Cuppow!

I've been wanting to try the Cuppow! products for a while now.  I've heard great things about their accessories, and as much as I use my mason jars, I knew they'd come in handy.  I love the "sippy cup" attachment for when I'm on the road and don't want to risk spilling a beloved jug of juice all over my car.  This was perfect!  I highly recommend you grab a few of these for yourselves.  They make them for wide mouth or regular jars.

They also have a fantastic BNTO cup attachment that goes under the lid and can hold anything you want! It separates the wet foods from the dry ones. It's perfect for salad dressing, if you're making the salad in a jar.  Or you could store some apple slices or carrot and celery sticks in the jar with peanut/almond butter in the cup. Milk and cereal.  Chips and salsa. Hummus and veggie sticks  The possibilities are endless, really.  And mason jars are so great since they're made out of glass and can be reused. No BPAs to worry about, and better for the environment!

All Cuppow products are made in the U.S.A, and are BPA free, and made from recycled/recyclable material.

I'm seriously in love with these attachments!  Very affordable and available at retail stores, like, everywhere!  Go get some!  And let me know what all you use yours for!  Be creative with your health food.  :)

7,000 Facebook fans juice fest giveaway!

Time for another giveaway!  The ol' Facebook page has reached (close enough!) 7,000 followers and I am thrilled!  This giveaway is a fun one, too! Since I did the 7 day juice feast to celebrate the 7,000 fans, I thought it would be fun to do a juice-themed giveaway. I will be doing separate blog reviews on all of these awesome companies, but just know that these are TOP OF THE LINE, amazing products.  Cuppow is blowing my mind with their mason jar line of products. Endless possibilities there. Strawesome's glass straws are superior quality and I love mine so much. It's pretty and very durable and FUN!  The Juice Master book "Lose 7 pound in 7 days" is full of great tips for anyone considering adding juicing to their lives, whether as a fast, or just as a fresh way to start the day.  And, Atom Acres is a Fort Wayne company, so I am proud to include a farm that uses organic, sustainable practices to their produce that is right here in my own home town.

Please take some time to check out each other their pages and support these wonderful companies.

For the Grand Prize winner:

1 Jason Vale Juice Master book "Lose 7 pounds in 7 days"

1 Strawesome Straw (artisti's choice)

2 Cuppow jar attachments

1 Whole to Healthy Juice Plan

For one LOCAL (fort wayne area) winner:

1 bag of Atom Acres fresh produce

2 Cuppow jar attachments

1 Jason Vale Juice Master book "Lose 7 pounds in 7 days"
(NOTE: Local winner will be chosen separately from this drawing)

**There will be 18 additional winners of the Jason Vale book that will be drawn randomly after the first two prizes are drawn.**

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Arnold Schwarzenegger walks into a juice bar...

If you follow my facebook page, you already know that I'm planning to do a 7-day juice fast in honor of reaching 7,000 fans.  There will be a big, juicy giveaway too, which I'm very excited about! I always feel like Oprah when I do giveaways!  YOU GET A JUICER!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!! <bitches be faintin>

But, I digress.  Another, more serious, reason that I want to do this juice fast is because I've had a minor health scare. Or major, depending on how you look at it.  I have an under active thyroid that I've kept in check with Armour Thyroid for about 15 years, but recently my doc said my TSH levels were too high, while the other numbers were in normal range.  He suspects something might be going on in the pituitary gland. The word tumor may have been mentioned.  I just keep pretending I'm Ahnuld and saying, "It's NOT a toomahhh," like the mature adult that I am.  But seriously.  It may just be a blood clot or something, so why freak out? Anyway, he wants to do an MRI. I want a month to fix it "my way", which is what led him to call me a pain in the ass.  He loves me. He really loves me.

My reasons for not wanting to do the MRI right away are:
a) the MRI will cost me about $450 (my insurance is just pretending to be insurance)
2) I am not convinced the labs were accurate, because I feel fine
D) if they found a tumor, I'd still want to do a juice fast to hopefully cure myself anyway
iii) I'm a pain in the ass

The plan: Do a 7 day juice fast with the hopes of actually making it much longer.  Preferably 15 days or more. Eat mostly raw after. Focus on other detox methods (dry brushing, lymph massage, etc) and then appease the doc with the MRI and probably a new TSH blood draw. Cross fingers.

So, while a juice fast isn't for everyone, and I have a seriously horrible track record with juice fasting, this is the best option that I feel I have right now. I know many of you will write to me and disagree or have other options, but I've been instinctively drawn to juice fasting for a long time now.  This is the right time. And to make sure that I don't completely bail on this like I did last time, I have a genius plan.  And I mean, GENIUS.

This time I will plan ahead.  I know! Genius.
This time I will enlist a buddy!  Genius, right?!?!?!
This time...wait for it.....I am spending the first 3 days of  the fast at an amazing, peaceful, relaxing, gorgeous lake cottage! No one to cook for!  No food except produce to juice!
G-E-N-I-U-S.

I can't guarantee more than 7 days, but I can guarantee that I will at least make it past the dreaded first 3 days!  From what I hear, if you can make it past 3 days, it's smooth sailin'. And, this time I have the ok from my doc *and* a juice expert on standby to help walk me through any bumps.  I wasn't fooling around when I said my plan was genius.

Juice fast starts August 20th. Everyone is welcome to join.  I am still figuring out recipes and menu, but keep watching the facebook page for details. I'll be working closely with a local farm, too, which I am very excited about!  Nothing like juicing fresh from the garden, organic goodies!

And the giveaway is going to be B-A-N-A-N-A-S! <jumps up and down> Take THAT, Oprah!


*PLEASE NOTE: I am in NO way suggesting anyone attempt to cure their cancer/tumors/anything that ails ya with a juice fast. This is just my gut instinct. Consult your own doctor. Consult your own gut.  Make the right choice for YOU.  Be well. <3

Should you be juicing?

I've been making my own fresh veggie and fruit juices for about a year now. It has been a very interesting journey.  If you remember my paleo and raw/vegan studies, you might know that that was my first time experimenting with home juicing.  The Raw Diet Detox that I did for school is what got me started with the whole diet study idea in the first place. It mentioned something called a green lemonade that was integral to the whole program. So, after first borrowing a juicer from a friend, I hesitantly added the kale, entire head of romaine, lemon, ginger and apple to be pulverized into juice. It was green. I was scared.  I took a tiny sip fully expecting to yarf, but I was pleasantly surprised. For something SO green, it didn't taste green at all.  If you would have been standing in my kitchen that day, you probably would have seen the light bulb go off above my head!  I was so excited about this and jazzed that something so healthy and GREEN could taste so delicious!  And so it began...

Fast forward to now, and I've posted countless photos of my juicing experiments on my facebook page, and here, and even created some Valentine recipes especially for Omega Juicers!  Some were flops, most were tasty. But, I've learned so much about juicing since (I've even been interviewed about juicing by Shape and Essence magazines!) and I want to break it all down here for you to help clear up a few things, as well as just give some overall tips for getting started, and fine-tuning the process so you don't feel so overwhelmed. 

Probably the biggest question I get on my page, is "Why Juice?" There are so many reasons to juice, and it is a personal decision for the individual, but here are just a few that I think are most important:

Benefits of Juicing

• Juicing removes all of the fiber from the produce, which allows for the nutrients to go immediately to work, providing quick delivery to the blood stream. This is why most people feel very energetic right away after that morning juice! (But what about the benefits of fiber?  Keep reading...)
• The digestive system gets a huge break, now that the fiber is removed.  This is an important aspect, especially for people with digestive issues or concerns.  Eating the amount of vegetables that you just juiced would have taken HOURS of work by the body to digest it all, so this is a key factor in the benefits of juicing. Less work on the digestive system, means more energy can be spent healing your body, and unfortunately in today's world, we are all in need of major healing, whether we feel like it or not.
• This also means that you consume so much MORE beneficial nutrients, since you don't have to actually chew the food. Most people don't eat enough vegetables in a day, and juicing is great for people who just can't seem to fit them in otherwise, or for those who HATE every single vegetable, this could be a lifesaver.  One juice can have more veggies and fruit in it than what most people eat in a week, sadly.
• Another thing that I find beneficial with juicing, is that even if you love eating veggies, you almost always have a few that you don't really like. By juicing, you can get the unique nutrients from those foods, without really having to taste them!  Take beets, for example. I absolutely detested beets. Gag reflex. every.single.time.  But, I know how unbelievably healthy they are for you, so I added just a tiny bit into a juice. I couldn't even taste it!  So, the next time, I added a bit more, and a bit more, and now, wouldn't you believe it?  I like beets.  I roast them!  I slice them in my salads!  It's crazy, I know.  But, if juicing can help you enjoy eating more veggies, than that has to be the best benefit of all!   

The next biggest question I get is, "What's better?  Juicing or Smoothies?"

Juicing versus smoothies
I get asked a lot about the difference between smoothies and juicing. I also have many people tell me not to juice because I'm missing all the benefits of the fiber in the produce.  Here's the thing, just because you juice, it doesn't mean you don't get fiber throughout the day from your other foods.  I can have a few juices a day and still reach my daily fiber requirements, no problem!  The fiber in the smoothies actually slows them down in your digestive system and requires more work from your body.  While fiber is majorly beneficial for proper bodily function, choosing to juice a few meals can be extremely healing for your gut. Now, obviously if you do a juice FAST, you would go many days without any fiber. I do not feel qualified enough to talk about fasts, but these are very specific for healing, and should be walked through with a physician or qualified care provider. I am personally sold on their healing abilities, but again, these are special circumstances.

Both juices and smoothies are easily digested compared to eating foods normally, and smoothies certainly have a lot of beneficial fiber, so if you need to choose one, go with what you're more interested in, or whatever fits into your lifestyle and budget. If you have digestion issues, perhaps juicing is where to start. If you don't feel that is an area of concern for you, smoothies make great travel meals and can really pack a nutritional punch!  I love to add hemp and chia to my smoothies, as well as nuts, coconut oil, bee pollen, maca, spirulina, wheat grass powder....you can really go crazy with your nutrient add-ins.  So, smoothies...juices...chew...I don't care!  Just get those veggies in that BELLEH!!



Types of Juicers
From the research that I have done, it is best to get a slow, masticating juicer. There are single and double auger juicers that slowly extract the juice away from the fiber of the food. This enables all of the enzymes to remain intact, and also gets much more juice out of your produce, which saves you money in the long run. The centrifugal juicers tend to heat up the produce and spin very quickly...this is where some of the nutrients get lost. These juicers also tend to be extremely loud. A huge downfall, in my eyes, er, ears. :)

Some juicing advocates say that you should just get the cheapest juicer and start because that's better than not starting at all due to high juicer costs. But, I have to disagree.  The money you will save from these slower juicers, and the health benefits you'll get from the live enzymes, will far outweigh the few bucks you might save from a cheaper one.  Most juicers have good return policies and warrantys, so be sure to check those out, and if you don't feel the juicer was a good buy, you can always return it.  

Got my juicer, now what?
Once you have your juicer, the first thing I would recommend is to start with a simple green lemonade recipe.  My very favorite, which is a slightly tweaked version of that original found in the diet detox book is:
1 head of romaine, washed, leaves separarated
3-4 leaves of dinosaur kale, rinsed well
1 lemon, some rind left on, quartered
2 apples (I prefer 1 gala and 1 fuji), quartered or more, depending on your juicer opening
Handful of fresh, flat-leaf parsley (I started with a few sprigs and worked up to about a cup!)
1 chunk of ginger (if you're new to juicing, start small!  You can always add more. Ginger can be very spicy if you add too much and you don't want to ruin your first batch of juice.)

**Always use ORGANIC produce. Always.

From here, just get creative. Pretty much any produce you want to use up can be juiced.  Foods like banana, avocado don't juice, so skip those. You want to also focus mostly on VEGGIES.  Fruit juices are very yummy, but can mess with your blood sugars, so don't overdo those.  I like to add an apple here and there, but focus on about 80% veggie to fruit ratio.

Tips and Tricks
When juicing without a recipe, keep in mind that there are certain foods that will change the flavor, some quite dramatically.

• To sweeten a juice that seems too sour or "green", add an apple.  Carrots can sweeten it up, too.
• To add a bit of saltiness, I find that celery does the trick.  Especially for tomato juices.
• To add more liquid, without adding flavor, romaine can be a great choice!  A whole head of romaine will add lots of volume but won't add much in the way of flavor.
• Citrus can really cut the sweetness of a fruit juice, so if you "wing it" and it's too sweet, add a lemon or lime, and it will really make those flavors POP.
• Ginger is spicy, so if you want more kick to a juice, add a little more ginger.
• Berries make a great juice for flavor, but don't have a lot of volume, so be prepared to use a lot!
• Alternate your greens.  Don't juice the same greens every day, because they have oxalates that can bother some people. Switch up your kale/spinach/collard greens/swiss chard...variety is good anyway! 
• Add herbs to your juices!  I love adding fresh mint, parsley and cilantro to mine. Not only do they add a little fancy flavor, but they are CHOCK FULL of amazing nutrients that you just don't want to miss out on.
• Don't throw out your pulp! Many people have said they don't juice because of the "waste", but if you do it right, there won't be any! Here are a few suggestions for using up that leftover pulp: Here, here and here.
• Keep juicing ingredients on hand!  Every week before I go grocery shopping, I double check my stash. Kale? Lemons? Romaine? Ginger? Apples? Parsley   Get em on the list and you won't ever have an excuse not to make it!  

What about store-bought juices?

Since juicing has become much more mainstream over the years, so have the conveniently packaged juice options.  At first, this may seem like a great alternative to buying a juicer and making a mess of your kitchen, but truthfully these juices, even the so-called organic, "healthy" juices aren't worth it.  Once a vegetable has been cut, it immediately begins to lose its nutrients.  Same goes for the juices. Once you have juiced your produce, that juice is best consumed with 10-15 minutes. Now, that may not be practical for everyone, and some juicers do produce a juice that will hold most of its nutrients for up to 72 hours, but the juices in the stores have either been pasteurized, thus killing all the beneficial nutrients, or they have sat on the shelves for WEEKS, and this doesn't even take into account when they were juiced in the first place, and travel time to get to your store. So, your "fresh" store-bought juice could literally be months old before you consume it, rendering it completely nutrient free.  While a much better choice than soda...not as good as a juice pressed fresh at home.  Sad, I know.  But, here are some tips to save you time at home:

TIME SAVERS

• Get a masticating juicer that allows for fresh juice up to 72 hours, that's a great start!
• Prep all veggies the night before, by either washing them, or even cutting/tearing them into pieces to make the process quicker in the morning.
• Make a huge batch of juice the night before, or that morning, and store it in mason jars with tight lids until you're ready to drink.  Again, this won't have quite as much nutrients as the freshly pressed juice, but if it saves you time and gets you to drink it, then it's better than that month old store stuff!  ;)
• Finally, I have not tried this myself, but I've heard you can freeze fresh juice right away, and this will preserve the nutrients until you're ready to thaw out the next juice!

Above all else, starting your day with a big cup of beautifully green juice can really get you off on the right nutritional foot for the day! There's nothing like feeling fresh and energetic from that very first meal of the day! And it will make you want to keep that feeling up, by consuming mostly raw veggies and fruits throughout the day, along with your chosen meals.  So, don't just sit there...juice up!  <3

Cheers!

My quick trip to Juicytown!

*For those not following me on facebook, I began a juice-only fast on Monday, with the intention of going at least 5-7 days. I have never done a fast. The closest I came to any kind of cleanse was a 7 day raw foods detox I did back in March, which was also a struggle, but one that I conquered without killing anyone. And that's saying something!  ;) 

Ok, so here is the latest news from my little world.  Last night was MISERABLE.  Seriously, it was the worst. At about 4:00 p.m. my mood changed dramatically and I developed the worst headache of my life. I couldn't take any medication for it because of the cleanse. I tried a few natural methods, but nothing made the pain lessen.  I was also unbelievably sick of juicing.  I looked at my juicer, heard and felt my tummy rumble. I was starving, but there was no way I was going to get another juice in me.  I went ahead and made a super green juice, but it tasted horrible. I could not even force myself to down it.  So, I went to bed at 8:30 to try to ignore all these things. However,  I've been battling a cough for two weeks now, and last night it was in overdrive. I couldn't sleep and on top of that, I was having heart palpitations.  Since I have a thyroid condition (hashimotos) and had not consulted my doctor (like you're supposed to! Doink!), it worried me a little. I told myself that if I didn't feel better in the morning, I would stop the cleanse.

Fast forward to 5:30 a.m.and I'm up. Yikes. I already feel apprehensive about the day and am dreading that first juice. Instead I ignore the hunger and check my pH.  It's back down to 5.5. (it was 5.5 Monday when I started, then went to 8.0 after 24 hours on the cleanse)  Confused and frustrated by this, I proceed to weigh myself.  The number has dropped quite a bit again, but I don't even care.  Weight loss was not my main reason for doing this cleanse, and I know most of it will come back so I wasn't attached to this loss anyway.  I walk into the kitchen, tummy still rumbling, and I can't even remotely bare to juice again.  I am not sure why this was such a difficult task for me. I love juices, I love the thought of a juice fast, but I wasn't noticing any changes at all, and I was starting to worry that I was doing more harm than good. (another good reason to consult a physician before juicing!)

I eat a pretty healthy diet. Lots of veggies, whole grains in limited quantities, mostly vegan protein sources, lots of water, regular exercise...I don't have a lot to detox in the first place.  I clearly need improvements here and there and am still working out some kinks. I am definitely wondering about the whole pH thing, and what to think of those numbers.  I don't live and die by those numbers, but I do live and die by how my energy levels are, which is one main reason I wanted to do a cleanse. When you eat super clean, drink lots of water, and exercise, but still aren't feeling on top of the world, you start to look at other reasons (or at least I do). And, I'm not a huge fan of doctors (long story), so I'm not as inclined to run to them every time I have a tiny problem.  I typically turn to my nutrition.  While my meals were pretty good, I was not feeling as good as I thought I should, and hoped that taking my nutrients down to a super basic level would do the trick.  And perhaps if I had stuck out the cleanse a bit longer, it could have.  But, ultimately, you have to go with your gut in situations like these, and that's exactly what I did.  I'll be eating mostly raw for the foreseeable future, and will entertain another juice cleanse in the spring.  There are *many* things I will do differently the next time, to ensure a (hopefully) smoother transition.

One thing that was funny about this whole experiment, is that when I decided to quit, my first thought was that I was letting all of you down. I felt like quitting the cleanse would somehow change your opinion of me.  And, when I told others about quitting, their first thought was that I was letting you down, too.  Truthfully, that bothered me on a few levels.  I decided to do this cleanse for my own reasons. And I decided to share with you the path I took so that you might benefit. It wasn't like with the Raw and Paleo studies where I was doing actual research to share and learn about different diet programs.  This was just a random crazy idea that I was sharing with you along the way.  I had hoped to make it to 5 days or more, but I am proud that I made it this far. I know a lot of you have done longer fasts, and I know most of you have never done a fast for even a day in your life.  All that means is that we all have to learn on our own terms.  To determine for ourselves what works and what doesn't.   What is worth the fight, and what isn't.

I'd like to think that my focus for my business FB page is more about general healthy eating tips, how to improve your health and to get you to eat your veggies.  I don't care how you accomplish that.  Are you paleo?  Great!  Are you vegan?  Awesome!  I don't need to know about specifics, I just want you to think about what goes in your mouth and to challenge yourself.  Eat more green veggies today than you did yesterday.  Drink more water today than you did yesterday.  Exercise a little bit more each week!  This cleanse was about me challenging myself.  I've never done a juice-only cleanse before and I had no idea what to expect.  You go into it thinking "I can DO this!".  The first day was HARD. And yes, I pushed through. Most people would have caved by lunch.  Yes, I kept going and I was proud of myself for sticking with it, but at some point you have to ask yourself if the benefits outweigh any potential negatives.  Sometimes just trying is good enough.

Yes, I CHOSE to do this cleanse. And yes I CHOSE to publicly announce it with you, and share lots of lovely juice pictures (weren't they pretty?!) in the hopes of inspiring you, but guess what, I'm also CHOOSING to let you know that I tried something...and CHOSE to end it.  I CHOSE to be open and honest with you and with myself.  I never want to give anyone a false assumption that I am perfect, or that they should be.  EVERYONE has faults.   But at least I tried. I have done more experimenting with foods and health challenges than anyone I know. I am learning each and every day to listen intuitively to my nutritional needs, and the only way to do that is to put yourself through challenges like these.  I am listening to my intuition, and I implore you to do the same.

If this inspired even one person to do a juice cleanse, I am over the moon happy!  I am totally FOR doing a juice cleanse.  But listen to your body, take baby steps, and please do not feel like a failure if you can't make it past day 2. You made it 2 more days than most people!

And I still stand by my words that we are capable of doing anything we put our minds to!  And that includes listening intuitively to what your body needs, and quitting a time or two until you get it right.

Peace, love and veggies...  <3