So, Why Do You Juice?

Earlier this week, someone said to me "Why are you juicing?  Why don't you just eat less and eat healthier.  You can lose weight by doing that."

I had to smile and take a deep breath before I answered her.

Why am I juicing?  Well, it's because I am sick of being unhealthy, toxic and fat. I wasn't happy with the way I looked or the way I my body was feeling. I would eat, but I was never satisfied. I would calorie restrict and my weight wouldn't budge or it would increase. I knew that my body needed a reboot!

Let me share a little story about my journey to Fatville (don't worry, I got a return ticket to Slimtown).

Before I started juicing, I had tried many 'diets' that failed.  One was a calorie restricting whey-based shake program that my friends raved about.  I, being slightly overweight at the time (210 lbs), jumped on the bandwagon because I saw them losing weight and I wanted to lose weight too.

The program consisted of 2 whey based shakes a day, two 100 calorie snacks and a small 500 calorie meal. (calorie count target for the day was like 1200 to 1500!!!  RED flag #1) The program didn't have a list of foods you couldn't eat, just a list of the ones you could eat .  The list had 10 foods on it (Another BIG red flag there!!).   Then there were the cleanse days where you would drink this awful thin 'juice' drink and eat these chalk like wafers that tasted like sh**.  The program was essentially shake days and cleanse days.  I forgot to mention that the program was 300 dollars per month, and that didn't include the third meal of the day!  That was just for the shakes and the juice powder crap.

When I started, I initially lost weight, but I never could get through those cleanse days.  I would get so nauseated and dizzy and I would always end up breaking down and eating, binge eating. I was always hungry too.  I can remember being at my job and obsessing about what I could pick up on the way home because I was so hungry.  The worst part of it was that I would lose some weight when I was on the program, but the minute I went off of it, the weight would come back with a few more pounds too. That craziness went on for far too long.

So I quit the program and I started to learn about food, eating, and nutrition.  I did research and poured over books and studies about processed food.  Last summer, I decided to minimize my intake of processed foods and add more fresh fruit and vegetables to my diet.

Amazingly, when I did this, I felt better immediately!  My headaches went away, I lost a few pounds and I felt good! Also, while on my quest for knowledge about food, I stumbled upon a few documentaries.  "Fat Sick & Nearly Dead ", "Vegucated " and "Forks Over Knives " made such an impact on me that I decided to change the way I eat and to try juicing.

Now I'm hooked! I will continue to juice and eat like this forever! I am not starving myself and I love the food.  It's absolutely wonderful!  I am happy and I love how I feel and if I never eat processed food, meat and dairy again, then so be it.

That's how Let's Juice It came to be. :)

Keep it juicy, juicy fruits!

Juice of the Day

Funky Radish

1 Small Apple

1 Tomato

1 Cucumber

1 Dongchimi Radish

1/2 Head of Cabbage
5 Kale Leaves