Motivation Monday: “To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” -La Rochefoucauld

I hope everyone started their week off right with a healthy breakfast! Last week was completely exhausting. I have stitches in my bottom of my foot, crutches, am waiting for my skin biopsy to hear if my mole was cancerous, and feel pretty crappy all around. To top it off, I went to a new doctor for my thyroid issues last Wednesday, and my recent lab work showed that my thyroid is getting worse and worse. Do you ever feel like when it rains, it pours? Like everything happens all at once? I was surprised to learn that my thyroid has gone out of whack in the completely opposite direction than before. My previous doctor told me that I had HYPERthyroid, but after retesting and seeing a new doctor, my results showed up as HYPOthyroid. With my current lab results and all of my symptoms, my doctor wanted to do a more in depth panel of blood work for my thyroid, and test me for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I dealt with painful ovarian cysts in high school, and have literally every symptom in the book for PCOS: weight gain, hair loss, acne, depression, severe mood swings, etc., so I am really curious to see my results. Right now, I’m at a point where I just want everything to get figured out. I feel terrible all the time and I just want to feel better!

I went back to my doctor the next day for a fasting glucose/insulin test and more thyroid panels. I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything from 9pm Wednesday night until after my insulin/glucose test on Thursday. The test was not fun at all. Not that blood tests are a party… but they are usually quick. In, out, and done. After running thyroid panels (so many tubes!), I had to stay for 3 hours of glucose/insulin testing.

First draw: normal blood sample after fasting
Then I had to chug a bottle of “Orange” 100 Glucose for my test. Ohhh my gosh. Sick. Not in a good way. In a nasty, bad way. I had to drink the highest level possible, which was 100 grams of glucose! That’s more than anyone should have per day, omg! It was thick like syrup and tasted like a mix of orange Gatorade and Tang! A few minutes later I got a huge sugar rush and felt so sick. There’s no better feeling than being hungry, and then pumping your body full of sugar, right? ughhh.
Second draw: 30 minutes after consuming the drink. Then had a rash all over my arms from where the cotton ball and tape were, so we had to switch to kid’s non adhesive Band-Aids.
Third draw: 30 minutes later
Fourth draw: one hour later, couldn’t get any blood out of my vein and had to switch arms and be re-poked
Fifth draw: one hour later
End result: 7 pokes, 1 Scooby Doo Band-Aid, 1 Strawberry Shortcake Band-Aid, 2 bruised arms, 1 allergic reaction, and extreme hunger.

After I was finished with all of my tests I met my mom for the world’s biggest lunch. While hobbling up the 3 small stairs to the restaurants one of my crutches slipped on some water and I ate it, and stepped on my injured foot. Omg, it was a hot mess. Love that everyone watched it happen and no one came to help me… that was super duper! After I have my championship comeback moment and got myself back up on the crutches I was literally shaking because I was so hungry. I’ll just end the story there and say I ate, and got home safely!

The next couple of days were okay, I was just exhausted and my foot was in so much pain. I finally felt like things were looking up when I remembered that I was going to go see Joe Cross from “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead” speak at a conference! I was so excited that I couldn’t even sleep on Friday night, so I watched “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead” on Netflix while I put together some T-Shirt orders. I cannot remember how I found out about this conference, it was so random. I only remember seeing online that Joe Cross was speaking in Orange County, and then saw that it was at a conference called “A Day for M.E. (Mom Empowerment)” by an organization called Moms In Charge. I have to admit I felt a little awkward buying a ticket to a mom conference haha. Just a bit out of place… but I just had to hear Joe speak!

Saturday night, I managed to get myself to the conference and even better: a front parking spot, and a second row seat! I bought a half day ticket to the conference, so I arrived around 6:30pm and caught a cooking demonstration by Chef Jenny Ross, owner of the raw restaurant 118 Degrees.

Chef Jenny was adorable! She gave a great presentation with fun and easy ways to make kid friendly raw meals. She made a raw PowerFull Parfait, raw Deviled Tomatoes, and gave an excellent demo on how to cut open a young coconut. Extra points because she used a Vitamix! She finished her cooking demonstration with a quote that I absolutely loved:

“There are no diets, no calorie counting, and no measuring fats, carbs or protein grams. None of that matters if you choose real, whole, fresh, live foods. If you choose quality, the rest takes care of itself.” -Dr. Mark Hyman

In between speakers the founder of Moms In Charge, Dotty Hagmier went up on the stage to speak about the organization. Before arriving at the event, I had no idea what this organization was, nor did I really care, because of the word “mom.” I figured it was a conference for mom and baby types of products, but I was so wrong. The organization is a “resource for moms who are searching for ways to give their kids the best chance of living healthy, vibrant lives. It is also a movement for moms to become empowered with informations of what is in our food and products so we can make the most informed decisions and transition to a healthier, vibrant life with our kids to ultimately: change the shape of our future.” –Source

The conference showcased everything from healthy recipes and snacks, to safe chemical free cleaning products to use in your home. Although I’m not a mom, I felt like I really related to this group of women, because I too am part of a movement to help and inform others to make healthy choices. Now only am I excited that I bought a ticket to this conference to see my juicing idol Joe Cross, but I am so happy that my money went to such a fantastic organization which shares similar beliefs as I do. If I didn’t think this organization was this fantastic, I wouldn’t have mentioned it at all and would’ve just talked about hearing Joe Cross speak, but I think this group deserves a shout out. This is the type of group that I would love to be a part of if I have children one day. If you are a mommy who lives in the Orange County area and is interested in Moms in Charge, checkout their website for more information! I wish them success and hope that they open more chapters in other areas as well.

Next up was the main event: JOE THE JUICER CROSS
OH MY GOSH!!!!!

Joe started off with a general intro about his film and then went into some details about how he got started and where he’s at today. I couldn’t help but laugh because three minutes into his speech, he grabbed a pice of Kale that was on stage from Chef Jenny’s cooking demonstration and held it for the entire duration. The photograph above is the only one that I have without him holding a piece of Kale. I think its pretty symbolic and amazing that he’s holding kale in all of my photos though! Just the way that I had pictured him… Joe, with kale.

I honestly wish I had a timestamp on these photos because although it may look as if they were taken at the same time, these photographs were taken throughout his 1.5 hour speech! Serious kale love right there!

I enjoyed his speech because not only did he bring up important points about the benefits of juicing, but he also showed us that he is a normal person who struggled with weight and health issues before, and still deals with temptation today just like anyone else. He gave us a little story about his life before the documentary. Joe said that “as a child I used to turn to sugar as a pick me up. It’s always there, it never lets me down, and it never talks back. I find myself still doing that today, and I want you to know that.” He also mentioned that while on dates, he used to be very self conscious of what he was eating so he would order a salad because he wouldn’t want anyone to see how he really ate. He then laughed as he informed us that he would buy a pizza on the way home because he was so hungry!

We also got a little behind the scenes information on before the filming began. Up until midnight before the filming started, Joe had his “last dinner” which consisted of chinese food and beers, and then… another round. We were cracking up as he told us that he went for yet another round when he realized that although it was midnight in New York, it was still 9pm on the west coast! After a night of feasting, he said that it made the first few days of his juice fast even harder. His tip for anyone who is starting a juice fast: “don’t do what I did,” and start eating only plant based foods a few days prior. Excellent tip Joe haha. I can’t imagine going from such a large volume of food to just juice! Yikes! Midway through his speech, Joe spoke about consumerism and his love for Oreos. He said “I love Oreos. I love them. I would marry one if I could!” I think everyone felt relieved that even Joe the Juicer still gets tempted by foods like Oreos!

After Joe wrapped up his speech, it was time for some book signing! I was so excited to meet Joe and have him sign my “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead” book! He was full of personality and super energetic. As he signed my book he was sipping on a green juice so I asked him what kind of juice it was. He replied “I have no idea, everywhere I go people give me juice. I eat too!” with a laugh. He then asked what happened to my foot and helped me stand sans crutches for a photo with him. He’s a great guy with an incredible story. If you haven’t seen his documentary, you have to watch it! It’s available for rent or purchase on both Amazon.com and iTunes, and is streaming on Netflix. If you are interested in doing a reboot visit Joe’s website: Reboot Your Life, become a fan of Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead and Joe on Facebook, and follow Joe on Twitter!

My weekend ended yesterday with a broken iPhone, pinched nerve in my underarm form my crutches, and food poising. Fun times. Luckily my Monday was a very happy one indeed as I received a thank you note from my “23rd Birthday Giveaway” winner, Megan J.! Seriously made my day. Things like this are why I continue to blog and share my journey with you every day!

Hearing Joe speak and meeting him in person was such an amazing experience. He is so inspiring that I am thinking about doing a reboot soon! Is anyone interested in doing a juice reboot?

You can read about my previous 5 day juice cleanse here:

Juice Challenge Day 1
Juice Challenge Day 2
Juice Challenge Day 3
Juice Challenge Day 4
Juice Challenge Day 5
Juice Challenge Ended