Saturday, which is the setting for Day 6, was by far the HARDEST day yet. I don't know if it was one cookout invitation too much or just a natural "detox" craving, but I was literally kicking and screaming. Here is my problem- I loooooove my breakfast fruit juice (not the problem)- but I haaaaaate the lunch and dinner juices. I know a lot of people will mix fruit and veggie juices for the taste, but in my research, I read time and time again that the method of doing that is less than ideal because of how the body breaks each one down. I dread eating. I would rather not "eat" at all, than "eat" a "Garden Guzzler". The tastes are overwhelming. We had 6 days with 2 meals of veggie combos- 12 in total and I could not find something I liked. I cheated sometimes and put some tomato paste in it, so I could stomach the concoction, but then I felt like I was cheating somehow. I mean, I was seriously gagging this stuff down. It would take me probably 5 times as long as Michael to drink it and each one was done begrudgingly. I honestly don't know how people do it. Either my taste buds are broken (which I guess isn't a ridiculous option seeing as how we have been inundate with chemicals in our foods my entire lifetime) or my taste buds are really super amazing. I taste everything that goes into a juice. It doesn't harmoniously blend together...
But. I pushed on. After I literally screamed at the universe for a little while. It's so frustrating. I want to crave these veggies instead of hamburger and fries- and the thing is... I think I do. I think through this, I have come to appreciate the work that goes into our food. I don't want to be a mindless grocery shopper (no offense intended...) any longer who just marvels at the options at the store, without giving any consideration how it got there. I appreciate farmers and I especially appreciate those that work extra hard to provide us with organic options. I think I would choose veggies over burgers, but not in juice form!
Michael had me watch Paranormal Activty 2. Good, sweet, heavenly Lord Jesus, why did I agree to such foolery? We followed it up with half of Sherlock Holmes, the first one. I immediately thought about how cool it would be to teach Sir Arthur Conan Doyle next year. We had an excerpt from one of his books in a PSSA book I use. The other cool part is, because they have been around so long, they are free on this one website! Yay! Working in a district with no money makes you inventive with stuff like that.
So, I kid you not, I had nightmares about creating juice combinations to ward off evil spirits. I woke up in a frantic around 4:30 this morning. Thankfully the sun was slightly brightening the sky. I Pinterested for about an hour until I fell back asleep with the sun peeping in my window to scare away anything unGodly. Oh, and I sang myself to sleep with hymns and worship songs... silently of course, as to not wake Michael because he would just have entirely too much fun with that... Hah...
Ahh.... mile marker- Day 7- Week One. Whew!
After we enjoyed another amazing breakfast- we have been putting in 1 whole lemon and 1 whole lime- I had a mini hissy fit. Michael is such a graciously loving man. My goodness.
I wanted to end the juice fast today. Partially because the thought of stomaching another veggie combo was enough to send me over the edge, and partially because, as Michael calculated... this whole deal is 2% of our year for a week or 4% for 2 weeks. What about the 98% or 96%? We are heading down to my grandmother's house June 24th to July 1st. I have NEVER visited my grandmother without putting on at least 10 pounds. I have thwarted months of hard work with my gram's Italian prowess. I'm getting anxiety about it. I need a plan in place and to have one week to transition into "the 98%" wasn't enough. We would have had to spent at least 4 days coming out of the fast slowly as to not freak out our whole body, with 3 days of experimenting with portions, and self-control. I pleaded with Michael. He said he didn't want to be a quitter, and I explained all that I just wrote and he agreed. I don't think we are quitting. I think we are transferring our newly learned appreciations and experiences into the 98%.
Things I learned:
1. Fresh fruit juice with absolutely no additives is fantastic.
2. Farmer's markets are amazing. Farmers are amazing. I appreciate their hard work.
3. My dollar is power in this country. I will choose to spend it on foods that will prolong my life and nourish my body instead of slowly killing me prematurely. $40 on 40 pounds of fresh produce is an amazing deal!
4. I love vegetables- beets, spinach, kale, tomatoes, peppers of all kinds, cucumbers, carrots- just not in juice form. Stumbling around in my research I've found plenty of vegan, vegetarian and raw recipes that I cannot wait to try!
5. Michael is such an amazing support system! I'm blessed beyond measure to have him.
6. Our bodies require so little to function properly. Not that I'm going extreme here, but my body did just fine once I chocked back 3 juices each day. Not only that, but I felt sustained, energetic, healthy. I listened to my body for the first time in, maybe forever. It was nice to be in tuned with myself. Small portions will be the way I'm moving forward.
7. You cannot juice a banana or a mango. :0)
8. Juicing is something I would like to continue both daily as a supplement (fruit juices of course) and perhaps a reboot on occasion.
9. Turning to God for my source of strength in challenging times (my weakest moments) is what He is there for... There's no shame in earnestly praying, "Dear Lord, please give me the self control not to buy 17 whoopie pies and eat them as fast as I can in my car, but instead help me to appreciate the Garden Guzzler for all that it will do for my body." *
10. I am married to the most amazing man. I am part of the coolest team Earth has to offer. We support each other, talk things through, and grow together instead of apart. I'm proud of us- even if we fell short of our ultimate 2 week goal. We did something that most people can't claim. Starting this, we got a lot of "I tried that and it lasted 2 meals before I bought McDonald's"-type stories. Well we didn't do that... for a whole week! If you can do it for longer, that's awesome!
Michael and I spent our morning figuring out the plan for the next phases of our summer, which kinda awesomely reflects all scenarios we will probably ever encounter:
Phase 1: Transition to Whole Foods (lots of fruit, vegetables and soup- again listening to my body) (about 3 days)
Phase 2: Grandma's (Learning portion control (overall SELF CONTROL), making good choices, what to do when you aren't in control of the food presented, but are in control of the choices you make) (1 week)
Phase 3: Traveling on Tour (How to you make good choices when a kitchen isn't available? What roadside obstacles are there? Again- CHOICES AND SELF CONTROL!) (3 weeks)
Phase 4: Being apart (How to trust our own choices when we do not have a support system... how to be accountable to ourselves and each other) (2 weeks)
Phase 5: Routine (school will start again and Michael will be home, so how will that look? How many meals? Are the lessons in self control habits?)
We enjoyed our first meal of veggie kabobs and corn on the cob (all grilled). We each had about half a plate full of veggies, once cooked down and were satisfied. I knew I liked vegetables! ;-)
We watched Shutter Island and Mr. Universe tonight. Both were great. Shutter Island reinforced how fragile the human mind is. How people who have experienced horrific things make up a reality so they can even move forward and face another day. I love things that have to do with the mind. It's another thing I have learned to stand back in awe of- the human mind. Capable of creation, originality, schemes and lies... That movie was fantastic and illustrated those points splendidly- 4.5/5 (only because I had to have the ending explained to me.... everything was too suspicious that I didn't want to believe anything... even the end). Mr. Universe, aka Jim Gaffigan, was splendid! He's a genius in his craft. It was just what the doctor ordered... a nice lighthearted comedy skit just before bed! I do hope I dream of creating vegetable dish creations to invite comedians into my home! :-)
Good night!
Tomorrow I would like to post my one week stats! Including inches and pounds lost and blood pressure change.
*Actual prayer prayed.
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