Monday, May 21, 2012

50 Shades of Green



Long time - no discussion of juicing!   I haven’t been blogging much as I’ve been celebrating the 18th birthday of my stepson (how is this possible?  I’m so young and vibrant, and still listen to Snoop), and traveling with my girlfriends to   MUCH warmer locales.




Juicing is still a huge part of our daily life just in case you thought I had been absent because we fell off the juice cart.  I find that people who have started juicing with an initial cleanse are more likely to stick with it.  I think it is because during a cleanse, you can REALLY see what it does to and for your body.  If I’m wrong, let me know!  I am aware of about 13 households (well, 14 since a little birdie told me last week they were starting soon) that have started juicing since I began my journey.  I really love that I’ve been able to help others find a way to introduce veggies and fruits into their life in a way that doesn’t make them sad :)





I would say that one day per week DH and I juice for the entire day.   All other days, we have breakfast for sure, and usually another juice at some point during the day.  Sometimes for lunch, sometimes for dinner depending on our meals.   The one day cleanse is usually needed when we come back from being away from home.  We go to other people’s houses where they stock seriously bad junk food that we only eat when we are in that zip code.  (DANGER!!) 




We obviously could opt out......but we don’t.  We come home and our bodies are super mad at us because they are not used to us eating like that anymore.  It always feels good to spend a day getting that out of our system.   (It also feels good when we’re eating the bad stuff, but my body certainly doesn’t enjoy it as much as my taste buds do.)


Migraine update:   I hate to jinx myself but I haven’t had a migraine in 20 days.   When I first stopped the medication right after my cleanse, I was having them every other day.  Some of them lasted 3-4 days at a time.   It was miserable and I was really sad about it.  I didn’t want to be on meds anymore, but I was really worried that my non-medicated life would be so miserable with my migraines.   Week by week, days increased between the migraines.  I was researching non-stop on what I could eat/juice and take as supplements to help my body fight against its uber-willingness to give me so much pain!!!!     On April 5, I started taking a magnesium, calcium and riboflavin supplement.  That very day started the longest break between migraines up to that point.   Since then, the days increase by at least 2 between each attack.  And now we’re up to 20!!!!   


Magnesium is the key for me.  Migraines and Magnesium   I juice as many green vegetables as I can in a juice every day.  Magnesium is found in the greens.  I need a lot of it!  I have not had a migraine since the first day of May.  I have even traveled to different elevations (usually a trigger), I ate terribly for two weekends in a row (usually a trigger), and I flew (in a plane not like a squirrel) (also usually a trigger - the plane, not the squirrel).   None of these things brought on an attack.   I’m obviously still going to have migraines, but I’m so glad I’ve found an effective way to help myself without western medication.    Migraine Treatment Must Include Magnesium


Not much else to report - We’ve been using watermelon which is VERY good.   Grapefruit juice is my favorite.  (And I discovered that if you add vodka to fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, you’ll be incredibly happy. NO!!!  This is not my morning juice!)   I still try to make sure that the juices I drink during the day are 80% veggies and 20% fruit.   I occasionally will have an all fruit drink, but they don’t give me the energy or are as satisfying as a veggie based drink.     (Today, I didn’t have time to make my morning juice, and I’ve been struggling with hunger and cravings all morning.  This does not happen when I’ve had a juice for breakfast.   Note to self - get the heck up in the morning!!!)




I’m pleased to say we’re still juicing, and I can see and feel the effects it has had on my body.  (I can see the difference in DH too.)    I hope everyone is well, and having some amazing juice!!!   (And giving it to your kiddos too if you have them running around!) 


** Side Note.....I usually get really sick once in the fall and once in March/April.   I have not so much as had a sneeze or a cough that wasn’t related to pollen up my nose, or liquid going down the wrong pipe.  My immune system seems to be in excellent working order!


***Side Note to the Side Note - Great...now I’ve jinxed myself with the sickness too.  I’ll be sick with a migraine within minutes of posting this, I’m sure!!!


**** Footnote to the Side Note of the Side Note - I’ve knocked on the wooden like substance of my desk to try to counteract the jinx.

4 comments:

  1. I am pleased to hear of your 20 days of migraine-free happiness! Keep up the good work juicing! Very proud of you!

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  2. Glad to see you're back blogging, I have missed your witty commentary. hehe Our juicer is scheduled to arrive within hours and I am very excited to get started. Also, so glad to hear about the absence of your migranes. Michele

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  3. Yay for juicer deliveries!!!!!! Are you starting tonight or tomorrow? Do you have enough produce? Because you HAVE to have enough before you start.....when you have nothing to juice, and you're starving - bad news bears!!!!

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  4. We're starting the fast next week. We are going out of town for a wedding this weekend, probably not the best time to start. But I will definately be experimenting and sampling different recipes this week.

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