Sweet Magoo: December 2011

Yes, this story rounds back to the title but first... a little back story.

And so it goes...

In college, I was in pretty good shape. I ate well, ran most days of the week, my energy level was excellent, I was confident and felt good in whatever I put on. Size 2-ish, about 120 lbs. Now, many years later I yearn to get back there.

I have a goal to get in to the best shape of my life. Better than I was in college, mind you. This is a journey I started 3 years ago and I've trimmed down quite a bit during that time, going from a size 12 to a size 6. It took me 3 years to get here but I am ok with that because I feel like if the weight comes off slowly it will be easier to maintain.

My main goal in this journey is to establish healthy habits, especially healthy eating habits. Establishing new habits takes time.

I bought a Breville Juicer a few months ago after watching Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. My plan is to incorporate veggie/fruit juices into my day as snacks and such. I don't know about you but getting a sufficient amount of veggies isn't always easy. This is a good way to get a boost. Plus, nothing beats fresh juice for your kids. When it comes to Rose, I avoid store bought juice like it's the plague (besides Naked juices), so it makes me feel good that if she wants juice, I can give her some fresh apple juice and sneak in a handful of spinach too.

For me, it has been helpful to have a book to get ideas on juice blends. A few days ago I bought the Big Book of Juices. I wish it had more veggie blends but I really like the ones that it does have. I especially like the section in front that talks about the different benefits of the veggies/fruit in the blends. If it were not for this book I would not have tried beets. Apparently, beets are a super food, extremely good for you all around.

The book describes the flavor of beets as "soily". I don't know about you but that makes me say YUM! It goes on to read, "this earthiness give a hint of the very rich mineral and vitamin content, and as such, beet is one of the most cleansing, blood-boosting, tonic-like juices there is." I was scared but nonetheless decided to try this super food.

My blend included:

1 beet (with leaves and stems)

2 parsnips (good for skin, hair, and nails)

1 honey crisp apple

Isn't it pretty? Ah, yes, and let me add.. it's good! Next time, I'll try 2 beets.

As I read though the benefits of each veggie and fruit I felt a sense of empowerment. I thought, "Wow! I've found the miracle thing everyone is looking for!......... It's produce!" Well, duh! No surprise there but it's so easy to push this fact aside and somehow forget. Maybe we don't want to remember.

Here are some things that I made note of:

watercress, kale, and beets - super foods that are extremely good for you all around
celery, beets, broccoli, kale, parsley, spinach, sweet potatoes (not related to the potato) - good for cleansing
grapes, apples, pears, and oranges - good for cleansing
carrots and parsnips - especially good for the skin, hair, and nails

If you haven't seen Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, you should definitely check it out. You can stream it on Nexflix.

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead - Official Trailer from Team Reboot on Vimeo.

As far as The Big Book of Juices, I give it 3 out of 5 stars. I love the blends but I was hoping it would contain more vegetable blends. Mostly it has fruit juice and fruit smoothie blends. Plus, it needs to have some sort of seperation, such as color coded pages, to seperate the different types of juices. I'm pretty happy with it though, I'll keep it.

I'm writing about my journey because some friends commented that they enjoyed reading the health related posts. Maybe in writing about my journey to get healthy I'll inspire someone else. Maybe some unsuspecting reader. I hope so. Reading other's stories motivates me, so I would love to do the same. Let's do this!