Day 45 - I am a Kick Ass Woman

So it's day 45 and I am still going strong. I have been juicing at least 2 meals a day and have been exercising like crazy. I am feeling really good. I do not have Earth shattering numbers to share and I'm a bit bummed about that (but I am still one kick ass woman!)

To recap, I started this journey in late June at 197 pounds. I started juicing on August 4th at 192.9 pounds. It's 45 days later and I am now 179. That's not what I expected - I thought I would be down at least 20 by now, but LIFE gets in the way sometimes. I keep telling myself - take it one day at a time and try your best. Don't get down on yourself when life throws you a curve ball and NEVER look back.

I have started a Facebook group of kick ass women friends who want to eat right and get healthy - I am calling it Shrinking Sisters. The group is made up of my sister, 2 childhood friends, and 2 neighborhood friends. I am hoping to inspire them and get more encouragement myself. They have actually gotten out and exercised (except for my sister) and I am so proud of them. Sis, if you are reading this, you get a bye for one more week due to your injuries and then you need to get your butt moving!

My pledge for the week - I need to go back to hard core juicing. I want to see big numbers (I feel like a Biggest Loser contestant). Except for this Thursday (dinner with coworkers), I will JUICE ONLY for the next several days (I'm not committing to an actual number of days because my hubby reads this blog and will remind me, "ugh, weren't you going to ONLY drink juice for the next bla bla days?"

Wish me luck!

Day 32 - Goodbye Inches

Day 32. Feeling pretty great. Scale is moving down - in the right direction! I am still juicing for at least 2 meals a day. I have started running 3 miles and lifting weights every other day. Today I have no school, so I plan to take a long walk. It's glorious outside and I just can't sit inside all day. Since the beginning of the summer I have lost almost 17 pounds (11 since the juicing started on August 4th). That is like 3 gallons of milk. No wonder I have more energy! Carrying around that extra weight was hard on my body for sure.

I have some new and improved measurements to share:
Waist started at 41.5, now 39.
Hips started at 44, now 42.5.
Thigh started at 26, now 25.
Arm started at 15, now 14.
Breasts started at 44, now 42.5.

Feeling proud of myself. My goal is to lose another 10 pounds by October 1st. Think I can do it? You're damn right I can!

Day 29 - Feeling Fine

Tomorrow I will hit a huge milestone - not only will it be day 30 of juicing, but it will be day 30 of no Diet Coke. I think that is an even bigger accomplishment! To be completely honest, I have not stuck to just juicing for the last 29 days. As most of you know who have been following along on my journey, every day I have replaced at least 2 meals with juice. Yay me! (You gotta celebrate all the little wins and not focus on the shortcomings.) There have been several days in the past two weeks that I have had pho soup for dinner, or a turkey sub from Subway for lunch, or the occasional dinner. I have tried to make better choices and to stop myself before feeling full. Since the beginning of the summer I am down 16 pounds, and down 11 since starting the juicing. That's not as much as I wanted, but I am super proud of myself.

This week I am going hard core. No real meals at all (after tonight's Labor Day steak fajita meal with friends) and I am going to run/lift weights every day. This week I want to leave the 180s for good. I am soooooo close! The inches are coming off too. I have lost almost 3 inches just from my waist which is making a huge difference in how I look in my clothes. The bloat is gone and my tummy is getting flatter and flatter. I wore clothes this week that I bought 4 years ago and haven't been able to wear since. That's progress, my friends!

I'm off to drink my delicious morning juice. Here is the recipe:
5 handfuls of spinach
1 pear
1 peach
2 kiwis
3 big chunks of pineapple

Day 12 - Encouragement & New Baby!

185.4 - 7 pounds down.

Ok, so I lost 7 pounds in the first 7 days, but then as you know I ate on my birthday. I felt bloated and definitely retained water even though I tried to make good choices. I spent a couple days at 188. Boo. Sad face. However, I kept on drinking my juice and getting my fanny on the treadmill. Today I am finally back down the 7 pounds and a couple ounces more. Feeling good.

I want to say something today about encouragement. It is so important to feel the love and support coming from family and friends when you endeavor to do something this drastic. At first there were many skeptics and also many who were just concerned or worried about me not eating or about my blood sugars. Both skeptic and worriers were to be expected. Then there were the friends who said - YES, go for it, girl. It's like being in a race and having all these people who believe in you cheering you on along the way. When it gets tough, they remind you to push on, be a futurist, keep going. And, this juicing thing - MY juicing journey - has already started inspiring people and that is awesome. If I can inspire just ONE person to get healthier, then I will be super proud.

This quote was on the wall at the doctor's office. It's not necessarily about encouragement, but I thought it was fitting because even though I was up a few pounds, I kept on going.

One more thing to add about today - today we brought a new baby into the family. It's name - the Breville Elite commercial juicer. Yes, that's right folks, we upgraded to the Mack Daddy of all juicers. Stainless steel and titanium - oh my hubby was drooling just saying the word titanium.

Thanks for reading, and thank you to all my friends and family for helping me stay positive and focused on my journey.

Making the Juice Videos

Day 11 and still feeling great. The ladies at work could not believe I was drinking juice as they chowed down on their sandwiches, chips, Cokes, and cookies. They kept saying how gross it looked and how gross it probably tasted (WRONG) and how they could never go without chewing. HA! That's what I said once.

Last night I was so excited and energized that I made hubby take videos of me making the juice at 10:00 p.m. I felt like a celebrity on the Food Network!
The first video is me making my morning juice.

This next video is me making my version of the Mean Green.

This last video is me explaining how to clean the machine.

Talk to you tomorrow! Thanks again for all your encouragement.

Day 10 - Doctor Says Green Light!

Got some great news from my diabetes doctor today. He said my blood sugars are down and he 100% approves of my juicing plans. That's awesome folks. Yesterday was my birthday and I have to admit that I did eat lunch and dinner to celebrate, however today I have renewed my commitment to eat/drink nothing but my homemade veggie/fruit juices for the next 60 days. I am on my way out the door to go running since Grandma and Pop Pop took the boys to the fair!

This is one month's worth of needles from my insulin shots. Not fun at all. I am hoping in 60 days to be off insulin entirely.

New Recipe!
Morning Glory - the best yet!
5 big handfuls of spinach
1 peach
1 pear
3 handfuls of blueberries
3 handfuls of strawberries
2 pieces of pineapple
NO apples in this one.

Day 8 - Flawed, Fabulous, and 41

It's been a little over one week on my juicing journey and I am feeling great. I lost 7 pounds this week and even though one or two came back, overall I lost a total of 4 inches - one from my thighs, one off my bodacious tatas, one off the "no longer expanding" waist, and one off the ole hips. I am feeling fabulous. I spent the day at Mount Vernon with my husband's aunt. Boy, what an amazing place!

Tonight my boys wanted to go out for a birthday dinner to celebrate with mommy. I agreed and we went to Ruby Tuesday's. I ordered the chicken fresca which has the least amount of calories on the menu. I asked for steamed green beans, too. I was doing great until the waitress, a former student of mine, brought over dessert. She had written Happy Birthday in chocolate just for me, her favorite teacher EVER. I let the boys eat most of it.

It was a long day, but a good one. Here is a picture of me taken by my 5 year old. I look tired and my makeup was worn off, but I'm happy.

So tomorrow I am back on the juice and I plan to drink nothing but juice until Labor Day. Plus, I plan to really up the exercise. Wish me luck.

Here are some pictures of my groceries and my mason jars. They are great for storing the juice!

Birthday Blues (and Bloat)

10:30 p.m. Just got back from my birthday dinner and I feel disgusting. I ate solid food for the first time in 7 days and I tried to enjoy it, but the whole time this little voice inside my head was telling me it's just not worth it. That voice is ALWAYS right. I knew better but I convinced myself that it was my birthday and I should enjoy it. I didn't. Now I feel bloated and heavy. It's awful. So, looks like tomorrow I will bust my butt on the treadmill and drink my juice. Lesson learned.

Day 7 - Sweet Jesus This is Good!

185.6 - down 2 more pounds! Woo Hoo! Yippee!

It's the morning of day 7. After the boys bounded in at 6:30 (UGH) I laid in bed for the next fifteen minutes hoping and praying the scale would reflect all of my hard work. I actually tried visualizing the scale saying 185. In my mind that number would mean success. Sure enough, it said 185.6. Yesterday I ran 2.5 miles on the treadmill and tried to be very careful about how much juice I drank and how much of my delicious gazpacho I consumed. My run felt great and really cleared my head. A song by Pink came on that really hit me as ironic. It's called "Like a Pill".
The lyrics go:
I can't stay on your life support,
There's a shortage in the switch,
I can't stay on your morphine,
'Cause it's making me itch...

Run just as fast as I can
To the middle of nowhere
To the middle of my frustrated fears
And I swear you're just like a pill
Instead of makin' me better,
You keep makin' me ill

Guess what? The food that I had been eating was the "pill" and instead of nourishing my body, it actually made me sick. The food was my "life support" that was actually killing me one meal at a time, leading me down the path to diabetes (check), high blood pressure, heart disease, etc. My body was actually starving for the good stuff - never actually satisfied or satiated by what I was feeding it.

Question for all of you - If you don't take care of your body, where will you live? Chew on that for a moment!

Recipe of the Day: I'm calling it "Sweet Jesus" because when I tasted it for the first time I exclaimed, "Oh Sweet Jesus, this is good!"

Sweet Jesus
1 sweet potato (didn't peal it or anything, just stuck it in the juicer whole!)
1 apple
2 peaches
A handful of blueberries
A dash of cinnamon
It's soooooo good! Be careful though - since this one has no green veggies, it is probably a bit higher in natural sugars. Can only have this one once in awhile.

Tomorrow will be 1 week down. Amazing! I have lost 7 pounds in 7 days. Tonight is my birthday dinner though and I am going to eat. I'm not going to pig out like the old Devon would. I'm not going to order soda or alcohol - or birthday cake for that matter. No matter what the scale says tomorrow, I will greet the day with another glass of yummy, nutritious juice.

Day 6 - It's a God Thing

187 - no weight lost since yesterday.

Today I woke up and felt horrible. My head was pounding and my throat was hurting. I needed to just go back to sleep. It didn't help that I didn't lose any weight. So I slept until noon, got up and had a real heart-to-heart talk with my hubby.

Here are just some of his little pearls of wisdom: Weight is NOT the issue - it is the RESULT. (Wow, how brilliant is that?) The problem is in your head. It's how you think about food. You now have a new understanding of how food works and what your body needs (through watching these awesome documentaries: "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" and "Hungry for Change"). It's no coincidence that you are on this journey right now - it's a GOD thing. God is in control - not us! You have a sickness. You have to heal your brain or else you will just put the weight right back on again like you have so many times. You put food in the wrong priority. (Boy he is right about that!) Revel in the fact that you didn't lose weight (wait, what?) because it is not the "end all" - go pray, go run, go read, go do something else. This means you have to deal with all the steps of the process, not just skip to the end. It's forcing you to do it the right way and learn this time. The key is - you have to get right in your head.

Isn't he amazing? And damn it if he isn't right. Through this incredible dialogue we are also sharpening each other (it's biblical! LOL) and strengthening each other the way God wants us to as a married couple. It's so special to have such an amazing partner to walk through life with. Again I say, it's a God thing.

Full disclosure - last night I made a veggie soup that we did not juice. Basically I threw in tomatoes, onions, zucchini, green beans, peas, lima beans, and carrots along with 2 bay leaves, some dill and some parsley. I let that simmer for one hour and then put it in the blender. It needed a little salt and pepper, but was pretty darn tasty.

We are finding that there are not any rules to this "juicing" thing which is partly good and partly bad. It's easier not to break the rules when the rules are specifically laid out for you. But, since this is a lifestyle and not, I repeat not, a diet, we need to be able to make choices. It was a choice to make soup instead of juice the vegetables. Heck, it was a choice to make gazpacho instead of juice. Now maybe those choices have led to me not dropping as much weight as I wanted in the first 6 days, but those are both completely all-natural, all veggie, all homemade great foods that will nourish our bodies and minds. So I'm good with that.

New Yummy Juice Recipe!

So have I mentioned that I hate my hubby's "green shit" juice with a passion? It's basically Joe Cross's (from Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead) Mean Green except hubby adds a peach to sweeten it a bit. I don't like the taste of the celery or the ginger. By simply removing them, I created a very light, lemony juice sensation.

Recipe:

Light & Lemony

6 big kale leaves

1 large cucumber

2 apples

1/2 lemon

1 Peach

1 Pear

Enjoy and happy juicing!

Day 5

187.2 - only lost about a half pound. Think I need to stop weighing myself every day. Started the morning by making a new breakfast drink I am calling Going Bananas. Hubby and I both drank it and then went for a 20 minute walk. Felt good but a bit sluggish.

Dilemma! My birthday dinner which has been scheduled for months (also hubby's mother and aunt's birthday dinners) is on Saturday night. We have reservations at an upscale Indian restaurant. To eat or not to eat, that is the question. Many of my closest friends have weighed in about my dilemma and even my therapist (yes, I recently added a therapist to help with my food addiction). The consensus has been that I should eat but not go crazy, and then go back to juicing the next day. I know that my stomach will hurt for sure, but I can almost taste that chicken tika masala! My favorite. Is that being weak? Is that giving in to my old way of living? Or, is that being practical and affording myself a little grace? The point here is to be successful and not feel like I am denying myself, because let's face it folks, I am a food addict. It would be very awkward to sit at the table with 7 people celebrating birthdays and drink my juice. See, I am human! Flawed, fabulous, and days away from 41!

Recipes:

Going Bananas

Lots of spinach (and I'm talking like a whole bag)

About 20 straberries

About 30 blueberries

2 apples

2 peaches

After I juiced that, I threw it all into the blender with 1 banana. Yum!

Starting My Juicing Journey

Hi everyone! I'm Devon - wife, mother, teacher, writer, and unfortunately an overweight, diabetic, food addict. This is quite embarrassing to put all of this out there, but I really feel like I need to. Hopefully there are other people who can relate and will get inspired.

Here I am last Christmas with my husband. As you can see I am hiding my body as I try to do in every picture.

My food addiction started when I got to college and for the first time in my life I had complete control over my own eating. My habits were awful and have been awful ever since. I started college at 132 pounds thinking I was fat! As the years have gone by, I have added 60 pounds and have done every diet there is. I even tried phentermine pills three times, and had a breast reduction and tummy tuck thinking that would help me look skinnier. When I got married at age 31, I weighed 175 pounds and after our first child was born I weighed in at a whopping 200. I had gestational diabetes with the pregnancy which turned into type 2 diabetes. I have been living in total denial that I am a diabetic - still eating whatever I want and feeling horrible every time I have to get bloodwork done or see my doctor. Speaking of eating - I am definitely an emotional eater. I eat when I am happy, sad, angry, stressed, oh and simply awake! Ha, ha. I probably consume 3,000 calories a day. I have hidden food from my mother and my husband by going through the drive-thru at McDonalds and then taking out the garbage before anyone finds out. It's definitely a sickness.

So last Saturday night my husband wanted to watch this documentary called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" about an amazing man named Joe Cross from Australia who ate (drank) nothing but juice for 60 days and lost over 80 pounds. His auto-immune disease also was totally cured. I was immediately inspired and knew this is what I must do. I must "reboot" my system and stop this food addiction once and for all before I literally kill myself. I had to get a juicer and begin in the morning. It was Sunday and I knew Bed, Bath, and Beyond would not be open until 10 a.m. and I had to have breakfast, so we went to the grocery store and bought a "Naked" juice called "Green Machine". It is close to Joe's "Mean Green" and didn't taste that bad. Later that day we bought the juicer and got tons of veggies and fruits at Costco.

Here are the big, bad, ugly details:
Starting weight: 192.2
Measurements:
Breast 44"
Arm 15"
Thigh 26"
Hips 44" (and they don't lie)
Gut 41 1/2"

Wish me luck! Please feel free to leave a comment of encouragement or ask me a question, but please do not comment if you are going to be negative. I only need positive vibes sent my way! Thanks!