JUICE TIME!!!

So I brought this juicer from GE (via Wal-Mart).  It was $49 and had some mixed reviews...either really good or it was really good and then died.  So I figure either way its really good, its just a matter of how long.  My budget didnt call for a Ninja or Blendtec just yet.  In due season...

I am doing a juice fast for 5 days, Saturday-Wednesday and I was tired of using the Poor Man's Juicer method. So I am excited to plug this baby up and start juicing.  I will be repeating this once a month whenever necessary.

I have to go to the grocery store and start gathering veggies and fruit to add to get started.  I always mix a little almond milk into my juices just for additional flavor and texture. YUM! 

I will eat fruit as a snack occasionally for the sensation of eating...

One thing I like about this juicer is that it can make lots of juice at once so I can make a batch in the morning and bring a couple of juices to work to get me through the day.   I will also buy some Boltshouse Green Goodness for the days I wont be able to juice.  I will plan on trying out the Naked juice line as well...I hear so many good things about it as well.

I am currently 8.2 pounds down!  Woohoo! I have been on a roll!  I have been eating within my calorie range and working out consistently.  Its amazing that its working the way it is!  A couple of weeks ago I was really struggling.  I guess once my TOM (time of the month) is over things can get back to normal.  My prayer is that I stick to this...and find reasons for the times that things arent going as planned and learn to adjust where I need adjusting. 

To get the best out of my juicing I will make sure I consume a RAINBOW everyday see my entry Reboot Your Life: Day 1 for more details...

I may even plan to do my juicing during my TOM to aleviate some of the negative effects that can come with it.  We will see...

Till Next Time

Journeying in the Juice :)

Read More

TOXIC!!!! Ahhhhhh!

 

I think fast food is TOXIC!  On my cheat :( I ate some and my boost of energy is GONE!  I mean I wake up tired again and I require more sleep.  Its crazy! 

I dont know what exactly is in there that messed me over so bad but I want my boost back!  I can literally feel the grossness inside of me and its been days already.  Adam and Eve had it right...plant life is the way to go! 

Though I do NOT plan on becoming an vegetarian EVER in my life.  I dont want to become a frequent of fast food restaurant so I dont have a huge amount of those toxins in my body to mess with my energy levels.  I am looking forward to my body being cleansed from whatever I did to myself.

Its day 15 and I am 7.2 lbs down! I am closer to getting back to 10 lbs down again.  By the weekend I am hoping to be at 11+!  I didnt record my Slim Down Saturday update but I may just do it tonight to catch my followers up! 

Till Next Time
Freeing my Body of Toxins

Read More

A Bad Weekend: Reboot Your Life Day 14

Yeah this weekend was bad!  I tried to resist the temptations but I broke under pressure. No excuses.  I wont go into details but it was bad.  LOL!  Good news is Im back on it today!  I decided to go back to mainly juicing for this week too.  I gotta get my body back into submission so I can finish this thing strong.  My previous ten pound loss is at six pounds down. That is no small feat for fourteen days, so I wont complain.  I know its mainly water that I am seeing because I did not eat 14,000 calories over my daily allowance.  So today I am having premade juice, I usually wouldnt use it but I know there are times I wake up late and I dont have time to juice myself before work.  So I brought some Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness.  Its decent.  I think my juice is better.  Its all natural with no sugar added.  It has wheat grass, spirulina (dont know what that is), spinach and blue-green algae, apples, kiwis, mangos, bananas, pineapples and dragon fruit. WOW! Thats alot, its a good source of just about everything! 

I did buy some kale last night that I am excited about trying it.  Every juice recipe calls for a lil kale so I will see what that will do.  It kinda looks like a hybrid of spinach and collard greens.  Smells like cabbage though.  Dark leafy veggies are good for the skin and hair so Im for it!  I got some peaches too for a snack also some green grapes. 

I am aiming for being back at ten pounds or more by the end of this week.  I am going to workout to help push that.  Drinking plenty of water so that I can flush this extra water out my system.  Its really bad how addicted I am to horrible food.  Once I got a small taste...it was like an OVERFLOW of mess.  I am in control over myself and my body so I am taking dominion over my food urges and getting my life together.  I want to have great discipline in all areas of my life and I dont think that will happen until I get this one under control.   Its truly the hardest area of them all.  

Pressing forward! 

Till Next Time

Coming out of the Fog :)

Read More

Reboot Side Effect HAIR GROWTH!!!

YAY! So I woke this morning and had a pleasant surprise!  My afro is looking AMAZING! The color of my hair looks richer and its definitely fuller.  I am usually the last to know my hair is growing but I know without a shadow of a doubt that it is! 

Im sure my Morning Dew Products have something to do with it too! [Make sure you check out Morning Dew; roll over the Natural Hair tab on the top of this page!].  Its not hard to believe that this reboot has boosted my hair growth.  All the vitamins and nutrients my body is receiving are really beneficial for the hair. 

Eating a diet with plenty of fruits and veggies will boost up your antioxidant intake which will increase your blood circulation....more blood to your scalp = increased hair growth!  Vitamins such as A and C promote scalp health and help with the circulation piece!  They also can help your body produce more sebum...what is that? Sebum is the oily substance your hair follicles produce; its our natural hair conditioner!  My motto is moisturized hair is healthy hair!  Healthy hair grows! 

Im so excited about this...I may even straighten my hair for a length check...possibly for my birthday!  I dont like straight hair so that is a big MAYBE! 

Till Next Time
Whipping My Hair Back and Forth :)

Read More

I FEEL GOOD! Day 10: Reboot Your Life

I was wondering when the big boost of energy would come that everyone kept talking about.  Then yesterday I woke up and it happened...WAAAALAAA!  It was like a miracle! I felt light, airy and full of energy!  I also woke up late...dont worry about it! LOL!  My day went smoothly NOT ONE HUNGER PANG!  Now its day 10 and I woke up at 5am and was up like a rocket!  I worked out, made my morning/afternoon juices and got ready for work.  Weighed in and Ive lost 10 pounds my friends! 10 pounds in 10 days!   That is amazing! Im really grateful! I cant wait till my Slim Down Saturday Report.  Today is the last day in the juice only cycle of the standard reboot program.  Five more days and I'll be done with round 1.  I am not doing the 60 days of just juice that the dude did in the documentary.  Im just going to keep going with my 15 day reboots...Im going until Thanksgiving (just in case you are just tuning in). 

I feel my clothes fit a bit better, I dont see anything but I never do so that is not a surprise. Looking forward to the next set of ten pounds to be released, I should be able to see something then! 

This morning/afternoon juices contain:

1 Green Apple

1 Red Apple
Broccoli
Carrrots
Celery
Spinach
Strawberries

 

It was pretty good.  I have some herbal green tea I will probably drink mid morning.  Ive kept my water intake at about 96 oz or more.  Still havent had a real good bathroom experience (if you know what I mean lol).  Im sure when I start eating my veggies for the next ten days I will have the experience of my life.  I am hoping that it wont make me gain any weight since Ive been juicing these last few days.  I will stay away from potatoes, but tomorrow I WILL have my red roasted potatoes and I am excited about it.  I may make them tonight so I can take some to work tomorrow.  Gotta go to the supermarket and re-up on my fruit/veggies.  I thought it would be more expensive then it is, so many people have complained about it breaking their pockets.  Its been pleasant on mine, I guess I eat out alot so its actually saving me money.  Plus, Im a tither...the blessing is on me! Especially since I know God is excited about me taking care of my temple. 

120 years here I come!

Till Next Time

Dreaming of Little Red Potatoes :)

 

Read More

SO WHAT! I cheated... Reboot Your Life Day 8

Yeah I said it! I cheated last night...I didnt have meat, I didnt have junk food I had a few slices of sweet potatoes at around 8pm.  AND I DONT FEEL BAD ABOUT IT!  :)

I couldve done much worse...so Im just moving on!

Weighed in this morning and Ive lost NINE POUNDS so far....WOOHOO!  I feel great!  Im not going to the bathroom like I thought I would.  But I guess there is only liquid inside of me so maybe that is normal...who knows?

I really like the fact that I am not tired in the morning and it has been a few hours since I had my juice and I am not hungry.  I was hungry around this time yesterday but I feel good.  I had some herbal tea for my mid morning drink and I have been drinking truckloads of water.  Which sends me to the bathroom every 30 minutes!  My students thinks Im hilarious.  Some of them want to try it.  I think I will show my class the documentary when I figure out how to get it on DVD.  I dont want to buy it because I already have netflix, I will find a way! :)

This morning I had apple-strawberry-carrot-spinach juice and I made enough for my lunch juice.  It was delicious! Much better than yesterday....that purple cabbage taste gives me the creeps! 

I have been exercising as well....they recommend that you keep it light.   I dusted off my Wii balance board and did some aerobics for about 30 minutes. Believe it or not...I broke out in a nice sweat! Advanced Rhythm boxing, Advanced Obstacle and Super Hula Hoop are no joke! Cant wait to have my red roasted potatoes on Friday and for my official weigh in on Saturday! 

Till Next Time,
Slimming Forward

Read More

JUICE!!! Reboot Your Life Day 7

Its Day 7!!! Its been a whole week and I made it!  I almost cheated last night but I pushed myself to just go straight home and not get any fast food.  IT WAS SOOO HARD!  Yesterday (10/9/2011) was my 1st day of juicing ONLY.  It was tough...I wanted to eat an apple or something.  I have these little red potatoes that I want to roast so very badly but I stuck to it! Today is a little more difficult...I walked into work and someone awesome decided to purchase a truck load of fresh made bagels with premium style cream cheese! Not only that...someone else brought some dunkin donuts for the staff!  UGH!!! I made it though...I didnt eat it! I smiled and continued to drink my hot mug of green tea with the bagels directly in front of me.

So far Ive lost 8.2 lbs!!! That is pretty good for only 7 days.  My energy level is back up to normal.  I have been sleeping so much better at night and not waking up tired.  My eyes popped wide open at 5am...it was a surprise!  I had time to pray, work out, make my juice for the morning and afternoon and chill out before I had to leave for work.  It was great.  Hopefully I will be able to see the results. I still feel like I look bloated. 

Just in case youre curious, my morning/afternoon juices contained

Red Cabbage

Strawberries

Red Apple

Green Apple

Celery

Spinach

Carrots

Almond Milk (I know...but that is MY modification)

It wasnt delicious though....it was a challenge.  The cabbage taste stood out too much...I will have to offset it in the future with more fruit.  Its funny because it fills me up just like regular food...I had my morning juice at around 6:30ish and didnt feel hungry till 11:30ish.  I couldnt get to the staff fridge to have my mid morning juice (tisk tisk on me) but at least I will make it to lunchtime.  45 days left!  I decided that Im going to break my fast on Thanksgiving...so it will only last 52 days.  Eight days shy of 60...I dont think that will be so bad.  Im looking to lose at least 35 or more pounds preferably around 50.  That would be awesome!  Stay tuned...its getting interesting! 

Till Next Time

Swimming in My Juice :)

Read More

Day 4!!! Reboot Your Life

Bottoms Up!!!!!

This was my morning juice well before it was juiced...its kinda pretty right? 

Okra

Onions

Parsley

Green Pepper

Strawberries

Peaches

Bananas

Spinach

Carrots

Watch my "Latest Slim Down Report" I finally updated it! (Its on the right panel of the blog)

I still have not had anything in the Blue/Purple range of the rainbow I will have to stock up on some berries so I can have something for that.  Im coming out the fog and back to my normal routine of things.  I am not as hungry and things are looking up!  No more shakiness for me!  I made it through the withdrawal!!! YES! 11 days left in round 1!

I didnt drink enough water yesterday but I will make sure I do so today.  Have a good weekend.  I'll update you on Monday.  Sunday-Thursday starts my JUICE ONLY five days.  Gotta load up on veggies and fruit!  I will weigh in as well....

Im supposed to have 5-6 juices a day. 

So Morning, Mid Morning, Lunch, Mid Afternoon and Dinner should cover it!  Which means I need to bring 2 juices to work...that will be a challenge, it takes ALOT of veggies/fruit to make one juice.  I will have to Prepare! Prepare! Prepare!

Till Next Time

Juicing Through the Weekend

Read More

Reboot Your Life: Day 3

So today....

I am truly going through withdrawal! I cant see straight, Im shaky, Im bloated out my mind and then my cycle has started.  UGH! I went on a 3 mile walk...that was definitely a challenge! Then I had my juice this morning and shared some with a friend...who wasn't too thrilled...lol.  He did introduce me to the idea of getting a blendtec blender...its amazing!  Not anytime soon but one day...you will be mine blendtec! 

Dont know what else I will indulge in today...but I need something!

I have lost 4 lbs! So that is exciting...

 My Lunch:

I sauteed:
Diced Tomatoes 
Chopped Onion
Cilantro
Green/Peppers
Okra


All in EVOO
Seasoned to Taste


Its was good...I will probably have the rest for dinner

Till Next Time

Boosting my Energy 

Read More

Miracles Still Happen/Reboot Your Life Day 2

Have you ever felt hopeless?  Im sure we have all felt that way once in our lives.  At work, me and my students had the awesome opportunity to raise a monarch butterfly from its chrysalis (or cocoon) until it emerged (which was TODAY 10/5/2011)!  It was a beautiful experience.  Just to sit here in my classroom and see that this creature has COMPLETELY transformed into a brand new one in the matter of days.  That is a miracle!  Literally, it eats different, it looks different, it travels different! It brings new meaning to ALL THINGS HAVE BECOME NEW!  Now it is about to embark on this new journey and be introduced to a whole new world! 

Isnt that how its supposed to be with Christ?  I mean when we encounter the living God...the bible says WE ARE NEW CREATURES!  We should look and act different, right? Now we should understand our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost so we should eat different and watch what we put in our bodies, right?  Are you the holy nation and peculiar people going to let an insect out do you?  I say not me!  God can speak to us through ANYTHING and today He spoke to me through a DOGGONE insect!  How cool is that?! 

My Pastor had an awesome word about it being "our time" to do all the things that we are dreaming about.  What has happened to your goals and dreams?  Have you let them fall to the wayside once again?  Dont let that stop you!  Remember you are just like that catepillar and you are a NEW CREATURE (if you are in Christ that is).  Old things have past away, youve been upgraded to conqueror!  There is NOTHING you cant do!  So pick up the pieces and live at the standard you were created to live!

Today is my second day on the Reboot Your Life program (www.jointhereboot.com).  Its not easy, but change is never easy.  For more details on what this is and how I started this go here. The great thing about change is that is never as bad as it appears.  Today do you know what I had for breakfast, I placed these ingredients in a blender and drunk the juice after strained out the pulp (the poor man's juicer method):

1 Golden Delicious Apple

2 cups of Spinach

2 stalks of celery

2 strawberries

1 cup of baby carrots

1/4  peach

1 cup of almond milk

Sounds gross?  Yet its actually wasnt.  Amazing right?  Now it looks like nuclear waste....but yet it was refreshing.  Thank God for change....13 more days to go in round 1.  I am on my way to looking different...why because Im a new creature and so are you! 

Till Next Time

Making the Necessary Changes :)

Read More

Reboot Your Life: Day 1

So I took the plunge this morning!  Yes I JUICED! I dont own a juicer but I found this awesome video called Poor Man's Juicer and it showed you how to use a blender and a strainer to make substitute a juicer.  It actually works!  So I loaded up my blender with a green apple, bunch of spinach, strawberries, peaches and almond milk into my blender and liquified!  It looked like nuclear waste!  I was sooo hesitant to taste it...

After straining the pulp...I drank the 10 oz (it shouldve been 16...I need to adjust my contents) and to my surprise it wasnt that bad.  Now dont get my wrong...pancakes and eggs wouldve been SO MUCH BETTER! But I didnt gag and pass out from it being unpalatable.  The way the recipes work are simple its called the RAINBOW METHOD.  So we should eat a "rainbow" each day.  Each fruit and vegetable gets its color based on specific benefits it provides the body.  Here are some examples!

Red

tomato, watermelon, red pepper, beets, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, grapefruit, pomegranate, apple, guava, red onion, Japanese persimmon

Orange/Yellow

orange, sweet potato, mango, winter squash, papaya, carrots, orange peppers, tangerine/Clementine, nectarine, peach, apricot, Asian pear, Japanese squash

Dark Green

spinach, kale, swish chard, mustard or collard greens, avocado, asparagus, artichoke, bok choy, green cabbage, Chinese cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, green pepper, watercress, kiwi, apples, avocado, cilantro, basil, parsley, mint

Blue/Purple

blueberries, eggplant, concord grapes, purple cabbage, blackberries, plums

White

garlic, cauliflower, onions, ginger, Japanese radishes/Daikon, burdock root, Shiitake, Maiitake mushrooms, Jicama

So strawberry represented red, peaches (orange/yellow), apple (drk green; it was a green apple), and spinach (drk green).  I plan on having some mushrooms among other things so that will take care of my white.  Only thing I am missing blue/purple which I will find somewhere. 

Great thing about the reboot website is that they give you the option to eat sometimes....it can only be fruit and veggies but at least I will get the sensation of chewing.  The goal is to juice for at least 5 days straight so I plan to do that the middle 5 days.  14 more days to go in round 1.  I am not currently hungry....I did eat a red apple and drank some herbal tea.  Pray blessings on my journey!  I plan on drinking 90-120 oz of water per day!

What makes the juice so awesome/beneficial is that it causes your body to release a different set of chemicals to digest the food because no chewing was involved.  Your body gets an instant rush of micronutrients, which are essential in fighting disease.  Smoothies still have pulp so your body treats it the same...

Till Next Time

Cleaning Up My System :)

Read More

Pushing Myself: Reboot Your Life

So!  I know I know! I fell completely off the wagon!  AGAIN!  No I am not sick or nearly dead...fat...well all things are temporary and subject to change. 

I watched this awesome documentary last night and it was AMAZING! One thing about me is that I can say about myself is that I LOVE TO TRY NEW THINGS!  I mean you only live once...why not!  Basically this Australian dude had this rare autoimmune disease and he was over 300lbs.  He decided to let his body heal itself by only eating raw lost a ridiculous amount of weight in 2 months...of course he didn't go back to fast food after that he changed his lifestyle.  The science behind this was intriguing...its based micro nutrients which help your body cells fight off disease and other irritants.  I was inspired! Only thing I dont have a juicer right now and I dont wanna wait!  I do have a decent blender....so why wait?

Tomorrow is the day!  October 4th 2011...I am going to do 15 days (till October 19th) and see how it works! I have some veggies here that I blend up and drink at work....the social aspect of it all will be hard. I want to do the entire 60 days (Ending December 2, 2011) [I am going to honestly take a break on Thanksgiving though; I would be at day 52 though] so that will be basically four rounds of 15 days...it doesn't sound as intimidating that way.  The standard program allows you to blend, juice and EAT, but the middle five days is JUICE ONLY. Ive been researching this all day and I see people have gotten great results. I mean I already have the fruit and veggies in the house so why not just go for it?  I have nothing to lose!

Have any of you tried this?  I would love to hear from you about it!  

Encouragement is always accepted!

One of mentors did a fruit and veggie fast and it worked well for her so I will be doing that with a blender...

Stay Tuned!

Here's the site with more info:  

http://jointhereboot.com/reboot-program/

Till Next Time....

Blending Down These Pounds :)

Read More