Juicing- Day 30

I have 16 days left! 

Here's what I have discovered:

1.  I can survive without food.

2.  My hair and fingernails are growing like crazy!

3.  My tongue has a coating on it that feels gross and makes me really thirsty, which makes me drink lots of water, which is a very good thing.

4.  Beets taste and smell like dirt and there is no way around that.

5.  My very favorite juice is a Virgin Bloody Mary.  It's delicious and the Tabasco makes it seem a little heartier.

6.  Apples and carrots are too sugary to be in the same drink.

7.  I broke 3 juicers (only one of them smoked though) before I finally invested in the Breville Juice Fountain Elite.  It's fancy and sturdy!

8.  I've had two dreams about chewing food, but when you are awake and dreaming of chewing, gum is very helpful.  

9.  So far, 4 of my brave friends are juicing with me!!

10.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually sad that I'm almost done. I hate to be corny about it, but I feel better physically and emotionally than I have in years.

Juicing- Day 16

This is the strangest thing ever, especially for someone who loves to eat as much as I do, but this juicing stuff has been surprisingly easy.  OK, maybe EASY isn't the right word.  It has been doable.  I'm thinking my May 4th deadline is something I can do.  So here's the scoop:


1.  It takes some planning.  I need to be prepared for the day because it's not like I have a spare juicer everywhere I go.  I generally make enough in the morning for breakfast and to get through the day at work.

2.  I drink 4-6 juices per day.  It averages to about 1200 calories per day.  Basically, if I'm hungry, I drink juice.

3.  I also have a decaf hot tea every day, just to get a little warm something into my body.

4.  I go through a LOT of fruit and vegetables.  A LOT!!  I read somewhere that the majority of your juice should be veggies, so I'm cramming broccoli and/or kale into every juice I make.  I wind up going to the grocery about 4 times a week, otherwise things will spoil before I can get to them.

5.  For some odd reason I have been cooking like crazy.  I must be a masochist.  I sit and stare at my family through dinner while slurping on green juice.

6.  I've gone to a few restaurants and it was sort of awkward at first, but I just bring my juice, ask for a glass of ice and leave a big tip!

7.  That juicer is a pain in the a** to clean.  The end.

8.  The weight has been falling off me.  I have lost 16 pounds and feel so awesome!

9.  Hannah loves my juice.  Except that one experimental kind.  No one liked that.

10.  I know I mentioned it before, but the first 5 days SUCK.  It seems like there are food smells everywhere and not chewing is hard.  I had an awful headache from quitting caffeine.  But then, it got so much better- so don't give up.

11.  I worried that I wouldn't be able to get enough protein, but I did some research and found that as long as I add enough leafy greens, I should be just fine.

I'm Juicing!

After watching the documentary, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, Paul and I decided to start juicing.  And when I say "Paul and I" I really mean we decided that I would juice.  And Paul would support me.  And by support me I mean clean my juicer, sample my concoctions, get my produce and send me texts throughout the day of smiley faces and hearts, which actually is perfect because it turns out the juicer is no picnic to clean and I require lots of supportive texts.

So, I went to the computer, printed some recipes and headed off to the grocery.  After spending quite a bit of money on strange things that I have never eaten (fennel! mustard greens! kale!) I came home determined to do this.  We had a juicer that my mother-in-law gave us that had yet to be used, so once I figured out how to put the thing together I was ready to go!

Now, according to the Reboot with Joe website, whenever I am hungry I will drink a juice.  Between 4-6 per day.  And lots of water.  And that's it.  Did you hear me?  AND THAT'S IT.  So that is what I have done.

And I have to tell you, the first 4 days were bad.  Really, really bad.  I had headaches from the lack of caffeine, I was lethargic, I was hungry, I couldn't focus, I was grumpy, and there were some *ahem* gastrointestinal issues.  The documentary had warned me that this was going to happen, so I was prepared. Even so,  I could only think of food.  All.  The.  Time.

But, then it got better.  Day 5 there was no headache, I was beginning to lose weight, I survived a party where there was cake and pizza!  I didn't feel as grumpy, and I was sort of learning to be ok with being a little hungry sometimes.  Day 5 was also the day I broke the juicer.  Smoke was coming from it and the juice I made tasted like a burnt rubber tire.  Apparently in order to juice a sweet potato you have to have a pretty heavy duty juicer and mine just didn't cut it.  So, in the role of "supporter" Paul ran out to Walmart to get a juicer of at least 800 watts.  Except they didn't have any, nor the other Walmart, nor Target.  Finally he hit the jackpot at Kohl's!  So, I'm now the proud owner of a 900 watt non-masticating juicer.

Sweet Potato Juice that killed the Juicer #1

So, here I am at Day 7.  I feel great.  I'm still testing recipes.  I've lost 11(!) pounds.  I've started back on my treadmill again.  I'm wearing pants that I haven't been able to wear in a few months.  My goal is to juice for the next 40 days (in other words until May 4th.)  It's gonna be hard.

Work fridge with my juice supply!

The Artist Is Present

The other day I watched a documentary on the performance artist, Marina Abramovic. It covered the retrospective of her art at the Museum of Modern Art with about 50 pieces of her work, some "re-performanced" by other artists on one floor and a new piece, performed by the artist, on another.  While performance art isn't something I really dig, and her some of her work in particular is very strange, I was so moved by her new piece: The Artist Is Present.

In this piece, she sat in a chair at a table opposite an empty chair. She sat there for 6 days a week for every minute the museum was open. 7 hours a day. For 3 months. Without moving.

The public was invited to sit opposite her. Marina looked down until she felt the patron was seated, then looked up and locked eyes with the person. They sat across from each other in silence. Marina just stared at them, trying to look into their soul. Concentrating just on them.

For 2 months she did this with a table in the middle. For the last month she felt that she could remove the table and just sit with no barriers. Completely vulnerable.

At times the person sitting across from her would cry, at times Marina would silently cry. For someone to just sit, with no distractions, and just PAY ATTENTION to you is disconcerting. For some, it seemed as if no one had looked at them, REALLY looked for quite some time.

No retrospective of Marina's work would be complete without sharing the intense love story between Marina and Ulay, which began in the 70's.  They performed art out of the van they lived in.  When they felt the relationship had run its course, they decided to walk the Great Wall of China, each from one end, meeting for one last big hug in the middle and never seeing each other again.  At her show, Ulay arrived and this is what happened: