Day 5 Juicing and I Feel Great!

I wasn’t sure how my body was going to handle a workout because I hadn’t run in about a week and then with the juicing.

After dropping Emily off at school, I headed to the fitness center and got on the treadmill.

My workout consisted of a 1 mile power walk, 1 mile run, 1/2 mile power walk and 3/4 mile run for a total of 3.25 miles. It took about 40 minutes and I really felt great!

Avoiding the Big Temptation

To get on the scale or to not get on the scale? That was the biggest question yesterday! We don’t own a scale, but there is one in the fitness center. I came ‘this’ close, but I refrained. It’s only Day 5, and yes, I did weigh myself the day I started juicing (I’ll reserve that for a separate blog post.)

So, I didn’t get on the scale. I finished the workout and went home to lots of water, a hot shower and got down to my work day, which started with a fantastic accountability webinar with some of my MyNAMS friends and colleagues.

Which Juices?

I’m still drinking lots of water to ward off any hunger pangs in between juices. Water is just so good for you! I notice when I drink more water, my skin looks and feels better. When we feed our bodies what it needs from the inside first, then it’s only natural that the outside is going to look better, too.

So far, my favorite juices are the ones from Jason Vale’s JuiceMaster.com website. They’re so easy to make and with the Breville juicer, clean up is a breeze. I know he (Jason) uses a different brand juicer, but we chose a Breville and I’ll be doing a review in a separate post.

Veggies for the Turbo Boost

Recipe:

Large handful of spinach
1 large apple
1/2 cucumber
1 small lime
1 large orange
1/2 avocado

Juice everything except the avocado. Once juiced, pour into a blender with the avocado. Add a couple of ice cubes, 1 full scoop of protein powder and blend until smooth.

This makes a full 20 ounces and becomes a nice thick smoothie that tastes very tropical! You can’t even taste the greens, it’s amazing!

I ended the night with a cup of hot green tea with lemon and I’ll be back tomorrow for Day 6!

Enjoy!

If I got 3 hours of any real sleep, that was a lot. I still haven’t had any solid food since Friday morning, so I’ve made it past the 3 day mark. Yay me!

I don’t know if lack of sleep is part of the juicing detox or if it was just ‘one of those nights.’ Regardless, it took me f-o-r-e-v-e-r to get moving on Monday.

Turbo Boost with a Twist

After finding Jason Vale’s JuiceMaster.com website, I spent most of Monday morning pouring through his site, and found lots of recipes, great tips and even a whole section on juice recipes just for kids. WOW! What a find!

He has lots of great videos and how-to’s which really help me, especially with the green juices. I know greens are super important, but as I talked about last time, some of the real earthy ones just taste nasty.

Jason mixes some really great fruit combinations with many different greens and I tried one yesterday.

You Can't Even Taste the Green - I Promise!

1/2 large orange
1/2 stick celery
1/2 cucumber
1 large handful of spinach leaves
1 small piece of peeled lemon
2 apples
1/4 ripe avocado
1/2 banana
1 scoop protein powder
2 Ice cubes

Instructions

Juice the orange, celery, cucumber, spinach, lemon and apples. Place the ripe avocado flesh in the blender with banana, protein powder and ice. Blend until smooth.

Makes about 20 ounces

This one was absolutely YUM!!! It tasted like a tropical drink and no ‘green’ taste at all.

The original recipe on Jason’s site called for pineapple and lime. I didn’t have either, so I substituted orange and lemon. His recipe also did not add the protein powder or banana. I did that on my own to make it more of a smoothie texture.

Feeling Much Better

So, today is Day 4, and after keeping up my water intake and continuing the juices, and especially finding Jason’s recipes, by afternoon, I was honestly feeling great!

Earlier in the day, I thought I was going to have to take a nap, but that wasn’t the case. I actually started feeling really, really good, had another Turbo-Boost juice in the early evening and was not hungry at all by bedtime.

So, the next question is… to work out or not?

Kiwi Grapes and Strawberries

I started drinking 20 ounces of water in between each juice, which probably totaled about 100 ounces of water by Sunday night. That’s a lot of water!

One thing I did not do was schedule a lot of meetings for this week. When you drink that much water plus juicing, your closest bathroom becomes your good friend.

A Family Project

One of the things we wanted to make sure of is that didn’t leave Emily out. She’s 11 (going on 14, but that’s a different story!) and the health / nutrition habits she develops heading into her teen years are going to have a big impact on her life.

So, we found recipes for her that she might enjoy, but also took it a step further and let her work the juicer so she really felt involved.

This recipe calls for 2 fresh kiwis (skin off), 4 cups of grapes and 2 cups of fresh strawberries. There wasn’t much cutting involved, other than taking the skin off the kiwis. Emily did a great job of creating her first juice!

Drinking Green?

Unlike drinking green beer, by now, I pretty much knew that many of the more ‘green’ juices were definitely not my favorites… at all. I like to eat most veggies, but drinking them is very different! Seriously, it’s like drinking chlorophyll.

However! When I discovered Jason Vale’s Juice Master website, I found a lot more green juice recipes with more fruit combinations that did a much better job of masking the green taste. (More about JuiceMaster.com in the next post).

By Sunday night, it had been about 36 hours on just juicing and I was starting to feel better. Not super hungry and headache completely gone. Again, I think a lot of that had to do with increasing my water intake.

I wouldn’t say I was full of energy, far from it, but at least I didn’t feel like something the cat dragged in….that is, until Monday morning.

Grapes, Blackberries, Apples & Ginger

Day 2 (Saturday, April 14th) was a totally different story! I woke up with a dull headache that stayed with me for the entire day and I was tired!

The hardest part was making Emily’s meals… smelling the eggs in the pan and oh, how her toast looked so good!

But, I didn’t cave.

The day started with a cup of hot water with lemon and the rest of the day, we probably had about 5 juices total.

We had one on Saturday afternoon that was downright nasty which I’ll never make again! It was a take on gazpacho, which itself is pretty good, but definitely NOT as a juice.

It was just plain gross and took me about an hour to get down. I couldn’t throw it down the drain, though, even though I wanted to. That would be a waste of money, so yes, I drank it. OMG, it was just nasty, nasty, nasty!

After that one, it was a Purple Power juice for me… much like the one in this picture, which was total YUM!!

Here’s the recipe:

6 cups red seedless grapes
1/2 cup blackberries
1 apple
about 1/2″ of ginger root

Makes about 20 oz.

Juice it up and drink up!

Having Doubts

Even though this juice was delish, by late Saturday afternoon I was having doubts as to whether I’d make it the 3 days. That’s when I started drinking LOTS of water and thankful that my amazing husband Doug (who is also accountability partner) kept me going.

Water helps keep you feeling full (plus it’s just plain ol’ good for you). Surprisingly, I wasn’t really hungry, so that wasn’t it… I just wanted to sink my teeth into something!

The evening was hardest because that’s usually when I’ll have a snack of a small bowl of peanuts either while watching a movie or doing some computer work. It’s the chewing that I really missed.

But, I made it and onto Day 3.

Fresh goodness

Some of us have been having great conversations about this over on my Facebook page, so I’d love for you to join us.

So, how IS my juicing journey going?

Since I’m on Day 4, I’ll recap the first three days:

Day 1 – Friday, April 13th

Not that I’m superstitious or anything, but I thought it was kind of strange that we started this on Friday, the 13th.

First, I have to give my husband, Doug, a huge shout out because he is the one who did most of the research into this. He did the research for the juicer, found the recipes, put together a spreadsheet for our shopping list and totally got us organized. Thank you, honey!

Friday morning, I had a networking meeting, so I did have an early morning breakfast of scrambled eggs and a side of fresh fruit at the restaurant. After that, Doug and I did our shopping.

We first visited our local Good Harvest Market, which is an independently owned organic market. We found some items on sale and we bought organic when it made economic sense for us to do so.

Next, was Aldi. I don’t know if you have Aldi where you live, but that store rocks for finding great produce very inexpensively.

What we couldn’t find at the organic store or Aldi was bought at our local chain supermarket. All in all, our bill came to about $170.

I know that sounds expensive for a juice fast, however, it is for 2 people and one thing we realized is that we did overbuy on some things.

No big, though… when we’re done juicing, we’ll have a lot of salads to make.

Follow The Recipe

I’ve had a lot of people ask me where I got the recipes from or if we made them up ourselves. We’re using recipes from two websites: JoinTheReboot.com and JuiceMaster.com

These websites make it so simple! They pretty much do most of the planning for you, so all you have to do is get your list together, shop and juice.

How Did I Feel?

On Friday, we had about 4 juices before finishing the night with a cup of hot organic green tea. It’s so nice doing this with Doug because we can hold each other accountable.

It was a bit strange not having a snack or dinner to sink my teeth into, but all in all on day 1, I really didn’t feel any different…. until I woke up the next morning.

Since there’s two of us, we had to double the ingredient list.

It’s a 3 day juice-only and should be interesting since neither of us have ever done anything like this before.

I’m really glad we’re doing this at the same time so we can hold each other accountable.

Making a List and Checking it Twice

The reboot website makes it really easy because they have everything spelled out for you, but the one downside is that nothing is printable. ugh! Really? This just seems like it would be a no-brainer, printable lists.

So, Doug copied and pasted all the juice recipes and their ingredients into a spreadsheet, sorted all the veggies, fruits and their quantities to create our shopping list.

We’ll be consuming lots of cucumbers, kale, parsley and a whole host of other greens and goodies.

Clearing My Calendar

We decided to start with just a 3 day juice fast to see how this goes. My goal is 6 days, and I’ve heard that the first couple of days of detoxing can be a challenge. I honestly have no idea how my body is going to react to this, so I’ve cleared my calendar of all meetings.

Next Tuesday is the women’s networking group I belong to and right now, I’m leaving it as ‘maybe’. If I only do 3 days and we start on Saturday, Tuesday would be the 1st day after the fast ends. Depending on how I feel, or if I continue on with 6 days will depend on whether I go.

That’s our progress for today. I think we’re going to make a mock grocery run before Friday just to price how much this is going to cost. I’ll keep you posted on that, too!

Next time I’ll introduce you our new juicer and why we chose the Breville BJE510XL Ikon 900-Watt Variable-Speed Juice Extractor

Best,

I’ll be 52 this year and I’m a firm believer that your physical age has nothing to do with your mental age and that your mental age definitely has an effect on your physical well-being.

I honestly feel like I’m still in my mid-30′s because I thought I was doing all the right things.

Cleaning Eating Wasn’t Enough

In March of 2011, I started clean eating while getting ready for my son’s wedding in June. I certainly didn’t expect to look like part of the bridal party, but I didn’t want to be the frumpy mother-of-the-groom, either!

I started clean eating with Tosca Reno’s Book, “Clean Eating Recharged” and it was absolutely fundamental in helping me to look good in that dress for the wedding!

I still eat clean, for the most part, and thought I was doing the right things.

That All Changed Last Week

I honestly have no idea how much I weigh. We don’t own a scale and I haven’t been on one in years. Literally, I think the last time I was on a scale was when I was pregnant with Emily. For me, it’s how my clothes fit and how comfortable I feel.

So, if I’m doing all the right things then why are my jeans feeling a bit snug, why am I not making any progress with my clothes size goals and why do sometimes still feel bloated, not sleeping all night, etc. etc.?

Well… Doug and I watched the brand new documentary, Hungry for a Change last week and I was completely blown away by what I saw.

Take a look:

Why Juicing?

After watching Hungry for a Change, we started following all of the featured speakers on their websites and social media, which led us to Joe Cross’ “Fat Sick and Nearly Dead” movie. Oh my gosh!

Talk about an inspiration! Joe, Phil and the impact they have made with their stories is simply amazing. I figured if they could get the results they did and all the amazing success stories on thee Join the Reboot website, then I can do it, too.

Check out the trailer:

What I realized is that even though I don’t eat processed or fast foods, my body still isn’t getting the micro-nutrients it needs to fight off disease and be at its best. My skin could look a lot better and I could be a lot healthier. For me, clean eating simply wasn’t enough to be where I want to be.

I’ve never done a real detox and I can only imagine the years of toxins built up in my body, which would probably explain why I can’t reach my goals.

So, Today I Bought a Breville

Today, I bought a Breville Juicer and this is where we start. This week, we’ll be planning our first juicing menu, from the Reboot website, and will be grocery shopping for the fruits and veggies we need.

The Reboot website lays out exactly everything we need, depending on the juice plan, which is a good thing because I would have no idea how to make a good (and tasty!) juice on my own.

So, I’ll keep you posted as we move forward. Have you seen these documentaries? If so, what did you think?

Am I crazy or will you join me? Do you dare to juice?

Cheers!

For my international readers, today happens to be Groundhog Day in the U.S. This is the day where Punxsutawney Phil either sees his shadow, indicating six more weeks of winter.. or he does not, supposedly an indicator of spring on its way.

I live in Wisconsin, so I can tell you that we’ll definitely have six more weeks of winter regardless of whether he sees his shadow or not.

Ground Hog Day Do-Overs

What I want to talk to you about today, though, is not so much about a groundhog that sees his shadow. In the 1993 film, “Groundhog Day”, Bill Murray plays a self-centered meteorologist who is covering the Groundhog Day story with his producer and cameraman. He winds up stuck in some kind of time warp and is reliving the same day over and over and over again.

I remember watching the movie, years ago, and tried to figure out exactly how many do-overs there were, and lost count. The movie is funny, although when you really sit down and think about it, the message is, well…not so funny.

Real Life for the Rest of Us

We don’t get do-overs like Phil Conners (Bill Murray) does. Sure, every year, January 1st comes around and we have our brand new business plans, our “This year is our year!” game-face and occasionally throughout life, some of us do get a second chance.

Unlike the movie, though, our second chances are not guaranteed. We don’t get to relive the same day over and over again until we get it right.

Lessons Learned

For me, the biggest takeaway is that THIS is it.. meaning today. I need to take each day, look at it squarely in the face and make the best decisions I know how, or seek those who can guide me, to achieve my business and personal goals.

What is it that is most important to you?

For us, tomorrow is not February 2nd .. again. Tomorrow will be February 3rd

Make the most of it! Enjoy the clip.

Welcome to 2012

I don’t make a list of resolutions, but I set goals and benchmarks instead. One of those is for my health & fitness.

It’s an area of my life that is very important to me. While I love to run, I’m not a competitive athlete. For me, it’s about lifestyle. I love to hike, bike, snow ski, and most anything outdoors.

I know what my drivers license says…(51, but who’s counting?), yet in my head, I’m still in my early to mid-30′s.

To me, being ‘old’ is a state of mind. I don’t know about you, but don’t you want to still be doing the activities you love today in 20 or 30+ years? I know I do! I plan on being the 80 year old still on the ski slopes at Breckenridge!

Real Life Isn’t PhotoShopped

I was thinking about this today as I started my workout for the new year. I don’t subscribe to so-called fitness magazines because real life isn’t photoshopped. Most of the women in today’s fitness magazines are photoshopped models with a few fitness articles sprinkled in-between the pages of the ads, and even the article content leaves much to be desired.

Where are the magazines with the real women who aren’t photoshopped or airbrushed tan?

Where are the women like me, in our late 40′s to early 50′s, who are heading toward a new season in our lives, who want to remain healthy and fit to live a life of adventure and refuse to grow ‘old’ gracefully?

I know those women exist somewhere. If this is you, please let me know!

Finding Clean Eating

One of my goals for 2012 is to be more consistent with my workouts and my clean eating. Last March, I stumbled upon clean eating as I was preparing to fit into the dress I wore to my son’s wedding in June.

(Honestly, finding a classy-looking dress that didn’t look like it was made for my grandmother was quite a challenge, but that’s another blog post!)

What is Clean Eating and Why?

Clean eating is a way of eating that nature intended. You eat the foods that help your body perform at its best. Basically, if it’s in a box, it’s not clean eating. Clean eating is not to be confused with a raw foods diet, though, and clean eating is NOT a diet… it’s a lifestyle.

When you eat clean, you eat more often and you combine foods so that your blood-sugar levels stay stable and you’re not hungry, and it works. (I looked pretty damn good in that dress for my son’s wedding, if I say so myself!)

Why Clean Eating?

I LOVE clean eating mostly because it’s normal food I can buy in the regular supermarket. I don’t have to buy anything I can’t pronounce and it’s food that fits right into our grocery budget.

Many of the recipes can be prepared for the whole family, so I don’t have to worry about cooking separate meals for Emily.

I don’t have to count anything! My life is hectic enough without having to count calories, fat, carbs, etc., etc., etc. Who has time for that? Not me! Clean eating uses portion sizes instead.

My Clean Eating Journal

So, I decided that for 2012, I’m going to keep a journal of my clean eating and workouts right here on this blog. If figure it will hold me accountable to my health goals of 2012 AND maybe by blogging my journey, it will help you, too.

I was doing really great from March until about August. Then, life happened.. we moved in September, business got crazy busy, the holidays just showed up and slowly but surely, I got away from consistent clean eating and my running.

So, here I am. I haven’t decided if I’ll journal every day or just once a week. I don’t have a scale, so I won’t be weighing in. I’m on a journey of a healthy lifestyle (and dropping a size or two) so that I can continue to live my life with passion and purpose and enjoy all of God’s blessings from above.

I’ll be sharing the stumbling blocks as well as my successes, resources, recipes and ideas.

Till next time, I’ll see you then!

Best,

WOW! Has it been 10 years already? Where did the time go?

It seems like just yesterday that my daughter was in a baby carrier on my lap while I typed away on the computer.

Now, she’s a 10 year old pre-teen who has her own aspirations of becoming a young entrepreneur.

Techno-Challenged

Ten years ago, Mark Zuckerberg and his Facebook friends were still in high school, most of us were on AOL dial-up and a tweet was still something that only birds did.

Back then, I knew absolutely nothing about how to build a website and resources to learn (in language that I could understand!) were non-existent.

Today, we don’t build just a website, we create a web presence… big difference.

My, how times have changed!

What Makes Your Heart Sing?

What I did know, though, was that I saw other people making it work, so I knew that I could, too.

It takes tenacity to keep moving forward through the roller-coaster of emotions when building a business.

However, when you discover what makes your heart sing, you are willing to stop at nothing to make it work. That’s what I really want to address today and ask you…

What Makes You Come Alive?

Before you start building a blog or filling in your Facebook profile or describing yourself on LinkedIn… before all of that, there’s more… so much more that will drive every action you take, every email you send, every post you make.

What is it that keeps you up at night that you can’t stop thinking about?

See, before you join any company or start your own business, build a website or even create a fan page, what is it that you can’t stop thinking about?

I truly believe that everyone has been given a gift that has been placed upon their heart, their calling, if you will. It’s that one thing that you were born to do.

So, as we head into the latter part of 2011, I want to ask you to seriously consider this thought….

Maybe your current company isn’t working the way you thought it would. Maybe you’re stuck at what to write on your blog, or perhaps you’re overwhelmed by all the ‘how to’ social media.

Or maybe…. just maybe you’re not following your true calling.

Perhaps you already know what makes your heart sing. Maybe you’re still searching. For many of us, it’s a journey of discovery to finally realize what we were born to do.

It’s different for every one of us, but once you find it, you’ll feel like an eagle that can soar!

That’s what success is all about, your business, your way.

So tell me, what makes YOUR heart sing?