Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Juicy Juice

I'm one of those people who may not have the healthiest relationship with food. I tend to eat my feelings. And boy, lately I've had a lot of feelings. It's part of the reason this blog has been neglected, because it's not been for lack of subject matter. So, I decided that I needed to renegotiate my relationship with food before I had to buy a new wardrobe, and not for the better - if you know what I mean.

Since putting my girls on a raw diet five months ago, they have been thriving. Pick something and it's better ten-fold: coat, breath, teeth, energy, etc. So, I started doing research on raw diets for people and came across a juicing program that both detoxes your body and helps you ease your way into a vegetarian lifestyle, something that I've always wanted to do, but have never been able to successfully do for any length of time.

So I purchased a juicer to make my own organic, raw fruit and vegetable juices. And after a bit of research on recipes that I thought might taste good, I went to the grocery and cleaned out the tiny organic section of our produce department.

Now, I honestly have never bought that many vegetables in my entire life. Ever. I even bought beets people! All I could think of while I was piling my basket full of all these healthy fruits and veggies was, "I bet my poop will be colorful."

I wasn't scared of the fruit juice. I knew it wouldn't taste like Tropicana, but it was fruit juice - so it couldn't be bad. I do have to admit that I was a bit afraid of the veggie juice. But I found that I really liked carrot juice - and so did my Siamese cat. I couldn't keep her out of it. She'd stick her face so far down in the glass that she would stain her cheeks orange. I learned the secret was to juice an apple with any veggie juice and it makes it better.

When you use a juicer, what's left in the machine is the fiber/pulp of the vegetable. After the first day I felt like it was a waste to just throw that stuff away. I don't have a compost pile, which seemed like an ideal place for this stuff to go. But wait - I do have a compost pile, two compost piles actually: Seka and Roxy. This seemed like a great way to add in veggies and fruits to their diets without me having to get out the darn food processor and mix it up special for them. So I scraped out the pulp and put it in ice cube trays and poured some low sodium chicken broth over the top. Now every day they get a little chicken pop treat, which they love.

So for five days all I consumed was fresh, organic juice. Usually it was fruit in the morning, veggie at lunch and fruit at night. I also had green tea. After getting over the hurdle of the first day and thinking about food constantly, it surprisingly wasn't hard. I had a lot of energy, despite the lack of chewable food. I didn't crave anything. After coming off of my fast, I've eaten a small vegetarian (I eat fish, eggs, cheese and milk) meal mid-day and still juice morning and night. I feel good and I don't have crazy cravings at all hours of the day. I also reach for the water bottle when I'm feeling stressed, which is still happening regularly. But all in all, my switch to a raw-er way of life has been good. I guess I should have paid more attention to my girls all along!

10 comments:

Alex said...

Ouch- I made my family bacon-cheeseburgers and onion rings for dinner- then read this post, Talk about guilt!

IHateToast said...

sounds good, but i'm not with you on the beets. they put beets in burgers here. big slab of pink on burgers. beets beets beets.

i want a juicer now. oh, but not for beets.

Unknown said...

I feel your food pains. Every single time I try and squeeze into my jeans that fit this time last year but not so much this year.

I was just looking up how to be a vegetable the other day. Glad you posted this. Hope you keep it up. I need some good inspiration.

Maria Peters said...

Heather,

Big hug to you...sounds like you have a lot going on. One question...did you have colorful poop? LOL.

ps...so excited to see your new entry!

Anonymous said...

You might want to consider reading up a little on macrobiotic foods. Juicing is great (I do it every day), but if you're not careful by cutting out all the fatty meat and cheese (something everyone should do), you can easily deplete yourself of much needed substance after a while. You can get it with brown rice, beans, tofu, and healthy fats like avocado and seeds. But that's if you're really serious! Good luck and enjoy! I'm totally trying the pulp cubes with my cats....

Zan said...

Leave it to a raw feeder to immediately think of the expected output resulting from such colorful input!

I second Maria's excitement at seeing a post from you!!

Never Say Never Greyhounds said...

I am almost inspired to get out my juicer :-). I have to admit that I do not like the veggie juice, but I am amazed by how many veggies fit into one glass. Makes me feel good to consume that many veggies via one lowsy glass of juice. :-) Good luck!

Jen

Anonymous said...

This is inspiring and what a great use of the left-overs! I think I am going to have to get a juicer!

Aragon greyhounds said...

Interesting idea. I am just getting into trying raw food for my greys. I spent hours and broke a food processer trying to grind up all the vegetables for them.
Helen

thebellagreyhound said...

oh man now I want a juicer too!