Ahhhnother week done

Technically not until tomorrow night, but I feel I accomplish something by getting to Friday.

I have a food confession.

Went to Costco on Wednesday.  Had a hot dog... and suffered for the rest of the day.  Stomach pains really bad and 2 antacid pills did not take away the pain.  Lesson learned.

Friday.  Back on track.

Nutriblast for breakfast

Made 2 juices for the day:

1/2 watermelon
pint of strawberries

The second juice was a green juice and I was getting rid of things in the fridge

3 leaves red leaf lettuce
1/2 head butter lettuce
2 red apples
3 stalks celery
handful of broccoli
cucumber
ginger and turmeric

 I have been having a NutriBlast for lunch.  These are filling and just what I need to get me thru the afternoon

2 handful greens
banana
scoop of protein powder
tablespoon golden flax
1 cup frozen blueberries
10 roasted almonds
water
Blasted.

So delicious.  I feel almost guilty drinking this.  The chocolate of the protein powder gives it a chocolatey taste, the banana makes it creamy and the frozen berries give it a chill and make it thick.  The almonds add a depth of flavor.  It's like a milk shake!

Enjoy.

Advice to new juicers

I think that since I have been doing this for nearly 60 days and my weight loss is 27 pounds, I can comment on what to do when you are first starting out.

1.  Decide how serious you are about this.  Do you want to lose weight?  Do you want to get more greens and veggies into your diet?

2.  How long do you plan to do this?  Is this something that you are doing for a month?  A year?  The rest of your life?

3.  Based on your above decisions, get the right equipment.
    a.  decide how much money you want to spend.
         - a blender will make a smoothie, but will not extract the nutrients you need completely.  You can can              get spinach and softer fruits to break down pretty well, but nuts and kale, hard fruits and most
           veggies will not break down.

            -  Nutribullet 600 or 900.  One of the best options.  The 600 is cheaper and will do the job.  These                   extract the nutrients and break down your fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds completely.  Easy to
                use, easy to clean and I highly recommend it.

             - Juicer.  One of the best options to get if you are looking to get the nutrients right in to your system               and looking for a consistency that is more juice like and less smoothie like.  Everything can go in
              the juicer.

4.  Decide how you are going to juice.  Do you have time to juice 3-4 times a day?  Or is it easier to juice all of your daily juices at once.  Don't worry about reading that it's not good to store your juice.  If you are drinking them all in one day, nutrients are not going to be lost.

5.  If you do not like the taste of vegetables, making them in to a juice is not going to change their taste.  You need to make sure you are adding fruit to the juice.  Pineapple is your sweetest choice.  Costco has a Festival blend that includes pineapple, strawberry, mango and papaya.  You can use it frozen or thawed Bananas also add sweetness.
Spinach is one of the mildest dark greens.
My advice is to make a green smoothie in the morning with your greens, banana and pineapple and then in the afternoon, do a more veggie one with pineapple added.

6.  Beets are not for everyone.

7.  Once you get your tastebuds used to it, move on to other greens such as kale, chard, etc.

8.  Use resources to look for recipes.  Pinterest is a great resource.

9.  Read ingredients on soy milk, almond milk and other "healthy" drinks.  You might be surprised.

10.  Lastly, enjoy what you make  If you did not care for a juice, tweak it the next time and see.  This is all trial and error.

And be healthy.

 

A Green day

Daily gratitude:  Hmmm...

Feeling the need to detox has got me seeing green.

For breakfast I blended the Power greens, 1 banana, 1 pear, sunflower seeds, water (ice in hubby's)

I added a little cinnamon to mine.

And it blended to a smooth consistency.  The pear adds a little texture to the smoothie, but over all, very tasty.

Afternoon juice was another green concoction:

Bunch of kale
6 celery stalks
cucumber
2 wedges of pineapple
pint of strawberries washed but not hulled
1/2 lime
nub of turmeric
nub of ginger
1/2 pear

This is a sweetened green blend that will get the good minerals and vitamins right in this afternoon and hopefully take the burgers and tacos out!

Yes.  My Sunday cheat day was awesome.

Monday morning

I feel the need to detox today.  Perhaps all week long.

Will be taking it lightly today.  Cheat day was definitely a cheat day PLUS, my husband and I had a cheat lunch on Friday

My morning and afternoon juice is a carrot/beet juice.

10 carrots
1/2 a beet root
nub ginger
2 apples
1 pear
All ingredients thru the Breville.
Remember, I juice for 2

I have another friend that has replaced a meal (lunch) with a blended smoothie.  She lost 2 pounds in 1 week.  I think she could have lost more, but is still also eating fast food on a near daily basis.  I guess the good part is that she is getting in greens and fruit  However, the processed stuff is still going in as well.

Baby steps.

Week end pre-made juices

Going away this week end, so I decided to make my juice ahead and pack it in a cooler.  This way will leave little chance of me cheating.  I plan to take the Nutribullet with me, but I juiced some other recipes and packed them in mason jars and a pitcher with a sealed top.  I will be home most of the day today, so these juices are for today and tomorrow.

I had some fennel I needed to either toss or juice.  Into the juicer.

10 carrots
6 celery stalks
1 pear
1 apple
1/2 fennel bulb and fronds
turmeric
ginger

Second juice I decided to go green

Bunch of kale
1 pear
1 apple
ginger
1/3 fennel bulb and fronds
bunch of red seedless grapes

Have a great week end.

Good news

Daily gratitude:  I am grateful that I know of one person that I inspired and she is doing well on this diet

EXCITING NEWS TIME:
I just got home from seeing my Endocrinologist. Well My Triglycerides dropped from 700 to 488 And my Cholesterol dropped from 300 to 232. My liver function went back to normal, and my thyroid numbers are coming down that he cut my synthyroid from 150MG to 75MG. 20 days guys.... 20 days and this juicing is really healing me. And I am down 8 pounds.


That was Shannon's Facebook status yesterday, February 21, 2014.

The photo that started it all:

When I posted the photo of the beet juice to Facebook, it caused a whirlwind of activity.  Congratulations in the comments, questions... and private messages.  One of those messages was from Shannon.  I told her what my husband and I were doing.  She started off eating the veggies and the fruit since she did not have a juicer yet.  She also went to the doctor to ask his advice.  He gave her the thumbs up.

Shannon got her juicer and away she went.  In 20 days she has changed her numbers.  Twenty days!  I am so proud of her.  And so thrilled that she got this motivation to keep going.

In the 61/2 weeks I have been doing this I no longer take antacid medication and I rarely take Advil.  My energy level has skyrocketed and I just feel better.  I would be curious to see my numbers as well, although mine were okay last year when they were taken.

Keep up the great work, Shannon!

Protein Smoothie and Tuesday

Somehow, overnight, I managed to lose a pound.

Went to Costco yesterday and stocked up on some frozen organic blueberries, blackberries, spinach, pears, etc.  Looking forward to juices this week.

I have amped up the protein powder.  I scoop of protein powder, 1 cup frozen berries, i tablespoon ground golden flax and water to the Max line in the Nutribullet.  So delicious and filling

The frozen berries made it thick and the chocolate powder made it chocolaty.  Delish.

Taking advantage of the berries.  Our morning smoothie is in the NutriBullet

2 cups spinach
1 banana
1/2 cup blackberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/4 cup flax seed
water to Max line

I did a version of this for our lunch but used the Power greens that Costco sells.  Baby spinach, baby kale, baby arugula, etc.

For the snack juices we did 2 different ones.  I will be honest, I am having a hard time with my afternoon juice so I have been doing a lighter, sweeter juice.

Mid morning juice

Bunch of kale
5 carrots
6 celery
1 pear
1 lemon
nub ginger
in the juicer.

For the afternoon snack (and I am hoping to be here to enjoy it)

1/2 baby watermelon
pint of strawberries
1/2 lime

Oh if you could smell it.  I will have no problem drinking this juice.

Enjoy your day.

NutriBlast Monday

If anyone is still hesitating to do this diet, hesitate no longer.  Forget the juicer and get yourself a NutriBullet.

Seriously.  I have the Pro 900, but I know that they are running a special on the 600 on the actual website for Nutribullet.  2 for 1.    I have posted some links below where you can get this awesome device.

Nutribullet

Home Shopping Network

What I like about the Nutribullet is that it is easy to clean up.  It comes with all of the equipment you need to make a days worth of healthy smoothies.

It has the 2 extractor blades, a large cup - which is good for 2 snack size juices, 2 medium cups good for a juice, 1 small cup, 2 lids, a sippy lid, a handled lip ring and a plain lip ring.  Everything you need.

In a hurry?  This is perfect.  Don't want to clean up a juicer, this is all you need.  On days my husband travels, I only use the NutriBullet.

Todays juices are:

Red leaf lettuce - cups
1 banana
cup of strawberries
Tbsp flax seeds
water to the max line

Blend 30 seconds.  Stop.  Blend 10 seconds

Smooth and delicious

I also made a Kale juice for myself for breakfast in the small cup
1 cup kale
5 strawberries
flax seeds
blend 30 seconds.  Rest.  Blend 20 more seconds

This time I got the kale smooth.  No chunks.

If you follow the instructions in the book NutriBullet sends you, you will get the right smoothie consistency you are looking for.


Enjoy your day.

Another week down

I lost 3 pounds this past week.  THREE!  Unbelievable.  I have lost a total of 21 pounds since we started this January 6, 2014.

Every time I make it to a Sunday I am grateful.  Not only does it mean I get to have a cheat day, it also means that I have another week under my belt.  Each week I am seeing results.  Each week it seems to get easier and easier.

I have also reached the point where my body craves these juices.  CRAVES THEM!!

I can do this.  This diet is working for me.  30 more to go.

Juicy Couture

I have learned a secret about the NutiBullet and why you should read the manual it comes with.  You can blend for 40 seconds and if the consistency is not what you want, blend again for up to 40 seconds.  You can blend 3 times before having to let the motor rest.  Trust me.  Two 40 second blends are exactly what I needed.

The almonds were completely broken down and the NutriBlast was smooth and delicious.

I am so impressed with the NuriBullet Pro 900.  It came with the base, 2 extractor blades, a big cup, 2 large cups, a small cup, 2 lids, a handled lip guard and a regular guard, 2 books and a packet of Superfood (chia seeds, Goji berries, Cacao nibs, Maca powder).  I use the airtight lid to store our lunch NutriBlast in the fridge.  How convenient is that?

I have been adding the almonds because the Chia seeds are like bird seed.  Now that I know how to blend correctly, I will try those tomorrow.

Got some delicious blackberries for the morning NutriBlast.  This week we will be traveling close to Plant City, FL ad will get a flat of strawberries.  Can't wait for that.

  Moving on the juicer.

1 large Sweet potato
2 apples
1 beet
turmeric
3 carrots
1 lime
Run through the juicer.

Can't wait to try this.  It smelled like lime and so refreshing.

Monday, Monday

Now I am not gonna tell a fib and say I was very good this week end.  I did pretty good on Saturday.  Sunday was a true cheat day.  However, the good news is that I did not gain any weight.  Whew.

So now to detox and get back on track.

I have a bit of a scratchy throat from being out in the rain and cold on Saturday, so I wanted a juice high in vitamin C.  I also wanted our regular morning juice and a green juice to detox on.  I guess that means we made 3 juices.

The morning juice is the same - the spinach and fruit in the Nutri-Bullet

The juice on the right I will call Vitamin C Plus

2 ruby red grapefruits peeled 

12 hulled strawberries

ginger

turmeric

What a refreshing juice.  I can feel the vitamins going right where I need them.

Green juice is simple

Kale

half bunch dandelion leaves

1 wedge pineapple

celery

2 cucumbers

ginger

turmeric

Both of the juices went thru the Breville juicer.

My goal for this week is to lose 3-5 pounds.  I am determined to do it.  

Made it to Friday... again

No daily gratitude

After today's blog, I am signing off for the week end.

Fennel.  That slightly sweet Italian bulb with the licorice flavor.    Most people use the seeds.  Rarely do we use the bulb or the green tops.  I am intrigued by fennel.  I have broiled it and sprinkled on lemon and parmesan.  Delicious.  I have sliced it thin and used it in salads.  Again.  Delicious.

So.  Why not juice?

Fennel is high in Vitamin C and has antioxidant value.  It is also a great source of fiber and may help reduce cholesterol levels.  It is also high in potassium, which can help lower high blood pressure.

So I decided to juice up some fennel.

1/3 bulb of fennel and a few strands of the stalk
5 carrots
ginger
turmeric
5 celery
1/2 handful of parsley

You get this:

And best of all?  It smells like licorice.  Now I am not a fan of licorice (unless it's the red kind) but somehow, I am able to eat fennel.  

Weight loss is another pound his week.  I probably need to up my water intake as well as my exercise routine.  

Enjoy your week end.  I will be back Monday.  

Links to articles and recipes

I will add to this post periodically.  Keep checking

How to Start Juicing

Juice recipes

All about greens

Denise's Juice Board at Pinterest

Two-fer

Daily gratitude:  I have not been feeling very grateful this past week.

Today was a clearing out of the fridge.  Going away this week end and I need to get foods on the brink out of there.

Mocked V-8 juice
7 Roma tomatoes
6 stalks of celery
6 carrots
1 beet top
1/2 a lemon
1/2 head romaine
half bunch of parsley
1/4 red pepper
1/2 small white onion
All ingredients thru the juicer

I tend to add a dash of hot sauce to this drink to make it spicier.

The Nutribullet has arrived.

I took advantage of the 139.99 deal HSN.com had going for the 900 Pro series.

My first use was a disaster.  I did not follow the instructions to the T and overfilled slightly.  It squirted everywhere.  Once I followed the instructions, no problem.  It really blends up the greens and the fruits extremely smooth.  Nuts and seeds are not really ground up that well and will settle in the bottom of your drink.  I may omit this from the morning routine.    Fiber is left in this drink and will keep you fuller longer.

I would recommend this blender to those looking to add a juice to their diet and do not 3 want to get a juicer.

New Juice

Daily gratitude:  Hmm. Tough one today

Every start of a new week, I am more determined than the last week to make this juice diet a success.  I find that my afternoon snack is the hardest juice for me to get down.  So, today, I changed it up to give my tastebuds something they want to taste.

Watermelon juice.

Read all about watermelon and its wonderful benefits here:  Watermelon

I bought pre-cut chunks

3 cups watermelon

1 lime

2 kiwi fruit 

Through the juicer.

The smell from this juice was so fresh and light.  I can not wait to try this in the afternoon

For breakfast I did pineapple and mango with the spinach.  I bought a few mangoes on Friday and they are ripe and ready.

Our morning snack juice is a green detox juice and I got the idea from the Raw Juicing and Detox Bar in Thornton Park when we went to their Grand Opening on Friday.  Click on their name above for their Facebook page.  Click here for their website.  Raw Juicing and Detox.  

The Green Lizard

Handful dandelion stems

cucumber

6 kale leaves

half a pineapple

ginger

turmeric

All ingredients through the juicer.

The Green Lizard is on the left.  Our Mango Pineapple Smoothie is on the right.

Enjoy your day.  My goal is 10 pounds by the end of the month.  I get my Nutribullet today.  Will report on it tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Detox Monday

Daily gratitude:  Glad to make it to another Monday

Our cheat day was yesterday.  Super Bowl Sunday.  Didn't do too bad.  The chili I made for dinner sat in my belly and my body was screaming for a detox.

That's what today is.  Detox Monday.

Pineapple is also a great detoxifier and flusher.  It is high in Vitamin C and manganese, which is good for bone strength and growth.   Pineapple is known to help in digestion and is a great anti-inflammatory and helps prevent gout attacks.  It is also high in beta carotene and helps prevent macular degeneration.

Morning juice was:

2 cups pineapple
1 banana
2 cups spinach
1.5 cups water
blended smooth

Our afternoon juice is a juice high in greens.

4 kale leaves
2 green apples
2 kiwi peeled
handful of dandelion greens
6 stalks of celery
lime
ginger
turmeric
Run all ingredients thru the juicer.  This is a mild, easy to drink green juice.

Yum yum.  Time to detox.