Ok, since this is post number 2. I guess I'll talk about what I have recently done. I saw an AWESOME and INSPIRING video called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" by Joe Cross about a month ago. In the video, Joe has a chronic condition and wants to make a change. He does a juice only fast for 60 days. He gets very healthy and loses a lot of weight. During his travels he also inspires a man named Phil to make a major change. In case you want to see it yourself, which I hope you do...I won't tell anymore! Only that it was very inspiring.
A few days after I saw the video, I saw that a friend of mine was posting about juicing on facebook. After about a week of watching her post about it, I asked if she'd seen the video. She had, and she was so inspired that she began juicing because of it. My friend has now been doing juicing only for almost 30 days!!! She's been quite the inspiration!
During the last week of July I made a doctor's appointment. I wanted to talk to him about the juice fast and wanted to get a complete blood work up prior to starting, as well as his approval. I got in to see him on August 2nd. I'm pretty sure my doctor thought I was doing heavy drugs or something, I don't think he believed for a minute that I was actually going to lose weight. He told me that he wants to put me on insulin, I said "well, that's all the more to keep me motivated". He told me to watch my sugar, I have the scarred fingers to prove that I've done just that. I'll discuss that, and other medical issues, later. So. A week after that, on August 9th, I had to bring my son in. I stepped on the scale and made my doctor's assistant look. She gasped. In exactly one week, I was down 27 lbs. I wasn't even buck nekked!
Now, there is a downside to this. I was losing my mind. Psychologically, I was just not handling the NO FOOD AT ALL deal. When Joe and Phil did their fast, they didn't have to cook for others several times a day. They were able to pretty much isolate themselves if they so chose. I had to cook for my family still. Cooking is something I LOVE doing. I couldn't even taste it to see if I had added enough seasonings. (According to hubby, I didn't a few times!) Over the course of 11 days I was going through my own personal hell because not only could I not eat anything I was smelling, touching, and preparing. I also had other stress going on. A lot of it. A larger amount than usual. Guess how I'd learned to cope over the years? You guessed it! So, as I had decided I would do, I chose in advance before I started eating some foods again. I never committed to a time period, though I really wanted to do the 60 days. I'm still primarily juicing. I also haven't eaten everything I've fixed, or been exposed to. Not even close. In fact, I was barely tempted by the dozen doughnuts that sat on my table for 2 days. That includes the ones with custard inside and chocolate on top. Normally I would have eaten. Well, let's just say, a lot of them. So, I am still juicing and basically eating once. I'm so glad I had that unused juicer sitting in my garage! My mom got it for me, and she passed away 14 months ago. I think of her when I use it, and know how happy she would be! Anyway, I could ramble on for ever. It can get ugly when I get to typing (or talking). I weigh in tomorrow. I'm excited. I was losing at the rate of about 3 lbs per day when I was exclusively juicing (over the course of 11 days). I forced myself to not weigh in until tomorrow. I know I won't still be losing at that rate since I am not exclusively juicing. I was down 34 lbs the last time I weighed myself, which I believe was Friday. So, tomorrow is the 2 week mark. I'll post then. No matter how good, bad or ugly it is.
The weight loss is phenomenal, Dinah, but even better is how healthy you'll be getting from juicing all those fresh veggies and fruits. I've also gotten back to juicing recently (although it's not my full diet) and it makes such a huge difference in how I feel both physically and mentally. I've read all about Joe & Phil & have seen some videos & liked their FB pages. Great story! I plan to get his book & DVD soon. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteOoh, we should share juice recipes! I always forget exactly what I throw into mine and then when I make a really good one I can't remember what I did. lol I'm glad you are feeling better! I feel a lot better physically but mentally I actually do worse. That's pretty scary considering my "normal" mental state. ;)
ReplyDeleteI have a sort of detox period whenever I begin eating healthier, or when I get back to juicing, etc. I might feel blue (which isn't my nature) and I get more stiff and sore. It lasts maybe a week or so, then I start to feel better, little by little. I guess our bodies are upset with us for depriving them of chocolate. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those who never met a vegetable I didn't like, so I add all sorts of stuff to my juice. I like kale, spinach, chard, carrots. beets, celery, cucumber, a little ginger, parsley, some fresh lemon, and sometimes a granny smith apple. I try to choose things to help keep inflammation down, so I stay away from juicing too many fruits or too many carrots because of the sugar. A little stevia helps sweeten it. :)
I also make nice healthy smoothies in my VitaMix and add big handfuls of raw spinach and nobody has ever guessed it's in there. :)
Oh how I love green smoothies! I wanted a vitamix really bad but did end up finding an awesome (and much cheaper) machine called a Ninja. He is so powerful! I even got him on sale after the sale because the store had forgotten to remove the sign from 3 days prior. Yay to me!! On the juicing, I've used everything you mentioned above except for celery and stevia. I also use zucchini. One night for a big splurge I juiced sweet potato, pineapple, and cinnamon. I felt like I was being terribly naughty! It was really good! But, it was also VERY high on sugar. So, I guess I WAS being naughty since I'm diabetic.
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