with a guilty conscience and a load of excuses

The fast continues for me, at least for now. My consistency with juicing surpassed my consistency with blogging, obviously. Even now, I feel as if I set the bar a little too high on my first blog and this will be a slightly more vague overview of the last few days.

The good:

No heart palpitations. My biggest goal in this fast was to examine how my eating affected my heart. Clearly a correlation exists. No junk food; no junk heart. Noted.

Superhuman eyesight. OK, maybe not superhuman but better than it used to be. Since my pregnancy with our daughter, Anastasia, I complained about my vision. Since the fast started I noticed a marked improvement in my eyesight and it continues to improve. This, to an avid reader, is priceless.

Less gravitational pull. Translation: I lost some weight. So far, on day 6, I lost 5.2 pounds, which is cool but not all that surprising since I literally have not eaten for six days. 

The bad:

Snotty noses. I caught a miserable cold this week that has put a serious damper on my excitement about this fast. My nose is raw from tissue paper and my throat is itchy. Every part of me wants warm soup. Instead, I drink juice. 

Sleepy state of mind. I'm tired. It's difficult to decide whether the juice fast or the cold is the culprit, but I imagine it's a combination of the two. Either way, being tired with a one-year-old is just not fun. 

The juice:

We drank some good ones. We drank some bad ones. I figure you just want the highlights.

5 handfuls spinach

5 apples, seeded

1 mango, chopped

1 inch piece ginger

1/2 lemon, peeled

[This juice is good-- I mean, really good. In fact, we had the same one for lunch because we enjoyed it so much.]

5 apples

2 handfuls spinach

[This makes such a yummy juice, and I could have easily handled more spinach but we were out. It was a beautiful pastel green--perfect for easter--and was delicious.]

For the most part, we just experimented here. We threw together fruits and vegetables to see what happened. My advice: add leafy greens like kale and spinach to your fruity juices but avoid mixing other savory vegetables with your fruit. Why?

Here's the recipe for "the juice that broke the husband's fast." 

1/2 onion, peeled

1 bulb garlic, peeled

3 handfuls kale

1 apple, seeded

4 stalks celery

1 handful oregano

1 handful parsley

3 tomatoes

...

2 strawberries (a little ashamed to admit to adding those)

[This was gross, he tells me. I tried it when I made it, and it was strong but edible, I thought. Apparently the strawberry flavor came through very distinctly along with the apple. I should have opted for more tomato and celery and zero apple and strawberry. I have no idea what I was thinking, but it was bad enough he didn't drink it and stopped the fast immediately. He had Subway tonight for supper. I had the apple and spinach recipe, which is good but not Subway.]

Originally, I intended this fast to last 10 days. Now, I'm thinking about easing my way out of it so I don't shock myself with "real" food later. Since we officially started the fast on Wednesday evening, tomorrow night will mark 7 days. I may eat some raw fruits and vegetables tomorrow night. Either way, I intend to make healthier choices and use this fast as the launching pad for a healthier lifestyle.

Shine on,

Joselynn

with a groggy mind and a happy heart

Despite day two delivering a dark, grey cloud over my mental and physical prowess, a light shone through the darkness. 

No chest pains. No heart palpitations. Not even a twinge. After three weeks of my heart acting up every day, it seems to be doing far better with this change than my mind. During day two, I experienced bursts of energy and clarity right after drinking a juice, then grogginess in between. 

Here's the giant mess made by juicing-- the not so fun part: 

And here's what we* dined on:

*Remember, these recipes are for two people.

Morning juice:

4 apples, seeded

1 mango

1 kiwi

1 lemon, peeled

4 handfuls spring mix lettuce

2 strawberries

1 inch piece of ginger

[This was delicious. The whole lemon gave it a bright, citrus taste.]

Afternoon juice: 

8 small cucumbers

8 handfuls of spinach

1 inch piece of ginger

[Though my husband's response was "not my favorite," I liked the freshness and simplicity of this juice. It was very refreshing for my slow mind and slow attitude.]

Evening juice:

1 handful spinach

4 apples, seeded

1 carrot

1 lemon, peeled

6 strawberries

1 inch piece of ginger

[This was my attempt at making up for the lunch juice with my husband. It was good, but could have been better with a little less lemon.]

Late night juice: (What? We were hungry!)

2 green cabbage leaves 

6 cloves of garlic

3 carrots

2 handfuls spinach

3 small cucumbers

[Eugh. Josh went rogue on this one, and I will not be blamed for this recipe. Just don't follow it unless you're a huge fan of cabbage. Wow.]

After thinking about it, I've decided not to do the whole long, drawn out report of my stats every day but to instead only report the changes. So, here goes!

I weighed in at 185.4, which means I lost 1.8 pounds. I also lost 1/2 inch from my low waist, also known as the love handles.

Anyway, day two proved much harder than day 1 but so far the benefits are seeming very worth the effort.

Shine on,

Joselynn

with a rumbling in my tummy

I owned day 1. I juiced. I swam. I wrote. I read. I worked. I I played with my baby. I loved it.

Some moments I felt my stomach growling and most moments I just wanted something smothered in cheese or gravy, but I did feel fairly satisfied. 

Day 2, I'm feeling a little rough-- more on that next time.

Here's a recap of my juice fast reset day 1:

Keep in mind, all of these juices are for 2 people. That's right-- my husband, Josh, is embarking on this journey with me. 

Morning juice: 

2 oranges, peeled

1/2 lemon, peeled

2 mangoes, chunked

2 apples, seeded

2 handfuls spring mix lettuce

2 strawberries

[Yum! Sweet and fruity and delicious!]

Mid-morning snack:

chia seeds gelatinized in strawberry juice 

[This was so good, kind of like a mix between strawberry jello and jelly.]

Afternoon juice:

4 sweet potatoes

4 small cucumbers

4 apples, seeded

4 handfuls spring mix lettuce

2 kiwis

1 orange, peeled

1/2 lemon, peeled

[Again, delicious. The sweet potatoes here add a thickness that made this juice more like a smoothie.]

Evening juice:

3 carrots

4 apples, seeded

1 in. pice of ginger

3 cloves of garlic

3 handfuls spring mix lettuce

[This proved an interesting mix of sweet and savory. I enjoyed it, but later I will opt for more greens, no ginger and more garlic. Mmmm, garlic.]

I'm going to try for more pictures in future blogs, but honestly not many of these juices look all that appealing, especially fresh out of the juicer. I'm using Breville's Juice Fountain Compact, and am very satisfied with it so far. 

Oh, and here's the transparent part I promised... my stats. 

*deep breath*

On day 1, at 5'8" this is it:

Weight: 187.2

Bust: 38"

Chest: 33"

Waist: 32"

Low waist: 40"

Hips: 44"

Thigh: 26.5"

Calves: 16"

Upper arm: 13"

Forearm: 10"

Neck: 14"

And that's after a day and a half of only fresh, raw fruits and vegetables. Typing that was not fun. Here's hoping that part will get more fun as we progress! 

Shine on, 

Joselynn

with my finger on the reset button

Today, I'm hitting the reset button. 

For too long I stuffed my face with whatever butter-filled, creme-filled, meat-filled goody...

And now my mouth is watering.

Today marks day 1. It's day 1 of my juice fast to reset and reboot my system in preparation for a better, healthier, simpler way of living. Here's why:

1) I'm sick. Since age 11, I constantly battled health problems. To give you the short version, my heart hates me and sometimes throws a tantrum in my chest. This means dizziness, grogginess, fatigue and pain that shows up medically as heart palpitations (fast, irregular beating) and low blood pressure. 

2) I'm unproductive. A long list of excuses that essentially add up to nothing holds me back from changing the world the way God has called me to do. 

3) I'm too big for my clothes. As a human, I own up to a bit of vanity -- or maybe more than a bit. After  delivering my sweet baby girl November 2011, I let myself go a little more than is acceptable.

One more... Last one, I promise.

4) I'm sad. In September 2012, my husband and I lost a precious, unborn child to miscarriage. Of course, I know being sad is naturally, normal and copacetic. I also know God does not want me to wallow in my sorrow and chocolate bars while life goes by me. 

So the change begins now.

Feel free to join me on this transparent, ugly, honest and difficult journey. I'll be posting juicing recipes, weight and measurements, Bible verses and probably more than a few pleas for help and support along the way.


Shine on,
Joselynn