Juice Fast time!

Mike and I are starting this week off with a nice juice fast. Our goal is to go 7 days, more if possible.
Juice fasting is a great way to reboot the system. It pulls out toxins and can really be great for jump starting a healthy weight loss plan. Once we are done with the juice fast we will go back to green smoothies. I will be posting daily about our juice fast on our Facebook fan page. Here is the link http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crap-In-a-Blender/217512711667967
Juice fasting can be tough. It's emotionally taxing. This not for the faint of heart. One must be mentally prepared to endure a juice fast. As humans we get so used to eating eating eating and by nature we love to eat! Juicing is a great way to muster inner strength. It's also interesting to really listen to the body and discover just how addicted to food we become.
However there are so many wonderful benefits to juicing. Here are some

"Among the most interesting health benefits of juicing are its anti-aging benefits and its potential for alleviating symptoms of depression. The effects of juicing on depression are accomplished by providing a concentrated source of minerals like magnesium, potassium, iron, calcium, and folic acid. Deficiencies of these nutrients are associated with symptoms of depression.

Further, the concentration of antioxidants in juices combats the damaging effects that free radicals have on skin and muscle. Juicing can help keep skin free from wrinkles and muscles well toned. In addition, increasing the intake of antioxidants by juicing can slow the onset of age-related illnesses

In conjunction with its positive effects on health, the benefits of juicing also include the fact that it is relatively cost effective and convenient, especially if you prepare your own juices. By staying healthy as a result of increasing your intake of fresh juices, you can also reduce the need for expensive medications. Since there are no side effects associated with juicing, you can drink as much juice as you are able to tolerate, thereby maximizing health benefits. There are many tasty combinations of fruits and vegetables, and the variety of juices that can be prepared are likely to keep you in the habit of juicing once you realize the many health benefits that doing so can provide." Source: www.bestofjuicing.com

 If you have any health problems at all it's best to seek your doctor's advice before starting something dramatic like Juice fasting. Some people do need to be monitored through out the fast period. 

OMG! We eat like MONKEY'S!

This last weekend Mike and I took our girls to the zoo. We had a great time and enjoyed the exhibits. However, we noticed something odd...
As we were observing the spider monkey's and the Golden Tamarin's we noticed the food that had been laid out so neatly for them by their loving zoo keepers. They weren't eating spaghetti O's or mac N cheese or even ham sandwiches. Their lunch consisted of Kale, strawberries, bananas, spinach and a variety of other berries. As they were munching away on kale leaves Mike and I both got hungry so I reached into our backpack and pulled out 2 smoothies that we had blended up earlier that morning. In those smoothies were kale, spinach, bananas, strawberries and a few other mixed berries. As we were drinking our smoothies, I asked Mike if he thought they would share with us.

One of my favorite recipes

This is Mike's all time favorite! He could seriously have this 4 nights a week. The Feta and the squash are just amazing together!

Sweet and Spicy Butternut Squash
1 medium butternut squash peeled and cut into 1" cubes
2 T. olive oil
2T. maple syrup(I use pure maple syrup)
1T hot chili sauce
1tsp. salt(I actually omit the salt and it turns out just fine)
crumbled feta cheese(just for topping and to make it look pretty)
basil leaves
1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil
2. Toss squash with olive oil, maple syrup, chili sauce and salt
3. Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes, stir, then bake for another 20-25 minutes or until the squash is tender and carmelized
4. Top squash with feta cheese and basil leaves.
5. enjoy!

Just checking in

I haven't posted in awhile. Things have been a bit hectic and stressful. Still going strong though. I'm working hard on eating what I know I should. I think I've achieved a level of success in our lifestyle. A few days ago I had a massive snack attack hit. I went to the pantry and found no junk food to snack on. All I found was containers of raw nuts and dried fruits. I opened the fridge and found more fruits and veggies. I resorted to snacking on raw pecans and organic baby carrots.

My husband and I are also beginning to notice our taste buds are changing. We used to love going out for a nice dinner. I'm now finding that a lot of the food at some restaurants tastes off...Not quite as good as I remember it. I'm beginning to get to the point where I'd much rather just not go out to eat anymore. Kind of sad really...But maybe not really all that bad in the long run.

Speaking of running...I've started running using the Couch to 5k(C25K)program. Great program for beginning runners and runners like me who haven't ran since high school(I won't go in to detail how long ago that was, only I don't remember hurting as much back then as I do now). Nevertheless I enjoy my runs and I actually look forward to them.

I have a new documentary recommendation. I recently watched "Forks over Knives". Very informative on how processed foods are slowly killing us. It really goes hand in hand with the book "The China Study"(a good read). It does push a vegetarian agenda, but since when is eating whole foods a bad thing? I really think if more people ate a whole foods diet a lot of medical problems would magically clear up! I know from my own personal experience when I eat a good whole foods diet I feel a lot better. I have more energy, I can think clearer and my GERD issues are no longer issues. I'm also experiencing less joint and back pain.

A word about butter

Part of my eating plan is to get back to eating whole foods. Food that are non processed. Yes butter is one of them. Full of creamy delicious healthy fats. Here are some interesting fact about butter:

Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back.
It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings....

DO YOU KNOW.. The difference between margarine and butter?
Read on to the end...gets very interesting!

Both have the same amount of calories.

Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams; compared to5 grams for margarine.

Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.

Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few and only because they are added!
Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.

Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years.

And now, for Margarine..
Very High in Trans fatty acids.
Triples risk of coronary heart disease ...
Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)

Increases the risk of cancers up to five times..

Lowers quality of breast milk

Decreases immune response.

Decreases insulin response.

And here's the most disturbing fact... HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY INTERESTING!

Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC... and shares 27 ingredients with PAINT

These facts alone were enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

Open a tub of margarine and leave it open in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will notice a couple of things:

* no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something)

* it does not rot or smell differently because it has no value ; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny micro-organisms will not a find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?

Share This With Your Friends.....(If you want to butter them up')!

Chinese Proverb:

When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.

Pass the BUTTER PLEASE

Brag time!

I gave myself the goal to go 3 days without sugar! I'm proud to say I did it!! YAY ME!

Mike and I also weighed in this morning. I lost 3 pounds this week and Mike lost 2 WOOHOO. I also logged 26 miles this week on dailymile.com 16 of those were on a recumbent bike. That means that I walked an awesome 10 miles this week!

Reflection and giving thanks

Today I found out that a life long friend of mine when in for a simple surgery. Total time she should have been in the hospital was only 4 hours. She is now in a medically induced coma for the next 2 weeks. Several months ago she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and began having trouble with maintaining a healthy oxygen level. I am very saddened to hear this news. I have many fond memories of us growing up together. Every one of them is happy. She is a beautiful person and I pray for her to have a quick and speedy recovery.
Last month my oldest sister died from complications of diabetes. She would be turning 61 this coming Sunday. Out of 4 girls in my family I am the only one living.

These recent events have caused me to reflect upon my own life and my own health. For as long as I can remember I've always been blessed with good health. I had your standard childhood diseases like chicken pox, scarletina, ear infections,etc... I've also broken my share of bones and had to have stitches due to careless childhood mishaps. But I've always been, for the most part healthy.

At my age(39) I'm learning of more and more friends that suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. I have been so lucky even with being overweight that I haven't developed any of those diseases and I'm certainly in the "at risk" category as there are several family members that suffer from these various ailments.

I realize God has truly blessed me my whole life with good health. He has always wanted me to be healthy. I see that now. I still don't know why, but I feel that I would be most ungrateful if I let His gift of health go to waste. I guess in the end these events have solidified my decision and strengthened my commitment to achieve better health and to get this extra weight off. He has a plan for me and I do believe that in order for me to fulfill it I have to be at peak health.

I am so grateful today to God for giving me such a wonderful gift. Without good health I wouldn't be able to care for my loved ones.