TGIF

Convenience Food

Thank you Jesus! It's Friday and we have hit our stride. The scales have tipped and we are ready to relax with friends and family.

Yep, even though I've been seeing physical changes the scale has been stagnant for 5 days. Apparently all I needed to do, was be hungry! I know you want to know how much, but you are going to have to keep following along until the end. How else can I get you to come back? Believe me, it's awesome so you don't want to miss it!


Meals where easy today. My Vet and I started with orange, grapefruit, and lime. For lunch I whipped up carrots, tomatoes, onion, yellow pepper, and chickpeas. Last night I added some beans to our juice and it gave it a nice hummus kind of flavor, and made it more filling. Since I learned from yesterday, I drained the beans into the pitcher, then 'juiced' the chickpeas at level 5 prior to juicing the other juicier ingredients. Dinner found us on the road, so we just bought a bottle of vegetable juice.

Exercise was much lighter today, some walking, and a bike ride. Hope I continue to see results without having to find more stumps to dig out of the yard!

Our view for the evening!

As I sit in the car smelling the girls McD's I am doing better than I would have
thought. Yet, I am looking forward to the 4th of July picnics next week. (That will be Day 12!!)

Day 6

What I juiced for lunch

I have had my challenges in days 1-5, but I haven't been really hungry until today. I am still not super excited about another glass of juice. However, I am hungry enough to not really care. Goodby gag reflex!



My lunch tasted fine, but think it would have made a really nice salad all chopped finely and tossed together, then it would been much more filling.

Posing with their certificates for a free small DQ cone.
They got these for wearing their helmets while riding bikes.

After lunch the girls and I went on a bike ride and stopped at a local ice cream place. They had their frozen treat and I had mine, a handful of frozen peas. :-P 

Then, on our way to the park the girls "Got Caught" by the police wearing their bike helmets!

For todays exercise, the girls and I dug a stump out of the front yard. Future exercise will include hauling dirt in, to fill a mysterious, giant hole in my front yard!

Supper was a yummy mix of white navy beans, tomato, green pepper, carrots, and onion.

 After 6 days, I am noticing some changes. My muffin top is gone! I still have a ways to go to get to my goal, but I am definitely heading in the right direction again!

A Berry Good Day 5

Including a few things for the girls $50 in additional
fruits and veggies

Last night I was done. I went to bed "knowing" that today I would tell you it was over. Thank you, to all of you who are encouraging me and following my journey. It is your words that have me going 1 more day.

Breakfast was pleasant. Tomatoes, green apple, and a glove of garlic. (I did need a piece of gum after the garlic though).

For lunch I followed the advice of a friend and stuck with fruit. Pineapple, strawberry, grapes, and blueberries. My stomach is feeling much better, and I am heading to the store this afternoon to restock our supplies...

My oldest didn't want to get caught on camera eating
I think that is a twinge of green in her eyes.
As soon as the camera was off she grabbed a
big handfull and shoved them in her mouth!

Look closely at today's shopping trip. Yes, that is another case of blueberries. We love blueberries in this house. You might even notice that one of those pints is empty. A casualty of the ride home. As a kid I thought everyone in Minnesota ate blueberries all the time. (Special thanks to my aunt who would make blueberry pancakes when we visited!) Since they are priced so good in the summer, I stock my freezer, and even can them. That way, I get to eat them whenever I want without breaking my grocery budget. They are on sale a little early this year, which is excellent since we ran out in early May this year!!! (My girls love blueberries as much as I do.)

For supper we whipped up a drink we had made before, tomatoes, celery, cucumber, and lime. Last time I left on the lime rind and substituted zuchinni. It wasn't bad tonight. But it was definitely better the first time. In the inspiration movie, they drank 4 a day. We've only been doing 3. (knowing we could have another if we got hungry.)

Today felt productive. I spent a couple hours decluttering my office. When I was done and looked around though, I realized I still have hours more work to do. I think I will publish this post so I can hang in my living room instead!

4th Day of Juice

32oz taunting me as I type

Don't get me wrong, I love fruits and vegetables, I even like brussel sprouts, peas, and beets. As a kid I would even drink the tomato juice mom had in the fridge. Now on day four of this juice fast I am struggling. The mere thought of vegetable juice, triggers my gag reflex. Walking home to make breakfast this morning I decided to stick to fruits and made Orange, grapefruit, lime. Yummy I will be drinking that long after this challenge is over.

My Vet made lunch again today. A giant concoction with, watermelon, celery, broccoli, and allegedly pineapple. Did I mention my gag reflex? Apparently smelling it is as bad as thinking about it. When will this feeling in my stomach subside?

I also want to mention the dull headache I have had since day One. In the video, several people mentioned getting them day one and never again. So I didn't think anything about it at first. It felt like a sinus headache, so this morning I took some allergy medicine and it is gone now. Hopefully for good.

For dinner I tried a "stomach calming" combination of cabbage, carrots, and apple. I am ready to quit. The scale shows zero change, the headache that was under control during lunch is back. I have not had any extra energy. About 8 years ago I lost more weight than I have now to lose. I did it by eating right and exercising. I quickly got back to that after my first child. It was only after my second that it got out of control again. I blame an extremely slow recovery from the C-section, and being confined to the house the entire duration of a really long, really cold Minnesota winter. Earlier this year I lost 15 lbs and have kept them off. Even though I fell off the, eat right and exercise, wagon on a trip to MO filled with homemade yummy deep dish pizza, still warm from the oven gooey butter cake, and a new melt in your mouth treat, goose feathers.

All I can think about is all the food I want to eat when this is over. (Sounds like a good way to erase any loses.) With the eat right and exercise method, I was allowed to eat treats and still lose. I know that is why I was able to keep it off for so long. I look forward to my old method based on the "8 Minutes in the Morning" method of weight loss.

Third Day

Water gun challenge game, I made
this today for
water day at preschool this week

Since I go to work extremely early I usually eat breakfast on my break. So at 6:30 AM, My Vet woke to the sound of kiwi, grapes, and celery going through the juicer. Our juicer is a really nice one, so the girls continued to sleep.
By lunch we were both famished. I cheated and had a bite of the girls lunch, and he drank a cup of coffee. My Vet beat me home from work, so he whipped up Grapefruit, celery, and carrots for lunch. My Vet wasn't a fan, yet I really enjoyed the tang of the grapefruit.

Empty Laundry baskets on a Monday!!

The people in our inspiration movie, claimed that they had loads of energy. I can't stop yawning, but I am getting more done than usual around the house. If the rest of this challenge only produces 7 more days of this kind of productivity, even with no noticible health benefits, I would still be extremely happy.



For those of you wanting to know what we are eating. Chard, celery, and pineapple made a grossly green dinner, but actually tasted ok.

What's up with the Juice?

Only Day 2?

Cheater, Cheater, Pun'kin Eater!!!

I woke up this morning and had two thoughts. "The sun is up, I am late for work! Oh wait it's the weekend" followed by "I'm hungry do I really have to have another juice?". Last night's supper was a plug your nose and swallow fast kind of a meal.

For breakfast I decided to consult the book that came with the juicer and stick to a recipe. Apples, carrots, and celery, it wasn't terrible and I was able to make the girls' pancakes without eating one.

At lunch time, My Vet wasn't hungry, so I cheated and just ate a big hunk of watermelon. (I don't really get how not eating the pulp, makes that big of a difference. Rationalizing... This isn't looking so good for me.) :-P

Afternoon Snack. I should have taken a different angle so
you could tell how LARGE a glass it is.

 My Vet is doing well though, he hasn't cheated and seems to be feeling OK.

Juice Fast Day One

Day 1, Meal 1

Friday night My Vet and I put the girls to bed, and sat down to watch a movie on "The Flix". He choose "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead", I had noticed this in the queue, and was not the least interested so yeah! (To avoid confusion: italics in this case mean sarcasm.)

Now it is Saturday, My Vet has headed off to Bed Bath and Beyond to pick up a juicer. (I signed up on their website and forwarded a 20% off coupon to his smart phone.) Then Aldi, Sams, and who knows where else to pick up fruits and veggies so we can start a 10 day Juice Fast.

$70 in Fruits and Veggies Ouch!!

My Vet is really excited to try it. I am being supportive. :-)


While he left to go shopping the girls and I  biked to the new bakery for donuts. :-) Then to the Farmer's Market where we found a good deal on Swiss Chard and Green Onions. Here we go..

Before the Juice Fast

Follow along

Good Measure

I saw this great idea on Pinterest, and decided I had to make two! One for me and my girls, and one for my sister's new family. It really wasn't hard at all. I started with a 12 foot length of 1x8 pine that I had left over from a previous project. I measured 6 feet and cut. Now I had 2 boards for my "rulers".

Using a Measuring Tape and a pencil I made marks along the board every inch.

I then used a Steel Square to make 1 inch lines at every mark. (Every third line I made 1.5")

I used my computer to print out numbers 1-6
Scribbled on the back with a pencil to create carbon for the transfer
Then I simple outlined the numbers transferring the carbon to the board so I would have lines to follow. At the Bottom I placed the 1 foot mark 6 inches/marks from the bottom. This allows for hanging above trim on the wall and makes the ruler taller since most people in my family are over 6 feet tall.

I then warmed up my wood burning tool, and slowly burned the lines and numbers into the 'ruler'. You could paint them, but I felt that the burning gave it a more authentic 'old school ruler' look.

Finished ruler hanging in the girls room.

I then lightly sanded and brushed on polyurethane (sanding between coats).

Nailed on a hanger at exactly 5 feet. (makes it easier to hang, measure up 5 feet from floor put in nail or screw, hang)

Since I already had all the materials on hand this project didn't cost me a thing, and was super cute!