About 2 weeks ago, while my husband was away camping, I jumped onto NetFlix and played Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead. I don’t usually watch TV, but I enjoy background noise while doing other things. About 20 minutes into the movie, I was glued. I couldn’t stop watching what seemed to be an infomercial for a juicer. Not gonna lie, I used to LOVE infomercials. It didn’t help that my mother also enjoyed purchasing infomercial items.
Anyhow I was so inspired by this movie to do something better for myself. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it, its about 2 very overweight men who improve their health through juicing. This movie details what our bodies go through when we consume highly nutritional grub and the struggles our bodies go through when we eat crappy foods. It all made sense to me. The fact of the matter is, we consume more meat and dairy than necessary. I, like most Americans, grew up on a diet heavy in those two items. I am 31 years old and really only eat vegetables as a side dish…a pretty small side dish.
Watching this movie made me realize how well I feed my 7 month old and how poorly (in comparison) I feed myself. Everything my daughter consumes is organic and is as fresh as can be. Why don’t I do the same for myself? Maybe because of convenience and my taste buds have been conditioned to love processed foods. She is such a good motivator for me to eat healthy and live long 
So, today marks day 4 of 5 of my cleanse. I am doing 2 juices a day, plus eating raw fruit and vegetables. The juices I make are around 40-50oz and contain 100% fruit/veg. I’ve been consuming a lot of beets, spinach, kale, a lot of different fruits…and so on. In just 4 days I have learned a few new recipes and also learned about some new plants/foods. Have you ever heard of the yuca root? I haven’t!!
In 4 days I am getting better with my juicer. It’s quite a task to cut all your produce and then clean the juicer. In all, it takes about a half hour to make a juice. Its time consuming, but really..its only 30 minutes..not that big of a deal. I can honestly say I feel pretty damn good. Without the consumption of additional sodium in my diet, my face doesn’t look as bloated and according to my scale I have lost 6 pounds. I know weight loss this fast is sketchy and everyone reminds me that when I am done with this cleanse I’ll gain it all back. Well, hopefully this won’t be a temporary thing…hopefully even after day 5 I continue to consume the foods that my body requires. I don’t want to set myself up for failure, so I’ll just do this nice and slow. So far, its working out for me. If anything, I’d like to adopt the Chinese way of eating. A lot more veg and meat is eaten in tiny amounts…that seems more realistic for me.
Last nights dinner is a perfect example of what you can eat while juicing. Sorry…quick side note: It’s hard for me to call what I am doing “juicing”, b/c I am still technically eating fruits and vegetables. I am basically not eating anything processed or any animal products…veganism! I’d prefer calling what I am doing a “plant-based” diet. Back to dinner: Erich made guacamole that included, tomato, onion, lime, cilantro, avocado and jalapeño. I used my little mandolin to make perfect slices from a yuca root. I drizzled a bit of olive oil on the “chips” and added a tiny bit of sea salt. The chips baked for 30 minutes in a 450 degree oven. The chips were crispy and tasted almost like popcorn…they were freakin awesome. Chips and guacamole for dinner…awesome!. Funny thing about that is…normally that would be an appetizer for me! I was very satisfied with just that for dinner and I am sure my body appreciated the fact that everything I consumed was fresh and unprocessed.
I guess another reason I am doing this cleanse, is because for years and years I have eaten processed foods. It wouldn’t hurt to give my body a break for a few days and then take care of my body for a lifetime by eating healthier, right? I’ll continue to write more about this cleansing process…until then, adiós!
