Juicing.

In light of all of the health-related stuff going on, and also because we just want to, HH and I have started juicing.

Oh yeah. We're hippies now. (Just kidding)

But seriously, I eat terribly. I have for a long time. Like my senior year of high school when I'd have a hot dog bun for breakfast, eat a side salad for lunch, and not eat supper... until Friday or Thursday or whenever I got super hungry, at which point I'd bring home an 8x8 of chocolate frosted brownies and eat the whole pan in one sitting. I've never liked fruit and scoff at most new foods, I love making entire meals out of snacks, and I have a lack of self-control when it comes to food.

When I was six, we were at my grandparents' house and everyone left me alone at the breakfast table with an entire pound of bacon. I ate the whole thing.

When I was seven or eight, we went to an all-you-can-eat corn roast. I ate seven ears of corn and a hamburger, practiced my underwater somersaults in the pool, and blew chunks all over the pool deck.

See? Lack of self-control.

Zeke has a much healthier relationship with food- he eats a much larger variety (he actually eats oranges- gross. And bananas- gross.) and he doesn't have the weird "eat everything" mentality I seem to have. However, he likes to eat just as much as the other guy, and he's a big man. A very big man. He's sort of built like a refrigerator- tall and broad. He has a belly, too, one that's been growing since high school.

A healthy weight for Zeke would be about 300 pounds (I told you, he's big), and he's at about 375.

A healthy weight for me would be about 100 pounds (I'm tiny), and I'm at about 120.

We watched a documentary called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" (or was it "Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead?" Some combination of the three...) which explored the idea of juicing. Juicing seems like a great plan for Zeke and for myself.

It helps with weight loss (both Zeke and I), it provides nutrients from fruit and veggies (that I don't eat), and it increases your energy (which Zeke can always use).

So... we bought a juicer and got started. Here's a little about how our plan is going:

Monday (Day 1): Learned how to use the juicer! We planned on starting out this experience by juicing in the morning to replace breakfast. We had Sweet and Salty Juice- two green apples, two celery stalks. I liked it a lot. I didn't think I would- seems like a strange combination- but it was good! Zeke didn't like his as much- he said he might like it more if it was colder. I planned for that for next time.

Sweet and Salty Juice

Sweet and Salty... Looks so ... green

Tuesday (Day 2): Breakfast for Zeke was Tangy Tuesday Juice (made it up myself)- a peeled grapefruit, a handful of kale, and a carrot. I juiced first, then put the juice in the blender with some ice to make it more like a smoothie. Hunky Husband liked this a lot better than yesterday's concoction! I had Sweet and Salty Juice again- I can't have grapefruit because it reacts with my prescription, and also cuz I was afraid to try making something else! I was really hungry by lunch time and ate a ton, and at supper we ate nothing but junk. Didn't feel like it was a particularly successful day...

Wednesday (Day 3): Breakfast was High Immunity Juice- 1 apple, 3 carrots, 2 cloves garlic, 1 thumb ginger, and a handful of parsley. One batch made enough for the both of us. I thought this would be a good one because I've been fighting a cold for a while. I mixed this up with some ice in the blender again. It tasted horrible, but I got my half down in about ten minutes. Zeke took his to work with him. About two hours after finishing the juice, I suddenly and immediately needed to use the bathroom. (Yes, it's getting real here today). I ended up spending about two hours laying on the couch and using the bathroom while trying to convince myself not to throw up. I finally made a can of chicken soup around lunch time, and got most of that in my system. I started to feel better, but really really tired. I took a two hour nap, woke up groggy, and felt kind of gross for the rest of the day. Zeke didn't have any of these problems- he said he made sure to "chew" and let the juice sit in his mouth a while before swallowing. Maybe that was my trouble- I just gulped it down. We had Southwestern Chicken Soup for supper.

Thursday (Day 4): This started our two meal replacement part of the juicing experience. We decided to replace two meals- breakfast with a smoothie, supper with juice. We had a smoothie for breakfast (to kept our fiber levels up)- Breakfast Smoothie- 2 cups frozen strawberries, 2 cups frozen blueberries, 1/2 c yogurt, 1/2 c water (in the blender, not through the juicer). I was kind of nervous that my stomach wasn't going to take this, either, but I was pleasantly surprised. I made sure to keep the smoothie in my mouth and "chew" it a little. We had our regular lunch, and then for supper had Mean Green Juice- 6 kale leaves, 1 cucumber, 4 celery stalks, 1/2 lemon, 1 thumb ginger. I mixed the juice in the blender with some ice again, and this recipe made quite a bit of juice. I was careful eating again.  Zeke and I both snacked later on- eating some leftover popcorn balls from Christmas.


I'll try to keep updating about our juicing journey! Stay tuned!