Hello Hello!

It's been awhile - per usual :) I have just been chugging along not really eating healthy, exercising regularly or managing my stress and cluttered life like I should. I know those are the times I SHOULD be posting to keep myself on track but alas - I just feel like a general bum and don't really want to share that feeling with the world. I'm working on it though. I decided to do something I have done before to try to jumpstart myself back in action. A juice feast!

Now before everyone freaks out about this I just want to outline the reasons why I am doing this - it may surprise you.

Does anyone else find themselves stuck in this monotony of habits?

You must eat breakfast between this and this hour, lunch is only deemed appropriate between the hours of 12 and 3 and no dinner after 8pm! How many people abide by these "norms" without even thinking about whether they are hungry or not during this times? I definitely do. In my nutrition class we learned the difference between hunger and appetite. Hunger being the physiological craving for food when your body really needs it. Appetite is merely the desire to eat based on things like these "norms," or maybe triggered by the scent of a piece of pizza. 

It's super important to learn what your body is telling you and whether you are truly hungry or just want food. I did a 3 day juice feast before for the purpose of detox and weight loss being a plus I guess (although I knew full well that it would be mostly water weight) but I found a surprise while I was doing the feast. I was no longer aware of these designated eating times and became really in tune with my body and when it was hungry (which obviously was an awful lot during the fast!) After 3 days of feasting and breaking my routine, I found myself wanting food because I was hungry and not because it was "lunch time."

That being said, I also have some ailments that have really been hindering my daily life for the past year. After going through about a million personal issues last year (i.e. Melanoma, close family death, relative with cancer, selling my family home, finances...and I could go on...) I have developed a pretty intense case of general anxiety. It mostly hits while I am sleeping - I clench my jaw, grind my teeth and pretty much tense up my entire body for the 8 hours I am asleep. Let me tell you - from first hand experience - Stress WRECKS your body. I have been a mess since last year. Part of the reason for my desire to transform my life and live healthy is to manage and hopefully get rid of this crazy thing called stress. No I don't think a juice fast will cure my problem and make my life stress-free but I do believe in doing things that will keep yourself in tune with your body.

So there ya have it - this is Day 1.

Last night I juiced up a storm. I realized that I needed to juice for the ENTIRE day. I know this is a no-no for hard core juice fanatics but I know myself and I will not want to come home and juice myself some dinner after fasting all day! First I chopped up a TON of veggies: celery, carrots, romaine, kiwi, cucumbers and some frozen mixed fruit that I defrosted for sweetness.

and I juiced away! It took about 1 hour to chop, juice, clean and bottle. Not too shabby! Here's what I packed for work today:

The green concoction is celery, cucumber, kiwi, romaine, and a handful of mixed fruit and carrots for sweetness. The other mixture is carrot/orange juice. I saved another portion of the green juice for dinner and will probably save some of the carrot/OJ as well. I think all in all, I am aiming for about 3 quarts a day. That obviously may change! I'll let you know :)

I am super nervous that I won't be able to complete 3 days but I told myself that rather than beat myself up about it I am going to do what feels right for me. If I feel absolutely horrible after 1 day, then that's fine - I'll drink a smoothie and see if that does the trick. If not, then I'll eat. No biggie. Even if I just juice for breakfast and lunch and eat a normal dinner, I know I'll feel a whole lot better! and what I don't need is more stress :)

I have done this twice before and both times were very different. The first time was surprisingly easy and 3 days went by in a snap. The second time I was soooo tired! I could barely keep my eyes open and my body in an upright position. I think this was because I gave up coffee a couple days before also. I am drinking coffee this time! I've tried and tried (and tried) to give up coffee and it just doesn't work for me. Because I am doing this feast more for mental benefits than physical, I don't see how 1 cup of coffee in the morning will kill me. I left my credit cards at home - it's just me and the bottle (juice bottle that is :) )

Hope everyone is having a fabulous day! I'll be reporting back later on the results of the day!

Amber

Has anyone else tried a juice feast/fast? How long did you last and how did you feel?

Just saw this little bar of amazingness on the Fitsugar website. Must try this out immediately!

Too bad delivery is the same price as the bar! Think I could make my own??

Healthy Dinner? Check

Super Awesome Acupuncture Session? Check, Check!

Refreshing Run? Check Check Check!

After treating my body right yesterday with a delicious dinner, a soothing acupuncture session and an awesome run, I felt great! Why don't I do this everyday?

First - Dinner. I love Real Simple's Lemony Shrimp with Couscous recipe but per my attempt to cut out breads/pastas etc for at least one meal a day, I sauteed up a ton of spinach to use as the base instead of the couscous. It 'twas delish!

Started off with some fresh shrimp. I learned the hard way that you should always buy your seafood the DAY you are going to cook 'em up. Believe me, not a fun lesson to learn...

Chopped up the acoutrements (garlic, scallions, parsley, lemon) - cooked em all up together with the shrimp and beans and whoila!

Such an awesomely delicious dinner with so many great nutrients. I love sauteed spinach but I seriously hate that you have to use soooo much fresh spinach to get a teeny tiny amount after you cook it. Ah well - it's worth it!

Around 8pm my boyfriend and I went on a quick run (25 mins) on the way back picked up our dog for our cool down (15 min walk around our neighborhood). This method works out quite well. I would bring Jake with me for the run but he's not the easiest to run with (he's a sniffer!). Eventually when I get more comfortable running in general I'll take him with me.

Later on while studying for my midterm tomorrow (eeek), Jake and I snacked on some apples + cheese.

I just started up Season 1 of Glee and I am on the fence about it! I think maybe I was expecting more??? It seems like the whole world is just obsessed with it. Maybe I'll start enjoying it more after I stop cringing at some of the cheesy dance routines :)

Any Glee fans out there? Does it get better after the third episode? I think maybe they are still in character developing mode...

See ya guys in a bit!

Amber

I have NOT been the healthiest eater lately - it hasn't been horrible but it definitely hasn't been great. Case in point - this is what I had for breakfast:

I know it is no excuse but I left my overnight oats sitting on my counter this morning! The funny thing was I was craving a yummy healthy breakfast. I ran downstairs to our little corner store by my office and grabbed this chocolate muffin. I definitely should have grabbed some yogurt or something else but oh well. I also did get an Amy's burrito for lunch (since my lunch was in the same bag as the oats left at home) so I guess 1 outta two healthy meals ain't bad.

In other exciting (to me) news, I started up an acupuncture program from my jaw/sleep/stress issues. I switched health insurance in January and I now have acupuncture coverage. $15 a visit! SAWEET! I have tried a BAZILLION things to get my jaw feeling better and all they do is cover the symptoms and the only thing that actually makes me feel less stressed (and consequently sleeping better and not clenching my jaw) is acupuncture! and exercise - but that's a whole other story right now. I have an appointment this afternoon for my 3rd session and I can already notice a difference in my stress levels and sleep from just 2 appointments.

As for the exercise part - I really need to get on that. I have been seriously sucking lately and haven't run in 2 weeks or done ANYTHING. I don't know what to do to motivate myself. Any ideas??? I think I need to start blogging more to keep myself accountable. Food-wise too! Well folks (if any of you are still reading this little ole blog!) I am going to start my day and try to make it a productive one! I have a midterm this Thursday and a research paper due next week. Better get on it!

Happy almost hump day!

Amber

I don't know why but I have been DRAGGING this week. I can't seem to fully wake up until about noon and even then I kind of feel like I have been in a haze. I'm totally confused why this is happening but I hope I can snap out of it this weekend! This week is Board Meetings for our Foundation so I have to work at 7:30am on Saturday - eek! Not looking forward to waking up so early but at least there will be a giant dispenser or coffee :)

We have NO food at my house right now. I guess my meal planning didn't work out too well this week. I think I was sorta depending on cooking a lot and with the constant sleepiness, that just didn't happen. So basically we have a bunch of uncooked veggies chilllin in the fridge(no pun intended..ok maybe a little ;) ). My boyfriend informed me last night while I was in class that his dinner consisted of 2 pieces of mortadella, 4 mushrooms, and a handful of granola. Sounds like he hit all the food groups to me :)

Currently snacking on this little breakfast spread - I think I'm hitting all the food groups this morning as well. And yes I do consider coffee a food group :)