Day 11: New Year's Eve Green Juice Du Jour

Well, here we have reached the last few hours of the last day of 2010. Parting is not "sweet sorrow" it's actually a celebration of achievements and a time to look to the future.

In 2010, the health of my immediate family was great. It was the first time that I made sure that 90% of my house was clean...almost beyond recognition, before the stroke of midnight. In 2010, I made a healthy resolution for the new year and started it BEFORE January 1st. Finally, this year, I lost more pounds than I gained for the first time in 10 YEARS! All in all, 2010 was a great year. I am looking forward to 2011 and have many positive plans for the next 365 days.

Today marked the second day that I juiced in the evening and I must say that I feel all the better for making this decision. Breakfast is the easiest meal for me to prepare and it sends me into the day feeling full and loved. I am usually a captive audience for lunch and use frozen dinners or a salad/sandwich combination to get me through the day. Dinner is the hardest meal for me to face because by the end of the day I am exhausted. By that time, eating is more of a task or chore. Therefore, juicing in the p.m. is a win-win situation for me.

My final breakfast for 2010 included 2 pieces of toast, 3 turkey sausage links, red grapes and water. Snack included 1/2 of a turkey/cheese sandwich. For lunch, Tim and I went to Olive Garden where I had the Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo...well it is the last day of 2010...Someone had to celebrate! Finally, for dinner, my green juice included: a plum (for the first time), celery, cucumbers and a blend of spinach leaves.

I believe that my system is getting used to not having such a sweet taste in this juice. I used my Produce Wheel to help guide me to fruit with 10 grams or less of sugar per serving. This tool has taught me the way to choose the healthiest fruit and vegetables, as well as the proper way to store them. It should be a part of every household's meal planning.

Day 10: A Reversal of Order

I had a slow start this morning. I spent about 3 hours dancing last night and I paid for it this morning. I was EXHAUSTED, but I still managed to get up. Even though I promised myself to stop worrying about checking my weight every other day, I did it anyway. (I weighed 186.4 lbs...partial smile.)

I had an appointment today, so I ate a breakfast sandwich that included two eggs with American cheese on two pieces of wheat toast. An orange juice was also included in that meal. For lunch, I stopped by Zaxby's and ate five BBQ boneless wings and a salad. I made my own salad dressing with lemons, peppers and a little salt. I drank only about 1/8 of the fruit punch. For dinner, I made a green juice that consisted of 2 pineapple slices-juiced, 1 roma tomato-juiced, 1 cucumber-juiced and a handful of spinach leaves blended. As I poured the drink into the glass, I remembered that I wanted to add 1/4 cup of soy milk, so I re-blended all of the ingredients. The juice was just as green with the soy milk; however, the juice did not separate the second time. It was suspended within the soy milk and held its consistency until I had time to drink it. (See photos above.)

After today's experience, I decided to blend the green drink for dinner, instead of for breakfast, when I resume my regular schedule. This will keep me from having to disassemble and wash the juicer and the blender in the morning. In addition, it will let me savor the hot, homemade breakfasts that love so much.

Day 9: My Lovely Purple Juice

The juice that I blended, this morning, was a lovely shade of purple. We learned in elementary school that red and blue make purple...right? Well, this morning, I juiced celery stalks (green), carrots (blue/purple & yellow), cucumbers (green) and tomatoes (red & yellow), then I blended the juice with blueberries (blue/purple), cucumbers (green), and tomatoes (red & yellow). This mixture created the prettiest purple drink that proved to be just as tasty. After my scare, yesterday with adding too much additional sugar to my meals, I decided to use my handy fruit/veggie color wheel to add up my the total carbohydrates for this drink: carrots-10 grams (g.), cucumbers - 2g., tomatoes 8 g., blueberries -about 3 g. and the delicious celery has 0 grams of carbohydrates...which makes this veggie one of my new best friends!

Today is is my shopping day. Unfortunately, I juiced/blended my produce BEFORE taking a photo...bummer! (That just means that I will have to juice it again in about four-five days and take a shot to share it with you.) Above, I shared three of the ingredients (cucumber, carrots, blueberries) from this recipe. I am well on my way to juicing with all of the colors of these food groups.

Day 8: Measurements Day & My New GREEN Drink

Pre-breakfast included: 1/4 c. of soy (because I juiced late and really needed something in my stomach)

Juicing/Blending: 3 1/2 slices of pineapples, juiced; 2 celery stalks, juiced and blended with 8-10 small spinach leaves and 1 tbsp. alfalfa sprouts. This juice was definitely GREEN and delicious.

Breakfast consisted of a two-egg omelet with softly sauteed (in olive oil) onions, yellow squash, spinach (about 8 leaves), a sliver of fresh ginger root, 3 sage leaves, sun-dried tomatoes (stored in olive oil) and 1/4 tsp. of minced garlic (in oil), which was added at the last minute. I chose to omit the cheese even though I simply LOVE sharp cheddar! From the photo, it looked a little needy, for an omelet; however, I was surprised that it was so tasty. With the addition of the sea salt & freshly crushed black pepper (which was added to the beaten eggs), I didn't even miss the cheese :) .

Lunch: I bought a Kentucky grilled chicken breast, discarded the bun and paired it with steamed brussel sprouts cooked al dente (with no sauce).

Dinner: I ate about three Parmesan chicken bites from a frozen dinner. I discarded the penne pasta and added steamed broccoli (with only the tomato sauce from the frozen dinner).

For snack, between lunch and dinner, I ate a cup of applesauce and a shortbread cookie.
After dinner, I ate two more shortbread cookies. They are delectable and irresistible.

All in all, I think that my daily meals were spaced between 2-3 hours with very little time for starvation...LOL.

My water intake was about 24 oz. I still need to increase that amount.

----

My current measurements are:

43 1/4" bust--> increase of 1 1/4"
36 1/2" waist (at navel)--> decrease of 1 1/2"
38 1/2" pooch (directly below navel) --> decrease of 1"
44 3/4" hips -->no change
29" left thigh--> decrease of 1/2"
28 3/4" right thigh --> no change

Weight (from 12-22-10) = 189.8 lbs. ---> increase of 2 lbs.

Exercise = Powerwalking (outside) for 20-25 minutes.

*Next weigh-in & measurement = Sunday, Jan. 2, 2010.

*FEATURED WEBSITE*: The African-American Diabetes GURU

I had a restless night. I awoke thinking about juicing. I had a bad feeling that I was setting myself up for serious failure. Was I juicing too many fruit, which would shoot my glucose levels higher. As I've stated before DIABETES is a huge concern in my family. My grandmother had her leg amputated about five years ago and battles eating right on a daily basis.

Before eating breakfast or saying my morning prayers, I hit the computer. I googled "juicing & diabetes" and found an amazing story. In this world, there is at least ONE man who has had his blood sugar elevated to over 1300 and LIVED to share his story. After awaking one morning, unable to move, he called 911. After regaining consciousness from a diabetic comma, he realized that decision saved his life. He was told that he would have to have BOTH legs amputated in order to live. Luckily, his daughter rejected that option, which set DeWayne McCulley on his fateful journey to save millions of people who continue to suffer from the side effects of diabetes.

*ARTICLE REVIEW*: Diversify Your Diet

On my journey to get feedback on Dr. Mehmet Oz's green juice, I surfed Oprah.com and found a link to Dr. Oz/Dr. Roizen's website, Real Age.com.

At first, I thought that Real Age.com was a gimmick to get money out of me. It seemed too good to be truly free. Then, I realized that it was a treasure-trove of ideas and recipes. As I stated in my 12-26-10 blog, I wanted to find different types of fruit and veggies to eat so that I can rotate my food choices.

The Diversity Your Diet article, on Real Age.com, takes a simple approach to diet variety. It suggests that we choose fruit and vegetables by color. Each color represents a different nutritional benefit for our bodies. As it turns out, many veggies & fruit are cancer-fighters, which is a plus for anyone's well-being.

Take the time to read this article from beginning to end. You will be amazed at the information that you will find.

Day 7: Carrocumber & Fruit juice

This morning, I ate the 2x2x2 special at IHOP, but not before I juiced. This mornings concoction consisted of: carrot juice & cucumber juice as the base. I dubbed it Carrocumber & Fruit Juice. This was blended with strawberries and grapes. Soy milk was omitted from this drink, since I added it for the first of my six-day juicings.