Juicing, Karaoke & Armor of God

Thanks for the comment, Julie... I need to keep up with my blog here!!  We are still juicing and loving it.  Brent says that the green juices REALLY help him feel better.  Since it is digested quickly, it becomes a great energy booster.  We did a de-tox for 10 days and now we have about 1 meal a day with 3-4 juices (one being a smoothie).  Works great.

Here is a picture of my counter and how it gets filled with fruits.  Veggies are mostly in the fridge.  I get a big bag of carrots and keep them in the garage.  We have fruits and veggies all over the place now! ;)

My favorite juices have carrots in them... but I'm getting to like so many of them!

In the morning, we usually start out with a green juice like this one.

I often add to recipes I find.  This one has:  1 cucumber, 1 fist-full of kale, one fist-full of spinach, 3 stalks of celery, 1 huge broccoli stem, 1 green apple & 1/2 peeled lemon.  Feels good first thing in the morning.

Here is a smoothie before and after I blended it

 I put baby kale on the bottom, with 2 or 3 bananas, some frozen pitted cherries, fresh blueberries, 2 t. of chia-seeds and some almond milk (I never measure but just pour it in - maybe 1 cup)

And Voila!!  Two yummy good size smoothies!!

Here is another favorite juice (there are so many)

Orange Pom Juice with pomegranate seeds, oranges, apples and carrots

So, this last week I did something COMPLETELY NEW:  

I went to a Karaoke place and totally sang my heart out with some friends.  My hubs was there to cheer me on.  I have NEVER done this and here I am a 45 year old mama... but I rocked "Ice Ice Baby", I knew all the words from all those years DJing.  In-fact, I knew the words to most of the songs that weren't the most current.  Someone posted a little video from our karaoke night and dang, I looked so dorky... stupid even!!  But hey, I so don't care.  I choose not to cringe but to laugh!  It was so much fun.  I'm glad I didn't let fear of how I look stop me from just having fun!  We were a bunch of older white women rocking the place.  The DJ even came up with us once and sang with us.  She told us that we were one of the funnest groups that have come.  Most people try to sing ballads and are all so serious.  We proved that you don't need alcohol to have a good time!!

I was also asked to teach a class to some of our church women last Saturday.  My theme was on arming ourselves and our families.  I had to teach the same class three times to over 100 women.  I was nervous because I wanted to have something meaningful to teach and impact these wonderful sisters, that would actually help them in their daily lives.  I focused on putting on the armor of God, and I had a real sword and pretty impressive homemade shield there.  And one of my students from my Sunday School class drew this picture for me.  I asked him to draw a women in armor with her children behind her - facing a mean intimidating dragon - and also showing angels above ready to help.  

Here is what he drew (it was like 14" by 16" in actual size)

Isn't that A-MAY-ZING!!!!????

This young man has such talent!!

I talked about how our enemy attacks us in our minds - trying to get us to doubt or think badly of ourselves and others, and I shared ways to combat that.  

It was powerful for me because that has been MY struggle and is STILL often my biggest struggle.  

Our biggest battles are in our MINDS 

and how we PERCEIVE things. 

It takes WORK and effort to see the best in ourselves and in others and in situations... especially in difficult or hurtful situations where it is easy to become discouraged or bitter or overwhelmed.  But we don't HAVE to give in to those thoughts or feelings.  We do have a choice!  

For me, it involves LOTS of PRAYER to help me overcome my dragons!  

Just these last two days have been so seriously hard for me, and I have been fighting a sore battle that only my hubs truly knows about.  The thoughts and solutions that I was thinking to rid myself of the sorrow and torture I felt - I shudder to think.  I'm so thankful for prayer!  I'm so thankful for gentle guidance from above.  My prayers aren't answered in the way that I want or ask for... but I KNOW there is something I MUST need to learn.  I've got to BELIEVE that there is a higher purpose to heartache and trials that what I can see.

So here is to a POSITIVE NEW YEAR.  

No matter how this year has started - it can BE our BEST YEAR YET.

DON'T GIVE UP!!!

LIFE IS GOOD!!!

YOU are WORTH IT!!!

xoxOXoXOO ~Margene

One Week of Juicing and Smoothies Now

So today marks the end of a full week of juicing.  

We not only juiced, but we've added in smoothies too.  

For the basic smoothies we do:

* Banana

* Ice

* Other Fruit

* Veggie

* Almond Milk

* Agave (if needed for sweetening)

I usually add 3-4 bananas, and blueberries.  Yesterday I tried fresh pineapple with strawberries and bananas, that was a yummy tart (yet still sweet).  We've limited smoothies to 1 a day.  

And if we've felt a strong urge to munch, we've allowed ourselves a small amount of almonds or cashews.  

So for 1 week we've only been eating fresh vegetables, fruits, and some nuts!  

No processed foods.

Nothing else but fresh fruits, veggies, and nuts.    

Results so far:

* Brent has lost 12 pounds !

* I have lost 8 pounds !

* Our hunger level has gone down 

* My taste buds are being revived

I can taste subtleties and enjoy them

* More energy in general

* It's easier to feel positive

* Our kids are showing interest in eating better

* My daughter is making smoothies regularly now 

(mind you, she works at a fast food place and 

was always bringing home free shakes and eating them - so now they've been replaced!)

Here is some of what we've done this week:

ORANGE POM JUICE

 

I used these fruits and veggies: 

Seeds from 2 Pomegranates, 5 peeled oranges, 2 granny smith apples, and 2 carrots

 

Here it all is ready for the juicer.  It made three 16-20 oz. servings

Wow - it was so yummy!!  

SMOOTHIES!!

Here is one of the first smoothies we made with bananas and blueberries and almond milk

Brent made me this EPIC smoothie and is was SO good!!! 

(4 bananas, handful of blueberries, a few frozen pitted dark cherries, 1 big Kale leaf, some ice, some almond milk, and a tsp of Agave sweetener) - made 2 smoothies!

  

BROCCO-CARROT JUICE

I just made this juice this morning.  It has 1 big head of broccoli, 4 apples, and a bunch of carrots (8 maybe?)  Simple!  And it tasted great!  I was surprised at how it tasted, actually.  

Not everything I've made I've liked.  I made some juice that called for tomatoes and had garlic in it.  I put way too much garlic.  It wasn't so good.  Brent couldn't drink it.  But for the most part, we've enjoyed all the juices we've made, which I'm grateful for.

We'll I'm off to be productive today.  Hope you have a fantastic weekend!!

xoXoXOxo ~Margene

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