They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength. Isaiah 40:31
I grew up with a Momma that dragged me through health food stores. I knew all about molasses, carob candy, brewer’s yeast, goat cheese. My Mom believed in healthful foods and providing good nutrition for her family. She canned, and the jars lining the shelf were a thing of beauty -- homemade jams and jellies, shiny green beans that we picked, yellow corn, and many other things. She baked the whole wheat and sprouted breads, right up until her last week on earth.
If only, I had kept up with what Momma taught us. . .
At the end of July, I began a healthful diet which involved counting calories, eating whole foods, and avoiding, fat, sugar, white flour, and pasta. The diet itself (which shall go unnamed) was not a bad thing. But, being my lazy self and not having to cook for anyone else, I found myself living on cheese sticks, cottage cheese, meat (not always lean), and nuts. I was aiming for that glorious "protein" fix which did take off about 14 pounds. But I wound up in the hospital last week from high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
At 62 years of age, and grandchildren I want to see grow up, I have been turning from one program to the next, determined to get my weight off and flexibility, strength, and energy back. I decided to go back to my Momma's way. She was BIG on fresh vegetable juices. A few years ago I bought a bread machine online, which came with a juicer. I should have thrown the bread machine away and stuck to juices!
I downloaded a movie called:
Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.
It's the story of Joe Cross and Phil Riverstone, who went on juice fasts that literally saved their lives. To watch their progress was exciting -- it was like watching them go through a time machine -- backwards as they achieved health, fitness, and renewed youth.
It's day two of my juice fast, (day one of the blog). How am I doing? I'm doing fine.
They say the first couple of days are the hardest, and having been on fasts before, I can say that is true. There is a lot of cleansing and detoxing going on in a fast – which at first can lead to some discomfort like headaches.
But the energy is good. I continue to take my blood pressure medicine, and with the approval of my doctor, embarked on this journey for a renewed body. My doctor recommended taking some protein such as beans. So, I have been adding garbanzo beans, chick peas to the diet. I have always found them delicious, and it’s kind of like snacking on nuts or popcorn. One enjoys something to chew. I’ve also added bananas. On a fast, it is often easier to quit all whole foods because then the digestion process is slowed down, and hunger cravings cease. But for now, I’m adding bananas and garbanzos as something to fill in the empty spaces.
I’ve found that, when I’m hungry, if I go and make a glass of juice I feel satisfied. The mind thinks otherwise, however, and is constantly searching for food. I have to remind “self” that, 'No, we are choosing not to eat that today. There are plenty of other days in life in which to eat delicious foods. Right now, I am celebrating all the good foods and vegetable vitamins I am taking in. Cells are getting scrubbed, waste eliminated, and oxygen is going to every part of my body.'
I began by creating a place on my small countertop which I call a Juice Station. I have very, very little space, so I had to turn my microwave sideways -- I may end up taking it out for the time being. Then I dug out my orange juicer, my blender/smoothie maker, and borrowed my daughter-in-law's vegetable juicer after a failed attempt at finding mine in my storage shed.
I've found if I do the prep work first, rinsing and cutting the vegetables and fruit, it's more streamlined. All one has to do then, is poke them down and watch them magically turn into vitamin rich, colorful, nutritious juice that may save my life. Yumm!
I've already confessed to being lazy, so I made a rule for myself that after each juicing, I would clean the machines immediately. This has worked well for me; I did not want to return to a big mess before I could make more juice. I found that a plastic grocery bag, placed on the countertop, gives me a place to scrape out the pulp. And it's at the right height that I don't have to aim at a garbage can and possibly miss. You will be amazed at the amount of pulp you throw away. My D-I-L suggested saving some of it for her chickens, or one could mulch with it or throw it in a compost pile. Good suggestion!
Mixing some fruit in with the vegetables sweetens it and makes it pretty tasty. Above, you'll see a sampling of what I may put in one glass of juice. Celery stalks (they are fun to poke in the machine), kale, apples, carrots, broccoli, spinach. You will find you like some vegetable flavors more than others. While I adore cooked beats, I didn't care for the taste of raw ones juiced at all. Hmmm. Maybe I'll try one again. I experimented with adding a little bit of Agave Nector to naturally sweeten a drink. But found it really isn't necessary most of the time. The carrots and apples are plenty sweet. Using smaller apples (school boy size) is easier. I also found if I will take time to cut up broccoli, it makes it easier to juice -- rather than trying to force it down the juicer's opening.
Breakfast is a good time to lean more on the fruit juices, orange, cranberry, apples of different varieties. It's fun to experiment. Yesterday I juiced some fresh oranges and also a pomegranate which gave it a pinkish glow. That was a mid-morning treat and delicious. I used the orange juice machine for both of those.
TIP OF THE DAY: If your juicer is like the one I am using, don't forget to put a cup or glass under the spout to catch your juice as it comes out. It took me two times of wasting my juice and making a big mess to remember this simple fact.
See you tomorrow; I've got to get out and enjoy this beautiful fall day in Idaho.
