Gettin' Juiced

For about a year or so I have wanted to get a juicer.  I watched the movie "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" featuring Aussie fat boy gone slim, Joe Cross.  I thought it was going to be infomercial-esque, boring, and forgettable.  However that was not the case.  I was riveted by the transformation of this doughboy into a bit of an Adonis.

 I always like to give some background into my personal self when writing about things like this because we are all so different in our backstories.  What works for one won't work for all.

As I get older and have had more children my body has bounced in and out of shape several times.  I think the part of my life that saved me and gives me hope each time was the 2 years or so that I spent working at and working out at a local gym.  By working there I WAS there and so would get an hour or two in before and/or after my shift.  I only had one child back then too, and a husband who was fine with my daily hours-at-a-time absence.  I was able to build up muscle to the point of feeling and even looking strong, and that has carried me through the subsequent years.  Each time I fall out of shape and then get determined to get back into shape I have the wonderful thing called 'muscle memory' that causes me to reform my previous sculpture quite rapidly.  BUT that only works if I keep working at it.  I also fall out of shape very very quickly, much quicker than it takes me to rebuild.  Mine is a body that needs to be active daily.  My lifestyle is sadly not one that allows that without enormous effort.

Now, back to the original subject!  I noticed the other day that when I put my jeans on that are normally very loose that they felt wrong.  The fabric was digging into my thighs and when I sat down it hurt where the waistband was.  I hadn't weighed myself in a long time because my scale eats batteries so I really had no clue what I weighed.  Last time I had checked I was around 125 (at 5'7").  I got some batteries and gave it a whirl.  When I opened my eyes I saw a number I hadn't seen in a long time.  No wonder I felt like a blimp.  I was starting to blow up!!  In 2 months I have gained over 6 lb and 2% of my body fat back that I had worked hard to lose after having Autumn.  Also my depression has been running rampant lately which has made me tired and out of focus.

 The cause for this weight gain is really not rocket science.  I have been rather sedentary lately and eating whatever and how much I want, mostly cookies and crackers and processed food.  I had thought it wouldn't catch up with me since I am ignorant but the scale (and my tight fat jeans) don't lie.  Unfortunately friends and family members will.  Not to be mean, but because they love me and don't want me to feel bad about myself.  And I know that *right now* I am not "fat" but the facts are that my weight has gone up significantly after staying steady for over a year.

  What do I do about this problem?  I tried doing the exercise video Jillian Michael's The 30 Day Shred that I have used before with good results.  But after 1 week of doing it I came down with a stomach bug and then lost motivation.  I tried eating salads every day for lunch instead of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but that involves both the preparation which takes forever and is very messy, and then I have to chew the damn thing which is painful due to my unfortunate cross bite which makes my jaws ache after long periods of time.  I can barely chew gum.  So what can I do??  I thought of the Joe Cross movie.

Whenever I have mentioned the word "juicer" it has brought out very strong opinions from both sides.  You are either passionate about juicing or you think its the biggest waste of time/money/breath stupidest thing you have ever heard etc etc.  Yes they can be expensive.  OR you can find one that someone used once and got too lazy or grossed out to use again for very little money.  Yes, healthy food like fruits and veggies are expensive, but so is open heart surgery and diabetes.  And yes, it takes time to prepare food.  ANY kind of food.  Trust me I am the queen of eating cereal for dinner.



After really going back and forth about this whole topic in my mind for many months I finally decided to talk to my husband.  Why not, can't hurt right?  Luckily I have a husband who is pretty much on board with anything I want to do within reason.  And he'll consume just about anything including juiced vegetables.  I showed him a Breville Juice Fountain Compact on Amazon that cost well under a hundred dollars and said, "How about we get this and consider it our Christmas gift to each other?"
He went for it!  We ordered it right then and got it this past Saturday.  I ran out to Price Chopper that night (mistake #1) and loaded up on produce.  FYI:  Price Chopper restocks their produce on Sundays so the stuff that is there on Saturday evening is CRAP.

When I got home each of us (my son and older daughter) picked and made our own juices.  Each of us was surprised at how not bad it tasted.  My daughter was the only one who didn't end up finishing hers because it was too sweet.

The next day I decided to make myself a fake V8.  I do love V8 juice and wanted to try to replicate it.  I found a recipe on the internet and made it.

There is no way in Hell I would ever eat all this in one day.  Or even one month!

WAY too much beet.  Way too much juice in general!  It must have been for 3 people!  I am not experienced enough to know how much juice all those veggies can make!

It was quite gross so I added a pinch of Lawry's seasoned salt and some Mrs. Dash Tomato Basil and choked it down.  Way too much money invested in that glass of juice!  Not about to waste it.

Next I made a fruit juice containing a jumbo red grapefruit, 2 oranges, half a lemon (organic with skin on), and a third of a lime.

YUM

Even though it was quite bitter I really enjoyed it and drank it all.  In the morning I made a Carrot Orange Ginger juice.  DELICIOUS.  And next I made a pared down version of the V8 recipe with half of the ingredients and I peeled the beet this time.  MUCH better.  At dinner we sat down to spaghetti and I took a couple of bites and had this thought:  "I wish I could just have a veggie juice."

WHAT.

Did that come out of MY brain???  OK something is happening here.

After eating only half of my spaghetti I went and made another citrus drink for dessert.  Wow.  I haven't felt like eating starchy sugary crap for three days now.  However I have had McDonald's for lunch the past two days just due to circumstance!

Now to answer the biggest FAQ:
No, it does not give me massive diarrhea.  The beauty is that for a person like me who has IBS it is ideal because there is no insoluble fiber in this juice!  Insoluble fiber is one trigger for me and another reason I shy away from veggies.  I am, however, adding Benefiber (odorless, tasteless, soluble fiber powder) to my veggie drinks so I'm not missing out, plus I eat 2 pieces of whole grain toast with real butter and peanut butter on them so I get fat for the little vitamins to ride around on!