Juice-only Detox: Day 3!!!

Day 3 – finally. Today is a Monday, so back to work I go. Got up early to juice all my ‘meals’ for the workday.  Yeah… didn’t get up early enough. I was able to juice my breakfast, plus two mid day juices, and one lunch juice for my husband. Juicing all of that at once was making me queasy. I wasn’t in the mood for any more crazy juices from my juice detox book, so I just made something from a previous day. I was really struggling in the morning… queasy from all the vegetables, craving a cup of coffee, and craving FOOD! We weighed ourselves again today, lost under a pound from the previous day. My husband seemed to wake-up just fine.

On the way to work, my stomach was starving for anything. I had to wait till I got to work to drink my breakfast juice because I was running late. It tasted fine, but I was miserable. Morning went by and then it was lunch time. I checked the specials for the day down in the cafeteria… pasta station! I called the Husband to tell him I was going to break, and he said no. Plus, he hasn't broke yet, so I couldn't! But I was starting to realize that maybe a ‘skinny girl’ shouldn’t be doing a juice-only fast. My scale measures body fat %, muscle %, water %, and bone density. My body fat is 18%, which is pretty low for a woman. Curious, I looked up what the healthy ranges are for women. Apparently, I’m an “Athlete” by the chart below. 

Around lunch time I started feeling back to my old self after drinking about 1.5 juices. Could still use some coffee though. I was ready for the clock to hit 5:00 because we already decided that we were going out to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant!! So I gave up right at the end. I'm not disappointed in myself at all. I'm actually quite proud of how far I made it because it wasn't easy. Except for the first day, I think my husband handled it better than me.

What did I learn? I wouldn't recommend the juice-only diet unless you have some pounds to lose - and I'm not talking about 5 pounds. I think your body needs some fat reserves to eat while you juice. I also have a fast metabolism, so that probably doesn't help either. The fact that I lost the same amount of pounds the first day as my husband, hinted that maybe this wasn't for me. Also, I don't think it takes $175 to do a juice fast for two people. We still have tons of vegetables left in both fridges because I couldn't drink the 5 glasses of juice a day. It was just too much. Any more, and I probably would have puked at one point or another. 

So how did dinner go? I ate the shit out of the chips and salsa... and bean dip... and cheese dip... and guacamole. My headache went away slightly, only to return again and my belly starting hurting. I think the headache was partially from chewing! Not use to that :) I took a break till my food arrived. I ordered a Mexican Caesar salad which was delicious, but the headache and tummy ache returned. It was all good and my belly feels better now. I still have a slight headache though.

We'll continue juicing of course, but will use it as a replacement for lunch, or in my case, to accompany my lunch. I sort of wish I could take a break from the juice, but I have too much left! I'll only be juicing the recipes I enjoyed though. I'll have to figure out some dishes for the rest of the vegetables. Happy juicing everyone!

Juice-only Detox: Day 2 Recap

We woke up today feeling much better compared to last night. No more headaches, no more starving feeling, and we each lost 4 lbs! Started juicing again and wasn’t too bad in the beginning. For the morning you generally begin with all fruits, then slowly work in the vegetables as you proceed. So of course breakfast and lunch are pretty yummy. By the time your ‘afternoon snack’ and dinner comes around, you’re getting tired of drinking and making the juice. I couldn’t make it to my 5 juices, but I did make to 4 today. It’s a strange feeling because you’re hungry/starving, but tired of juice. My last juice was pretty bad because it was only cucumber, spinach and fennel. None of those really have any taste to them, so it pretty much just tasted like fennel (i.e. onion). My husband’s dinner was wonderful! It was ‘Lemon Lime’ and it tasted like super sour lemonade – which I LOVE!

I went to bed still feeling hungry, but not as bad as day 1.  We’re still craving eating out once this fast is over. Everything sounds so good. 

No emergencies to the bathroom either. I don’t think you poop a whole lot once you’ve flushed all the solid food out of your system… so just lots of peeing again.

Juice-only Detox

Brief recap… My husband and I decided to try a three-day juice-only diet. I’m following a long weekend detox, and my husband is following regular juicing recipes; there is some overlap in the recipes. So, last night I went to Whole Foods and a local supermarket to stock up for the next three days. Our total was $175.

Well we’re almost through our first day. How’s it going? Yeah, it sort of sucks. We’re both craving some real food right now; even just a simple salad at this point sounds delicious. We’re both suffering from some mild headaches, and my husband is a little moody. He’s also done for the day even though he has one juice left. I’m actually drinking the second half of his juice because it made so much, and I’m lazy to juice again. My schedule called for 5 juices, and my husband’s called for 4.

Our first juices of the day weren’t bad, and were rather small. The next two were okay and more filling. Then. came. lunch. Alan’s juice had a lot of fruits and veggies. I was in the kitchen for an hour washing, juicing, and washing up.  Alan’s juice probably made about 50-60 ounces of juice! He wasn’t a big fan of the taste either, so he didn’t even finish half of it. My juice on the other hand was h.o.r.r.i.b.l.e. It tasted like rotten salsa. We both had to choke them down. After those we sort of needed a break, which is why Alan said he was done for the night. “I can’t even take the smell in the kitchen right now.”

  

I technically have 2 more juices to do for the night, but it’s already 8 o’clock and I’m tired. Not sure if I’m tired because of the lack of solid food, or if its just my usual end-of-day tired. So I’m typing while drinking the rest of Alan’s juice. It tastes so much better than mine did – all I can taste is pear. Alan thinks it was the beet. Oh, by the way, Alan lost 1.4 pounds today so far. I’m about the same.

I offered Alan to break the detox, but he’s sticking with it… for now. Just hoping tomorrow goes a little better. I figured day 1 would suck. And tv isn’t helping either because everyone is eating, and every other commercial is a food commercial. We’re looking forward to day 4 when we’re off the cleanse. We’ll be eating out for dinner, but even that makes me nervous because my detox says to take it easy when going back to solid food. So we’ll see if our cravings are the same when that day finally comes. 

Oh! How could I forget to address any bathroom issues? None… so far.  Just lots of peeing! It surprisingly comes out clear.

If you're at all curious about this whole juicing nonsense, go check out www.rebootwithjoe.com. (its currently down right this second however) I love reading the success stories - they're so inspiring. 

Pizza Casserole

What's for dinner tonight? Us, we're having Pizza Casserole. Cheap, easy, and healthy. I use ground turkey sausage and whole wheat or omega-3 pasta to keep it healthy. Under $10, easy to make, makes a lot, and you can make ahead of time. Took about 20 minutes to prep, but you're mostly just waiting for pasta to cook and the meat to brown. I used the down time to write this post, clean my kitchen, and eventually jump in the shower while it baked.

Brown the meat and cook the pasta at the same time.  Cook the pasta in a large pot so you can use it to combine the sauce and meat later.  Once everything is cooked, mix pasta, meat, and spaghetti sauce. Spread casserole into a 9x13" dish and top with mozzarella cheese. If you have any pepperoni, you can throw that on top too. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

One quick tip, I undercooked my pasta by 1-2 minutes so that it's not overcooked after baking. Recipe says you can freeze for 3 months. Easy to add additional veggies too! 6 Weight Watchers points per serving. Enjoy! Full recipe here.

Money Saving Tips - The little ones

Following up on my previous posting... I've listed the rest of the ways I try to save money each week.

Groceries. Do you throw away a lot of groceries because you forgot what you bought? I use to... maybe not a lot, but throwing away any amount of food is still throwing away money. Instead, try doing grocery shopping for only 3 dinners. That way, you remember the food you bought. Plus, if you go out to eat unexpectantly, your meat will still be good the next day most likely. Next, cut out the junk food at the grocery store. You know you shouldn't eat it anyway, so save the calories and your money!

Cheap meals. I dread the grocery store because the bill is always more than I want and I hate the pressure of figuring out meals for the week. Save yourself some effort and prepare 1-2 cheap meals a week. Ours usually include: Kraft macaroni and cheese, chicken legs, BLTs, or burgers.

Use up all those samples you've been saving. Do you have a closet or shelf dedicated to unused makeup, lotion, toothpaste, perfume, shampoo, body wash, etc? I do. You might need to organize it first to realize what you have, but I bet you're holding on to stuff thinking you'll use it eventually. I just found 6 travel toothpastes that I've been saving from my dentist visits. I've been working through all my mall lotions, perfumes, beauty samples, etc. I told myself I wasn't allowed to any new product until I finished what I already have. It doesn't save a ton, but it saves a little and clears up your clutter.

Stop buying the cheap crap over and over again. My husband and I made an agreement a long time ago that we would only buy the 'good stuff'. Buy it once and be done. Generally, not always, the pricier stuff will outlast the cheap stuff, and be cheaper in the long run. Or you'll be unhappy until you buy the product you really want, so then you end up buying it anyway. I've had my Dyson vacuum for 5 years now with no problems. Home improvement is another area... you definitely get what you pay for when it comes to paint, yard tools, or anything else that takes a lot of abuse.

Lunches and Coffees. Do you spend a lot on both of these each week? Try working on a budget for this. My husband and I use to take out a $20 bill each week to be used for our lunch and coffees each week.

House checking vs. regular checking. This is a strategy I used during college. If you find yourself overdrawing your bank account occasionally, try opening a second bank account for only bills. Whenever you get paid, calculate all the bills to be paid, and move that money over. That way, you always have money for your bills, and you know how much you can spend based on what's left in your regular checking.

No more presents/cards/flowers. The ladies may not like this one, but agree to eliminate presents between you and your spouse. Valentines day, anniversaries, birthdays, and Christmas eat up a lot of money - especially cards and flowers which eventually end up in the trash anyway. Instead, take the money both of you were planning to spend and make an extra deposit to one of your SmartyPig accounts.

Impulse buys. Whenever we get an idea into our head, we want to buy it NOW! Give yourself a night to sleep on it, or a week if you can. Many times you'll talk yourself out of it, or realize an alternative or better plan.

Check Craigslist. This follows-up nicely to the previous tip... check Craigslist before buying something brand new. There are some things I would never buy used, but when applicable, used is the way to go. Some ideas: craft supplies, yard tools, kid's clothes and toys, small appliances, fitness equipment, games, movies, costumes, or any other one-time use product.

Avoid the malls. Pretty obvious one... If you don't have the money, don't go shopping, duh. If you want to save money or not live paycheck to paycheck, don't go shopping! It should be sporadic, not weekly or biweekly.

Money Saving Tips - The big ones

Below are some money-saving tips that I use everyday. I've listed the major ones in this posting that will actually show you real results. I've saved the smaller-ones for a follow-up post. The biggest theme here is to be conscience of your spending. If you're not already aware, you'd be surprised how much money goes unaccounted for on coffees, meals, drinks, and impulse buying.

• Make a calendar of all your bills. This helps me budget our money each pay period. I use a Google calendar to record all our recurring bills. Then, every payday, I calculate how much money will be coming out till next payday. This lets me know ahead of time if we need to be a little more conservative in our spending over the next two weeks.

• Act like you're poor. If you have a 'poor-man' mindset, you'll think twice about going shopping or eating-out excessively. Spend only what is in your checking account or if you decide to charge something, make sure you have enough to pay it off at the end of the month. And always be aware of your money and upcoming bills!
• Move all your cash into savings each payday. Every Thursday before payday, I check to see what the leftover balance is before we get paid. We have scheduled our bills evenly throughout the month, so that every payday can cover all the bills during that two-week period. (sending bi-weekly mortgage payments have helped tremendously, not to mention we send an extra payment each year without ever noticing) Then on payday, I either move over the carried balance into savings, or make a big payment to one of our debts. That way, we don't splurge the next pay period because we had leftover money and blow it on mindless crap.
• Coupons/Groupons/promo codes. Sometimes I feel like a cheap-o whenever I pull out a coupon, but oh well. Most of the time, coupons and Groupons dictate where we go for dinner. Groupons can obviously become dangerous, but I only tend to buy them if it's for a place we go regularly, or have been wanting to try. You can also sign up for a restaurant's mailing list and get free coupons sent. Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden, and fast-food places usually have promotions they send out. Finally, when purchasing anything online, always do a google search for promo codes to apply at the checkout. Very rarely do I not find one promo code to use.
• Start a SmartyPig account. I don't care what your excuse is, everyone should have one SmartyPig account. The biggest reason why people can't save, in my opinion, is they always think about saving after they have spent all their money. You're thinking the wrong way. Pay all your bills, set aside some savings, then you can spend the rest of your money. The best part about SmartyPig is it withdrawals from your checking on a recurring schedule and you forget about it. We have ours set up to withdrawal every payday. We have three funds set up: Home Improvement, Vacation, and Juicer fund. There have been several times where something broke in the house and we needed extra cash. I just make an instant transfer to my SmartyPig debit card and then ran to Home Depot. We've set up a Car fund in the past to pay for insurance, vehicle tags, and other vehicle-related expenses which was nice. SmartyPig will get you excited about saving money. If you want to know more, or want an invite, message me. It's totally free and you earn interest.

Forks Over Knives - Documentary

Another Saturday, another documentary... Decided to watch Forks Over Knives, which by coincidence compliments my previous post about portion size. It took a while to get into the film, probably because some of the stuff is old news -- to me. But what eventually got me into it was their studies about the effects of a the Western diet compared to a whole-foods plant-based diet.

It's hard to summarize the film into one cohesive summary, so instead, I typed up some of the facts from the film:

• We spend more on health care in America than on our federal defense budget
• Lipitor is the number one prescribed medication in the world
• (used "...to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke and to decrease the chance that heart surgery will be needed in people who have heart disease or who are at risk of developing heart disease. Atorvastatin is also used to decrease the amount of cholesterol (a fat-like substance) and other fatty substances in the blood.")

• 1-2% of cancers are attributed to our genes... the rest are caused from how we treat and feed our bodies.
• Protein from animals promoted cancer growth, while protein from plants decreased cancer growth.
• A plant-based diet can reverse cancer!
• Even physically fit people are at risk because of their diets. I know I sometimes fall back on the notion, "hey, I'm thin and eat right most of the time." But even the fittest athletes can be at the same risk of cancer because of the amount of animal protein they consume.
• According to the United Nations, the cattle industry contributes to global warming more than the entire transportation industry.
• Heart disease is the number one killer in the U.S. Not smoking, drugs, alcohol, or even cancer.
• Below is how much we have increased our animal proteins and refined sugar over the past 100 years.

                                                    Then.............Now
                     Meat                      120lbs..........222lbs
                     Refined sugar          40lbs..........147lbs
                     Diary products       294lbs.........605lbs