Juice Fast: Day 2

OK, here's the post I want to write about yesterday:

I drank juice.

I didn't eat any food.

I was hungry.

I was grumpy.

The end.

But, since I choose to blog about my experiences, I guess I owe all of you a little more.  Except that I wasn't a very good blogger yesterday.  I failed to capture even one picture of all of the beautiful juices and smoothies I made.  Seriously.  Not even one!  I don't even have a good excuse.  Honestly, I just didn't do it.  Each time I made my juice or smoothie, I was in a rush because I, once again, have taken on too much.  So, I told myself each time that I would take a picture the next time...do you see where this is going.  And then, suddenly, it was 10pm and I was about to go to sleep.  And that's when I panicked about the fact that I didn't have any pictures for my post.  So, I did what any reasonable person would do.  I began putting together the juicer that I had cleaned just a couple of hours before and I started to load fruit and veggies on the counter.  Until Paul, in a state of confusion, asked me what I was doing.  When I told him I was recreating my juices from the day so I could take pictures of them for the blog, he gently reminded me that I was on my way to bed because I had to get up at 4am to go running with my running partner...you know, to train for that little marathon I have in a few weeks.

So, I dropped the ball on taking pictures.  But, I didn't drop the ball on the challenge.  I stayed committed all day.  I made wonderful juice concoctions full of beets, carrots, apples, celery, romaine lettuce, oranges, peppers, and many other fun fruits and vegetables (but not all at the same time).  I drank smoothies to fill me up and I felt good.  Except when I was hungry...which was actually a lot of the day. 

Here's the thing.  I really like this challenge, but Day 2 was definitely tough.  Don't get me wrong, I actually felt pretty good.  I felt less bloated and somehow "cleaner and clearer." But, I was also irritable and hungry and headachy.  So, I'm calling Day 2 a reasonable success.

I'm still glad I signed up for this challenge.  I like these things because they make me more mindful of what I'm putting into my body and how foods make me feel.  I'm such a mindless eater most of the time that I end up eating handfuls of random things throughout the day that I don't even know I'm eating.  I can't tell you how many random handfuls of cheddar bunnies and chocolate chips end up in my mouth on any given day.  So, this challenge is good because I actually have to pay attention to what I'm putting in my body.  I'm being more mindful.

But, I'm not going to lie.  I'm really looking forward to my bowl of yogurt and granola on Thursday morning...and my glass of wine Thursday night.  Wait a minute!  Isn't wine just grape juice...?

18 Miles!...oh yeah, and a juice fast

OK, before I recap my first day of the juice fast that Emilie has created, I have to talk about my biggest accomplishment yet.  On Saturday, I ran 18 miles!  That's the farthest I have ever run.  When I did my 16 mile run a couple of weeks ago, I had a REALLY awful run.  By mile 13, I was really doubting my ability to complete a marathon and I found myself telling Paul that I didn't think I was going to do it.  Then, when he told me I could drop out if I wanted, I got really mad and told him that there was no way I was going to drop out and have to tell everyone I decided not to do it.  Yeah, it wasn't my finest moment...hmmmm, now that I think about, I bet that's why Paul ran ahead of me for most of the 18 mile run on Saturday :)

So, because of my horrible experience during my 16 mile run, I was really dreading the 18 mile run.  My legs have the tendency to seize up around mile 11.5 and then I'm forced to run with permanent charlie horses...it's not fun AT ALL!  But, this week, I was proactive and made sure I drank Gatorade during the first few miles, and I used my camelback to stay hydrated the whole time.  It worked!  I only had one tiny little leg cramp around mile 15, and it went away as soon as I stopped to stretch it out.  I finished the run feeling good and strong, and I even felt like I had a couple more miles in me.  So, I'm hoping my 20 mile run is just as good.

I'm in the home stretch of marathon training.  The Vermont City Marathon is May 26th, so I only have a few weeks left.  I have reached the point in training where I fluctuate between complete excitement, total fear, and ominous dread.  One moment I am exhilarated by the thought of crossing the finish line, and the next moment I'm terrified of standing at the starting line.  Luckily, I have been through these feelings before with half marathon training, so I can talk myself through them. 

So, on to the second half of this post.  Emilie, my favorite blogger (it's true Emilie!) and Clean Food Challenge creator, organized a three day juice cleanse.  Since I always do the Clean Food Challenge along with Emilie, there was no question as to whether I would participate in the juice cleanse.  It started yesterday and ends tomorrow night.  Totally manageable!  I modified the cleanse slightly to accommodate the high mileage I'm running right now.  I didn't want my runs to suffer, so instead of just juice, I added smoothies to my day. 

My smoothies are pretty much just fruit, greens and water, so I figure it's close to all juice.  I'm also including  hemp seeds in my smoothies for some protein.  Oh, and I'm also allowing myself one cup of coffee each morning.  There is NO WAY I'm giving that up!

Yesterday went pretty well!  I had a smoothie for breakfast and dinner, and I drank Odwalla juice (Green Machine) for lunch.  I planned to make juice in the morning, but I didn't have enough time after my early morning run.  I also guzzled a lot of water!  I had some points during the day when I REALLY wanted to eat actual food.  At one point, my coworker was munching on tortilla chips and I wanted them so bad!  But, overall I felt like I could handle it.  So, I'm now on day two and I'm drinking my smoothie as I type.  I have some yummy juice for lunch and dinner will probably be another smoothie...or maybe one or two glasses of juice.  I'm wondering if today will be more difficult than yesterday.  I find with the Clean Food Challenge that I always struggle half way through.  I guess I'll just have to see what happens.  I'll keep you posted.

Green Day

No, I'm not writing about the band.  Although, I really like them.  I'm actually writing about my food.  I know, I know...I don't do a lot of food posts here, but sometimes I feel like it.  Today is one of those days.

On any given day, I strive to eat as many (natural) colors as possible.  I love to see a beautiful rainbow on my plate.  It makes me feel so healthy.  But, sometimes my day of eating ends up being a little less diverse.  Today is a perfect example.   I must have been in a green mood, because this is what I ate:

BREAKFAST

This was a delicious green smoothie made with water, baby spinach (4 cups), banana, clementine, frozen mango, frozen pineapple, chia seeds and hemp seeds.  This is one of my favorite smoothie combinations!


LUNCH

Split pea soup!  It doesn't look very vibrant, but it was yummy!


DINNER

OK, this really looks like a big mess, but it sure was delicious!  It's a makeshift "taco salad."  It's mostly lettuce and avocado with a veggie burger crumbled on top and some salsa sprinkled about.  It was the most colorful meal of the day, but it still had a lot of green in it.  Ignore the container.  I had to eat this "on the go."

I had a few snacks in between, including an apple cinnamon Chobani (green label) and a bunch of snap peas.  I also had a cup of green tea.

My day wasn't comprised of only green foods, but that seemed to be the overarching theme. I wonder what tomorrow will be like...

Do you try to eat as many colors as possible each day?  Do you ever have days where you eat mostly one color?  What are your favorite colors to eat?

Clean Food Challenge 2.0 - Days 3 & 4

Well, I made it through two more days.  Quite honestly, I'm having a pretty easy time.  I'm not feeling as grumpy as the first two days, and I think that I  made it over the sugar detox hump.  I still have my moments...moments where I have to go into the pantry and smell the bag of chocolate chips because I want chocolate so bad, but they pass pretty quickly.  I'm eating a lot less dried fruit, and when I do eat it, it seems really sweet to me.  All in all, I think this whole challenge is going pretty smoothly.  However, the weekend just arrived, and we have a jam-packed schedule that will put me in some pretty tempting situations.  I'll just have to keep reminding myself that this is only temporary and that my body will feel better once I'm done.

When I got home from work tonight, I went for a 3 mile run.  I don't know if it's because I haven't been able to run much lately, or if it is because I'm in the process of detoxing, but I was pretty sluggish and struggled through the 3 miles.  I remember the same thing happening the last time I did the clean food challenge.  It only happened in the beginning last time.  By the end of the challenge, I had more energy and endurance during my runs and workouts.  I'm going to pay close attention to it this time and see if the same thing happens.

For those who may wonder what I can possibly be eating, here's a list of some of the meals I have been enjoying:

Breakfast:  Overnight oats with almond milk and blueberries or a smoothie with almond milk, spinach, banana, blueberries, mango, hemp seeds, chia seeds and oats

Lunch:  Giant salads with tons of fresh veggies from my CSA and some beans for protein or leftover bean, corn and rice salad from dinner.

Dinner:  Fresh veggies, salads, sweet potatoes, beans and rice with black beans, corn, onions, tomato and avocado (this was absolutely delicious!)

Snacks:  dried fruit, veggies with hummus, rice cakes with almond butter, almonds, fruit and spinach/kale smoothies

Beverages:  coffee (one per day), water, seltzer, detox tea

As I said, my weekend is crazy, but I plan to stay on track.  I'm also going to make sure I run both days to get back on track.  Since I have been slacking so much on exercise lately, I'm in the process of developing an exercise plan for next week.  I'll post about it next time.

Smooth Moves

We are a smoothie lovin' family.  Ben (the 2 year-old) is obsessed with them, which is great because he doesn't eat a lot of food during the day.  He's more of a grazer (we all are, actually).  Almost every morning, Paul or I prepare a big batch of smoothies for breakfast.  Amelia (the 6 year-old) used to love smoothies, but now she prefers them frozen.  So, we always make sure we make enough to freeze into popsicles.  It's a healthy treat, and the kids love being able to eat popsicles for breakfast.  Our smoothie ingredients vary depending on what we have on hand, but typically include fresh/frozen fruit.  Most of our smoothies are also made with spinach or kale (green monsters) and either kefir or yogurt.  Even though we're pretty flexible with our add-ins, we have three smoothies that tend to be our favorites.

The Very Berry Smoothie

This is Paul's favorite smoothie and the one we tend to drink the most.  We make sure we always have frozen blueberries, strawberries and cherries on hand so that we can make this on a regular basis.  We make a huge batch of smoothies in the morning, which three of us drink right away.  The rest is frozen into popsicles.  If you want to make this for one or two people, just reduce the amount you put into the blender. 

2 cups strawberry kefir (you can also use plain kefir or yogurt)
1 large banana
2 - 3 cups of baby spinach or kale
1 - 1.5 cups of frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen cherries
ice (as needed to bring smoothie to desired icy, thick texture)

You may need to blend the non-frozen items first, then add the frozen fruit/ice and blend. We have a high power blender, so ours can handle all of the ingredients at once, but other blenders might have a hard time.

The Tropical Breeze Smoothie

This smoothie is my favorite, and Ben's as well, but I can't make it very often.  Paul is allergic to pineapple, so I have to make this smoothie when it is just for me and Ben (and the popsicle molds).

1.5 cups water

1 banana

1 small orange
2 cups spinach or kale
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 cup frozen mango
ice as needed

This smoothie is mostly fruit and spinach, so I often add hemp seeds or hemp protein powder to bulk it up a little.  This makes a great snack smoothie.  The best part is that it is a beautiful, vibrant green!

Funky Monkey Smoothie

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Ben and I are the only two who like this smoothie so I only make it for us.  I really enjoy this one as a post-run smoothie.

1 cup almond milk
1 banana
1/4 cup PB2 (peanut flour) - you can use regular peanut butter in place of the peanut flour
1 - 2 scoops of Amazing Grass Chocolate powder (this stuff is amazing!)
1/8 cup cocoa powder
drizzle of agave for sweetness (not necessary)
ice

Blend all of the ingredients together until thick and icy.  I'm telling you...this smoothie is delicious!



So, those are some of the "regulars" in our house.  We're always trying new combinations, and sometimes we have great success and other times we have major flops.  But, it's always fun to throw things together and see what we end up with. 

We really look forward to our smoothies, but it took a while for them to become part of our routine.  We never seemed to have the right ingredients on hand or the time to put everything together before we had to rush to work, but with a little planning and prep work, we were able to make them part of our day.  Here are some tips to help make sure you can have a smoothie whenever the mood strikes:

• Stock your freezer with plenty of frozen fruit.  Keep a variety on hand so that you can try different combos.  Our favorites are strawberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, mangoes, peaches, and pineapple
• Buy yogurt or kefir to have on hand as mix-ins
• Keep a container of baby spinach or a bunch of kale in the fridge so that it is ready to throw into your smoothies
• Keep your blender out on a counter (if you have the space) so that it is ready to use first thing in the morning
• Give yourself five extra minutes of time in the morning so that you can quickly blend up a smoothie to take with you on the way to work
• Buy some fun popsicle molds so that you can freeze the extra smoothie.  If you have kids, these will be a fun, healthy treat.  They can even eat them for breakfast in the car on the way to school or daycare if you are rushed in the morning.  If you don't have kids...enjoy them yourself

Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe or any tips to share?