Nothing can keep me from it...

Can you tell that I haven't been on the grind? Can you tell I have been missing my committment to get healthy? Yes, I have been using the excuse that I am preparing my kids for school and job hunting.

But what is an excuse anyway but a reason to be a liar and cover personal failures? To disregard  my own words and remain the same person I was before I started? You may think I am being hard on myself and I agree I am. But I have to be this way. It's my health and long after the crisis that began this journey is forgotten, I must remember to be true and to love myself enough to accomplish this task.

Nothing but death can keep me from it...
                         Nettie in the Color Purple

Ho, ho, ho, Green Giant!

The box said Honey Brown, but that was a lie! What I got was black hair with green highlights. This is the last time I trust a $4.99 home hair color product. Lies, all lies! I was supposed to get some Beyonce hair. Instead I look like the Jolly Green Giant after playing with a faulty inkpen.

Oh Beyonce - if we could all look this good...

Work it Out!

As I reported before I cheated on my juice fast the last couple of days. I weighed myself today and YIKES, I am a startling 217.4. I am positive that I gained back the last 7.4 pound on my binge week which occured during the week of August 8 (the beginning of my fast break).

Today is a brand new day and I will not allow my failures to keep me down. I did learn that I can fast 7 days straight and I am celebrating this small success. I also learned that my body needed the fast just as much as it needs to ingest healthy on a regular basis. Believe it or not, I have been craving exercise.

Here is my stats for today.

Weight - a shocking 217.4
Exercise - 30 minutes on treadmill, 158 calories burned.

Breakfast
2 eggs
1/2 a grilled cheese sandwich
1 cup of coffee ( actually is was about 7 oz of coffee with creamer and organic milk)

I will update you about lunch, dinner, and snacks later.

Supplements and vitamins

B12 with folic acid liquid vitamin - 1 ml
spirulina - 1000 mg
MSM - 1000 mg
cinnamon w/ chromium - 1000 mg
Cod liver oil - 1 tablespoon - yes it tastes gross!
Multivitamin w/antioxidants - this (the antioxidants) is necessary for energy

School Dayz are a coming!

My kids will be going back to school in about 8 days. I even registered my 4-year for a 1/2 day of VPK. I am ohh sooo happy they are going, but a bit concerned for my little one. She can be fearful in new places.

Anyone out there have any tips to help with the new school blues?

LL Cool J make it happen

So I changed my background to that of the sultry LL Cool J. I am inspired by him, not because he is good looking but because it takes a crap load of work to look this good. Because he made a quality decision to get healthy and viola he kept his promise to himself.

I want to be this type of person. Will Smith penned - if you say your gonna run 4 miles and only run two, I never have to worry about losing a thing to you. If I don't keep this commitment to myself then I am the person he is talking about. And that is simply unacceptable.

Its Over Now

It's over now. My fast officially ended on Wednesday. But I have a confession to make... I cheated.

On Monday, I walked around thinking my fast was ending on Tuesday. But a quick look at the calendar confirmed my worst fears - two more days instead of one. I lost it... literally! All my will power went out the door. I went to Whole Foods and brought a whole naked chicken, sat down with my 4 year old and devoured half of it. Then my husband started asking me a thousand questions in the middle of my feast. My eyes involuntarily rolled in their sockets, I picked up my purse, and walked out the door chanting I need some alone time as I passed the threshold.

I found myself at Friday's with a new feast of steak, potato salad, and steamed broccoli. I devoured almost all of it including the Oreo ice cream dessert. Afterwards I felt sooo happy. I have continued to juice each morning, exercise each day, and take my vitamins. But I also eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner and snacks.

So I am on a new plan, eating healthy and exercising daily. By the way I need a new scale cause the old one started going crazy and giving me 6 different readings.

Pic derived from http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/ronwin/HamsterCarrot.jpg

Sea Bass, can I get some sea bass here?

All I can think about at this moment is eating Chilean Sea Bass cooked with shallots, garlic, and butter - some purple potatoes, and artichoke heart with hollandaise. And I have never even had hollandaise, but on the movie Julie and Julia that sauce looked soooo good.

I need to go grocery shopping, but my will power is waning. I think i may go in there and binge.There I am in the cookie aisle crunching on the Keebler Elf, downing chunks of chocolate chip cookies. I have been trying to think about something else all morning. I am now reasoning with myself that I should quit. I finished seven whole days, I lost a few pounds. Hey seven is the number of completion biblically right?

I keep considered what I said when I began. How I arrogantly beat my chest and professed a 10 day fast. Knowing, but not understanding, how very difficult this could be. Would I be wrong if I quit now? I feel sooo bad about contemplating ending the fast early.

Almost There

I am almost there...

Tomorrow, I will end my fast and I am looking forward to eating foods again. It has been challenging the past few days.

I purchased Naked 100% Juice Smoothie, Boosted, Green Machine. The juice was flavorful. However, I found it to be a bit too sweet for me. I noticed after I drank it I was running to the bathroom every 10 minutes or so. I believe the juice raise my sugar levels which caused me to urinate frequently. I even tried splicing it water. I drank this juice for the past 1.5 days. I then purchased the Naked Protein Juice Smoothie, Protein Zone.

After drinking these juices, the scale is now tipping at 212 lbs. So yes, I actually weigh more now than I did two days ago. I lost more weight sticking to my vegetable juice. But hey, I was busy playing with the kids and looking for my lost dogs.

In the end, I think this juice would be great for people who are working out and need the energy. However, it was not suitable for my juice fast where I did not exercise regularly. Also the green machine juice has 28 grams of sugar per serving, which is a bit too much for me.

Schnauzer for sale?

Today began innocently enough, happy kids, very happy husband eh um, and happy me. I strolled though Publix having happy conversations with the hubby. Picked up some green juice since they did not have any cute cucumbers and left the store. Came home, hubby went to bed, I took the kids and my two schnauzers for a walk-run-bike ride. Left the kids outside to play with the dogs and that's when it began.

One son ran into the other with his bike and knocked the wheel off. Handled that, but I ran late to my doctor's appointment where the assistant gave me the WTH look as I walked in apologizing. Other son calls me as I am leaving the doctor to tell me that my very cute schnauzers are missing. This is sooooo a problem. My girl Chai is extremely protective and will bite. My boy Codi is extremely friendly and will run up to anyone to play. This is a bad combination because Chai will follow Codi to the ends of the earth and feels the need to protect him from strangers.

I searched for the dogs up and down, round and round. I asked total strangers had they seen them - each person sending me in a different direction. Almost in tears and with a throbbing headache, I prayed. Lord please tell me where they are.

I was unsure at first, but the still small voice instructed me to go home, get some rest, and that the dogs would return. When I awoke, I told my husband what happened and he got dressed to begin searching. He walked outside and there they were tail wagging, barking happily. My hubby came in the house reporting the good news and asking a very good question.

Schnauzer for sale. Do we have two schnauzers for sale?

No, I replied. Chai and Codi are part of happy me.

Snotty McHottie

So I am on day 3 of my juice fast and I am considering calling myself Snotty McHottie. I have more slime than 100 snails racing toward a finishline. I am sitting on the couch with a roll of tissues and plenty of mucus to accompany them. Perhaps my snot will breed some new superpower. Snotty McHottie coming to save to the world from wayward toilet paper! Maybe not. Well maybe it will earn me a walk on roll on Grey's Anatomy? Definitely not!

So why all the mucus you ask.. Well according to JuiceFasting.org

"Juice fasting accomplishes the task of removing excess mucous, dead cells, and other entrapped foreign material and also supplies an abundant supply of nutrients which the body, in its renewed energy level, immediately utilizes to heal."

I am definitely looking forward to dropping the Snotty - and just being McHottie  :)

Weight 211.4

Image derived from mmii.info

Gosh darn sweatpants!

As you may already know, yesterday began my juice fast. I began strong, juicing every two hours - beets, kale, carrots, ginger, and squash. But then I had to make dinner for my family and I am writing to report... my miserable failure. I succumbed to chicken, broccoli, and mashed potatoes.

Soon after a horrific headache ensued - chasing me down til bedtime. It was a head throbbing, feeling like you have to vomit kinda headache. At the end of the day, there I was trying to upload my video blog on YouTube announcing to the world my shortcomings.

Weight

214.8 ? What after all that juicing, what? wait a minute...

213.1 - Okay that's better! Had to take off my watch and my heavy sweatpants.

So what's the lesson kids... watch + heavy sweatpants = 1.7 pounds and lots of confusion!

Sooo Juicy...

Today I am beginning my 10 day juice fast and I must admit I am a little afraid of failing. I spent quite a bit of money ($69) on fruits and veggies so that I can be oh soooo juicy!

Well that's not the whole truth. I believe that by doing this fast several things will occur.

   1. God will honor the sacrifice that I am making

   2. My body will respond in a positive manner

   3. My liver will be very happy since it won't have to break down all the processed food

   4. My body will be allowed to detox and get rid of all the toxins

Number 3 is very important since I do not have a gallbladder. Okay, you want the whole story about that right? I was in my twenty's when my gallbladder erupted and had to have emergency surgery to have it removed. I had never even considered it importance until now. After a bit of research I am realizing that the bile stored in the gall bladder helps in digestion so that the liver doesn't have to do all the work. My liver on the other hand is working overtime without the aid of gall bladder and the added bonus of being a body that likes to eat all kinds of fatty processed food.

So here's to you Ms. Liver! (I know you are superwoman because you are always working so very hard). I am giving you a little vacation, almost two weeks long. I hope you enjoy it.

Pic is juice made with beets, carrots, kale, ginger, and a little watermelon w/the rind on!

Weight - 213.6