Can I get a "Re-do?!?"

I've been thinking this a lot lately. Every time I start on a path to wellness, something happens to knock me backwards 10 steps. I've not made a single ounce of progress

I began my juice reboot in the middle of me curiously getting sick every few weeks. The bouts with sickness kept getting more and more severe, until I ended up in the hospital having gallbladder surgery. Since then, I have been testing the waters of what I can eat, and have been amazed at finding I can now eat pretty much anything without feeling like junk immediately! And that is where my downfall has been. My body is no longer screaming out when loaded with junky foods.. Or is it?

Since my surgery, I've been unbearably tired. After realizing that it's probably due to lack of exercise, poor nutrition, and the gray time of year, I'm finally doing some forward thinking again. I have found that when you REALLY listen to the signals your body sends you, you can better serve it. Tonight after dinner I had some fat free frozen yogurt, and a Rice Krispie treat. Then I had an instant headache. I've learned that processed sugars cause me to have headaches. BAD ones! So time to get back to juicing and heal my body once and for all. I know how great I've felt after a few days doing a juice fast and I look forward to that again. Hopefully I won't be needing a "re-do" this time. :)

Day 3

Day 3 weigh in : 157lbs

I made a big batch of this in the morning:

1/2 grapefruit

3 carrots

Handful strawberries

2 sweet apples

1 beet

I love grapefruit juice, so this was a nice twist on it. I normally stick to carrot apple ginger, or carrot orange cranberry in the AM, but sometimes I just get tired of drinking carrot juice. 

My mood today is slightly improving. It improved after I saw the scale today, which was nice from seeing a 164 at the drs last week.. However I am under a lot of stress at the moment that's got me pretty irritable most of the time. That, and being surrounded by people who aren't exactly supportive about what I'm trying to do. I think I am going to take some time each day to meditate, breathe, regroup, and shut out all the negativity around me. I am one to normally shut down when there's that perverbial "chill" in the air, so I think it's important to take that time for myself.

Juice Reboot

Nearly 2 years ago I watched the documentary, "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead." I went that week and bought a juicer, dabbled in juicing for a bit, but have never seriously committed to a juice reboot. I love to cook, bake, eat, and couldn't imagine going that long without eating solid food. 

Until now.

This "blog", or lack thereof has been pretty lacking. To bring you up to speed, in the past year I have started having gall bladder attacks. Or at least what I'm 99% sure are gall bladder attacks. After I have them, I'll go in spurts of eating vegetarian for awhile, until a special occasion rolls around. Then the unhealthy eating continues a little at a time, until BAM; I'm woken up at 5am with searing abdominal and chest pain, throwing up, and thinking that I really need to get a living will in order. 

I'm not even 30 yet, should I really be dealing with this? Should meds, frequent doctor visits, and talk of surgery really be something that's taking up my time? I nearly ended up in the ER this Christmas, and I don't think I would have ever forgiven myself for missing my daughter see what Santa left her under the tree. So I have decided; it's time to commit. Commit to healing myself from the inside out. I've learned enough to know now what I need to do, now I just need the will power to do it. (Like I said, I love to cook!)

When I was at the doctors last week, I mentioned the idea of healing myself with proper nutrition. She scoffed at the idea. Now I've come to learn, doctors don't really spend any time learning nutrition. Why? Because there's no money in it. I won't even get started on that rant...

For awhile now I've been researching the benefits of a Paleo diet. (P.s., I don't like the word diet. We'll say, 'lifestyle'.) The paleo lifestyle is the "natural human diet", the way our ancestors ate, and the way our bodies naturally digest food. Since the development and advancement of agriculture, our bodies have yet to adapt. So I've read. You can do research for yourself, but the benefits seemed pretty great. So I decided to try it for myself. Meats, veggies, fruits, and healthy fats only. No processed foods, grains, dairy, refined sugars. I ate this way for a few weeks and noticed a difference right away. My blood sugar stayed pretty balanced it seemed, as my hunger never seemed to peak high or low. I never had any stomach or digestive upset whatsoever. I was simply satisfied at each meal, and it helped me to really be creative in the kitchen and try new foods. 

THEN... My husband bought me a new Breville juicer for my birthday! *insert Hallelujah choir here* So I watched FSND again, and decided it was time for a juice reboot! 

So here's my plan:

15 day juice reboot, longer if I can continue (maybe 30?) -3 large batches of juice a day (green juice being drank midday) and coconut water (8-16 ozs)

Ease back into eating afterwards with raw fruits and veggies, slowly introducing meat by eating fish for awhile.

Continue juicing for 1 meal a day, while eating Paleo foods.

Exercise 3-4 times a week;walking or yoga

I will list my results as I go along. Officially, I am on day 2 of the reboot. I was too afraid to weigh myself from the damage Christmas left, so I will weigh in tomorrow. Yesterday, being day 1, was insanely hard. I almost broke down and threw in the towel, if not for a reminder that my sister (who lives in Denmark), is also doing a juice reboot. It's nice to have someone doing it with you, but my cravings for food came at a time when the time difference is completely unconvienient for me to message her.

Today has been slightly easier, despite the fact that I decided to bake some fresh banana bread for work tomorrow.

Morning:

1/2 head purple cabbage

1/2 grapefruit

Handful of grapes

Small cucumber

 Peeled Orange

Handful of pineapple

I drank that all morning while I worked in the kitchen. Not crazy about purple cabbage, but it was decent enough. 

Afternoon/evening:

"Sour Apple"

Head of Romaine lettuce

Handful of parsley

2-3 kale leaves

Small cucumber

2 Granny Smith apples

Peeled lemon

2 handfuls of pineapple

Kiwi

This is by far, probably my most favorite juice of all time. It tastes a sour apple jolly rancher. (Use your imagination, people). I will be making this often!

"Dessert" juice:

"Pear pie" (can also sub peaches for pears)

3 sweet potatoes

2 pears

2 golden apples

Handful of blueberries

Cinnamon

This was extremely tasty and enough to stave off my severe junk food craving. I juiced all the produce and stirred in probably 1/2 tsp or so to the mix. Very, very good!

So that's day 2. I'm feeling hungry, and crabby, and a slight headache, but I will up my water intake and hang in, as each day will get easier. I hope. I'll take pictures to post up in a few days. 

Until tomorrow, happy juicing & bottom's up!

-NJ