juicing

Juicing, Raw, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Juice Challenge: Day 3

I made it through day 3 of only juice!
I started running low on ingredients, so I only made 2 different juices today. I alternated between Shocking Green and Lean ‘N’ Green to keep from getting too bored.

I wanted to say thank you again to all of my readers. Each and every one of you keep me motived and so excited to blog everyday. Your emails and comments have been so inspiring and encouraging! I always try to email everyone back but I have actually had an overwhelming amount of emails in my inbox, so don’t think I am not responding! You guys know I can be quite chatty and I really like to take time to respond to my readers. I was so surprised the first time someone said that I inspired them because YOU guys inspire me!  I love hearing your stories, and opinions! Love you little bunnies!

Emotions: I did not sleep well at all last night. I couldn’t get comfy and then after I feel asleep I woke up a few times in the middle of the night with a full bladder. Is there such thing as too much water intake? I guess the 8 glasses of water, tea, and the addition of all of these h20 loaded veggie & fruit juices really adds up. I just keep thinking about all of the icky toxins flushing out of my body. This morning I stepped on the scale and was excited to see a 2lb loss which got me really excited for the day. I felt great throughout the day but later in the afternoon started having one of those sad moments again. I could not stop thinking about how I let myself overindulge and get to this not so comfy weight. I hate that these thoughts even cross my mind, when I am doing something proactive to change. I tried to distract myself and with my friend’s genius idea, started catching up on the past few episodes of New Girl that I had missed. I also made a trip to Barnes & Noble to find a new book to read during my down time.

I definitely feel less bloated, and am getting more motivated to stay on track with healthy eating once I am done cleansing. I am not sure how long I will juice, but a lot of people have raised concern that it is unhealthy for longer than 10 days. As usual, I started researching! Juice fasting is a controversial “crash diet” that is strongly recommended by some, and extremely discouraged by others. Both advocates and opponents of juice fasting agree that there are some significant pros and cons. A juice fast is a temporary diet that consists of only the juice from fresh fruits and vegetables. The idea is that by consuming nothing but juice, the body will cleanse itself of impurities, fat and toxins, resulting in weight loss. Juice fasting does not contain nearly enough protein or healthy fats to be considered a substantial diet, and I have to agree. So far I have felt more tired than usual, and there is no way that I could workout while continuing my cleanse. Although I agree that a long term juice fast is not ideal, I do like the idea of cleansing the body with pure micronutrients.

Hunger: I am really surprised that I haven’t felt actual hunger in-between juices. If I am “hungry” it’s my mind craving food, but not actual physical hunger. I am craving a bite of actual fruit, but am staying strong and sticking with juice! I have to say that my worst withdrawal and strongest craving is for coffee. I am really surprised that I haven’t gotten headaches from the caffeine withdrawal yet, but I’m not complaining! The last time I gave up coffee I was miserable!


Shocking Green
makes 3 servings

3 green apples
10 stalks celery
1 large cucumber
14 sprigs of Italian parsley
10 dinosaur kale leaves
2 inch knob of ginger

Lean ‘N’ Green
makes 3 servings

1 head romaine
8 dinosaur kale leaves
6 stalks celery
1 large cucumber
8 carrots
1 lemon

Juice Critique:
Shocking Green: I think I may have added a tad too much ginger to this one, because I was a bit… shocked after my first sip. The ginger was a nice change compared to the usual green juices. Plus ginger has great nutritional benefits, so I’ll take it! I may use a bit less next round though.

Lean ‘N’ Green:  Mmmm this one tasted nice and fresh. The lemon definitely helped to cut out the bitterness of the kale. I’m starting to really love the green juices, especially with carrots! I’m really like these more than beet juices! Plus I am actually starting to enjoy the taste of celery!

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Juicing, Raw, Recipes

Juice Challenge: Day 2

Day 2: COMPLETE!
Wow this is definitely a mental challenge!

Emotions: I woke up excited to try all of my new juices, and was even more excited after I stepped on the scale and lost 3lbs of bloat! I felt refreshed and had energy until about 3pm, and then fell asleep on my friend’s couch for 2 hours. I am a huge coffee addict, and I think skipping my morning, and afternoon cup o’ joe is what’s been the hardest so far. I am hoping that the coffee withdrawals will go away and I will be able to get energy from juice alone!

Hunger: The morning started off great after my “breakfast juice” and I didn’t really feel hungry in-between juices until after dinner. For some reason around 8pm is my snack time. Weather I am hungry or not, I want something to eat. Instead of caving in and reaching for the candy, I made a nice hot cup of Senna tea with a couple drops of stevia. No crazy headaches or insane hunger…yet! I never really realized how much I snacked and chewed on treats until now! Mind over matter…

I have been trying to get ahold of Joe The Juicer’s recipe from Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead but his recipe website has been under maintenance for the past 3 days… how convenient!

Green Machine:
makes 2 servings

2 green apples
10 carrots
10 leafs dinosaur kale
2 cup spinach (packed)
1 cucumber
2 stalk celery
10 sprigs Italian parsley

Candied Carrot
serves 1 

5 carrots
2 apples
1 orange

Sweet Beet
makes 3 servings

15 carrots
10 sprigs Italian parsley
4 stalks of celery
2 small beets
3 cups spinach (packed)
2 oranges

Juice Critique:
Green Machine: I loved this juice so much yesterday, I doubled the recipe and had 2 today! Don’t let the grass like smell fool you, this one is a tasty way to get in your greens!

Candied Carrot: I don’t know how this keeps happening, but the juices that I make the most of, I don’t end up loving… and the ones that end up with 1 serving are amazing and I want more! I’m in loveee with Candied Carrot. It really does taste like candy compared to the other juices. It’s sweet and super satisfying! Definitely making multiples of this!

Sweet Beet: I give up on the beets. I just cannot do it! I love beets in salads and with cheese, but as juice, they taste like dirt. I had a really hard time getting this one down… It tasted like earth. And of course I ended up with 3 of them!

Keeping up with my water intake and staying strong! Juice, juice, juice!

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Juicing, Raw, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Juice Challenge: Day 1

I did it, I survived day 1!

After eating like everyday is my birthday for the past few weeks… well, months… Having a solid day of juice felt really nice!

Before I get into juicing, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who read, commented, emailed, facebooked, or tweeted me about my post yesterday. Sometimes it’s really hard to write posts like that, but since my blog is about honesty and developing a healthy relationship with food, I felt it was necessary to let you guys know how I was feeling. Body image is such a universal issue, yet so personal at the same time, and I know that a lot of people struggle with similar issues and I want everyone to know that they are not alone. Thank you so much for all of your comments, you have no idea how much they mean to me.

Last night I went to my friends Jason and Erica’s house and we got our juice on. I compiled a list of fruits and veggies that I wanted to experiment with, and then we were off to Whole Foods to get the goods. Whole Foods was probably not the best place to buy my produce price wise, but it’s easy for me to navigate and they always have kale! I am going to start by saying that even though juicing may be pricey (I will figure out how to get the cost down!) it sure makes grocery trips easy and stress free! No more roaming through the aisles, only the produce section! I did leave Whole Foods with a bag of chocolate chip cookies since I probably won’t be seeing those again for a while! We got back to the house and started juicing. Jason is a chef, so he definitely helped us to cut down our prep time! He was chopping apples like there was no tomorrow! I ended up with 6 bottles of 3 different fresh juices for the next day (May 1).

Rise & Shine
Makes 2 servings

1 large grapefruit
2 fuji apples
2 granny smith apples
2 cups of green seedless grapes
10 sprigs of Italian parsley

Beet It
makes 3 servings

10 carrots
2 red apples
1 large cucumber
1 large beet
2 stalks celery
1 inch fresh ginger

Green Machine
makes 1 serving

1 green apple
5 carrots
5 leafs dinosaur kale
1 cup spinach (packed)
½ cucumber
1 stalk celery
5 sprigs Italian parsley

Emotions: Day 1 was really exciting for me. I didn’t try any of my juices last night when I was preparing them so that I would be excited to drink them the next day. I woke up pumped to start the juice challenge and couldn’t wit to try each juice.

Hunger: I was busy all day today because my family and I went to watch our friend Javier perform on The Voice at WB. We were gone a majority of the day, so I didn’t have time to think about food or eat out of boredom. After the taping ended around 7 I started to get mildly hungry. We stopped by Panini for dinner but I stayed strong and sipped on green tea and a fresh juice.

Juice Critique:
Rise & Shine: Loved this juice. It was super energizing and the grapefruit gave it a nice punch. I’m thinking about adding some water to dilute the grapefruit next round, or maybe use a bit less.

Beet It: I’m obsessed with the color of this juice! I loved the first few sips, but had a hard time finishing the bottle near the end. It has a rather earthy taste to it from the beet. I think that next time I will use a smaller beet (mine was HUGE!) or add extra ginger. This one definitely needs some tweaking. Not my fav.

Green Machine: I surprisingly loved this juice. It smelled like straight up grass when I made it, but it tasted really fresh with a hint of sweet fro the apple! I may try adding some lemon next round. I will definitely be making more of this juice. Maybe I’ll swap it for the 3 Beet Its.

Throughout the day I also finished off 5 water bottles (so thirsty today!) and as we speak, I am sipping on a cup of organic Senna Leaf Tea to help with digestion, since juice contains no fiber.

So far, the juice challenge is a success! I’m taking it one day at a time, but I am feeling great and also very proud of myself for making it through dinner out with my family and not giving in. I’m excited for day 2, hopefully I will still be this pumped in the morning!

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Hurdles, Recipes, Tips

Frustration

Most of you have read my weight loss story and are aware of my success, and struggles. Today, I hit a bump in the road and found myself stuck in another body image slump. When I started this blog, I wanted to be honest with my readers and share my story, tips, recipes, struggles, and frustrations, so today I will share with you what I have been struggling with for the past few months.

Got a tres chic “Eat Rabbit Food” bracelet made from a street vendor at Fisherman’s Wharf when I was in San Francisco this weekend!

 I feel like I have been “dieting” for so long that losing weight is extremely easy for me. To my surprise, maintaining my weight is the real challenge. I know exactly what it takes to consistently lose weight, but maintaining is a whole different story. After I had lost a substantial amount of weight and wanted to start toning, I began to research, and read so many different theories about gaining muscle that it was enough to make my head spin. I had no idea which solution would work for me, weather it was a high protein low fat or low carb diet, weight training, resistance training… ahhh! I started adding more protein into my diet, but along with the protein came extra calories, which quickly turned into too many. I really struggled with finding a perfect balance to keep my weight stable while gaining muscle. Although I finally figured out what combination worked for me, it was a frustrating battle. During this time, I gained 5lbs, which was extremely discouraging for me. This was the first time I saw my weight go up since the start of my weight loss. Even though it was a small amount of weight, my obsession with the number on the scale was still present. I became depressed and stressed, not wanting to go out with friends or see anyone in fear of them noticing my “weight gain.” I was disappointed in myself for working so hard for so long and then “slipping up.” Even with the praise and encouragement of others, I could not be happy or content with my weight; it was purely mental. This was around the same time that I started to severely restrict my diet before turning my habits around.

Knowing how obsessive I can get about dieting, I wanted to let myself indulge and enjoy the holidays this past year. Over Christmas, Sam came to visit for a couple of weeks and I allowed myself to go out to dinner with him and actually enjoy food. It was still an uncomfortable struggle to eat a normal meal at a restaurant and not feel guilty or restrict afterwards. After Sam returned to Texas, I got back to my regular routine of healthy home cooked meals and felt very proud of myself for getting back on track and not having one ounce of guilt from the food I had consumed over the holidays. A week later I went to Texas to spend new years with Sam, and then flew to Denver with him and his family to go skiing. I had so much anxiety on this ski trip because of my eating habits. I didn’t want to look like the crazy girl with food issues, but I’m sure it was showing full force. I can’t eat like my 6’5 friend or his 6’6 brother and other tall athletic family members. I tried so hard to enjoy the vacation, but I was constantly thinking about food and counting ever calorie in my head. It was exhausting, but I couldn’t let go of it and enjoy myself in fear of gaining weight during the trip. After I returned home to Los Angeles, I could not get back to my regular routine. I was angry, and annoyed with myself that I could not get back to my healthy eating and exercise routine, and then I was even more upset with myself for letting this whole thing get to me. It was a terrible few weeks of self-hatred and disappointment, and it was all caused by food. After I finally got back on track and felt my clothes fitting again, along came a whirl of celebrations and events. My grandpa’s birthday, sister’s birthday, Valentine’s day, mom’s birthday, launch of my blog, trip to Japan, and trip to San Francisco all happened from January to April. It seemed like every week I had a commitment and I had no time for myself. I became stressed beyond belief, but was working on allowing myself to indulge without regret or anxiety at every affair. I noticed my weight starting to rise, but continued to exercise when I was home, and tried my hardest to cook balanced healthy meals. I wanted to be at peace with food and allow myself to celebrate and enjoy.

How cute are these veggies phone charms that I got from Japan? The Japanese never fail to make healthy foods cute.

When I arrived home from Japan , I noticed that my clothes were much tighter and I was uncomfortable, even in my favorite outfits. I stepped on the scale and noticed a significant weight gain. Once again my obsession with the number came back. If you remember how depressed and angry I felt after the first 5lbs I gained after my weight loss, you could only imagine how I felt at this time. I became ashamed of myself, embarrassed, and most of all; sad. I spent a majority of my days looking at myself in the mirror and thinking about how much I hated myself and my body. I was angry and started snapping at my friends, family all because I felt unhappy with my body. I hate that this has so much control over me. I don’t want my weight to affect my happiness anymore. I am not being fair to myself by letting food, weight, and body image get to me the way it does.

After an impromptu trip to San Francisco last week, I decided it was time for a change because “if you do not change, you will remain the same,” and I cannot sit around and be depressed about my body anymore. There are so many other things to be excited and happy about. After eating our way through San Francisco, my friend Erica, her sister Cece, and I watched the documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead together. The film is about an Australian man who juices for 60 days to reboot his system, heal the inside of his body, and lose weight. If you haven’t seen this movie already, you should definitely check it out. I have actually watched it twice before, but this time (third time is a charm, right?) it really struck something in me. Since I love a challenge and love to prove others and even myself wrong, so I am taking the juice challenge to cleanse my system of toxins, refresh my palette, and give my body the vitamins and minerals that it has been craving after months of celebrating. I am not sure how long I will juice, but I am excited to try different recipes and document/share my honest emotions and thoughts each day of the challenge. Since many people think that healthy eating is expensive, I’ll try to find the most affordable way to get the tastiest juices possible!

Last night I went to whole foods and found  a bunch of bottled juices on sale for 2 for $5, so I bought 6 of them, and then emptied the contents, removed the labels, and cleaned the bottles in preparation for my homemade juices.

Tonight, I am going to Erica’s house to create my first round of juices, and then starting tomorrow, Rabbit Food For My Bunny Teeth is going allllll liquid! Of course I will transition back to my fun Rabbit Food Pyramid meals after the challenge, but for right now, I need to take some time for myself to get back to where I was when I started this blog. If anyone else is interested in joining in on the juicing challenge, leave me a comment! Even swapping out one snack/meal per day with juice could be a great healthy start!

To prepare for my juice challenge, I am drinking Green Monsters and tons of water all day today! This recipe is based off of my original green smoothie with the addition of pineapple and more mint!

Green Monster:
makes 3 servings

1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup almond milk
1 bunch kale
1 frozen ripe banana (peel and freeze beforehand)
1 cup frozen mango
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 cup of mint leaves (I use one small package from Whole Foods)

Start off by combing orange juice and almond milk with kale and blend until smooth. Then add the frozen banana, mango, pineapple, and mint leaves. Blend until thick and smooth, pour into 3 glass jars and enjoy. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 2 days.


Question: What do you do when you are having a bad day? How do you get re-inspired to get healthy and stay on track?

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