Et tu, Cacti?

I'm in Search of Puerto Vallarta

Pretty sure I don't have to explain why.

The minute we decided to “juice” our bodies, I told DH - I’M GOING TO MAKE THE GREEN JUICE!   He didn’t reply what you think might be the obvious response, “DUH.”  He’s a smart man, Jennay, and he knows what Green Juice is.

You see, when we vacation in Mexico, which we are wont to do, our resort serves this Green Juice at breakfast.  It makes me happy, this juice.   Two weeks before we leave, I start talking about it.  I love it THAT much.   I have as much as I can while we are there, because I know I won’t be having it anytime soon.  I’ve never had anything like it here at home, not for lack of looking.

So when we decided to juice, I knew I was going to try to recreate my Juice so I could feel like I was on vacation.   Via their online room service menu, I was able to find out what was in the juice, but not HOW much of each was in there.  No problem, I’m a whiz at this juicing business now, and can recreate this juice no problem. (Here she is again - Ms. Humble.)

But I need a cactus leaf (not the cactus fruit). A nopale, if you will.  That is the first ingredient in my Vacation Juice.  Cactus.   I had tried to find a nopale while we were on our fast, but they were out.   (REALLY?  You’re OUT of cacti?)  So I went back the other night to get one or two.  

YAHTZEE!!!  They have some leaves for me.   I select two (with tongs as they are spiny as heck), and get the rest of my produce and head home to experiment.

Hmm....how best to remove spines?  Must youtube.  

While youtubeing my problem, I found out a TON about the benefits of juicing/consuming nopale cactus.   If you have blood sugar issues, this is what you need to be juicing!!!!

Stabilizes Blood sugarNopal cactus contains a large amount of slowly-digestible fiber and tends to slow down the digestion of foods when it is taken just before or with a meal. The cactus has the effect of lowering the Glycemic Index (a measure of how quickly a food raises blood sugar levels) of any foods it is eaten with.

Lowers CholesterolThe fiber and sterols in Nopal bind with a bile salt in the intestines, which helps limit the amount of blood fats (cholesterol and triglycerides) absorbed by the body, thereby lowering blood cholesterol levels.
Scrubs Blood VesselsPlaques are areas of inflammation that form on the walls of the blood vessels, where they trap blood fats that can harden or even block the arteries. Nopal cactus sterols, along with its polyphenols and glycoproteins, serve as antioxidants that help reduce inflammation and keep plaques from forming.
Sweeps the ColonThe insoluble plant fibers in Nopal cactus provide dietary roughage, which make it easier to maintain bowel regularity. Nopal also contains soluble plant fiber, which helps absorb toxins, including carcinogens, as it sweeps the colon clean. (IMPORTANT: This is not the same as Stage 5!!!)
Soothes the StomachNopal contains a high amount of mucilage, which helps balance the pH of the stomach and soothes the stomach lining. Tests have shown that Nopal stimulates the healing of stomach ulcers and reduces stomach inflammation.
Protects the LiverBecause Nopal contains antioxidant flavonoids, it helps neutralize free radicals before they can overtax the liver. It also helps absorb toxins, decreasing the liver's load. By supporting the liver, it frees that organ to balance bodily functions, including the immune system.

AND MOST IMPORTANT!!!

Hangovers and ObesityNopal is sometimes used to help counteract the effects of alcohol consumption. It helps rehydrate the body, soothes the stomach, and improves liver function, thereby preventing the headache, stomach ache and toxic "morning after" feeling. When taken before meals, Nopal's roughage can help create a sensation of fullness that may help prevent overeating and helps stabilize the blood sugar, to ward off hunger. Nopal cactus also contributes calcium and valuable amino acids and other nutrients.

Source: Kimberly Jace, eHow Contributor

So....Cactus!  Get to eating it people.  I feel like if I eat Kale, Cactus and Salmon (and maybe lay off the hummus), I might live forever.

I learned how to clean my little flat buddy, and went to it.  I only got two spines stuck in my hand.  Not bad for my first time.

Come to find out, you don’t so much juice cactus.  Rather, you add the snot that excretes when you smash it through your juicer into your juice.   That explains why my vacation juice has always been a little thick.   I was seriously turned off when the cactus snot started coming out of the Omega.  Drooling out.  Like spit when your husband pins you down and acts like he’s going to drop a droolie loogie on your face but sucks it back up in time.  (What, your DH doesn’t do that to you?  Just your brother when he was 9 and you were 6?  Well, you don’t know what you’re missing.....)

The green drool right there is coming out VERY SLOWLY.


Vacation Juice:

• 3 Oranges
• 4 Celery Stalks
• Big Huge Handful of Parsley
• Three Big Huge Handfuls of Spinach
• 1 Nopale leaf

I know.  I know.  You aren’t supposed to mix fruits and vegetables together (except for apples), but I need my vacation juice......and here it is!  I almost nailed it (don’t be dirty.)

I sit on the couch watching The Voice on my DVR, and enjoy my vacation juice.  I try to ignore the fact that it has rained non-stop all day (to the tune of 1" of rain), and that it is disgusting outside and will be until June, and that I haven’t seen the sun since I was in Mexico in February, and that my DH is gone to a place where it is 80 everyday and sunny, and I try to mentally place myself in that hammock on the beach.  I told you guys a while ago I have a terrible imagination.  BUT my juice was VERY good ;)

*****

UPDATE on the OMGPs.   My last post about pulp, I created some Original Mean Green Patties with my OMG pulp.  I added some ingredients and dehydrated them for about 4.5 hours.  Well, when it was time to check them, my whole kitchen smelled like......pizza?  Yep, that’s pizza.   I think it was the 18 bulbs of garlic I added.  Maybe.  Not sure.    They are pretty flat little cow pie looking discs at this point.   Future patties will not be flattened out so much I think.  Smoosh and learn.    I take a bite, and it is pretty good!   It tastes like it needs to be dipped in marinara sauce.  Which I don’t like and wouldn’t do, but that’s what it feels like I should be doing.  So basically I’m eating fiber and garlic.  YUM!!!!!!!   In all seriousness, I would try them once if you can - just to see if you like them.   I think mine are a little too flat, making them not chewy.  The places where they are fat, they are chewy and better.  I’ll probably try it again.  But only after I try those carrot pulp chewie things.  

Peace Out - I’m going to go buy more Cacti.

Pulp Fiction

We have something we need to discuss.  What to do with the pulp that you’re creating when you juice.  All you have to do is google that phrase, and you will be overrun with suggestions, ideas, and opinions.  No, I’m not telling you to go do that yourself!!  That’s what I’m here for ....I wasted a bunch of time for you so you don’t have to.  See how I am?

What to do with pulp..... You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There’s uh... pulp-kabobs, pulp creole, pulp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple pulp, lemon pulp, coconut pulp, pepper pulp, pulp soup, pulp stew, pulp salad, pulp and potatoes, pulp burger, pulp sandwich. That- that's about it. 

Not really :)  Well, maybe but I doubt it.  We have not been doing anything with our pulp other than giving it to DH’s captain at work for his chickens.   The captain reports back that the egg production of his chickens has noticeably increased since eating our HUGE bags of pulp (which those birds can devour in less than 10 minutes apparently....little hoggies.)  I would love to say to you “their egg production has DOUBLED!!”  But I can’t because I have no authority or statistics so I’m going with “noticeably increased.”   So it looks like we’ll be getting some eggs in return for our pulp, seeing as how we’re making those birds poop ‘em out more often :)  I have read several times on the interwebs that people feed their pulp to their chickens, and that they have the healthiest birds EVER.  So that's an option if you have cluckers or know someone who does.

DH is out of town for a bit, so he isn’t here to take the pulp to work with him.  HENCE, I will be digging out our big herb garden box, and mixing the pulp in with that soil so it can start composting and getting all nutrified in there.  I will also mix it into the dirt around my plants in the yard so it can start helping them decide to grow for spring.  (They’re trying to but are becoming depressed like their owners because it’s raining so much.  My plants have SAD.  I’ll give them a shot of composted nutrients to try to cheer them up.)   So compost is a where a lot of people's pulp ends up.

I’ve seen people discuss feeding it to their animals, and how much the pets love it.  I wonder if it will give her more energy?

A lot of people use their pulp for baking.  Muffins, breads, etc.  I am not a baker.  Remember, I’m not the pie, cake, cookie eating girl.  We are trying to eat healthier after our juice cleanse, so doing this, when I didn’t do it before, would defeat our purpose.  BUT I think its a fantastic option for the pulp if you DO bake.  (I’m not going to lie and say that I wouldn’t eat your awesome zucchini bread you made with your pulp from juicing.  I would.  I love that crap - it is the exception to my weird no cakepiecookie taste buds.  I just choose not to make it at home because..well, I love that crap.)   I’m throwing in this link here because it sounds yummy - and at the end she talks about turning it into chocolate bread, and although I’m not a fan of chocolate (please don’t stop reading my blog now), I think people might appreciate the versatility of the recipe. (and by versatility, I mean she wrote the words CHOCOLATE BREAD) Use Your Pulp for Zucchini Bread 

If you have a dehydrator, you’re good to go with your pulp options that don’t include baking. (If you don’t have a dehydrator - here’s a link on how to turn your oven into a dehydrator.  No Dehydrator?)  Pulp chips, pulp patties, pulp crackers....lots of recipes out there for these types of things.  You can basically turn your pulp into whatever flavor cracker, chip, etc that you’d like it to be by just adding some spices of your choice and blow drying the crap out of it.  

Today, just for you guys (and since I can’t feed it to the chickens), I am making some Green Patties.  Doesn’t THAT sound appetizing?   I found this video (What To Do With Green Pulp) and followed his instructions (for the most part.)   I started with an OMG, and went from there.   I’m making some Original Mean Green Patties (hereinafter OMGPs.)    

And now we move onto the Pampered Chef tool commercial of my post.  No, PC is not paying me to write this.  (Why the heck not I want to know!??)  

I put my super dry pulp in my 4 cup batter bowl, I added dried basil, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, chili powder, olive oil, fresh parsley that I cut up with my awesome PC salad chopper shears, and added three cloves of garlic with the world's greatest garlic press.  Three??? Yes, 3.  If you’ll remember correctly from previous entries, I love garlic like one of my arms.  I don’t know what I would do without it.

I made sure to mix it ALLL up really well.  The olive oil helped tremendously moosh it all together.  

At this point, it smells good, but looks REALLY gross.  In case you didn't notice.   I then took my large PC cookie scoop (not to be confused with an ice cream scoop), and scooped the OMGPs onto my dehydrator tray.

Then I squashed them out so they were actual patties so I didn't have to change their name.  There are 7 total.  Not just these 4.

And we are dehydrating, People!  (This is where commas are handy and important.  Without the comma, it would appear I that I am Buffalo Bill - We are dehydrating people!!   It puts the lotion on its skin.....)  Sorry, back to dehydrating patties, not people.    Notice my PC cutting board even........

The next thing I want to try with pulp, after I make the OMGPs, will be these chewy critters.  PB Chewies - A Use for Your Carrot Pulp     I think those will be pretty good, and will be a great thing to have on hand.  I don’t have everything I need for those, so I didn’t try those today.  I’ll get back to you.

Now there is an argument of To Use or Not to Use.   If you have a centrifugal juicer (aka A Violent Juicer), you are going to have wetter pulp...(pulp that is more wet??) ....Your pulp will be very moist.  (That sounds better.)  If you have a masticating juicer like we do (aka Slow Juicer), your pulp will be very, very dry.  That in itself may be where the difference lies between using your pulp, and not using it.  Some people feel that the pulp is tasteless, and now nutritionless after juicing, especially with the masticating juicer.  However, the pulp is full of fiber so there is THAT left over whether it’s wet or dry. 

Here is a link to a website where they discuss to use or not to use your pulp.   This person chooses not to and I want you to be able to read for yourself why not.   To Use or Not To Use?    Then on that page, they have a link to another page about the types of juicers, and the result of pesticides in your juice and your pulp if you are not buying organic produce. (Another reason they choose not to use their pulp.)    Agg Chemicals and Pesticides in Your Juice  Good stuff here, people.  Definitely worth a look-see.

After my OMGPs are done getting blown out, I will report my findings to you if  they are at all edible.  If I didn’t have to take an aesthetically pleasing picture of each step for you guys (which if you’ll remember I said I wasn’t going to do....I’m such a sellout), the OMGPs really wouldn’t have taken ANY time at all to prepare and get into the dehydrator.  So cross your juicy fingers (no, that’s not a fat joke), and let’s hope for the best!

(P.S. - I’m feeling a little bit of sinus distress coming on very quickly.  I’ve read on almost ALL of the juicing sites I’ve been on for the last threeish weeks that if you feel that you are getting a cold, that you should immediately start fasting until the symptoms go away.  Yay - spontaneous juice fast.  )

I'll Take Vegetables That Begin with K for $200

Throughout the cleanse and since, we have received some really good questions that I didn’t cover in my blog posts during our journey.  I’d like to take some time and answer them here.  I hope that if you have questions about what we did, you’ll feel free to either ask below in the comments or email me.  I’d be glad to help anyone get started!!

•  Would we do anything different for our cleanse?  In hindsight, we couldn’t have planned it better.  But we really didn’t mean to.  I would definitely suggest looking at your calendar before starting a fast, whether it be a 3 day, 5 day or 10 day.  You need to make sure you’re going to be successful, and that if possible, the first several days you will be at home or mostly at home.

• How was your energy level?  Did you experience weakness?     Two different questions.  I felt an ebb and flow with my energy.  The first two days, I had a lot of energy.  Then a set back.  Then two days of energy, then a set back.  Then five full days of immense energy.   DH had two days of total lethargy, and then never looked back.  I wouldn’t say weakness is the right word.  I was able to go about my daily life, but I didn’t really do anything extra.  I wanted my body to be able to detox uninterrupted.  DH was able to go to work twice for 24 hours (where he doesn’t really get much sleep), and he played a 90 minute hockey game in the middle of the cleanse.  He had plenty of energy, and no weakness to speak of.  Lethargy and weakness are different.

• Did you follow any of the plans listed on the reboot site?   We didn’t really follow a plan, but that is where we decided how long to have our fast last, and what we could and couldn’t consume.  Like the fact we could have herbal tea, and if we were unable to juice, as an option we could eat what we would juice.  We never had to do that, but it was an option for us. Join the Reboot

• Did you just pick the recipes that looked good to you, or did you find a suggested mixing of juices for the day?    Per the reboot website, we knew we were going to need to be drinking at least four 16-20 oz drinks per day.  We started with the Original Mean Green juice from the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  I have that listed on my recipes tab.  I then basically spent a lot of time searching through other blogs, and the reboot site looking for good juice recipes.    I don’t tire easily of the same thing, but DH does.  Our taste buds are different so I needed a variety of savory vs. sweeter drinks.  After a while, you will find that you will know what tastes good together, and you will start to experiment.  But my recipe tab should help you get started, or a google search is fun too!  Try to avoid mixing fruits and vegetables, as our bodies digest them differently.  Therefore, you are slowing down the process of absorption when you mix them together, defeating the purpose of what you’re trying to accomplish.  The only fruit that should be mixed with the vegetables is an apple.Why Not to Combine Fruits and Veggies

• Have we found anything that our juicer couldn’t handle?   Our juicer (the Omega 8005) is a workhorse.  We love it.  It is a masticating juicer so it can handle anything, and performs particularly well with leafy greens.  We have found that squishy veggies/fruit get kind of mucked up in there when you’re using a lot of them, but you can push them through with a carrot or a piece of celery and clear up the backlog.  When juicing a LOT like we have had to do for DH’s shifts (and this was during the cleanse, not day to day now), we had to take the Omega apart really quick and rinse it off then put it back together.  This takes less than a minute because the Omega is awesome that way!  Super easy assembly, disassembly and clean up.  (Omega is not paying me for this paragraph LOL)

• Didn't juicing make you sick?  Most common question!! I personally did not become sick.  DH did not become sick.  Yes, my body was going through the detoxification process, but I was never sick.  Part of that detoxification process we both experienced was some heavy chest tightness (not like a heart attack feeling or anything!!) but within our lungs.  I also had quite a runny nose that same day.

I’d love to hear from anyone with questions I did not cover.  (Don't make me beg.)

The Day After Yesterday

Day 11 - Friday - The Day After


So you eat half a salad and you gain a pound?  Seriously?!  I have said all along, I know I will gain some of the weight back, as I’m sure some of what came off HAD to be water weight.  But I didn’t expect it to be the very next morning after I chewed food for a whole 15 minutes!  Fickle fickle body.

So here I am, the morning after a 10 day cleanse.  I have my breakfast of “The 6" that I talked about yesterday (2 apples, 2 celery stalks, 2 carrots).   Here is a link that talks about the health benefits of this juice specifically.  Benefits of Apple, Carrot & Celery Juice   Super Juice!!!!!   I add my usual large coin of ginger (because I love it, and it has awesome health benefits of its own.  Such as:

Ginger can block the effects of the substance that cause inflammation of the blood vessels in the brain and can lead to migraines, is effective for relieving nausea even in pregnancy, has properties that help in relieving menstrual cramps, has anti-inflammatory properties that can lessen the pain of rheumatoid arthritis, it has a warming action on the upper respiratory tract, so it has been used to treat colds and flu, stimulates digestion and alleviates stomach cramps, has a wholesome effect on the circulatory system as it makes the platelets less sticky and is of great benefit in case of circulatory disorders, it’s cineole content may help contribute to stress relief, and last but not least it is a great mouth freshener. 

(source - www.healthandyoga.com)

Lesson over (for now.)   Since beginning this cleanse/fast/liquification, we have instigated juicing in 5 other households.  There could be others who read this blog (because I’m super rich and famous now), that have started juicing due to my convincing stories, and just haven’t come forward to let me know how I’ve changed their life.  Don’t worry, I’m sure they will.  

Speaking of other households juicing.  I get a text from my OMGin sister today.  It’s full of Love and Affection.  Just like that band Nelson, only with less hair.  Wait, come to think of it, my sister and I actually have a LOT of hair.  Maybe we could be the new female Nelson.  But we’re not twins.  Or super cheesy.

 

Sorry, I was distracted momentarily by the hair.  Back to the loving text.

She loves me!  I’ve changed her life! I’m nothing if not humble, people.   

I am defrosting the chicken from last weekend’s meal that the kids got to eat in front of me where, if you will all remember, I did not hurt them.  Dang right I froze the leftovers!  There was no way I was going to NOT have that as soon as was stomachly possible.  So for my second meal off the juice cleanse, I will have the Frank’s Hot Sauce chicken on salad (instead of a ciabatta bun).  It’s so amazing, I could eat it every single day.

DH is at a meeting this morning.  I am putzing around on the internet, because now I can.  I can go anywhere I want (don’t be dirty.)   Pinterest, I’ve missed you!   I have some darn good recipes pinned on there that I’m excited to make now that we have clean intestines.  I don’t want them to get dirty again.  

I am having coffee for the first time today!  EXCITING!   I am not having very much, as I didn’t have a migraine the entire time I was on the cleanse due to caffeine withdrawal (which shocked me), and I was a bit worried that having it now after 10 days might GIVE me one.  Well, fast forward, it did not.   I can’t wait to go to work on Monday and have Work Coffee.  My favorite!

Medication report.  I’ve been weaning off the medication this whole cleanse under the direction of my doctor (this is important, people!!).  At this point, I have one week left before I’m completely free.  I started at 150 mg a day, and I’m down to 50 mg.  Fingers crossed.  I’m still planning to juice twice a day to continue to flush this out of me.

Any of my minions readers out there juicing?  What makes you want to?  What makes you hesitate?

And I Managed Not to Add Vodka a Single Time!!!

Day 10, Ten, X - Thursday  THE VERY LAST DAY!  WE ACTUALLY DID IT!


It’s the last day!  Since I started in the middle of the day, I get to end in the middle of the day!  2:00 pmish - here I come!

Alarm is going to go off soon, but of course, I’m already awake (hope that continues).  Good thing too because DH calls tells me that he has to work an extra 4 hours this morning.   We are not done with this cleanse technically until 2:00!!   We have dinner plans with my brother-in-law (BIL) tonight, but we need to finish this out.  “What do you want me to do?” he asks.   I think that’s “DH” for,  “Can you bring me some juice?”  So instead of getting up to make my breakfast and lunch, I now need to get up and make my breakfast, and his breakfast, and get to the station, and THEN get to work on time.  My morning just got a little busier than usual.

Thankfully I had done some research earlier in the week for some places around my office that I could go to in a pinch if need be.  Well, guess what- today I’m pinched!   There just happens to be a little shop across the street from my building so I knew I would be fine for my lunch, so I didn’t have to create another 3 liter marathon juice this morning. I could just make the same amount I normally would - and take half to him.  Long story long, I get him his juice, and I get to work on time!  Go me!  However, the time I needed for a shower was replaced by the extra drive time to get the juice to him.   Whatever, don’t look at me like that.  It’s not like I root around in dirt all day long in the hot hot sun.  I can go 36 hours without a shower!

I get to work, and am well aware that today is the last day.  It seems so bizarre.  This juicing thing is so normal for me now.  I’m not hungry really.  It is kind of a relief not to have to talk about what’s for dinner every night.  Tonight?  I already know what I’m having for dinner.   Chinese chicken salad.  Sounds very “safe.”  Sounds like a lot of raw veggies.   We are supposed to break this fast slowly, and I think that’s pretty slow.  And I think you know why I’m concerned about safety.

Stage 5 fear lurks in the back of my head all day long.  Again, why are we stopping?  I don’t see a reason to.  I’m fine the way things are.  I’ll just drink juice for the rest of the month.  Saves us a lot of money anyway.

For lunch I walk across the square and get my $4.75 (!!!!) Apple Carrot Celery juice.  It’s very yummy and I can’t believe this isn’t a combo I have tried.  People, if you’re juicing - it’s the easiest, fastest and BEST juice.  2 apples, 2 celery stalks, 2 carrots.   Makes 12-16 oz depending on the size of your provisions.  Double it, and you have enough for two humans.   I love love LOVE this juice.  (Have had it every morning since Thursday, but of course, I add ginger.)

Fast forward to the end of the day.  I can eat.  DH can eat.   But have we?  Emphatic No.

Dinner is at 6:30.  We meet my BIL there.  I notice the very large distance between our table and the bathroom. We order.  I anticipate the food.  Not because I’m super excited to eat.  I think that’s a misconception people have about this.  I don’t have this overwhelming excitement/relief  to start eating again.  And not just because of Stage 5.   I am not really missing it anymore.  At one point when I wasn’t hungry anymore (day 4-6ish), I still missed eating.  But since Monday or so, I don’t even miss that.  I’m weird.   But also scared of Stage 5.

Here come our Huge Salads.   DH and I have the same thing.  Of course, they put a beautiful slice of cheesy garlic bread on the side of my plate.  Yes, I did have a bite of it.  It tasted good, but it was sooo greasy.  I feel like if anything is going to cause a ruckus, it is going to be this wet bite of grease.  Bleck.   I eat very slowly, listening to every sound my abdomen makes.   I’m participating in the conversations, don’t get me wrong.  Even the parts where my BIL side eyes me and asks, “Everything okay still?”   I feel like a ticking time bomb.  

I end up only eating half my salad, as I was FULL very quickly.  They say that will happen for several days.  Fine with me.  We go back to our place and visit for a while - and .......Stage 5 was completely averted people.  I know you were all hoping for some kind of Dumb and Dumber story, but you’re not going to get one.  And do not think it is lost on me how MUCH you wanted something like that to HAPPEN TO ME.

DH and I discuss at the end of the evening how we feel as though we did something really bad with the eating of the food.   Cheaterpants, the both of us.  Neither DH or I have eaten a single solitary thing we were not supposed to for the entire 10 days (9.5 for DH).   Starting to eat again seemed wrong.  Several days later (yes, still behind on this blog....) I’m still feeling like I shouldn’t be eating.

I thought it might be interesting for some of you to know what it cost for us to do this.   I added up all that we spent on produce.   For a 10 day cleanse, we spent $170.54.  That’s $17.05 per day, $8.53 per person for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack every day for 10 days.

I was shocked it was so little.  I knew we hadn’t spent much to get started, but then we were getting quite a bit of produce once we zeroed in on the things we used the most (GREEN APPLES).  Even if you add in the cost of our juicer, it would still only be $37.75 per day, or $18.88 per person.   However, our juicer will last us a pretty long while (has 10 year warranty), so I choose not to add that into the cost, because its still working hard for us every day.

We did it - and we’re still married! 

I didn’t have to buy DH this shirt for his birthday :)

Weight Lost = Me (1 for a total of 9.5!!)   DH (.5 for a total of 12.5)
Detox Symptoms (none)

Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough

Day 9  - Wednesday!


I am awake well before I need to be, so I lay in bed a bit to obsess over my blog.  I am really enjoying stalking myself to see how many people are reading about our liquification journey!  First thing I see when check my phone?   A text from my sister telling me that her juicer can kick my juicer's butt!!!   Because?  Her juicer tells her to add alcohol.  (PS - my FRIENDS tell me to do that - I don't need my juicer to....)  So apparently, my sister's OMG looks like this.

And the "G" stands for Gin.

I head downstairs to make breakfast and lunch, sans alcohol.  After last night's juice marathon, you would think I would be loathe to even pull out a stalk of celery this morning.  Not at all, thankfully.  I put my phone in the speaker box, turn on Pandora, and start pulling things out of the fridge.  I do love me some Michael Jackson.  Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough comes on.  We are juicing AND dancing.  Because, obviously, I am UNABLE to stop until I have enough.  I'll starve people.

Yes, my window shades are open downstairs.  No, I don't care who sees my awesome juice jig.  I've practiced because I've played Michael Jackson: The Experience on the Wii.

What's not as awesome this am?   I have a migraine.  A good MJ dance off by myself in the kitchen wasn't enough to talk my head out of it.   After the migraine that first morning, I have not had even a regular headache throughout this endeavour.  Last night, I had herbal tea.  The artificial flavor in my herbal tea gave me a skin reaction that I normally get from preservatives.  Well, low and behold, preservatives also trigger a migraine.  Something I did not think went hand in hand with the rash.  This cleanse has allowed me to isolate a trigger for my migraines.   The rash happens quite a bit (and its on my FACE so it sucks) because preservatives are hard to pin down.  I avoid a TON of them, and I also don't always react.  It's a very hard sensitivity for me to deal with.  But I had no clue that they were also a trigger (for me) for a migraine.  Probably because currently, I am on that hideous medication.  Thankfully, I'm currently flushing that medication out of my system with this cleanse (my reason for doing this), and tapering off so I will be free of it completely within a week.  So now I know about that, and I'm so happy!  I'm really hoping that my juice today can take away the sharpness of this pain as I don't want to take anything for it.

I speak to my sister in law on the way to work (legally) to discuss her juicing this week.  She was able to watch over the weekend how our masticating juicer worked, and she has a centrifugal juicer.  She said that her pulp is very wet compared to ours (ours is SUPER dry).   I was asking her about her juicer, how it works, etc etc and then she said, "IT'S VIOLENT!"  "THE FRUIT EXPERIENCE A VIOLENT ACT!!"  

Apparently, the juicer just explodes the fruit inside by spinning it around, well, violently - we don't have that kind so I haven't witnessed it, but I found her description delightful!

By 1pm my migraine had left on its very own.  I did some reading on juicing for migraine preventing, and juices for when you actually have one.  Not to wish one upon myself, but I kind of want to try  out what I found: carrots and as much ginger root as you can take to STOP it in its tracks.  I can't wait to see if it works.

Poor DH - it was his cook day today.  He has to cook for 9-10 people, and not be able to eat it himself.  I felt worse for him than he did.  He was not bothered by it at all.  He was going to be making some really amazing stuff too.  He's a better man than I.  He said it didn't bother him at all, and he wasn't even tempted to try anything to make sure it was edible.  I told him he should just tell them they were having juice.

My evening was my monthly bunco game (no I'm not 54).  Yay!  I had to miss last month- first time since my good friend and I formed it 29 months ago.  Not that I'm counting.  I even won for the first time in 15 months.  I had some kind of curse over me that it took NOT going one month to break!  Was a great time and the wine smelled great.  But so does my OMG.  (Not to be confused with my sister's OMGin.  She'd probably take that to bunco.)

Some people tasted my OMG, and some people chose to just smell it.  We discussed a lot about juicing, hopefully not too much though :)   Maybe some more people will start drinking my koolaid juice!!

All in all, a good day minus the migraine.


Weight Loss = ME (.5 for a total of 8.5)   DH  (0 for a total of 12)
Detox Symptoms (None at all - migraine from preservative in tea)

Revengetually

Day 8 (7 for DH) - Tuesday

Hello day off!  Nice to see you again.  DH is off today too.  First order of the day?  Juicing! Weird, I know!  Need some breakfast.  DH needs some “breakfasty” juice.  We need to go to the CPA first thing this morning.  Other than that, nothing on the agenda.

We head to the appt.   Quite painless (so far).  Until we get a $20 parking ticket.  Thank you for that poorly marked “we’ve removed all of our parking meters and made it look like you don’t have to pay anymore” city.  Charging that to the CPA.  Think he’ll pay?

We want to stop by this adorable produce market on the way home.

Juice Fasters DREAM this place!    It just goes on and on!  And so reasonably priced, and all the veggies and fruits are so pretty, and large!!!!   We are there for a while, people.   We’re like kids in a candy store!

5 huge full bags for $33!   We’ve spent $25 for two little bags at the other market we’ve stopped at.  This is close to our house so I’m pleased, but wish we would have checked it out sooner.

Hey - guess what.  We can count down to the end in HOURS now if we want to.  HOURS.  But I don’t want to.  Because that means I’m counting down to Stage 5.  But we are HOURS from the end of a 10 day cleanse.   That is pretty freaking awesome.

When we get home, we make a juice with beets for the first time.  They make pretty pulp ;-p  The juice is beautiful, delicious, and it is listed in the recipes under “Beet It.”

We discuss dinner Thursday night some more.  I pull up the menu of a place we decide might have some options to avoid Stage 5.  This is a topic we discuss a lot.   Stage 5 avoidance.  How.  When.  Where.  Not Why.  I think the Why is quite obvious.   Like the title of this post says, I’m worried that my intestines are plotting against me, and are going to get revenge on me, eventually.  Revengetually.

Guess who has to work 24 hours tomorrow?  Not me.  DH will need LOTS of juice to take with him.  This is about half of what it takes to send someone away for 24 hours on a juice cleanse.   

And so we juice.  We concoct an experiment with all of our glorious new produce.  When we get done throwing everything in the juicer that we can think of, we look at the juice, at the pulp remnants, at just...everything.   What in Richard Simmons' name did we MAKE???

It’s pretty good, but man, hard to look at!   I’m not sure that color even has a name.  We made two liters of that (it is under the recipes tab labeled “Richard Simmons.”)   We then begin another round of juicing.  At this point, I have stalks of kale dancing in front of my eyes.  By the end of the marathon juicing event, we have 3.5 liters of juice for him to TAKE to work, plus his breakfast is already made waiting for him in the fridge.  Homeboy is SET.  Again, if anyone ever complains that they can’t possibly do a juice fast....I’m not the one to complain to.  My DH leaves home for 24 hours, and he is doing it!

After that, we are juiced! (See what I did there?)  Off to bed we go.  (Don’t be dirty.)


Weight loss =   Me  (1 for a total of 7.5)   DH (.5 for a total of 12)
Detox symptoms   (None)