Powering Up Our Lives: JUICING

Thank you to all those who read and / or commented on my last post.  

Your words gave me energy!  

I have been learning about energy recently and how everything has energy.  

Our thoughts and our words have energy.  

I FELT the energy from your comments and felt invigorated.  So Thank you!

Okay, we decided NOT to wait until 2014 to begin our juicing fast / detox.  So we went to our grocer and picked up some fruits and veggies.  I think this was the first time that that is all we had in our shopping cart! It looked like this when we got home.  

We started last Saturday, so today is our 3rd day!  

I'm so glad we did because already today, I feel less bloated.  Even my fingers feel skinnier.  

That first day was kinda hard for me, I'll admit.  My thoughts raced from "What have I got myself into?", to "I'm not sure I can do this for very long."  I got a little moody and down.

But I held out and did NOT let those thoughts determine my choices. :)

Today, both Brent and I feel more energy!  

We didn't sleep in as long and feel more alert and focused!  

I feel committed and excited!

Our first juice was called "Mean Green"

 

It had apples, cucumbers, celery, kale, lemon and ginger in it.  And it wasn't bad at all.  We liked it.

One time I added in more veggies than was listed - It was okay, but Brent prefers I stick to actual recipes for now. :p

Other ones we've had are:

 

Can't BEET it Juice and Sunset Passion Juice

Our Favorite was just this morning:  

Jolt Juice with apples, oranges, cucumber, lemon and kale.  That was pretty tasty!

We have been watching all kinds of health and food videos and reading lots of articles.  With cancer and heart disease in both our families, it's time to get more serious about our eating and help our children as well.

  Avoiding cancer and heart disease with a healthy diet is our TOP PRIORITY.

Along with feeling better and doing all that we want to do!  

I want to eat foods that BOLSTER our immune system 

rather than weaken it!

One video we liked was called "Forks over Knives".  Following that documentary, we got this food chart above (a simple version of a more detailed chart) that we are going to incorporate into our family's food and eating.  Eating so much less meat and dairy may be hard at first, but the statistics are powerful and I'm ready to do what I need to do to take that risk of cancer and heart disease way way down!  There is a lot of information here, from one of the doctors on that documentary.  Very interesting.

And really, there are so many great documentaries to open our eyes to what is going on in our food industry. We can't afford to ignore it anymore!

2014 looks AWESOME!  Life is good!!

XoxOXoxOXO ~Margene

For Things To Change...

Any readers still reading this blog?

Yes, I have been absent and yes I have been avoiding my blog. 

Some quick things that have gone on lately:

1. My oldest turned 21!  (Amazing since I don't seem to have aged!  lol)

2. My daughter won state champs in her marching band!

3. Brent and I celebrated our 25th Wedding anniversary!  (See what cool thing I did - I pinned it here)

Okay, Keeping it REAL.

I have had same huge ups and downs in my life since moving here to Utah two years ago.  Slowly, I've let my own health slip down in priority as the challenges have crept in.  My knee injury  has set me back from basketball and running.  As I've missed out on those fun things, I've also slipped into some old negative thinking, and slowly packed on some weight.  Grrr.  

Here's a clue that my body has been growing.  After driving errands and shopping one day, I got home to realize I had a little tear in my pants... like a gaping rip tear.   Dang!

How did I not notice this?  How did someone not tell me?  Maybe they thought it was a fashion statement.  Maybe I'm glad no one told me, actually.  And I did get a big laugh from this, um... I'm realizing that although  I've made several attempts to jump back into a healthier eating and exercising regime with some success, overall  I'm finding it difficult to keep it consistent.

So, the hubs and I have decided that 2014 is our year again!  

Our year to get back our health 

(before it gets away from us),

and to get back our 

ENERGY, 

our ZEST FOR LIFE, 

and our MOJO.  

It is now our biggest priority again!

I'm so grateful for the success that we've already had, and knowing that IT CAN HAPPEN.  Believing it's possible is really half the battle.  It's about wanting it bad enough.  It's about focusing on the GOAL and not the reasons or excuses.

To jump start us, we are going on a minimum 10-day Juicing fast (or feast as some call it).  This will help clean out our bodies of toxins and help re-set our cravings. 

We got inspired by this video "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" a documentary by Joe Cross.  Have you seen this?

I've also been concerned about our cancer risks.  My neighbor friend just passed away after a hard battle with cancer.  Also my dad died of lymphoma cancer at age 64, and his mom died from breast cancer.  My own sister is a breast cancer survivor. 

I know that the way we eat can put us at more risk for getting cancer. What we eat affects our moods, our health, our looks, and our ability to think and focus.

I watched this video about cancer which I found very interesting - they do try to have you buy an info kit, but just watching the video is very enlightening.  It comes down to what we eat and several foods contribute to cancer and several foods help prevent cancer.  Why don't our doctors focus on what we eat?  Why do they always go to prescribing meds?  Okay, that's another topic!!

I got a juicer for Christmas! 

So, after our 10-day (or longer) jump start juicing jamboree, we plan on continuing on with organic fresh/raw veggies and fruit, smaller portion meals, and adding in some Medifast meals as well.  We still love the Medifast products and the 5:1 Take Shape For Life weight loss system that has saved our lives already.

Who's with me for big changes in 2014?  

What are your plans and goals?

I want to go ROCK CLIMBING again, I want to get my knee healed and enjoy BASKETBALL again.  And I want to NOT have my pants rip again.  lol

Here's my motto:  

For things to change, I must change.  

For things to get better, I must get better!!

~Margene