A Favorite Book

I mentioned Cherie Calbom's book yesterday.  Her book, "Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life" with John Calbom has been a great book for us.  In fact, if you are looking for a book to start with, this would be the one that we use the most.  It's not that there aren't lots of good books out there on juicing, it was the first one that we got from the library (yes, before I invest in a book I like to check it out first) that made the most sense to us.  She also has a website to help you out.  And yes, we have our own copy of her book now.

Is It Foggy Outside, or Is That Just My Brain?

Wheeeee.  What a day today has been.   The good news to start.  We got on the scale today, after 2 full days of juicing, and both of us were down 4 pounds!  Yay!!  Although we understand that it can just be water weight, it is still so exciting to see the scale move - and finally in the right direction!

By the afternoon, we were both in such a fog.  I don't think it was from a lack of caffeine.  In fact, I have had zero headaches, zero "I need caffeine NOW" moments.  I think it was just from the lack of fat in our diet.  Our brains need fat.  People who avoid fat like the plague must also avoid any clear thinking, in my opinion.  We realized that being functioning adults superseded anything else we had going on, so we turned our afternoon juice into an afternoon raw soup with the addition of 1/2 an avocado, and a splash of extra virgin olive oil.

By that evening, we were both feeling a bit better, and better able to carry on a conversation with someone besides our 2 and 3 year old children.  Feeling the fog lift was a great feeling indeed. 

A Note on Juicing

The juicing part is going well.  Well, sort of....


The Chinese (and many other cultures) believe that the liver does more than just bile production and converting glucose to glycogen. The liver is closely tied to our emotions.  We know that toxins can affect the liver's function.  But what about the toxicity of suppressed emotions?  Where do those toxins go?  Unexpressed or denied emotions can get in the way of our liver functioning properly.  If juicing helps detoxify the liver, then wouldn't it stand to reason that it may knock some of those emotions free when the other toxins are released?

Cherie Calbom, in her book "Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life", talks about the affect that negative thoughts and emotions have on the liver.  That it is the most affected organ in this area and that you should watch for those emotions to pop up when you are working on the liver.



We have noticed that our emotions do get 'slightly off' when we are juice fasting.  And with both of us fasting, it seemed that today was the day.  One of us (me) opened her mouth without really thinking.  Unfortunately, my timing was horrible.  I totally interrupted James' train of thought and prayer on a day when what he was about to do was incredibly important.  He needed all his focus on what he was doing, not figuring out what I was implying.


YUCK!  It lasted all day, and well into the night.  We were finally able to resolve some things that had been previously unresolved, but it wasn't pretty getting there.  So, the lesson of the day is to be aware of your emotions, and be prepared to address them while juicing.


James is hoping to add more on this topic some time in the future.

Day 1 is a Good One

It is 20 minutes to 8:00pm.  We are nearly finished with day 1 of our juice fast.  1 more to go in a little bit.  And that brings the total to 5.

Well, it’s not a pure juice fast, we did have one really yummy salad for dinner, but I can say that everything I ate was fresh and raw!  And that I feel great!  Now…..  Earlier, I was  a little drained.  So, we added some fruit to our next juice, and boosted our calorie intake a bit.

I got in 20 minutes of yoga, and 45 minutes in the pool with our two youngest.  While there wasn’t a lot of swimming, I figure that hauling around a 30 pound weight in the pool for that time had to do something good.  James took the middle two back for 2 hours this afternoon, so he is doing great with his exercise. 

We went to Sprouts market (one of our favorite hang outs) and got some more fresh veg for the next couple of days.  It is only 3 miles away, and we would rather have super fresh veg.  Plus, it gives us a chance to slow down and have some uninterrupted time together. Wish it was a mile closer, I would walk it every day. 

The other thing we did was weight, waist measurements, and pictures (to record how ‘gorgeous’ we are right now).  James wants to put those on here too….  Me?  Not so much.  It is going to be one of the biggest challenges I have.  Not going to lie about that!  Well, when he decides to grace us with his presence, he can add what he wants.  Until then, I will just keep working on me!

A Movie for Thought

Last night, I was flicking through Netflix and found a movie that caught my eye.  It is called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" by Joe Cross.  I'm not going to give you a synopsis of the movie you can do that on your own.  It just was a really good movie to watch the night before we were going to start our juicing.  Very inspirational, and cool that it has some resources that people can follow if they are interested.


And then today, James told me that he had just started noticing some patches developing on him that sounded very much like what Joe had.  But, even if it isn't, I know that this is the right decision for us to be making now!

Gearing Up

I was really wanting to go to one of the farmer's market in Denver.  I have heard really good things about it, but we just didn't make it.   Upon further exploration, however, I discovered that it was not going to be what I wanted.  Reviews online described it as being less market and more gourmet food truck stop.

So, while I was glad that we didn't make the drive, I was sad.  I was very much looking forward to being out in the sun and picking my way through gorgeous local produce.  A healthy treat, both in the produce and in the atmosphere.

But, since it didn't happen, we sat down with our juice, and made a complete menu for the next full week.  And then we went to the (not so out door) grocery store and picked up the hand full of ingredients we needed.

Tomorrow is a new day.  Tomorrow is the day that we start our juice fast.  Our real beginning date for the healthy lifestyle we wish to have.  James got a jump on it today by taking the boys back to the pool while I hung at home with the two little ones.  Me?  I'm still hoping to get that walk!

Good Morning!!

This one is super yummy and a great energy booster.  I don’t add fruit to my juices very often, but was feeling it today.  It is celery, cucumber, apple, lemon and spinach.

Lessons Learned

"Illnesses do not come upon us out of the blue. They are developed from small daily sins against nature. When enough sins have accumulated, illnesses will suddenly appear.” – Hippocrates

Yesterday morning I woke up and started thinking.  Bad thing to do.  I started thinking about money and where it needed to go and what we had to do next and, and, and….  And I started feeling so stressed.

I hadn’t even gotten out of bed, and I wanted to crawl back in and stay all day.  So, contrary to my nature, I decided to exercise.  Nothing spectacular.  I knew I had some 10 minute workouts on my Netflix queue.  I figured a little Pilates would take my mind off things and set me right for the day.  

The perky trainer said I should start with abs because it would be a good start for any other exercises I wanted to do.  Funny, I believed her.  BUT, I did realize two things.  1) I have abs.  2) they have forgotten what exercise is.  I was so glad that the rest of the family was still sleeping so they didn’t have to see (hear) me slugging through the exercises.  

One thing I also learned – I was right.  I did feel better.  I had decided once again to make a positive decision in a crazy moment.  After I was done, I told James that if I didn’t start doing something for myself, some things were going to start happening to myself.  I know the effects of stress can add problems to health that could otherwise be avoidable. Later that morning, I came across the quote above, and knew once again that I had made the right choice. 

Baby steps are, in fact, still steps.

Down, But Not Out

I said I would be honest, and here it is – only the second post, and I have something to confess.   

James and I decided that as soon as the job he was working on was finished, we would start our new lifestyle.  In fact, until he gets his next job (that’s a whole different story), we will make it our current job to get in shape. 

But now this job is going long.  And since our personalities tend to be all or nothing, we can’t just start.  (Yeah, it doesn’t make that much sense to us either.)

When James called me this morning and told me there would be nothing he could do at the job site because of all the rain, I went into a mini-funk.  “Great.  That is one more day that we don’t get started!”   Wait!  That is old attitude.  I promised myself that this time would be different.  

So, now it is decision time.  Do we just roll over and wait for something to happen, or do we make it happen?  It wasn’t much, I admit that.  But it was better than nothing.

We Juiced!!  Love the way juicing makes me feel.  Besides all the good I am putting into my body, I just like how it boosts my mood, and gives me more energy to get other things done.

This is our juice having just gone through the Omega, before getting stirred.  It’s a mixture of  “What’s in the fridge??” 

I prefer mine with ice, but James like to drink his straight from the juicer.

After our juice, I had errands to run and kids to pick up, but James took the middle two to the pool and played with them until the thunder kicked them out – about an hour.

I did end up walking the two little ones down to the pool to watch Daddy and the boys, for a bit.  And I knew that I was feeling better when I said yes to that.  It’s not far enough to count as exercise, but it was good to do something on a day that seemed shot.

Who knows, maybe a walk will be in my evening plans…..

What? Another Weight Loss Blog???

Not exactly.  I mean, we really do hope to lose weight, but it is more about being healthy.  About being able to take care of ourselves and our family, and teaching our children how to start a healthy lifestyle and maintain it through adulthood.
We are just planning on sharing our story.  We think that we are not unique in how we got to this place, but maybe we have something to encourage someone else.  We will talk about the foods we are eating, the books we are reading, and the exercises we are doing.   Mostly, it is a place where we hope to be able to look back and remember the turning point in our life.
We will interject tears with humor, and frustration with victory, all while being as honest as we possibly can.
At times we will seem “out of balance” as we spend more time focused on nutrition or exercise.  This is a choice we are making based on what we know has worked for us in the past, and what is going on in our family life.
We will ask friends and family to contribute when they want as we understand that they have information on things we know nothing about.
If you want to follow along, please feel free to do so.  And please leave comments.  They will be moderated so play nice with the other kids!    We will answer questions, as best we can, based on our experiences and not because of some medical background.