Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Is That Why You're So Happy, Howard Schultz?
Pop Quiz time: Who can tell me who Howard Schultz is? Yeah, I didn't know off the top of my head either. But after I read this article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2016734592_starbucks11.html , I became aware that Howard Schultz is the CEO of Starbucks. And, the picture the seattle times picked to represent Mr. Schultz freaks me out. I'm pretty sure he is so happy in the picture because Starbucks just, "paid $30 million Thursday (yes, this past Thursday) to acquire a juice company called Evolution Fresh, which it plans to feature in new stores it will open next year focused on health and wellness." I had conflicting thoughts as I read this article. Of course I'm always happy to see new juiceries become popular, but then it makes me nervous that Starbucks is the one making it popular. It's like Daddy Moneybags's daughter has taken a liking to the new hippie girl at school, and she is going to take her out on the town and make her over. And the only thing that hippie girl has to loose in the process is her integrity. I'm quite sure this analogy does not make sense; but it's late, and I like granola crunchers. Is that so wrong? Ok, ok, back to my point: Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but does this sound cocky to any one else: Schultz stated, "We feel strongly that we understand the beverage business perhaps better than anyone else who's been in small-box retail,"-- Yeah, you do. That's part of why millions of people are addicted to their morning cup of joe mixed with obscene amounts of sugar and cream. But I say, if you can get consumers addicted to fresh juices the way you have enticed people to drink your delicious coffees, the world will be a better place. I'll be watching you and your freaky face Howard. You can count on it.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Do you have Orthoexia?
When most people think of eating disorders, they think of anorexia and bulimia, right? What most people don't realize is that there are many more types of eating disorders. An eating disorder is exactly that: disordered eating, or when relationship with food is not balanced properly. For years, I have struggled with different forms of disordered eating. Not too long ago I was an Orthoexic. There are a lot of people who find a diet that works well for them and then think that EVERYONE should eat that way. Steven Bratman, MD, expounds upon orthoexia nervosa as follows:
Orthorexia begins, innocently enough, as a desire to overcome chronic illness or to improve general health. But because it requires considerable willpower to adopt a diet that differs radically from the food habits of childhood and the surrounding culture, few accomplish the change gracefully. Most must resort to an iron self-discipline bolstered by a hefty dose of superiority over those who eat junk food. Over time, what to eat, how much, and the consequences of dietary indiscretion come to occupy a greater and greater proportion of the orthorexic's day.
The act of eating pure food begins to carry pseudo spiritual connotations. As orthorexia progresses, a day filled with sprouts, umeboshi plums, and amaranth biscuits comes to feel as holy as one spent serving the poor and homeless. When an orthorexic slips up (which may involve anything from devouring a single raisin to consuming a gallon of Haagen Dazs ice cream and a large pizza), he experiences a fall from grace and must perform numerous acts of penitence. These usually involve ever-stricter diets and fasts.
This "kitchen spirituality" eventually reaches a point where the sufferer spends most of his time planning, purchasing, and eating meals. The orthorexic's inner life becomes dominated by efforts to resist temptation, self-condemnation for lapses, self-praise for success at complying with the chosen regime, and feelings of superiority over others less pure in their dietary habits.
This transference of all of life's value into the act of eating makes orthorexia a true disorder. In this essential characteristic, orthorexia bears many similarities to the two well-known eating disorders anorexia and bulimia. Where the bulimic and anorexic focus on the quantity of food, the orthorexic fixates on its quality. All three give food an excessive place in the scheme of life.
My take home message from this: Find out what foods assimilate well in your body. Recognize that what works for you might not work for others. Recognize that as you go through different stages in your life, you will probably have different dietary needs. Recognize that "messing up" just means that you had a food experiment that went very badly. Guilt will never do you any good, so just accept the decisions you make, for better or for worse.
Orthorexia begins, innocently enough, as a desire to overcome chronic illness or to improve general health. But because it requires considerable willpower to adopt a diet that differs radically from the food habits of childhood and the surrounding culture, few accomplish the change gracefully. Most must resort to an iron self-discipline bolstered by a hefty dose of superiority over those who eat junk food. Over time, what to eat, how much, and the consequences of dietary indiscretion come to occupy a greater and greater proportion of the orthorexic's day.
The act of eating pure food begins to carry pseudo spiritual connotations. As orthorexia progresses, a day filled with sprouts, umeboshi plums, and amaranth biscuits comes to feel as holy as one spent serving the poor and homeless. When an orthorexic slips up (which may involve anything from devouring a single raisin to consuming a gallon of Haagen Dazs ice cream and a large pizza), he experiences a fall from grace and must perform numerous acts of penitence. These usually involve ever-stricter diets and fasts.
This "kitchen spirituality" eventually reaches a point where the sufferer spends most of his time planning, purchasing, and eating meals. The orthorexic's inner life becomes dominated by efforts to resist temptation, self-condemnation for lapses, self-praise for success at complying with the chosen regime, and feelings of superiority over others less pure in their dietary habits.
This transference of all of life's value into the act of eating makes orthorexia a true disorder. In this essential characteristic, orthorexia bears many similarities to the two well-known eating disorders anorexia and bulimia. Where the bulimic and anorexic focus on the quantity of food, the orthorexic fixates on its quality. All three give food an excessive place in the scheme of life.
My take home message from this: Find out what foods assimilate well in your body. Recognize that what works for you might not work for others. Recognize that as you go through different stages in your life, you will probably have different dietary needs. Recognize that "messing up" just means that you had a food experiment that went very badly. Guilt will never do you any good, so just accept the decisions you make, for better or for worse.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
What the Bleep is Yo Gabba Gabba supposed to mean?
So, I'm not going to lie--the first time someone told me about Yo Gabba Gabba I wondered what kind of a parent would let their child watch a show named something that doesn't even make sense. Insanity, I tell you! Anyway, because we don't have TV, I find myself every so often letting my curiosity get the best of me and ending up at the youtube website not really knowing how I got there. Next thing I know the phrase "Yo Gabba Gabba" is typed into the search box. My kids have this weird hearing problem--if I ask them to get dressed, pick something up, get their shoes on, or make their bed they can never hear me; but, if I whisper , "who wants dessert?" or get any kind of children's video up on the computer they appear in the room within seconds. Does anyone else have children with this hearing-problem-bordering-on-super-power? Anyway, I swear this is related to nutrition--I'm just getting to that, OK? So, me and my kids found this video:
Party in my tummy
Although I may not agree with the first three food choices of chicken (most likely factory farmed), cheese, and fluorescent purple juice (that is made out of who knows what?), I really like this video. Now, any time that my kids don't want to eat something, I'll say, "but they want to go to the party in your tummy". Jasper almost always falls for it (hehe, sucker). Maybe I should have issue with the fact that Brobee is eating things that talk can talk to him, and... that alone will probably give my kids food issues later in life, but it's still cute. So, lesson for the day is this:
1. Even though the show title is nonsensical, yo gabba gabba has some cute messages.
2. Teach your kids to eat things that talk back to them (j/k, j/k, but I had to put this one in there)
Party in my tummy
Although I may not agree with the first three food choices of chicken (most likely factory farmed), cheese, and fluorescent purple juice (that is made out of who knows what?), I really like this video. Now, any time that my kids don't want to eat something, I'll say, "but they want to go to the party in your tummy". Jasper almost always falls for it (hehe, sucker). Maybe I should have issue with the fact that Brobee is eating things that talk can talk to him, and... that alone will probably give my kids food issues later in life, but it's still cute. So, lesson for the day is this:
1. Even though the show title is nonsensical, yo gabba gabba has some cute messages.
2. Teach your kids to eat things that talk back to them (j/k, j/k, but I had to put this one in there)
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
To Sue or Not To Sue
OK, read this article:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2011/10/group-hits-general-mills-on-fruit-snack-nutrition/
If you don't feel like reading it, here is the article in summary:
"A nonprofit nutrition and health watchdog group and a California mother are at the center of a complaint that alleges General Mills misled consumers about the nutritional and health qualities of its fruit snacks including Fruit Roll-Ups and Fruit by the Foot."
My thoughts on this: although I do agree that it is wrong to advertise very unhealthy things as "healthy", I think that consumers should take responsibility as well. I mean, for goodness sake, HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO TURN A PACKAGE OVER AND CHECK THE INGREDIENTS? 10 seconds? Maybe 20 if it is a super-long list of unhealthy ingredients? It's completely ridiculous to me that someone would even consider suing for such a thing. People nowadays are apparently idiots! Even if something says, "made with real fruit" on the front, wouldn't you be a little suspicious of a product that is rolled up and can sit on the shelf for years without going bad? Just saying. So what do you think? Are consumers idiots, should General Mills have to take of the "sport pictures of fruits" off their packaging, or a little of both?
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2011/10/group-hits-general-mills-on-fruit-snack-nutrition/
If you don't feel like reading it, here is the article in summary:
"A nonprofit nutrition and health watchdog group and a California mother are at the center of a complaint that alleges General Mills misled consumers about the nutritional and health qualities of its fruit snacks including Fruit Roll-Ups and Fruit by the Foot."
My thoughts on this: although I do agree that it is wrong to advertise very unhealthy things as "healthy", I think that consumers should take responsibility as well. I mean, for goodness sake, HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO TURN A PACKAGE OVER AND CHECK THE INGREDIENTS? 10 seconds? Maybe 20 if it is a super-long list of unhealthy ingredients? It's completely ridiculous to me that someone would even consider suing for such a thing. People nowadays are apparently idiots! Even if something says, "made with real fruit" on the front, wouldn't you be a little suspicious of a product that is rolled up and can sit on the shelf for years without going bad? Just saying. So what do you think? Are consumers idiots, should General Mills have to take of the "sport pictures of fruits" off their packaging, or a little of both?
Thursday, October 13, 2011
It Has Been Way Too Long
OK, so I'll be the first to admit that I have been a total slacker about my blog. I am going to make no promises regarding the frequency of future posts, but any positive and hopeful energy you'd like to send my way will be appreciated. I wanted to post two things. First, with our society at an all-time soda drinking high, I thought this little diagram might be useful. I also want people to know that I do not think diet soda's are any better--ask me for more deets, and I'll send you the info I have on aspartame. But, back to the picture:
http://www.termlifeinsurance.org/harmful-soda-full/
Secondly, this video is completely un-health-related, but way too good to not share:
http://www.termlifeinsurance.org/harmful-soda-full/
Secondly, this video is completely un-health-related, but way too good to not share:
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Day 14 JF
DAY 14-- Augst 9, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 huge, fatty leaf/stem bok choy
+ 2 leaves cabbage
Fruits:
+ 1 apple
+ 2 peaches
+ 2 plums
+ 15 strawberries
For as little as I drank today you'd think I would've been hungry. But I actually wasn't. What'do ya know? Has anyone else ever juiced bok choy before? Yeah, I didn't think so. I wouldn't quite put it into the mustard & turnip greens category, but it's pretty close. The only word I can think of to describe the taste is funk. Maybe that's what the black-eyed peas taste like (did anyone get that reference?)
As I'm writing this my husband is making a hot fudge sunday/banana split, w/ strawberries and caramel as well. So so cruel. Today was kind of an uneventful day. I felt like I was running around all day and also did nothing at the same time. Anyone else ever felt that way? We started potty training Jasper today. He actually did pretty well. I'll keep you posted on that.
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 huge, fatty leaf/stem bok choy
+ 2 leaves cabbage
Fruits:
+ 1 apple
+ 2 peaches
+ 2 plums
+ 15 strawberries
For as little as I drank today you'd think I would've been hungry. But I actually wasn't. What'do ya know? Has anyone else ever juiced bok choy before? Yeah, I didn't think so. I wouldn't quite put it into the mustard & turnip greens category, but it's pretty close. The only word I can think of to describe the taste is funk. Maybe that's what the black-eyed peas taste like (did anyone get that reference?)
As I'm writing this my husband is making a hot fudge sunday/banana split, w/ strawberries and caramel as well. So so cruel. Today was kind of an uneventful day. I felt like I was running around all day and also did nothing at the same time. Anyone else ever felt that way? We started potty training Jasper today. He actually did pretty well. I'll keep you posted on that.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Day 13 JF
DAY 13-- Augst 8, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 1 cucumber
+ 2 green leaf lettuce leaves
+ 2 kale leaves
Fruits:
+ 1 kiwi
+ 2 peaches
+ 50 small-medium red grapes
+ 8 strawberries
Man, it seems like all my juicing posts are more like confessionals. This morning when I was making the kids whole wheat muffins I may have sampled one or two finger fulls... or like, 6. I think that in my very tired brain I justified it by thinking that if it's liquid it's not as bad. Not that batter is "liquid" per-se, but you know what I'm talking about, right?
My dinner juice was cucumber-peach (which I must admit was a pleasant surprise). Naturally after Jasper tasted it he stated his all-to-predictable, "yeah... yummy". I told him the flavor he was tasting was cucumber. What he said after that was too cute: "ummm.... tu-tumber". Whatever kid, you're so adorable you can call it anything you want and I'll still be grinning from ear to ear. Okay, so maybe cheek bone to cheek bone is a better comparison, because let's be realistic-- who grins from ear to ear? Is that even possible? If so, please send pictures to Jaidab@gmail.com. (random tangent ends here)
Lessons learned today:
1. Muffin batter is not juice no matter how good it tastes.
2. Jasper's extra cute when he says "tu-tumber".
3. I'm in love with my job as a stay-at-home-mom.
4. I will be making a cucumber peach juice again.
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 1 cucumber
+ 2 green leaf lettuce leaves
+ 2 kale leaves
Fruits:
+ 1 kiwi
+ 2 peaches
+ 50 small-medium red grapes
+ 8 strawberries
Man, it seems like all my juicing posts are more like confessionals. This morning when I was making the kids whole wheat muffins I may have sampled one or two finger fulls... or like, 6. I think that in my very tired brain I justified it by thinking that if it's liquid it's not as bad. Not that batter is "liquid" per-se, but you know what I'm talking about, right?
My dinner juice was cucumber-peach (which I must admit was a pleasant surprise). Naturally after Jasper tasted it he stated his all-to-predictable, "yeah... yummy". I told him the flavor he was tasting was cucumber. What he said after that was too cute: "ummm.... tu-tumber". Whatever kid, you're so adorable you can call it anything you want and I'll still be grinning from ear to ear. Okay, so maybe cheek bone to cheek bone is a better comparison, because let's be realistic-- who grins from ear to ear? Is that even possible? If so, please send pictures to Jaidab@gmail.com. (random tangent ends here)
Lessons learned today:
1. Muffin batter is not juice no matter how good it tastes.
2. Jasper's extra cute when he says "tu-tumber".
3. I'm in love with my job as a stay-at-home-mom.
4. I will be making a cucumber peach juice again.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Day 12 JF
DAY 12-- Augst 7, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 4 larges leaves of kale
Fruits:
+ 3 apples
+ 60 midnight beauty grapes
Just looking at what I drank today you probably think I starved myself. I kinda did. Sundays are hard (as I mentioned last week). We have church from 12pm-3 pm. And then I'm always talking to people afterwards. And don't even get me started on how long it takes to get 3 kids 4 & under into the car. And, my fruit and veg supply is running out. I'm overly-excited about grocery shopping tomorrow. I mean, it's probably not normal to be this charged to buy produce.
Today in church when I was taking the sacrament (you know, symbolism, the last supper and all that jazz) Ryan leans over to me and says, "you'd better write this bread in your journal". So I confess: I ate a tiny crumb of white bread today in church. Ohhhh, the shame!
We had a very unhealthy chicken enchilada casserole in our freezer that Ryan wanted to eat for dinner instead of the healthy meals that I've put in there. I don't blame him. I couldn't stand the fatty delicious smell of it cooking, so I decided to take a nap on the couch. It was a good nap. Until my little 2 1/2-year-old started jumping on me and saying, "Mommy, I wuv you". I'm not gonna lie, I like me some lovin', but I don't like little 25-pound bodies jumping on me when I'm trying to sleep. As for my dinner, Ryan made me a fruit juice slushy. It was incredibly delicious. Something about the icy texture was just what I needed. Yet another thing I've learned about juicing-- sometimes it's fun to juice things and then blend the juice with ice. I probably would have never thought to do that, so props go to the creative husband that I so sneakily snatched up 5+ years ago.
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 4 larges leaves of kale
Fruits:
+ 3 apples
+ 60 midnight beauty grapes
Just looking at what I drank today you probably think I starved myself. I kinda did. Sundays are hard (as I mentioned last week). We have church from 12pm-3 pm. And then I'm always talking to people afterwards. And don't even get me started on how long it takes to get 3 kids 4 & under into the car. And, my fruit and veg supply is running out. I'm overly-excited about grocery shopping tomorrow. I mean, it's probably not normal to be this charged to buy produce.
Today in church when I was taking the sacrament (you know, symbolism, the last supper and all that jazz) Ryan leans over to me and says, "you'd better write this bread in your journal". So I confess: I ate a tiny crumb of white bread today in church. Ohhhh, the shame!
We had a very unhealthy chicken enchilada casserole in our freezer that Ryan wanted to eat for dinner instead of the healthy meals that I've put in there. I don't blame him. I couldn't stand the fatty delicious smell of it cooking, so I decided to take a nap on the couch. It was a good nap. Until my little 2 1/2-year-old started jumping on me and saying, "Mommy, I wuv you". I'm not gonna lie, I like me some lovin', but I don't like little 25-pound bodies jumping on me when I'm trying to sleep. As for my dinner, Ryan made me a fruit juice slushy. It was incredibly delicious. Something about the icy texture was just what I needed. Yet another thing I've learned about juicing-- sometimes it's fun to juice things and then blend the juice with ice. I probably would have never thought to do that, so props go to the creative husband that I so sneakily snatched up 5+ years ago.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Day 11 JF
DAY 11-- Augst 6, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 1 celery
+ 3 leaves escarole
+ 4 large kale leaves
Fruits:
+ 2 apples
+ 90 midnight beauty grapes
You'll notice that my selection was not as bountiful as it usually is. I still have plenty of stuff to juice, but it's not very varied (Can I even say very varied? You be the judge). I basically have a lot of kale, grapes, and apples left. No doubt tomorrow will show similar results since I won't be shopping again until Monday. Boo. Today was actually a really good day though. I wasn't hungry very much at all. Maybe my body has finally accepted that I'm going to be juicing for a little while longer.
I'm not sure why I think this is funny, but here it is. For every juice I make there is my little 2 1/2-year-old Jasper there wanting a taste. Without fail Jasper always takes a sip, gets a meditative look on his face, and nods his head and says, "yeah, yummy." It's so funny! My friend came over to dinner tonight (that is, she and her 2 girls ate dinner with my kids while I sat there sipping my overly-kaley juice) and I asked her if she wanted a sip. She tried it and then said, "Jaida, I don't know how you do it". Then, as if you cue, Jasper announced that he wanted some. He took a sip, got that look on his face, and then said, "yeah, yummy". After having tasted it herself, my friend was probably a little perplexed; I was just amused.
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 1 celery
+ 3 leaves escarole
+ 4 large kale leaves
Fruits:
+ 2 apples
+ 90 midnight beauty grapes
You'll notice that my selection was not as bountiful as it usually is. I still have plenty of stuff to juice, but it's not very varied (Can I even say very varied? You be the judge). I basically have a lot of kale, grapes, and apples left. No doubt tomorrow will show similar results since I won't be shopping again until Monday. Boo. Today was actually a really good day though. I wasn't hungry very much at all. Maybe my body has finally accepted that I'm going to be juicing for a little while longer.
I'm not sure why I think this is funny, but here it is. For every juice I make there is my little 2 1/2-year-old Jasper there wanting a taste. Without fail Jasper always takes a sip, gets a meditative look on his face, and nods his head and says, "yeah, yummy." It's so funny! My friend came over to dinner tonight (that is, she and her 2 girls ate dinner with my kids while I sat there sipping my overly-kaley juice) and I asked her if she wanted a sip. She tried it and then said, "Jaida, I don't know how you do it". Then, as if you cue, Jasper announced that he wanted some. He took a sip, got that look on his face, and then said, "yeah, yummy". After having tasted it herself, my friend was probably a little perplexed; I was just amused.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Day 10 JF
DAY 10-- August 5, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 2 leaves escarole
+ 3 large leaves kale
+ 2 leaves green leaf lettuce
+ 1 zucchini
Fruits:
+ 5 apples
+ 6 strawberries
I'm kind of surprised that I'm still learning things about juicing after 10 days. How much could you possibly need to know about juicing? Not much really. Apparently I'm just slow. Anyway, the thing that I learned today is that I think I enjoy my juice better when it's mixed 50/50 with water. It's like flavored water, and if there's a not-so-enjoyable taste in the juice, it's not quite as strong. But probably in a couple of days from now I'll change my mind again.
I don't know about you, but I still, on occasion, stress eat (of course it's usually a vegan, refined sugar-free, raw treat). Today was one of those days that I was really grateful to be juice fasting, because if I hadn't been I'm sure I would have whipped up a batch of something and polished all of it off (maybe I'd have shared a couple with my kids...maybe). It seemed like it was one thing after another today, but I'm only going to share the story that ranks as most stressful. It happened like this:
Let me preface this whole story by saying that Sydney (my 4-year-old) and Bentley (a 3-year-old boy I was babysitting today) were jumping on our trampoline in the 108 degree weather. Just keep this vision of sticky sweaty children as I tell the story.
I was coming out of my 8-month-old's room and noticed that our laundry room door was shut. This wouldn't have been unusual in someone else's home, but we keep our kitty litter in the laundry room. Our kids know to never shut the door so Jasmine (our kitty) can use her litter if she needs to go to the bathroom. The other red flag was that there was a light shining through the crack under the door. As I got closer I heard giggling. Giggling (especially behind closed doors) is never a good sign. I opened the door and (does anyone have any guesses as to what I found?) the laundry room was covered with cat litter. I may have not been so mad if I didn't see little kitty turds all over as well. I don't know why the *bleep* those kids thought playing with cat poop would be fun! Our laundry room smelled like kitty litter too because when you move the litter around dust stuff comes up from it. GROSS! Needless to say, Sydney was disciplined. Did you remember how sweaty Bentley and Sydney were? They both had cat litter on them. I seriously had to take a lot of deep breaths before I could cope with the situation. Those little stinkers weren't even planning on washing their hands. Oh, and did I mention that they got litter all over my bathroom sink that I had literally cleaned 1/2 hour before? Yeah, it was that good. But on the flip side, that little escapade put me into productivity mode. Since the vacuum was already out (from cleaning up the litter), I decided to vacuum the whole house. So I guess there is balance in the world. Huzzah!
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 2 leaves escarole
+ 3 large leaves kale
+ 2 leaves green leaf lettuce
+ 1 zucchini
Fruits:
+ 5 apples
+ 6 strawberries
I'm kind of surprised that I'm still learning things about juicing after 10 days. How much could you possibly need to know about juicing? Not much really. Apparently I'm just slow. Anyway, the thing that I learned today is that I think I enjoy my juice better when it's mixed 50/50 with water. It's like flavored water, and if there's a not-so-enjoyable taste in the juice, it's not quite as strong. But probably in a couple of days from now I'll change my mind again.
I don't know about you, but I still, on occasion, stress eat (of course it's usually a vegan, refined sugar-free, raw treat). Today was one of those days that I was really grateful to be juice fasting, because if I hadn't been I'm sure I would have whipped up a batch of something and polished all of it off (maybe I'd have shared a couple with my kids...maybe). It seemed like it was one thing after another today, but I'm only going to share the story that ranks as most stressful. It happened like this:
Let me preface this whole story by saying that Sydney (my 4-year-old) and Bentley (a 3-year-old boy I was babysitting today) were jumping on our trampoline in the 108 degree weather. Just keep this vision of sticky sweaty children as I tell the story.
I was coming out of my 8-month-old's room and noticed that our laundry room door was shut. This wouldn't have been unusual in someone else's home, but we keep our kitty litter in the laundry room. Our kids know to never shut the door so Jasmine (our kitty) can use her litter if she needs to go to the bathroom. The other red flag was that there was a light shining through the crack under the door. As I got closer I heard giggling. Giggling (especially behind closed doors) is never a good sign. I opened the door and (does anyone have any guesses as to what I found?) the laundry room was covered with cat litter. I may have not been so mad if I didn't see little kitty turds all over as well. I don't know why the *bleep* those kids thought playing with cat poop would be fun! Our laundry room smelled like kitty litter too because when you move the litter around dust stuff comes up from it. GROSS! Needless to say, Sydney was disciplined. Did you remember how sweaty Bentley and Sydney were? They both had cat litter on them. I seriously had to take a lot of deep breaths before I could cope with the situation. Those little stinkers weren't even planning on washing their hands. Oh, and did I mention that they got litter all over my bathroom sink that I had literally cleaned 1/2 hour before? Yeah, it was that good. But on the flip side, that little escapade put me into productivity mode. Since the vacuum was already out (from cleaning up the litter), I decided to vacuum the whole house. So I guess there is balance in the world. Huzzah!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Day 9 JF
DAY 9-- August 4, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 2 carrots
+ 2 celery
+ 4 leaves green leaf lettuce
+ 1 leaf kale
+ 3 roma tomatos
Fruits:
+ 2 apples
+ 40 midnight beauty grapes
+ 1 peach
+ 8 strawberries
Part of the reason I decided to post daily on this blog is to hold myself accountable by knowing other people would be reading what I ate (assuming there are still a couple of you coming back daily). So I'm not even going to lie about it. I ate half of my son's left-over apple "burger" tonight. At first I was sad because a fast means that you don't eat food. But very shortly after I had that thought, I realized this: guilt does nothing good for anybody. If I felt guilty about eating half an apple burger (mind you, all whole food ingredients), then I'd probably just keep eating. It's weird how that works. But because I was okay with it, I didn't feel compulsed to eat anything else. I'm not ashamed of my imperfections. I'm not embarrased, and frankly expecting that I wouldn't put anything other than liquid in my mouth for a whole month was a little bit ridiculous. But guess what? Tomorrow I'm going to juice it up, baby. Now that I got that out of my system, I should be good to go for another 9 days or so? J/K.
I do have to tell this funny conversation that happened between me and Sydney (my 4-year-old) before I ended up eating half of Jasper's apple burger. It went as follows:
Me: I'm so tired of juice, it makes me want to eat food and just give it all up.
S: But you can't quit, Mommy.
Me: Why not?
S: Because your energy is broken and it needs to get fixed.
Huh? I'm not sure where she got this from. It might have been from when I first started juicing and she was asking me why I wasn't eating anything. I tried to explain how juice fasting will hopefully get my metabolism and hormones functioning normal again. Apparently she took that as meaning my "energy is broken".
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 2 carrots
+ 2 celery
+ 4 leaves green leaf lettuce
+ 1 leaf kale
+ 3 roma tomatos
Fruits:
+ 2 apples
+ 40 midnight beauty grapes
+ 1 peach
+ 8 strawberries
Part of the reason I decided to post daily on this blog is to hold myself accountable by knowing other people would be reading what I ate (assuming there are still a couple of you coming back daily). So I'm not even going to lie about it. I ate half of my son's left-over apple "burger" tonight. At first I was sad because a fast means that you don't eat food. But very shortly after I had that thought, I realized this: guilt does nothing good for anybody. If I felt guilty about eating half an apple burger (mind you, all whole food ingredients), then I'd probably just keep eating. It's weird how that works. But because I was okay with it, I didn't feel compulsed to eat anything else. I'm not ashamed of my imperfections. I'm not embarrased, and frankly expecting that I wouldn't put anything other than liquid in my mouth for a whole month was a little bit ridiculous. But guess what? Tomorrow I'm going to juice it up, baby. Now that I got that out of my system, I should be good to go for another 9 days or so? J/K.
I do have to tell this funny conversation that happened between me and Sydney (my 4-year-old) before I ended up eating half of Jasper's apple burger. It went as follows:
Me: I'm so tired of juice, it makes me want to eat food and just give it all up.
S: But you can't quit, Mommy.
Me: Why not?
S: Because your energy is broken and it needs to get fixed.
Huh? I'm not sure where she got this from. It might have been from when I first started juicing and she was asking me why I wasn't eating anything. I tried to explain how juice fasting will hopefully get my metabolism and hormones functioning normal again. Apparently she took that as meaning my "energy is broken".
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Day 8 JF
DAY 8-- August 3, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 4 larges leaves kale
+ 5 leaves escarole
Fruits:
+ 4 apples
+ 9 strawberries
+ 20 midnight beauty grapes
+ 2 peaches
+ 1/2 c. blueberries
You're probably all saying, "whoa! what's with the fruit, Jaida? Do you think you got enough?" I know, I know, but it all started this morning. Ryan had the brilliant idea to drink 3 kale leaves first and then make a fruit juice. As you may have noticed in one of my previous posts, I said that sometimes taking a shot of green first was better. Well, apparently that only applies to spinach, because I could only gulp down one shot of the kale. Ryan was laughing so hard at my face when I tried to drink it. I seriously thought it was going to come back up. After I took the first swallow, I was like, "water! water!" like I was being tortured. Heaven forbid I ever end up behind enemy lines, because I will definately be the first to spill the beans. They'll just have to say, "we'll make you drink kale juice" (in a very menacing tone, of course). "Nooooooooooo, not kale juice, PLEAAAAAASSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEE" [end fictional story here].
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 4 larges leaves kale
+ 5 leaves escarole
Fruits:
+ 4 apples
+ 9 strawberries
+ 20 midnight beauty grapes
+ 2 peaches
+ 1/2 c. blueberries
You're probably all saying, "whoa! what's with the fruit, Jaida? Do you think you got enough?" I know, I know, but it all started this morning. Ryan had the brilliant idea to drink 3 kale leaves first and then make a fruit juice. As you may have noticed in one of my previous posts, I said that sometimes taking a shot of green first was better. Well, apparently that only applies to spinach, because I could only gulp down one shot of the kale. Ryan was laughing so hard at my face when I tried to drink it. I seriously thought it was going to come back up. After I took the first swallow, I was like, "water! water!" like I was being tortured. Heaven forbid I ever end up behind enemy lines, because I will definately be the first to spill the beans. They'll just have to say, "we'll make you drink kale juice" (in a very menacing tone, of course). "Nooooooooooo, not kale juice, PLEAAAAAASSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEE" [end fictional story here].
Day 7 JF
DAY 7-- August 2, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 2 leaves escarole
+ 1/2 c. green leaf lettuce
+ 3 large leaves kale
+ 1/2 c. spinach
+ 1 zucchini
Fruits:
+ 3 apples
+ 30 midnight beauty grapes
+ 4 peaches
+ 1/2 pineapple
+ 5 strawberries
So, I'm not sure where I came up with this name, but I have apparently been calling the midnight beauty grapes "midnight blue" grapes in my other post. Some of you were probably all, "oooo, midnight blue grapes, they sound exotic and delicious". Hopefully no one went to their local market to find them. In all reality, probably no one even noticed the typo and I'm just flattering myself. Am I right or am I right?
Today was probably the easiest day that I've had yet on my juice fast. I remember reading somewhere that the first 3 days are the hardest, but after that it's a breeze. I would dare to say the first 6 days are the hardest. I'm pretty sure the reason today was easy is because I'm finally starting to make the mental shift into thinking that it's OK to not eat food. What I mean by this is-- (and this is true of any diet or lifestyle plan) when you feel deprived it makes you more compulsive. I have been sniffing my kids and husbands food fantasizing about when I'll be able to eat again. But I'm finally starting to not miss food so much (mostly because I know that it's not forever). Also, a little tidbit for anyone who is ever wanting to do a JF: make sure to drink juice before doing a Jackie Warner workout (my mother-in-law had the DVD, and it whopped my butt). I was all sorts of shaky afterwards, but then I was fine after I had my juice. Stay tuned for day 8.
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 2 leaves escarole
+ 1/2 c. green leaf lettuce
+ 3 large leaves kale
+ 1/2 c. spinach
+ 1 zucchini
Fruits:
+ 3 apples
+ 30 midnight beauty grapes
+ 4 peaches
+ 1/2 pineapple
+ 5 strawberries
So, I'm not sure where I came up with this name, but I have apparently been calling the midnight beauty grapes "midnight blue" grapes in my other post. Some of you were probably all, "oooo, midnight blue grapes, they sound exotic and delicious". Hopefully no one went to their local market to find them. In all reality, probably no one even noticed the typo and I'm just flattering myself. Am I right or am I right?
Today was probably the easiest day that I've had yet on my juice fast. I remember reading somewhere that the first 3 days are the hardest, but after that it's a breeze. I would dare to say the first 6 days are the hardest. I'm pretty sure the reason today was easy is because I'm finally starting to make the mental shift into thinking that it's OK to not eat food. What I mean by this is-- (and this is true of any diet or lifestyle plan) when you feel deprived it makes you more compulsive. I have been sniffing my kids and husbands food fantasizing about when I'll be able to eat again. But I'm finally starting to not miss food so much (mostly because I know that it's not forever). Also, a little tidbit for anyone who is ever wanting to do a JF: make sure to drink juice before doing a Jackie Warner workout (my mother-in-law had the DVD, and it whopped my butt). I was all sorts of shaky afterwards, but then I was fine after I had my juice. Stay tuned for day 8.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Juice Fasting: The Good, The Bad, and All the Juicy Details (pun absolutely intended)
Those of you who know me (which will probably be the only people who are reading this) know that I am in Nutrition school right now to become a Certified Health Counselor. I have been learning A LOT in school about how different every body can be and how one person's ideal food can be another person's poison. I will be posting about health information that I think other's might like to know. However, for the next month, I'll be posting about my current endeavor-- a 30-day juice fast! I'm actually already on day 7, so for this post, I'll be covering how the past 6 days have been.
But first I want to talk a little bit about why juice fasting is good for your body and why I've decided to do it for a month. Some random facts:
*Since "fasting" conjures up visions of starvation, it is important to realize that we are talking about JUICE fasting here. Freshly made vegetable juices, taken in quantity, are not a beverage. They are a raw, highly digestible food. (http://www.doctoryourself.com/juicefast.html)
*Juicing helps you absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. This is important because most of us have impaired digestion as a result of making less-than-optimal food choices over many years. This limits your body's ability to absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables (you only get about 40-60% of the nutrients). Juicing will help to "pre-digest" them for you, so you will receive most of the nutrition, rather than having it go down the toilet. (http://juicing.mercola.com/sites/juicing/juicing.aspx)*Juice fasting gives your digestive tract some rest from the heavy duty of digesting food 24/7. When my brother-in-law asked me, "why would your digestive tract need a break? Isn't that what it's supposed to do?" I came up with this analogy:
I am a stay-at-home mom. That's my job 24/7 and I love it! But if someone offered me a week's paid vacation to Hawaii by myself (or with Ryan) I would take it without a moment's hesitation. Even though I don't technically need vacation, if I went somewhere without my kids, I would come back refreshed and renewed-- a better mom; more able to take care of my children because I took care of me first. Our digestive system does not technically need a break, but it's really really nice to get one every once in a while.
*Find more facts and helpful information here: http://jointhereboot.com
DAY 1 -- July 27, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 1 chard leaf
+ 2 stalks celery
+ 2 cucumbers
+ 1 zucchini
Fruits:
+ 3 apples
+ 38 grapes
+ 1 lime
+ 8 strawberries
I actually was not very hungry today. You know how there are some fruits and vegetables that can be hit or miss? Well, cucumbers are one of those vegetables. The ones that we bought were bitter. And let me tell you, the only thing worse than a bitter cucumber is bitter cucumber juice.
I spent the day before today making and freezing a month's worth of plant-based meals for my husband and children so I wouldn't have to make food while juice fasting. I would highly recommend doing this if you plan on juice fasting.
DAY 2 -- July 28, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 1 large chard leaf
+ 1 cucumber
+ 3 leaves escarole
+ 5 big leaves of mustard greens
Fruits:
+ 2 1/2 apples
+ 65 red grapes
+1/2 lemon
+ 1 lime
Wow! Let me tell you what-- I don't think I'm ever going to buy mustard greens again... EVER!! I really wanted to try some of the dark green leafy vegetables that I haven't ever tried before, and that is why I bought mustard greens. The fact that stores sell mustard greens must mean that there are people out there who actually enjoy them, but I am certainly not one of those people. I can't even put into words what they tasted like, but words like spicy, bitter, and vomitous come to mind. Just saying.
DAY 3 -- July 29, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 1 stalk celery
+ 8 leaves escarole
+ 2 leaves turnip greens
+ 4 large leaves of rainbow chard
Fruits:
+ 3 apples
+ 95 grapes
+ 23 strawberries
So... remember yesterday how I talked about mustard greens? Yeah, it turns out turnip greens are almost as bad. At least I can say that I've tried these things. You should find out for yourselves if what I'm saying is true for you. I don't want to discourage anyone else from trying them. Who knows, you just might be one of those crazy people that encourages Fry's to carry mustard and turnip greens. But one thing you must purchase at least once in your life is rainbow chard: I truly believe it is God's most beautiful vegetable. I smile just looking at it. One more thing- warning: this last part contains graphic details regarding Jaida's digestive system.. not for the weak in stomach. Do not read if you don't care to know intimate details about Jaida's bowel movements: I had an interesting experience today. I've heard that a lot of people experience diarrhea when juice fasting. I was pretty proud of myself for not having any at all, which I attributed to what a clean diet I had been eating before the fast. However, today when I went to the bathroom a whole lot of green sludge came out. Yeah, that's right. I said GREEN SLUDGE. I don't know how long that business was sitting up in my colon, or why it hasn't cleaned out before now, but it was one more attestation that this fast is a good thing for me.
DAY 4 -- July 30, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 1 stalk celery
+ 7 leaves escarole
+ 2 zucchini
Fruits:
+ 3 apples
+ 1 banana (not supposed to juice--I'll talk about this in a minute)
+ 35 dark purple grapes
+ 1/2 pineapple
+ 5 strawberries
I really wanted to eat today! I was hungry quite a bit, but I didn't eat. The last juice that I made for the day (2 zucchini and 2 apples) was really gross (the zucchini was not a good batch), so I added a banana. I knew that bananas don't juice, they just turn into puree, but it was totally worth it to get rid of the nast.
Your probably reading all this and thinking about how negative I'm being, so I thought I'd put in a plug for the fun things about juice fasting too:
DAY 5 -- July 31, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 8 leaves escarole
+ 8 leaves kale
Fruits:
+ 30 midnight blue grapes
+ 1 pineapple
+ 5 strawberries
Today I was starving. I didn't juice nearly as much as I should have due to the fact that we had church for 3 hours, and then almost right afterwards we took our 2 1/2 hour journey up north to hang with Ryan's parent's for a few days (and get out of the 115 deg. weather). When I was feeding Ivy her cream of wheat tonight I ate a tablespoon of it. I felt so naughty. Isn't that funny? And that's all I had-- 1 T. full. Ha.
DAY 6 -- August 1, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 3 leaves escarole
+ 2 c. green leaf lettuce
+ 3 large leaves kale
+ 2 c. baby spinach
Fruits:
+ 2 apples
+ 1/2 c. blueberries
+ 35 midnight blue grapes
+ 2 kiwis
+ 2 peaches
+ 9 strawberries
+ 1 inch slice watermelon
I woke up this morning and realized that I had had several dreams of me eating decadent foods. One was that I ate this HUGE ice cream Sunday with all the works (which is funny, because even before I started my JF, I ate a plant-based diet w/o ice cream). In my dream I felt so guilty for eating it, and then woke up and was relieved. Somethings I've learned today:
But first I want to talk a little bit about why juice fasting is good for your body and why I've decided to do it for a month. Some random facts:
*Since "fasting" conjures up visions of starvation, it is important to realize that we are talking about JUICE fasting here. Freshly made vegetable juices, taken in quantity, are not a beverage. They are a raw, highly digestible food. (http://www.doctoryourself.com/juicefast.html)
*Juicing helps you absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. This is important because most of us have impaired digestion as a result of making less-than-optimal food choices over many years. This limits your body's ability to absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables (you only get about 40-60% of the nutrients). Juicing will help to "pre-digest" them for you, so you will receive most of the nutrition, rather than having it go down the toilet. (http://juicing.mercola.com/sites/juicing/juicing.aspx)*Juice fasting gives your digestive tract some rest from the heavy duty of digesting food 24/7. When my brother-in-law asked me, "why would your digestive tract need a break? Isn't that what it's supposed to do?" I came up with this analogy:
I am a stay-at-home mom. That's my job 24/7 and I love it! But if someone offered me a week's paid vacation to Hawaii by myself (or with Ryan) I would take it without a moment's hesitation. Even though I don't technically need vacation, if I went somewhere without my kids, I would come back refreshed and renewed-- a better mom; more able to take care of my children because I took care of me first. Our digestive system does not technically need a break, but it's really really nice to get one every once in a while.
*Find more facts and helpful information here: http://jointhereboot.com
DAY 1 -- July 27, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 1 chard leaf
+ 2 stalks celery
+ 2 cucumbers
+ 1 zucchini
Fruits:
+ 3 apples
+ 38 grapes
+ 1 lime
+ 8 strawberries
I actually was not very hungry today. You know how there are some fruits and vegetables that can be hit or miss? Well, cucumbers are one of those vegetables. The ones that we bought were bitter. And let me tell you, the only thing worse than a bitter cucumber is bitter cucumber juice.
I spent the day before today making and freezing a month's worth of plant-based meals for my husband and children so I wouldn't have to make food while juice fasting. I would highly recommend doing this if you plan on juice fasting.
DAY 2 -- July 28, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 1 large chard leaf
+ 1 cucumber
+ 3 leaves escarole
+ 5 big leaves of mustard greens
Fruits:
+ 2 1/2 apples
+ 65 red grapes
+1/2 lemon
+ 1 lime
Wow! Let me tell you what-- I don't think I'm ever going to buy mustard greens again... EVER!! I really wanted to try some of the dark green leafy vegetables that I haven't ever tried before, and that is why I bought mustard greens. The fact that stores sell mustard greens must mean that there are people out there who actually enjoy them, but I am certainly not one of those people. I can't even put into words what they tasted like, but words like spicy, bitter, and vomitous come to mind. Just saying.
DAY 3 -- July 29, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 1 stalk celery
+ 8 leaves escarole
+ 2 leaves turnip greens
+ 4 large leaves of rainbow chard
Fruits:
+ 3 apples
+ 95 grapes
+ 23 strawberries
So... remember yesterday how I talked about mustard greens? Yeah, it turns out turnip greens are almost as bad. At least I can say that I've tried these things. You should find out for yourselves if what I'm saying is true for you. I don't want to discourage anyone else from trying them. Who knows, you just might be one of those crazy people that encourages Fry's to carry mustard and turnip greens. But one thing you must purchase at least once in your life is rainbow chard: I truly believe it is God's most beautiful vegetable. I smile just looking at it. One more thing- warning: this last part contains graphic details regarding Jaida's digestive system.. not for the weak in stomach. Do not read if you don't care to know intimate details about Jaida's bowel movements: I had an interesting experience today. I've heard that a lot of people experience diarrhea when juice fasting. I was pretty proud of myself for not having any at all, which I attributed to what a clean diet I had been eating before the fast. However, today when I went to the bathroom a whole lot of green sludge came out. Yeah, that's right. I said GREEN SLUDGE. I don't know how long that business was sitting up in my colon, or why it hasn't cleaned out before now, but it was one more attestation that this fast is a good thing for me.
DAY 4 -- July 30, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 1 stalk celery
+ 7 leaves escarole
+ 2 zucchini
Fruits:
+ 3 apples
+ 1 banana (not supposed to juice--I'll talk about this in a minute)
+ 35 dark purple grapes
+ 1/2 pineapple
+ 5 strawberries
I really wanted to eat today! I was hungry quite a bit, but I didn't eat. The last juice that I made for the day (2 zucchini and 2 apples) was really gross (the zucchini was not a good batch), so I added a banana. I knew that bananas don't juice, they just turn into puree, but it was totally worth it to get rid of the nast.
Your probably reading all this and thinking about how negative I'm being, so I thought I'd put in a plug for the fun things about juice fasting too:
- I've been needing (on average) 2 hours less sleep a night then I usually do.
- My energy is still doing well.
- I don't have to poop anymore.
- My meals are super easy to clean up.
DAY 5 -- July 31, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 1 carrot
+ 8 leaves escarole
+ 8 leaves kale
Fruits:
+ 30 midnight blue grapes
+ 1 pineapple
+ 5 strawberries
Today I was starving. I didn't juice nearly as much as I should have due to the fact that we had church for 3 hours, and then almost right afterwards we took our 2 1/2 hour journey up north to hang with Ryan's parent's for a few days (and get out of the 115 deg. weather). When I was feeding Ivy her cream of wheat tonight I ate a tablespoon of it. I felt so naughty. Isn't that funny? And that's all I had-- 1 T. full. Ha.
DAY 6 -- August 1, 2011
Today I consumed the nutrients from:
Vegetables:
+ 3 leaves escarole
+ 2 c. green leaf lettuce
+ 3 large leaves kale
+ 2 c. baby spinach
Fruits:
+ 2 apples
+ 1/2 c. blueberries
+ 35 midnight blue grapes
+ 2 kiwis
+ 2 peaches
+ 9 strawberries
+ 1 inch slice watermelon
I woke up this morning and realized that I had had several dreams of me eating decadent foods. One was that I ate this HUGE ice cream Sunday with all the works (which is funny, because even before I started my JF, I ate a plant-based diet w/o ice cream). In my dream I felt so guilty for eating it, and then woke up and was relieved. Somethings I've learned today:
- Watermelon juice tastes a lot like cucumber juice.
- Sometimes it is better to do a shot of greens and then make a fruit juice so all my juices don't taste the same.
- It's really amazing when my husband makes a juice for me and I don't have to clean that blasted juicer.
Hopefully you've enjoyed this so far and will continue to read about my juice fasting journey.
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