Juicing Update

As promised, I did the BluePrint Cleanse on Wednesday and Thursday this week.  I did the "Renovation" cleanse, which is for beginners.  That's me!  Though it took some getting used to, I felt great and knew I had a good choice waiting for me when I got hungry again.  I wondered if I could be satisfied with six little bottles of liquid, and the answer is....yes and no. 

Yes for a couple of reasons. After all, it was about 1100 calories in total, not starvation by any means, because I never believe in starvation, even if you have a significant amount of weight to lose.   Yes also, because I really did get accustomed to feeling satisfied with a reasonable amount of food, even if it was in liquid form.  Also, all of the juices were delicious.

No, because there were other people around me eating at appropriate societal intervals, and I felt like I, well, wanted something.  On Wednesday, I had a meeting that included lunch at a restaurant and I brought my juice along.  The juice was delicious, but I supplemented with half of an avocado with a bit of salt.  As a 1/4 of an avocado was allowed, I felt I was cheating, which, of course, made me feel like that was a ridiculous attitude.  (We should choose what we want and feel good about it with no judgment.  It surprised me that an avocado would make me feel this way.  It tasted pretty great!)  On Thursday, I had a meeting that also included lunch, this time in a conference room.  I brought along my juice and supplemented with some cucumber and celery stalks and some sea salt.  It did the trick and I felt like I was eating right along with everyone else.

Also, they recommend that you can have 1/2 cup of black coffee, herbal tea, or a few other little things if you really need it.  They also recommend hydrating with water regularly, which I should have done more, but just woke up this morning feeling just a bit more thirsty than usual.

I had coffee with a little cream both mornings, mostly decaf, and just one small dollop of cream each day.  I cooked for my family at night and took just a small taste of the seasoning, but that was it.  I did okay, and I lost 3.5 pounds.  I only need to lose about 10 lbs, so this was a nice jump start.  I felt that was the added bonus, as I really do feel good today, full of a new understanding about how much food I think I need and how much I really need. I had energy throughout, remained regular, if you know what I mean, and maintained my normal schedule, which tends to be a bit demanding.

Juicing for Health

 

I decided, finally, this week, after feeling stressed and really tired, to try a little juice cleanse. In the past month, I have visited Elyssa Hurlbut, MS, RD, my nutritionist, two times to get myself back on track, and have now decided to step it up a bit, jump start my progress.  Elyssa did not recommend a cleanse but also did not say not to.  One of my clients did the blue print cleanse (BPC, based in NYC) a couple of weeks ago and she said it was pretty easy, so I figured I would try it too.  I start it just for two days, beginning Wednesday morning through Thursday night.

There are many facets to embracing a healthier lifestyle, including conscious eating, balancing what you eat, resting, peace and fitting exercise into our sometimes busy and stressful lives.


I just went back to taking vitamins about a month ago too.  I have never been a big fan of vitamins but as you get older, we apparently need to supplement our food with vitamins and minerals for optimal nutrition every day.


My daughter Jess Cording is writing an article on juicing, and this also pushed my decision for a juicing cleanse over the edge to a definite yes. I had been flirting with the idea for a few months ever since I discovered Dr Lissa Rankin's blog, Owning Pink, especially her blog on juicing and how it changed her life.

About a month ago I began drinking wheatgrass juice every day, whether fresh, frozen or powdered.  I like the fresh best for taste and for how my body reacts, and secondly frozen.  I am not crazy about the powdered, but to each their own.

I will keep you posted.