The End

So it's been some time, and for that I apologize. To anyone that was reading this blog and to myself. For those of you who were wondering, I did not quit or give up! I've been extremely busy over the last few month's but that's still no excuse. So,here's the rundown. At contest's end I was down a total of just over 35 lbs. From 271 to about 235. It was a pretty visible difference. I had managed to get a decent routine together of juicing 2 times a day and eating a salad or vegetable(tomato, lettuce, and cucumber) sandwich for dinner. I would throw in some raw almonds occasionally as well as cheese or milk every once in a while. I was pretty sure I was going to win. And boy was I ready to have a celebratory weekend eating whatever I wanted!

But then the word came that there were going to be some people out of work on the weigh in day. At first they said we were going to push back the weigh in a few days. While this did put a damper on my weekend plans, I was OK with it and I could accommodate. Then on the first day to weight in, the organizer came around with an envelope.

The contest had to be cancelled due to some people complaining that they wouldn't be around in time for any of the weight in days...

Heartbreak. I had worked so hard to get to where I was and I had plans for the prize money (like paying for my juicer). But because of some complaints we had to stop the whole thing.

Boo. But oh well. In the end I had lost a good bit of weight, my clothes fit better, and I was feeling healthier. I'm not going to lie and say I've been juicing the same ever since but I have made some changes to my diet and incorporate far more fruits and vegetables than I did before. My breakfasts are typically 2 apples and a banana. That fills me up more than any breakfast pouch or sandwich typically did. After a little while off the wagon, I have cut out soda and coffee again. I have learned that a meal doesn't have to be some set in stone idea of a "Meat & three" or starchy pasta dish. Not every meal needs a protein base. 

So all in all... Am I going to tell you to juice everyday for the rest of your life? Not every meal, but if you have the determination to do one or two a day, I'd say go for it ! I don't see any downsides. Should you try juicing at all? Definitely! I would hope that as with me, you could see some positive results and some long term insights into your overall dietary habits.

I will probably try to throw in a few more posts about some of the other things I've learned along the way. Like how many different apples there are for no reason, and other ways to use some of the vegetables for your juicing.

If you're reading this or any of the other posts, Thank You! And I hope my diet experience has helped someone else in any way as much as it helped me.



Oh, and somewhere in there I won a chili cook-off! (I've only made chili three times in my life...) I'll share my recipe and experience at some point!

Long Time, No See...

I apologize for my lack of posts as of late and I just wanted to say I am juicing still for those interested. I have a few mose posts I want to write including a wrap up from the weight loss contest that ends in 3 days. I've been super busy (partially thanks to having more energy from juicing) so I haven't had the time to post.


Coming Soon:
Wrap it up
Apples to Apples
How to Cheat Without Getting Caught

"Pulp Fiction"

Another quick post...


So I made some pineapple juice. And the juice was delicious. Pineapple is a great fruit to juice if you want to get a lot of juice and great flavor.


But...


After juicing the pineapple, I was cleaning up my juicer as normal. Looking at the pineapple pulp, it made me think about how I had heard that you could use the pulp from say carrots, zucchini, or pineapple in baked goods or other similar items. 


It is not. I was amazed. The pineapple pulp was pineapple but without the flavor. So the juicer does its job, and if you want to make some flavorful baked goods, I would use the real stuff.

5K, Healthy Cheats, and Links!

5K

So my weight loss has inspired me to try and also get fit. Just for the record, I am now below 250lbs at around 247lbs. First milestone achieved. Now I am starting to plan for a 5K to help me lose more weight. I am using sparkpeople.com and their "5K Your Way" program. You can check it out in the links list below. I've just started but I think I'm really going to enjoy it. The ultimate goal is to prep for www.zombiebuffet5k.com, Yes!!!

Healthy Cheats

I am trying to do better with my cheating and as I said in my last post, I am trying to be a weekday vegetarian. My main meal during the week when I want or need some solid food is just a simple cucumber, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. Wheat bread, a little spicy mustard, and a slice of cheese and that's it. I use green leaf or red leaf lettuce because I prefer them but you could use spinach or whatever green you like.

Last weekend I made some non-vegetarian healthy food. Having a variety of veg always around the house certainly helps. 

Stuffed Peppers - diced chicken, turnip greens, mirepiox(carrots, celery, onion) and a little chili powder and red pepper. Saute, stuff, bake, and top with some Parmesan. Tasty!

Links - I wanted to gather up as many of the resources I have used and put them here in case anyone wanted to check them out. Some you may find in my other posts but most of them are new.

5K your way program - From couch potato to marathon runner -   http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/training-program.asp?p=6

Reboot Your Life -  The sister site for "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead": juice recipes, videos, community, etc...- http://www.jointhereboot.com/index.php?lang=en

The Juice Nut - Recipes and nutrition information - http://www.thejuicenut.com/

The Juicing Book - Information on the various fruits and veggies and juicing them - http://www.juicingbook.com/

Greenwala - Healthy food info (I got my butternut squash juice recipe here) http://www.greenwala.com/channels/food-healthy-living

Videos:

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead - http://www.hulu.com/watch/289122/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead

Forks Over Knives - http://www.hulu.com/watch/279734/forks-over-knives

The Future of Food - http://www.hulu.com/watch/67878/the-future-of-food

King Corn - http://www.hulu.com/watch/255609/king-corn

Mark Bittman's Food Matters(Seminar Video) - http://forum-network.org/lecture/mark-bittman-food-matters

And if you have Netflix there are those and many more movies available. Just browse the documentaries or search food. I've seen most of them and they tend to be very informative and mostly entertaining. 

If anyone has any other sites or movie recommendations, or if you've seen any of the movies, let me know in the comments!


P.S. - A thanks to my "Big Sis" for showing me the 5K your way program and being someone to compare and take notes with.

Weekday vegetarian

So, it's been a little while since my last post. Apologies. I'm going to try and cover a few points that I've run across recently here in one post, so here we go.

1. Weekday vegetarian.
-Unfortunately I have been cheating on my juice diet more than I would like, and while most of the time my cheats are still healthy and vegetarian, there have been a few occasions where I snuck in some chicken, fish, or occasionally a burger (shhh!). The thing that I can't figure out really is why. Sure, I enjoy the taste of these foods, but I don't think I'm really craving them. Nor do I feel good about eating them before, during or after. I feel much better when I stick to the fruits and vegetables. So why? I think it's just a matter of think that in some way, I have to eat meat to stay healthy. As a member of modern American society, I was raised on the contemporary diet that has each meal being "meat & sides". Without meat you feel like you're missing out. I don't crave the taste of a big juicy steak that much, nor do I crave fried chicken or fish. But I feel like they should be a part of my diet somehow so what ends up happening is I will buy some fish or chicken, and then I have it in the house and it's there for me to use, tempting me. Making a salad? Add some salmon. Cucumber, lettuce, and tomato Sandwich? Sounds better with chicken. So what to do? One answer may be to plan my meat eating. I recently watched the TED talks on food and found Graham Hill talking about his decision to become a vegetarian. Like many people, he was turned of by the all or nothing mentality that typically comes with being a vegetarian. Here's his solution: as the name implies, nothing with a face Monday through Friday, and your choice on weekends. I'm going to give it a go. If you're interested, here's his article. http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/try-a-weekday-vegetarian-diet-eat-green-food-without-taking-the-plunge.html

2. Are all greens created equal?
-When I make my weekly trip to the grocery store, I try to catch any deals I can on something I may not normally use. Among these items I've tried are zucchini, yellow squash, various peppers, butternut squash, and a variety of greens. I'll get to the winners in a minute but first to the bad ideas. So far, I would say if you have a recipe you like, don't mess with it. I tried adding green peppers to the mean green juice, not good. After reading online that many people juice various leaf lettuces, I tried red leaf lettuce instead of kale in the mean green, blech. So if you want to try some new produce, I'd find a recipe instead of modifying an existing one. Fruit may be the exception to this as I don't know that you can really mess up fruit juice. Which brings me to...


3. A new standard recipe
My go-to recipes are "Apple Carrot" for breakfast (with ginger, pear, or pineapple for variety), and "Mean Green" (occasionally with zucchini) or "Tomato Red Pepper" (with sweet potato, carrot, and Tabasco) for lunch and dinner. I've added a new regular to the mix thanks to a sale on butternut squash. 


"Spiced Apple and Butternut Squash Juice"

• 4 apples
• 1/2 butternut squash
• 1 carrot
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

I believe I used more squash and less apple but it was quite delicious, and a good mix from my others. I may try to come up with a juice in every color, so I have green, orange, red, and yellowish (apple) for now. 

That's about it for now. I'll try and add posts more frequently as I think of something useful to add...

Hunger game

Quick post... So I have allergies. But I haven't taken any regular medicine for them in quite some time. But with the weather like it is, and all of the pollen,etc... the occasional Benadryl wasn't cutting it. So this weekend I wanted to go out jogging so I bought some Zyrtec. Pro: my allergies don't bother me as much. Con: after I noticed a definite change I looked it up and a known side effect is increased appetite. :/ . I knew I was hungrier than normal and that my hunger wasn't going away. So I'm going to deal with the allergies I guess and stop Zyrtec. Moral of the story: check the side effects if you are taking any medicines because they could effect your diet or worse your health when you diet.

Quick update

Ok. I have 2 quick updates.
1. For those if you who couldn't tell, yesterday was an April fools joke. That was not beer it was my lunch mean green juice. I happened to put it in that cup and thought it looked like beer so... I have not quit. I well have a bigger update soon.
2. Right now, www.jointhereboot.com is celebrating the one year anniversary of the movie and website. To celebrate, they're giving away 10 breville juicer bundles to random members so if you haven't already signed up for the site, now would be a great time.
And just to clarify,I am in no way affiliated with join the reboot or "Fat sick and nearly dead". Just a fan. :)
More soon.