Day 5
I will be weighing myself every Wednesday from now on, as well as taking "progress portraits". I have found that while I love seeing the number on the scale drop ever day, there are mornings like today where I stepped on the scale and had only lost 7 oz... Even though I know that it is just because of water weight and all of that, it is still hard to take... I will be calling this day "Weigh In Wednesday"!
Today I went on a little road trip to see some family members that live about 1.5 hours away... This took some prior planning on my part because I knew that I needed to be able to continue juicing while out and about. I found a very easy solution to making my juice portable and fresh: Mason jars and an insulated bag (in this case a bottle/food bag that came with my son's diaper bag). I knew that I would be out of the house for at least 8 hours, so I took two quart size jars and filled them 3/4 full with juice that had not been watered down and then filled the rest of them with ice. My juice stayed cold all day long and what was left over even had ice in it when I came back home this evening! I was able to pour my juice into a glass and then water it down appropriately, which gave me plenty of juice for the whole day! So, if you are wondering how to do juice on the go- there it is!
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Cleansingcolada
Day 4
Weight: 237.6lbs
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! That number means that I am back on track- which makes me very happy!
I made some very delicious juice this morning and I have dubbed it the Cleansingcolada (found under the recipe tab above). Why is it the cleansingcolada you ask? Well let me tell you!
Because the fruits and vegetables used to make this juice combine to make high water, vitamin, mineral and bromelain content cocktail they make and excellent juice to boost digestion and bodily cleansing. As an added bonus, citrus fruits have a high concentration of vitamin C which helps with immunity and they also have bioflavonoids in the pith which works with the vitamin C as an antioxidant. Ginger not only adds a little kick to the taste of this juice but it is know to help with inflammation, nausea, bloating, circulation, and digestion issues. Another bonus, this juice will also help make your skin clear up and glow, so drink up!
Weight: 237.6lbs
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! That number means that I am back on track- which makes me very happy!
I made some very delicious juice this morning and I have dubbed it the Cleansingcolada (found under the recipe tab above). Why is it the cleansingcolada you ask? Well let me tell you!
Because the fruits and vegetables used to make this juice combine to make high water, vitamin, mineral and bromelain content cocktail they make and excellent juice to boost digestion and bodily cleansing. As an added bonus, citrus fruits have a high concentration of vitamin C which helps with immunity and they also have bioflavonoids in the pith which works with the vitamin C as an antioxidant. Ginger not only adds a little kick to the taste of this juice but it is know to help with inflammation, nausea, bloating, circulation, and digestion issues. Another bonus, this juice will also help make your skin clear up and glow, so drink up!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Let's Talk Meat
The following entry describes some of the unfortunate violence against animals in the meat industry. There is also a discussion about the terms "organic", and "free range" and what they really mean to the industry. I am not saying that I will be a vegan or vegetarian, that matter is to be decided, but there is information that you may not know contained in this entry. This is for informational purposes only. I would like to make it clear that it is YOUR CHOICE weather you want to read this and any decisions that you make based on this entry are your own.
While on this journey I have been taking the time to educate myself on where my food comes from and what really goes in to the foods that I normally ate before I started this. I have been looking into the differences between plain old meat, fruit, and vegetables from a store and what it means to be organic in meats, fruits, and vegetables also. I have been researching vegetarianism and veganism as well...
I have found out that I do not approve of the way that animals are treated in the process of becoming food for human consumption in feedlots and industrialized farming, that much I know. I have also found out that I have been duped into thinking that when animal products are stamped with the words "Organic" or "Free Range" that it has been treated more humanely from birth to death. This is just simply not true in most cases.
The term "organic" simply means that animals do not get fed food that was grown with pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, but it in no way changes the treatment of the animals themselves as far as the horrifying fates that they have to face. "Free Range" is also a very misleading term in the meat industry. When you hear that term you probably think of sprawling hills and chickens or cows roaming free, but that is not the case! All that this term means is that the animals have to have access to the outdoors, but not necessarily total freedom with as much grass to eat as they want. What it does mean is that the animals have to have access to the outdoors, but it does not specify to what outdoor area. Your "free range" chicken could actually be an "I was let outside to stand in the 4x4 gravel or dirt patch for a few minutes with 60 others." chicken. That is just the chicken, mind you. There is not a definition of what "free range" means in cattle or pork yet!
You also have to remember that these "Organic" and "Free Range" titles do not protect the animals from the VIOLENCE that they face in both setting AND in industrialized farming as well. Eggs are taken from the mother hens and hatched in an incubator. These chicks are then taken and "sorted" and this is where the violence begins... Male chicks are most likely discarded or mutilated. I do not mean that figuratively. The male chicks are either collected in trash bags and stuck in the dumpster STILL ALIVE to either be suffocated or starved to death or they are thrown STILL ALIVE into a grinder that makes them into meal that is added into animal feed (how nice). The females are taken and raised until they are mature enough to lay eggs at which point they are taken to have their beaks and some of their toes cut off without any use of anesthesia, and then stuffed into a cage with hundreds or thousands of other hens.
Lets talk beef... Have you ever thought of how you get milk from a cow? Most people know that milk comes from a cow's udders, but have you ever thought of how a cow produces milk? Well, it is just like any other female- you have to give birth! Basically farmers impregnate a cow and then when she has her calf, it is immediately taken from her and if it is a male, it is either killed for veal steak (baby cow meat) or raised for slaughter upon "maturity". The females are taken and when they reach maturity, they get impregnated have their baby and the process starts over again. So we covered the calves, but back to the mama cow... After giving birth and having her baby taken from her, she is hooked up to machinery day after day to suck all of the milk from her utters, and when she starts running dry they impregnate her again to start it all over. Can you imagine that? Having a child and having it taken from you so that you can have your child's food supply drained from your body and sent off some place to be used to feed somebody else?
Are you feeling piggish? Swine are also made to face a violent life and death experience. As soon as a week after birth a piglet gets it's tail chopped off, again, with no use of anesthesia and then is raised to be as fat as possible as young as possible. When they are deemed plump enough, these pigs are taken and dropped STILL ALIVE into a vat of scolding water to kill them. They are then tossed in a machine that tears off their hair and skin, sometimes still alive.
All of the above mentioned animals are made to live in their own filth for the entirety of their lives too. This causes many issues in the animals such as respiratory infections and lesions in the throat and lungs. Not to mention of course, that when these animals are processed they usually have feces on them still which makes it's way into your food. Every wonder why it is recommended that you wash your food before you consume it?
In a brighter light, however, there are places that treat animals the way that they should be treated. Local farms, or small farms, generally treat their animals with dignity and respect, letting the animals roam free and eat grass (like they are supposed to be doing) instead of shoving corn and grains that the animals are unable to digest down their throats. You can find these meats at local co-ops or buy directly from the farm (but usually processed and picked up from a local butcher store). Also the terms "free roaming" or "pasture fed" will lead you in the right direction!
While on this journey I have been taking the time to educate myself on where my food comes from and what really goes in to the foods that I normally ate before I started this. I have been looking into the differences between plain old meat, fruit, and vegetables from a store and what it means to be organic in meats, fruits, and vegetables also. I have been researching vegetarianism and veganism as well...
I have found out that I do not approve of the way that animals are treated in the process of becoming food for human consumption in feedlots and industrialized farming, that much I know. I have also found out that I have been duped into thinking that when animal products are stamped with the words "Organic" or "Free Range" that it has been treated more humanely from birth to death. This is just simply not true in most cases.
The term "organic" simply means that animals do not get fed food that was grown with pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, but it in no way changes the treatment of the animals themselves as far as the horrifying fates that they have to face. "Free Range" is also a very misleading term in the meat industry. When you hear that term you probably think of sprawling hills and chickens or cows roaming free, but that is not the case! All that this term means is that the animals have to have access to the outdoors, but not necessarily total freedom with as much grass to eat as they want. What it does mean is that the animals have to have access to the outdoors, but it does not specify to what outdoor area. Your "free range" chicken could actually be an "I was let outside to stand in the 4x4 gravel or dirt patch for a few minutes with 60 others." chicken. That is just the chicken, mind you. There is not a definition of what "free range" means in cattle or pork yet!
You also have to remember that these "Organic" and "Free Range" titles do not protect the animals from the VIOLENCE that they face in both setting AND in industrialized farming as well. Eggs are taken from the mother hens and hatched in an incubator. These chicks are then taken and "sorted" and this is where the violence begins... Male chicks are most likely discarded or mutilated. I do not mean that figuratively. The male chicks are either collected in trash bags and stuck in the dumpster STILL ALIVE to either be suffocated or starved to death or they are thrown STILL ALIVE into a grinder that makes them into meal that is added into animal feed (how nice). The females are taken and raised until they are mature enough to lay eggs at which point they are taken to have their beaks and some of their toes cut off without any use of anesthesia, and then stuffed into a cage with hundreds or thousands of other hens.
Lets talk beef... Have you ever thought of how you get milk from a cow? Most people know that milk comes from a cow's udders, but have you ever thought of how a cow produces milk? Well, it is just like any other female- you have to give birth! Basically farmers impregnate a cow and then when she has her calf, it is immediately taken from her and if it is a male, it is either killed for veal steak (baby cow meat) or raised for slaughter upon "maturity". The females are taken and when they reach maturity, they get impregnated have their baby and the process starts over again. So we covered the calves, but back to the mama cow... After giving birth and having her baby taken from her, she is hooked up to machinery day after day to suck all of the milk from her utters, and when she starts running dry they impregnate her again to start it all over. Can you imagine that? Having a child and having it taken from you so that you can have your child's food supply drained from your body and sent off some place to be used to feed somebody else?
Are you feeling piggish? Swine are also made to face a violent life and death experience. As soon as a week after birth a piglet gets it's tail chopped off, again, with no use of anesthesia and then is raised to be as fat as possible as young as possible. When they are deemed plump enough, these pigs are taken and dropped STILL ALIVE into a vat of scolding water to kill them. They are then tossed in a machine that tears off their hair and skin, sometimes still alive.
All of the above mentioned animals are made to live in their own filth for the entirety of their lives too. This causes many issues in the animals such as respiratory infections and lesions in the throat and lungs. Not to mention of course, that when these animals are processed they usually have feces on them still which makes it's way into your food. Every wonder why it is recommended that you wash your food before you consume it?
In a brighter light, however, there are places that treat animals the way that they should be treated. Local farms, or small farms, generally treat their animals with dignity and respect, letting the animals roam free and eat grass (like they are supposed to be doing) instead of shoving corn and grains that the animals are unable to digest down their throats. You can find these meats at local co-ops or buy directly from the farm (but usually processed and picked up from a local butcher store). Also the terms "free roaming" or "pasture fed" will lead you in the right direction!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Excited for Tomorrow!
Well as I stated previously, I spent Christmas with my family and yes, I did have Christmas dinner with them. Since I decided to break my fast and just start over on December 26th I also ate yesterday evening as well. I made Italian Chicken with cheesy rice, broccoli and carrots. Sounds fairly healthy right?
WRONG!
I woke up this morning regretting eating solids deeply. I had an awful taste in my mouth to start off the day which didn't go away after I brushed my teeth. My face was greasy, but then felt almost scaly when I got it wet to wash it and I had already broke out, my hair felt like straw, and my tummy was upset right away in the morning. I spent most of my day in a hot kitchen cooking Christmas dinner for my family and because of the heat, there was sweat. I noticed that even though I have not been needing to wear deodorant lately, boy did I need it today. I seriously can only describe the odor as souring milk. To wake up feeling this sluggish and sick after ONE day of not juicing it is a rude wake up call of what I have been doing to my body for years now.
I noticed small changes when I was juicing like that my skin was improving, and my hair has a new shine to it, and I no longer needed to wear deodorant but I did not notice some very huge improvements. I did not notice that I felt lighter, I was happier, my mind was clearer, I no longer had bad tastes in my mouth after eating, and I was not bogged down. Today I have just felt bloated, lethargic, stinky, greasy, and depressed... I guess there are some things that you don't notice until they are taken away from you, or until they come back!
After noticing all of these changes I am more excited than ever to get back on the metaphorical horse and start juicing again! I will be on here tomorrow to share more about my juicing experience! I will also be trying to track what changes that I notice in myself on a daily and weekly basis and share them here in my blog. Tomorrow will be my "Day 1" again, so here we go for 60 Days of Juice!
Merry Christmas and Happy Juicing!
WRONG!
I woke up this morning regretting eating solids deeply. I had an awful taste in my mouth to start off the day which didn't go away after I brushed my teeth. My face was greasy, but then felt almost scaly when I got it wet to wash it and I had already broke out, my hair felt like straw, and my tummy was upset right away in the morning. I spent most of my day in a hot kitchen cooking Christmas dinner for my family and because of the heat, there was sweat. I noticed that even though I have not been needing to wear deodorant lately, boy did I need it today. I seriously can only describe the odor as souring milk. To wake up feeling this sluggish and sick after ONE day of not juicing it is a rude wake up call of what I have been doing to my body for years now.
I noticed small changes when I was juicing like that my skin was improving, and my hair has a new shine to it, and I no longer needed to wear deodorant but I did not notice some very huge improvements. I did not notice that I felt lighter, I was happier, my mind was clearer, I no longer had bad tastes in my mouth after eating, and I was not bogged down. Today I have just felt bloated, lethargic, stinky, greasy, and depressed... I guess there are some things that you don't notice until they are taken away from you, or until they come back!
After noticing all of these changes I am more excited than ever to get back on the metaphorical horse and start juicing again! I will be on here tomorrow to share more about my juicing experience! I will also be trying to track what changes that I notice in myself on a daily and weekly basis and share them here in my blog. Tomorrow will be my "Day 1" again, so here we go for 60 Days of Juice!
Merry Christmas and Happy Juicing!
Saturday, December 22, 2012
A New Tradition?
Day 8
Weight: I did not weigh today!
I have decided to wait until after Christmas to continue weighing myself. I have still been juicing, but I have also been doin' a little taste testing (lots of cooking and baking goin' on here) and I have not gained anything, but I have not lost much either... Even a little bit of food on a juice fast causes you to not loose as much as you potentially could...
Today I made Tropical Sunset juice (Find the recipe under the "Juice Recipe" tap at the top of the page.) with lemon and orange added in and it is so tasty and refreshing, but it is odd to drink when my house smells like Crockpot Fajitas! I feel 50/50 today about this whole juice fast. Half of me is really into it because I want to be healthy and lose weight. The other half of me is thinking "Why did I decide to do this around the holidays? I know that my family is full of traditions that involve food!". I guess that is a sign that I need to stay strong because part of this journey for me is to break my addiction to food in general, but especially unhealthy foods!
I have to wonder why people started associating food with celebrations. It seems like every family that I know gets together for a barbeque, to go out to dinner, to cook dinner, to meet for lunch, to have dessert and especially around the holidays to make feasts fit for kings. What ever happened to getting together to GO somewhere and DO something? Having to worry about feeding others adds way too much stress in my opinion. There is the cost, first of all, because food is expensive but there are other factors too. If somebody has an allergy or they don't like certain foods you have to take that into consideration and if you are going "out" somewhere then you all have to agree on where to go and then decide who is paying, or are you splitting the bill... For some people that is not a problem, but think back to when you were just starting out and didn't have any extra anything. I am hoping that by the end of this adventure my family has come up with some other activity to do when we have a gathering other than eating. Maybe it is time to start a new tradition?
Weight: I did not weigh today!
I have decided to wait until after Christmas to continue weighing myself. I have still been juicing, but I have also been doin' a little taste testing (lots of cooking and baking goin' on here) and I have not gained anything, but I have not lost much either... Even a little bit of food on a juice fast causes you to not loose as much as you potentially could...
Today I made Tropical Sunset juice (Find the recipe under the "Juice Recipe" tap at the top of the page.) with lemon and orange added in and it is so tasty and refreshing, but it is odd to drink when my house smells like Crockpot Fajitas! I feel 50/50 today about this whole juice fast. Half of me is really into it because I want to be healthy and lose weight. The other half of me is thinking "Why did I decide to do this around the holidays? I know that my family is full of traditions that involve food!". I guess that is a sign that I need to stay strong because part of this journey for me is to break my addiction to food in general, but especially unhealthy foods!
I have to wonder why people started associating food with celebrations. It seems like every family that I know gets together for a barbeque, to go out to dinner, to cook dinner, to meet for lunch, to have dessert and especially around the holidays to make feasts fit for kings. What ever happened to getting together to GO somewhere and DO something? Having to worry about feeding others adds way too much stress in my opinion. There is the cost, first of all, because food is expensive but there are other factors too. If somebody has an allergy or they don't like certain foods you have to take that into consideration and if you are going "out" somewhere then you all have to agree on where to go and then decide who is paying, or are you splitting the bill... For some people that is not a problem, but think back to when you were just starting out and didn't have any extra anything. I am hoping that by the end of this adventure my family has come up with some other activity to do when we have a gathering other than eating. Maybe it is time to start a new tradition?
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