Day 10-Did I win?

Lol, it's not a race silly.

So, 10 days of mostly fruit and vegetable juice and I feel good. I haven't weighed myself or any such thing because my leading cause for doing this fast is preventing myself from going down the path of a preventable health-disaster future. A few days in, I developed a doozy of a chest cold or something and have been hoarse and phlegmy (eeeeew) for the better part of a week, but it was doable to fight through it. I had to reaffirm with myself my reasoning behind doing this fast, because if your conviction for change is shaky, then it's all to easy too cheat yourself back to square one.

I've been getting such a positive response to this blog and it makes me feel MOST AWESOME to know that my little fast is causing other people to reevaluate their health and take some steps to getting themselves in control. My sister finished her 10-day fast a few days ago, and I couldn't be prouder of her.

This fast gives you some time to do some soul searching and see when your relationship with food becomes unhealthy. For me, I LOVE to eat! Eating is an emotional mood lifter for me. Instead of emotional shopping, I love to go out to different restaurants and get in on the decadence. I'm SO missing my once a week thai spot Original Thai BBQ, but I know that this indulgence isn't healthy for me. I don't eat ALOT, but when  I do...I OVER eat. I can starve myself the whole day in anticipation of a trip to Fridays or Chili's, and when I get there, I tear the house down. My relationship with breakfast is non-existent and I don't drink alot of water. All these things have contributed to my weight gain along with a sedentary lifestyle. Now that I've gotten a handle on this juicing thing, my focus for the next 20 days is to MAKE SURE that I do some sort of physical activity EVERYDAY. Now, along with my juicing, I will update my progress on getting more physically active.

Please please, leave a comment and share my blog with others. Subscribe too. I update (almost) daily.

Here's to the next 10 days!

Strawberry spinach celery mint

Day 9- On the Go

So, my son has his Pre-Kindergarten culmination tomorrow morning and I decided to take him out and about after school.

I started the morning with a celery apple orange ginger juice and followed up with my left over mean green from yesterday for midmorning/lunch.

I had a bunch of errands to run: oil change for the P-mobile, Target run to get my son's culmination gift(a razor scooter), to the park to test out said scooter, Madagascar 3, and a mall run to get lil man a fresh outfit for tomorrow. My Android is acting a fool and wont hold a charge and refuses to work with my car charger anymore, so I was at a complete loss on where to find a juice bar.

I decided to seek out South L.A.'s Simply Wholesome Organic market and restaurant while I was out because I was positive that they had a juice bar. Low and behold, they do not make their own juice. I was shocked, but there were 2 refrigerators of organic bottled juices to choose from. I picked one that appeared to be alright-I tossed the bottle. and since my phone was dead, I couldn't snap a pic of it and cant remember the name. It tasted OK, but my freshly made juice from home is much better.

I'm off to bed without making anymore juice.

Day-8 How not to do it...

So, I failed in a spectacular fashion today. I've been taking a parenting class at my son's school and today was the last day of our class. Sidenote-if they offer parenting class where your kids go, take it. It's a wonderful resource, and you can use the certificate for child care certifications and custody disputes.

Last week, before I started fasting, we had a potluck list for the POTLUCK that took place today. 1 word-CHILAQUILES. One of the parents brought in 2 varieties of this tasty mexican treat. The air was rife with the scents of onions and cilantro. There were refried beans, donuts, and fucking CAKE...at 10 in the morning. My carrot apple ginger juice was NO match. I put up a brave front, but I was dying inside. The other very helpful and generous parents continued to offer me food, me politely declining each time. They just couldn't understand why a sane person could pass up such a bounteous feast. I was persuaded to at least take a plate home to give my son for lunch. I made a small portion and put in my bag with every intention of doing just that.

Me and my son got home and I showed him the plate of delicious chilaquiles. He took one look and was having none of it. I made him a sandwich and then fell upon the chilaquiles like a ravenous beast. With sauce dripping from my chin like the blood that flows from the neck of a freshly killed dear, I came out of this haze of chewing and swallowing and said one word...'FAIL'.

I FAILED SO BAD...and the aftermath was equally horrendous. Stomach cramps, fatigue, and the overwhelming sense that I let myself down. But after I awoke from my chilaquiles fueled nap, I went to the kitchen, started my juicer and made me some MEAN GREEN with added tomatoes and garlic.
Even though I failed, I'm not going to STOP. I just have to be even more diligent. I also need to know that I'm not trying to win a record for the most perfect juice fast ever. I'm human and we all make mistakes, but it IS up to me to keep going, not make this one act an excuse for me to stop. It's my choice, and I choose the juice.

More FAIL:

Day 7-Here comes the hard part...

So, my throat issue has turned into a cough...sucks. But I will persist. I had a few minor set backs and some cheating *minor*-sunflower seeds (AGAIN), but I'm not going to let that get me off of my goal of 30 days. Um, I'm not doing any update of the weekend. I came, I saw, I juiced...nuff said.

It's now starting to dawn on me just how daunting a task this is. The amount of veggies needed on hand is starting to put stress on refrigerator space, I really need to start conserving water and God knows what else is going to pop up. However, I am confident that I can continue on and make it to my goal and (maybe) beyond. I added herbal tea twice a day to help with this throat/cough situation. I smoke(d) cigarettes (socially), and maybe this is my body's way of kicking my ass for it. I haven't had a cigarette since I started, nor have I wanted one. The smell alone makes me sick to my stomach.

Let's get to it:

Morning Juice
Tricycakes Apple, Carrot, Orange, Spinach, Ginger Blend

1 Apple
6 Oranges (peeled)
3 Carrots
A handful of spinach
~1" of ginger

Herbal Tea is now a must

Good juice for branching out on my own to try new flavor combinations.

Midmorning/Lunch

Mean Green
(recipe found on Day 1)

Dinner


Sunset Blend Juice
1 large Sweet Potato
1 medium Carrot
1 Red Bell Pepper
2 large Red Beets
2 Golden Delicious Apples
1 Orange, optional (I opted not)

This is a nice, hearty and filling juice. The sweet potato adds a nice depth and dimension that I've been missing.

I was provided some juicing info from a pro, Mr. Pudginald Stanley. Take of it what you will. I feel that I've been digesting chemicals and all sorts of tomfoolery for years, I don't think mixing fruit and veggies will make THAT big of a difference.

Hey Patrice, one suggestion for your juicing
"Keep Fruits and Veggies Separate: 
It's best not to mix fruit and vegetable juice together as they are digested differently. Combine a sweeter vegetable (carrot) with a bitter vegetable. An exception would be apple, used sparingly, with more bitter greens."

i got that from here : http://www.juicer-guru.com/juicing-tips.html

Day 6-I'm still going!

It's sunday night and all is quiet. I wanted to tiptoe in here to say I'm feeling good. I'm energetic, my hair looks good, I've talked to at least 10 people about juicing over the weekend, and I'm happy that I undertook this journey. I'll recap the weekend tomorrow. 

Don't Stop!

Day-5 Ready, Set, Damn...

So this morning I was up bright and early to go film on set. I AM an actress and gotta continue with my livelihood. Hiding in the house juicing ain't where it's at. Unfortunately, I didn't plan this excursion that well, and ran out of time before I was able to go to the store and get more veg.  I again had to make up my own juice (Spinach, apples, ginger, and oranges-BOMB.COM) and had enough for 2 servings which I took with me. While on set, I'll have to search out a juice bar or get down on the fresh fruit at craft services...But I will not cheat.

Update-I ate some carrots, celery, and tomatoes while onset. After I got off, I hightailed it to the store to re-up on some veg because I was having some serious hunger issues.  Watched the Paquiao fight with some friend sipping Gazpacho juice, while they ate fried chicken, corn, and cerviche.

Sorry, no pix, but enjoy this gem:

Day 4-Gimme MOAR!

So I slept in today and got a little bit of a late start. My son doesn't go to school on Fridays, so we don't generally wake up early. Nature called, I answered and went back to sleep.

I made up some juice this morning because I didn't have all the ingredients to make any of the breakfast juices and I just threw some stuff together. It was kinda gross at first, but it grew on me.

Tricycake's Nasty Ass Juice

2 Carrots

2 Apples

2 Kinda old tangerines that we had laying around

1 cup of blueberries

20 mint leaves

So the tangerine rind did a number on the taste of the juice. It was too tart. I'll try peeling the next time.

So I was smart and juiced my mid-morning juice along with my morning juice to save time and conserve water. Washing fruit, veg, and juicer 3-4 times a day is sure to raise the water bill, so I'm going to come up with some conservation ideas. 

Spinach-Fennel-Cucumber

1 Fennel Bulb

1 Cucumber

3 Celery Stalks

3 cups spinach

This juice is so nice. The green juices sometime have the overwhelming grassy/green taste, this one is nice and light.

Dinner Juice

Bountiful Brassica Juice

2 Broccoli Stalks

1/2 Head of Green Cabbage

6-8 leaves of Kale

1 Granny Smith Apple

1/4 Lemon (peeled)

1" ginger root

Yummy! Another winner of a green juice. The lemon and ginger meld nicely! Yielded a bunch, so this will last til bedtime.

I feel fine. You have to have to have to continuously drink water, or you'll get dry mouth. Stock up on toilet paper and/or Depends, because toilet time is ALL THE TIME. My sinuses appear to be draining and my throat issues still persists. It's like I have a giant lugie in the back of my throat that I can't swallow or hock up (ewwww)...gonna curl up with some hot ginger tea and see if that helps.

Hey, enjoy some awesomeness!