had 3 eggs and 3 pieces of toast.  Not very healthy indeed.

For lunch we went to a cafe that makes fresh juice!  I had a "Green Goddess" juice and a walnut, pecan burger with a side of raw veggies.  It was delicious!

 

That evening we attended a neighborhood "Round Robin" dinner party.  Our neighbors got together and we travelled to three different homes on our street and shared snacks and beverages.  I didn't eat all that much (I don't think), but the beverages were plentiful and I didn't hold back.  I started off being "responsible" by having one martini and then water.  At the next house I had 2-3 glasses of wine (I can't remember the number).  At the third house I had 3 margaritas.  I'm not a frequent drinker, so this was WAY more than I should have had.  When we got home I promptly got sick.

 

 

All day Sunday I was recovering from the night before.  I slept off and on, laid around, and did nothing.

I knew that the next day I was starting another fast, so I forced myself into the shower and then got dressed.

Before grocery shopping we went to dinner and I ate 3 buffalo wings and a southwestern salad.  Yes, there were healthier menu items I could have chosen, but let's not forget that I struggle with eating smart.  I need to work on that!

 

After our meal, we went to the grocery store and again I purchased what I would need for a few days of juicing.

I started my second fast today, Monday, January 12, 2015.  My weight was only -0.6 from the previous Monday.  This was very disappointing to me and is causing me to not be as "into" this fast...but I'M DOING IT!

I made some juices today and they turned out very nice.  I really need to get my head straight this week in preparation for my 30 day fast that starts next Monday.

Day One of Five...Boring Boringness

Day One of possibly Five is coming to and end.  I made it, no problem.

Last night my husband and I hit up two different stores for produce.  The only Kale I found was Flowering Kale...it does not juice well at all...but I've heard any Kale doesn't juice well. (I might switch to spinach.)

Here is my produce haul:

3 heads of Flowering Kale

10 cucumbers

4 bunches of celery

40 Granny Smith Apples

15 Lemons

2 nice chunks of Ginger Root

20 Carrots

It all cost around 70 bucks.  Expensive, but in the long run my health is worth it.

When we got home from the store I got right into juicing.  I made one serving of Joe's Mean Green and got about 20 ounces of juice.  I popped it in the fridge for today.  Then it was late so I tried to go to bed.  I COULD NOT fall asleep.  I kept thinking all of my usual negative thoughts when I dive into yet another "health plan":

"How am I going to do this?"

"This is going to be hard."

"Making juice every day is going to be hard."

"I don't think I'm going to be able to keep up."

...and on and on and on.

According to my FitBit Charge I finally fell asleep at around 2am.  Then the alarm went off at 6:40am. I was freaking tired and didn't want to get out of bed.  Not to mention it was about 20 below zero here...so getting out of bed was extra brutal.

On a normal Monday morning...or should I say Monday mornings of the past?...I would drink coffee and not have any breakfast.  I just never really feel hungry for breakfast.  Unless my husband makes breakfast for me...in that case I'll eat anything put in front of me.  As far back as I can remember I've rarely had breakfast.  I know they say it's "the most important meal of the day", but really, why should I eat if I'm not hungry?  A calorie is a calorie no natter what time of day.

Anyway, today I had hot Ginger Lemon Green Tea.  I know I shouldn't have any caffeine on this Reboot, but I'm going to continue drinking this tea until we go to the store again.  Then I'll get decaf.  Ideally I should cut some fresh ginger and lemon and make the tea from scratch, but I'm a total lazy ass in the morning.

At around 8:30am I had my first 20oz Mean Green.  It's a funny color because of the Flowering Kale.  Flowering Kale is mostly purple, so mixing the purple with the other greens turned it into an appetizing moldy, mud color.

I work from home so I sipped on my juice my entire shift which is 8:30am-1:30pm.

Around 2:30pm I made more juice.  This time I made a big batch of Carrot-Apple-Lemon.  I had a 16oz glass of that.  It was pretty tasty.

I took a nap around 3:30pm, woke up around 5 and started supper for my husband...fish tacos...one of my favorites.  It actually didn't phase me all that much.  While cooking I had a little coconut water, which I'm not a huge fan of.

He ate his yummy looking supper while I juiced cantaloupe, cucumber, carrots, and kale...just something I threw together that sounded good...didn't look all that good though.  It was delicious!

After supper I made another big batch of Mean Green...it's so weird how the different juices separate.  That's the Flowering Kale at the bottom and the other greens on top.  This will be for tomorrow and I hope the celery isn't overpowering like it was today.

And this is the ho-humness of someone on a Reboot.

Trust me, I'm not going to do a play-by-play everyday like this...you're eyes would start bleeding and you might think a funeral would be more exciting.  I merely wanted you to get the jist of what I'm doing.

JUICE ON!

My Introduction on Juice Feast Eve

First thing's first....I've never blogged before.  This is my first time, so don't expect it to be good, witty, or very interesting.  If you're here, then you're here for one thing...you are curious about juicing. Today, I'm curious about juicing too.  I've never juiced before.

What is juicing you ask? And what exactly is my plan?

Here is everything you need to know about the journey I'm about to embark on:

http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/

How did my curiosity about juicing come to be?  I'll explain...

About a week or so ago I was browsing Netflix trying to find something interesting to watch.  I came across the title "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead".  It sounded kind of interesting so I watched it.  The documentary is about Joe Cross and what he did to take control over his weight and his health.  He was overweight and had a skin condition that he took medication for to keep it at bay.  He decided he no longer wanted to be a slave to gluttony or to medication...so he traveled across America with a juicer and juiced his way to health and shared the experience with anyone he met that seemed interested.  Needless to say, this documentary profoundly affected me.

I'm not going to lie...first and foremost the idea of losing weight was what really grabbed me.  My health is secondary....it's a vain world we live in.

I've been overweight for most of my adult life.  I've been on every diet I could find and took every pill offered in hopes of a quick fix. I basically refused to eat right or exercise because surely at least ONE of these weight loss gimmicks HAD to work.  Boy, was I wrong.  Not only did all the dieting and pill-popping mess with my head, it also had a detrimental impact on my health.  The only success I had ever had with my weight loss was in taking ephedra. If you don't live under a rock you know that ephedra is very bad for your heart and is now banned in the USA.  Luckily, as far as I know, my heart is fine.  I did manage to lose 50 pounds in about 5 months, but it did not change my psyche and after about 6 months of thinking I looked fabulous I again began to pack on the weight. When I took ephedra, my weight changed, but my habits did not. 

At my highest weight I was 195ish....that's a lot for a 5'1" frame to carry.

Secondly, in the documentary Joe was suffering with a skin condition that caused severe hives, burning and discomfort.  I too suffer with a skin condition.  I've had acne since puberty.  I'm now 41 years old and STILL have acne.  I have tried everything to cure it from Accutane to Zinc.  NOTHING has worked.  My acne isn't as bad as it used to be because I finally got wise and decided to quit putting chemicals on my skin.  Now I only use natural skin products...namely a line called 100% Pure.  I still have about a dozen "spots" on my face at any given time, but it's not as bad as it used to be. However, it still is the bane of my existence....along with this extra weight.  Since I'm putting natural products ON my body, it's time to put natural products IN my body!

After watching "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" I decided THIS WAS GOING TO GET MY HEALTH AND MY LIFE BACK ON TRACK.  I did research, read blogs, watched YouTube videos, and even joined a Facebook support group that is derived off of juicing.  The juicing program I'm doing is called a Reboot.  I will drink nothing but juice.  NOT the juice you're thinking of.  The juice you buy in stores is mainly fruit juice and loaded with sugar and other additives.  I'M talking about REAL juice...plant juice!  I bought a Breville Juicer, just like the one Joe Cross uses in the documentary. 

Here she is:

Isn't she pretty?!  She is going to be my best friend.

Starting tomorrow (January 5, 2015) I will be drinking nothing but 80% vegetable juice and 20% fruit juice for 3-5 days.  This will be somewhat of a trial run...and there is an event I'm attending that weekend and I don't think I will have the willpower to continue juicing.  I'm human dammit.

On Monday, January 12, 2015 I will do another 3-5 day juice feast (it's normally called a juice fast, but I'm going with feast since it has more positive connotations).  And again, the weekend off to partake in another previously planned event.

Then, the biggie...On Monday, January 19th I'm going to attempt a 30 day juice feast.  My husband has agreed to do the first ten days with me!  Amazing!!!!  That will be a HUGE help!

Now, you are probably thinking this is insane and convoluted....but please....follow along with me and lets see if this pans out.  And before you say it's unhealthy, etc...do your homework, watch the documentary yourself, read some articles.  Just don't criticize me for doing this.  I have spent the last 41 years putting total crap in my body and you never said a peep, so now that I'm mainlining micronutrients you have NO right to fault me!

Onto the hardest part of this blog...

I've searched for weight loss blogs before for inspiration, and ironically I've found very few that have progression photos.  If you don't have photos, then I don't read.  We are a very visual society and if I can't see a before and after with statistics, then I move on.  If you say you lost 100 pounds but you have no photos, then I don't believe you.  For all I know you could be 300 pounds and 8 feet tall...that might be very proportionate, but just saying you're 300 pounds means nothing.  I want to know how that looks on you.  And then I want to know what 200 pounds looks like on you.  So, as I said, this is the hard part.  Here are some photos my husband took of me TODAY...one day before I'm starting my feast.  I'm embarrassed to post these, but it must be done.  I'm going to stall as long as I can...so what else can I talk about first?

La-di-dumb.....

La-di-dah.....

{Crickets}

Oh, hell....here you go:

That's 180 lbs (pounds)...the font I used makes it look like it says 1801 bs.  I don't weigh 1801, but this is indeed BS! The clothes I'm wearing will be my results outfit each time I take a photo for comparison purposes.  The shirt is a Third Man Records/Jack White t-shirt I got when we visited Nashville this past summer.  The tag says XL... Holy balls.  In my opinion it should be also marked "juniors" but they claim this is a woman's cut t-shirt in XL...whatever.  Either way I want to be able to wear this shirt out in public some day.

And here is me after I got into some "street clothes":

The  jeans are tight, but I can still breath at least.  They are "Miss Me" jeans from The Buckle and the waist size says 32, but in reality, when I measure my waist the tape measure reads 41 inches...so I don't know who they are trying to kid with these jeans.

And now for my face....my pimple-nosed-pig face.  I hate my skin.  I loathe my skin.  But here it is:

I seem to get most of my breakouts on the right side of my face (the side I mainly sleep on, and yes, I DO change my pillowcase), and also on and under my chin...which I why I took a close-up of the chin area.

So, enough about me.  Let's commence this journey, shall we?

Today is the eve of my very first juice feast.  According to Joe Cross and his Reboot program you should ease into the feast by cutting out caffeine, alcohol, fried foods (any bad foods really), etc. at least a week before your feast.  Well....I did not. Today for breakfast I had two fried eggs and ham. 

For lunch I had my favorite, MEXICAN FOOD!  I had a "Fajita Quesedilla" smothered in melted cheese, refried beans, rice, chips, salsa, and guacamole.  I had water to drink....hey, I try.

For dinner I might have my first juice, since we will be going to the store tonight to get all my juicing supplies.  Actually, I'm typing this first blog entry when I should be making my grocery list.

   

So, there ya have it!  This is me, this is what I'm doing. Nanna-Nanny-Boo-Boo.

Stay tuned....