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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

I guess it's because the weather is warm or maybe because several blogs I read daily are getting into clean eating but I've jumped on the bandwagon!

I recently purchased a juicer, I had some bonus points at work to spend on something and we really don't need anything so I wanted to get something I might not normally buy and as soon as I saw this I got super excited!!




I have attempted to cut sugar out of my diet.  No more soda, cookies, cake, candy, etc which has been hard because I have a major sweet tooth.  The first few days I had major headaches and cravings, I'm not going to lie.  But I continued drinking my water and would throw in some crystal light with dinner.  I started noticing that carrots, bananas, etc tasted very sweet to me and I could calm my sweet tooth with a piece of fruit instead of a piece of candy.

I've had to face the reality that I'm not in my 20's anymore and I can't just go run a few laps and do some crunches to get the weight off.  I'm not a morning person so I have a super hard time getting up early enough to work out before I get ready, get two small kids ready, get them to daycare and arrive at work by 8am.  It's not going to happen.  So the easiest way to get healthy and maintain a good weight is changing my eating habits and try to incorporate exercise when I can.

Not only that but I want to set a good example for my kids about being healthy.  I can't preach to them that they need to eat healthy and then I'm shoveling a giant bowl of ice cream in my mouth!  Which I don't do, by the way, but my husband does.  Yep. I threw him under the bus. 

Our kids have always been pretty good about eating fresh fruits and veggies. Of course Micah goes through his phases of not wanting certain things but he was home sick one day so I decided for lunch to surprise him with a unique way of eating his lunch.  I told him to start from one side and work his way to the other.  He successfully ate everything which included a grilled cheese cut into 4 pieces, an apple, tomato and carrots.

 
The first thing I started juiced was a few carrots and a few oranges and it tasted really good.  I can't believe the difference in juicing oranges versus store bought orange juice.  Anything citrus is so frothy and yummy. 
 
 
 


Micah also likes to get in on the juicing fun.  I have everything cut up before hand to make everything move faster.  This day we juiced a handful of strawberries (stems included), two large handfuls of spinach and a pear.  I thought it tasted like a fruit punch!  The true test was seeing what Micah would think.  So I poured it into a dark cup because honestly, it looked a gross dark green color.

Having fun juicing!

Taste testing...

Ok...he didn't like it! But at least he tried it!
 
 
I started getting more adventurous with my combinations and have found a few I really like. 
 
 
This combination was one green apple, one pear, a few celery stalks and the stalks from some broccoli that we had the night before.  I really like that things I would normally just throw away can be used.  This juice was light and refreshing and sweet from the fruit.

 
 
I have read how detoxifying beets are so I bought a few and tried them in some juice.  This combination is one beet (greens included), one carrot and one orange.  I have learned a few things about beets.  They need to be soaked in a vegetable wash bath and scrubbed THOROUGHLY before they are juiced.  Also, a little beet goes a long way.  This juice made me gag, I'm so cheap I plugged my nose and chugged it because I didn't want to throw it away but I literally felt sick to my stomach afterwards.  Beets taste like dirt.  I don't like beets.  Maybe one day I will give a beet another chance but when I walk by them at the grocery store my stomach churns. :(
 
I've also started making smoothies about once a week when I'm fully stocked with fruits and vegetables.  Tommy got me a pretty nice blender for my birthday and I really like it! 
 
 
The motor sits on top which is unique, but it has a lot of power and blends things a lot more than my Cuisinart blender did.  Plus, I love that the blender mechanism pulls completely out when you are done which makes it super easy to use a spatula to get every last drop out as well as clean it.  No more trying to get a spoon around the blender blades in the bottom!!  Of course I would love to get a Vitamix blender but I just can't justify spending that kind of money right now.
 
A normal smoothie might be a frozen banana, strawberries, blueberries, an orange, carrots, spinach, prunes, grapes, some water, ice cubes and some almonds.  You could also throw in flax seed, chia seed or anything other healthy supplement.  I thought this might taste gross but it's actually very good.  I don't always do the almonds and I don't like raspberries because the seeds get stuck in my teeth. (Again, if I had a Vitamix it wouldn't matter).  Whatever you have you can just throw it in!
 


Good to the last drop! 
 
What healthy things have you incorporated in your diet??


 
 


2 comments:

  1. I love my juicer but I go through spurts using it. Now you've got me wanting to break it out again!! My fave is red apples and carrots together.

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  2. I like that too B! I do oranges and carrots too and that is pretty good. Pears are so sweet when they are juiced too.

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