Teresa's Juicing Adventure

So here's the deal! ha

I am still juicing, coupled with healthy meals! :)  I'm 40 lbs DOWN now! :)  In just 4 days I will be leaving for a flight to Beijing, China, where I will spend over 3 weeks doing all KINDS of great amazing things such as camping overnight on an unrestored section of the Great Wall! :)  I am now ending my "happy juicer" blog with this post and would like to direct you back to my main blog, www.tinchina.typepad.com where I will be blogging while in China about my great adventure.  If you don't see many posts (I'm not taking a computer so will be depending on friends whilst in Beijing to blog) then know that I'll be blogging LOTS when I return in late May and posting great pics of my time there!  Still juicing (and still loving the benefits and the healthiness)....still exercising...still losing weight. :)  To my great friend, Lynette...TRUST THE JUICE! :)  The Happy Juicer is happy but leaving this blog for www.tinchina.typepad.com! :)  Stay tuned, my blog buddies! :)  Teresa

 

Day 6: March 21, 2012 Weight Loss: 1.0 lbs.

Oops!  Sorry for letting 2 days go by with no posts.  Wasn't feeling great and I've pulled my lower back, which is never fun.  Also had a little slip-up but all is well now.  Total weight loss for 5 days?  6.0 lbs.  I'm happy.  I'm having apple/strawberry juice for breakfast and will be having the usual green juice for lunch.  Although my back is hurting, I'm still exercising by walking and hoping my back will heal soon.  Will do walking at lunch today and also this evening with my neighbor friend.  Sorry for such a boring post. :/  T.

Day 3: March 18, 2012 Weight Loss: 1.2 lbs.

I'm happy with the number. :)  Nothing much to say today.  I'm still on the juice. :) (just no more beets! ha)  Onward and upward (or downward...you know what I mean! ha), T.

Day 2: March 17, 2012 Weight Loss: 3.8 lbs.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!  Patrick, born with the name Maewyn, was a pagan until he was 16.  During a time of captivity for six years he converted to christianity and then considered it his mission to convert pagans to christianity.  He changed his name to Patrick and went about doing good.  When he died, on March 17, AD 461, the day forever became known as St. Patrick's Day.  Okay, now that we've gotten our history lesson for today out of the way, I continue to be amazed at first day losses when juicing.  Today was a stormy day full of thunder and lightening.  I did a lot of reading and watched a couple of movies.  I also juiced a beet for the FIRST time.  I've heard that they are very delicious when juiced and add a lot of sweetness to the juice.  So I juiced 3 green apples, 2 carrots, some strawberries (10) and one nice peeled beet (boy do they leak beet juice and get everything red).  As you can see by the photos below, the juice is truly beet red!

Right?

It's very pretty. How did it taste?  Well, it was actually TOO sweet and there was the taste of dirt.  Now, I haven't tasted dirt (that I know of) but I've smelled dirt.  Because freshly dug dirt is a pleasant smell to me the taste wasn't all that bad.  Still, I have decided that beets are now on my DO NOT JUICE list along with cilantro and mangos and kale (sorry, I just don't enjoy juiced kale but love juiced spinach!).  Let me tell you why.  This juice did NOT stay in my body very long at all and it's good that I drank it within the confines of my home and within feet of the bathroom! ha  And for further TMI....it was COMPLETELY RED!  Gross! ha ha  Okay, I'll stop now!  Cheers, T.

Day 1: March 16, 2012 = Juicing Adventure, Phase II, Do-Over No. 2!!!!!!

Sigh! ha  I really DO want to continue blogging about my triumps AND my struggles with losing weight by juicing and exercise and eating healthy in between juicing periods.  Therefore.....here I am....again! :)  After much reflection (and lots of temptation)....I begin again, today.  My hope?  14 days of no solid food and only healthy vegetable and fruit juices.  My stomach protested a little today and growled at me and said, "Hey, what up, pizza girl?"  That's right.  I recently had a nasty one-night stand with a pepperoni pizza!  But my brief affair is over now and when I weighed in this morning (because I have continued to exercise and eat healthy....but for my affair with the pizza), I found that I have still kept off the original 29 lbs. I lost during my 29 day juicing recently!  Could I have continued to lose more eating healthy EVERY day.  Yes.  But I've had some slip-ups and it's probably ONLY the daily exercise that has saved me.  So....still 29 lbs. down (I did gain 3 lbs. back but my recent juicing...even though resulting in a FAIL....caused me to get that back off).  So....here we go again. :)  14 days.  SURELY I can do 14 days!  After all, I went 29 days without solid food and only enjoy freshly-juiced veggies and fruits.  Well, the proof will be in the pudding, right?  What does that mean, anyway?  I have no idea, but you get my drift, right?  So here we go.  I'll weigh in the morning (my official day 2) and let you know what's what.  I juiced up some wonderful watermelon juice last night and great green juice for today's breakfast/lunch and for dinner....well, I haven't had that yet but probably some apple/celery/carrot/strawberry concoction.  The good thing is that I can throw just about anything in my juicer......all kinds of strange combinations....and just drink it.  I do not fear the juice! ha  I have, however, banned that pizza delivery guy from gracing my front porch ever again! ha  Oh, what a moment! ha  Let's not talk about how very delicious it was or whether I ate it ALL in one night (I didn't) or how many days it lasted (okay, 2!). ha  I'm here to be honest as much as it pains me (uh....SHAME!  Don't you just HATE shame and guilt?  Why did God have to bestow shame and guilt upon us?).  So off I go once again.  Hopefully, my struggles can help others see that it's not easy to lose a LOT of weigh via juicing and exercise but that you CAN continue to keep it off once you've lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time.  Here's some pics of today's juices:

See that pill bottle in the background?  That's my high blood pressure medicine.  I was diagnosed with slight high blood pressure while living in China.  I continue to take a small dose every day.  However, my doctor says that with just a bit more weight off, he's likely to take me off of it completely.  Last time I went to the doc I deliberately did not take it for a full 48 hours and my blood pressure was almost completely normal; actually just slightly elevated.  So that's a great thing for me (this particular medication causes fatigue, among other side effects).  That medication is the ONLY medicine I take and with my blood sugar still remaining normal, I have hopes of coming off the BP medicine soon and never returning to any medications just because I am overweight.  It's just one of my many incentives.  From my own little juicing world, T.

Day 10: March 7, 2012 Weight Loss: 1.6 lbs.

Well, this juicing experience is just all screwed up.  I'm not really juicing all day.  I'm also eating, albeit very healthy.  I need to realign my brain, get focused, and begin again.  Yesterday I gained 1.6 and today I lost 1.6.  Sigh.  But I'm still exercising and eating healthy and gearing up for a Monday do-over. :)  I haven't lost faith in myself but wondering why I'm struggling so much these past few days.  No matter.  I will figure this all out in the next four days and begin again. :)  Cheers, T.

Day 9: March 6, 2012

CRAP!  That's all.  Thank you.  T.

Day 8: March 5, 2012 Weight Loss: 0.2 lbs.

I'm not surprised.  I kinda screwed up over the weekend and it's kinda showing. Yesterday should have said 0.4 lbs. loss, not 0.5 as my scale doesn't work that way.  Anyway....so today was Day 7 as far as loss and it's actually 7.8 lbs.  I'll take that.  I have to get back on track.  Enjoyed great apple/strawberry juice for breakfast.....the usual array of veggies plus apples for my lunch green juice and juiced an entire pineapple for this evening....which I'm drinking now! :)  (thanks, L, for the tip).  Did some GREAT aerobics by DVD and also some floor exercising with my peep Carol tonight so that felt real good. :)  Onward and upward!  I have nowhere to go but up....while doing DOWN, of course! :)  Cheers, T.

Day 7: March 4, 2012 Weight Loss: .5 lbs.

After a VERY tumultuous Friday...and even yesterday....I'm renewed and reinvigorated!  Had a lovely 45 minute walk today in the neighborhood...met up with neighbors and walked along with them for a while before doing the hill. :)  Had my best gathering of produce ever for the money today...at Kroger!  For LESS than $50 (WITH tax) I got all this:

The cucumbers are hiding under the bell peppers and tomatoes.  Those pineapples just cost $1.99 each and the boxes of strawberries, $1.28 each!  This is enough for five full days of juicing and perhaps a sixth!  This is my first time to buy and juice a pineapple.  I'm doing it because not only do I love pineapple juice (though I've never had fresh juiced pineapple) but my friend, Lynette, who is also now juicing for the first time (www.lynette-r-blog.blogspot.com), said that it tastes heavenly! :)  I'm going to juice up a pineapple tomorrow night!  Also, I decided that buying produce on Sundays is a good strategy.  Cutting and washing up as much as possible beforehand will save me time on workday mornings.  So I did just that!

I'm looking forward to this new week with renewed commitment to my juicing regimen! :)  I'm looking forward to doing the 250 stairs at the Capitol building tomorrow during lunch break.  I don't know if I posted this, but last week during lunch on one of my walks I actually jogged up 100 stairs.  That was a great feeling. :)  Until tomorrow!  T.

 

 

 

Day 6: March 3, 2012 Weight loss: 1.0 lb. GAIN! :(

Okay...so it's time for truth here.  I do NOT want to say what I have to say.  But say what I have to say...I will! ha  On Thursday, March 1, I received an email (at work) saying that a court reporting firm would be providing a GREAT post-Mardi Gras lunch spread for my entire office!  Well, long story short, I initially thought no problem.  I can resist.  I brought my juice with me on Friday, fully intending to go nowhere NEAR the conference room of FOOD.  Sigh......I SO failed!  In fact, being honest, I had decided almost from arriving at work on Friday that I was going to eat...despite bringing my lunch juice for that day!  So I did just that.  I ATE!  But let me tell you the sad part.....about 10 bites in....I was totally full!  Did I stop? NO!  (I totally kept eating for taste alone....something I seem to continue to struggle with).  I ate a complete plate of chicken, ham, green beans, squash casserole, etc. etc. etc.  You don't want to know all the gory details! ha  I am NOT happy with myself!  After eating that delicious and delectable plate of food.....I felt TERRIBLE!  It was like I had eaten a few blocks of concrete! ha  Seriously!  I am almost (yeah...only almost! ha) ashamed of myself as I have a dear friend, who reads my blog, and was about to begin her own juicing adventure the very next day (today....Saturday).  I did NOT want her to see my epic FAIL! ha  But I chatted with her today and actually came clean so I feel okay about telling all you guys about my shortcomings. :)  I did some GREAT exercising today by getting out on the greenway (meeting my son along the way who was cycling from downtown to my neck of the woods) and walking nearly 4 miles.  NOW....I am recommited.  I also chatted with a friend in Beijing tonight (his Sunday) about the great hike we'll be doing just one day after I arrive in Beijing....so I'm back on the juice folks! :)  This is NOT a post that I am proud of.  Not at all. But if I'm gonna keep it real then I need to post about fails and such.  Even if it embarrasses me.   SO...on day 6 of my Phase II of juicing....my weight loss is actually 7.2 lbs.  Sigh.  It could have been better.  But I'm a huge believer in not looking back...and only going forward.  So go forward I will. :)  Here's a photo of my morning juice....green apples (2) carrots (2 big ones) and some red grapes! :)

Stay with me and feel free to leave a comment of encouragement. I want to overcome my shortcomings and get back on the "juicing" track! :)  I just feel bad that at a time when I needed to be SUCH encouragement to a dear friend....I was experiencing a FAIL.  I will have to deal with temptations.  Let's just hope for no more "marketing" free lunches at work in the coming weeks! ha  With her tail a bit tucked in, Teresa