Lookin Good There Ginger!

Day 7, 8 & 9.

Ok, ok, the red headed girl above is a pretty woman indeed. But this isn't exactly the type of ginger I am referring to here. Take a look at the picture posted below. It is a root. A ginger root. Today I'm going to touch a little on the power of the ginger root and why the Chinese swear by this root.

Ok so what's up with this stuff? What is it? Where does it come from? Why should we incorporate fresh ginger into our daily regiment of eating?

To start, the nutritional value of this root is for about 2 grams you're looking at about 2 cal for this little thing. That's like a tsp of the stuff. It's kinda sweet tasting, pungent almost. It's a great add for stir fry dishes with vegetables. Hence why it's so nice with your vegetable smoothie. But what is it exactly? 

It's a fix for everything from nausea, gastrointestinal relief, anti-inflammatory effects, colorectal cancer fighting abilities, ovarian cancer cell fighting abilities, immune enhancement. Overall, this stuff is good for your body!

Cultivated in South Asian, this stuff has spread out to East Africa and the Caribbean.  You can boil the stuff to make a nice ginger tea, then add a little honey and a slice of orange or lemon for something different and healthy for you!

Here, you can click on this link and shoot over to a site that has more information than I can give to you on one page. Click Here! 

So to fill you in on the weight aspect of my smoothie-ing. As yesterday marked my 7th day smoothie-ing, I started at 261LBS. I weigh 253LBS today. Yesterday evening I would have killed someone for a hamburger however. Or a steak. I came home last night and make a smoothie. I did cave a little, I had celery sticks (3) with about 1 tsp of organic peanut butter last night as a little treat. 

Cheers!

Focus, focus, focus...

Day 6.

Food is everywhere! I can't get away from it. This morning at work as I walked onto the unit (I work for a jail) fellow staff were watching some infomercial about a non stick pan that cooked up just about everything I would have eaten had I been able to jump right through the television screen. After the tenth minute of watching pork loin steaks covered with onion and apples and a sauce cooking, I was sad to leave the scene but forcefully, I did.

Today at lunch the food served by the facilities kitchen actually smelled good for a change and I...was...starving. So I poured my neon meanie drink and sat down on the couch while everyone else enjoyed solid cooked food. I cooly drank my lunch. Wondering just how bad would it be if I had one of those devilishly deceptive doughnuts from the Tim Horton's box? Or a fresh made muffin from the facility kitchen? Or just the brunch that was served?! I took another sip of my green drink. Looking at it wondering...? Am I really enjoying this?

By the time I finished the drink and got up, washed out the cup and returned it to my locker I realized how glad I was that I stayed the course. This is no easy task lol. Come on, you try not eating solid food, cooked, at that, for six days and put yourself around food. Yup, that's what I thought. Not to say you can't or couldn't. But could you? Challenge yourself and you'll see something you may not have seen before. Cheers!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Work I Go...

Day 5.

So today is day five and I'm feeling pretty ok. I had enough energy for my 12 hour shift which was nice considering I really didn't sleep well last night. The one thing I had trouble with today was for my first day back at work and fasting on smoothie's was having to sit in the staff lounge while everyone ate a cooked meal. There was also Tim Horton's doughnuts and muffins available to those who wanted them. Of course, the time I'm fasting someone gets generous to splurge on doughnuts for all the staff today.

Whatever, I resisted it and stuck to my Neon Meanie drink I pre-made in the morning and took a jug of the stuff with me to work. People had questions, some smirked at it and one guy even had a glass with me and enjoyed it. I felt better not only for having my smoothie, but for being able to stick to my guns and find the will power to not let food have control over me, but me having control over it. I felt dominant. I realized today watching everyone enjoy the meal they had in front of them I wondered how often do we even consciously or subconsciously realize we just may be a slave to the food in front of us?

I thought it would be tougher than I experienced today while at work and not being able to eat solid foods. It wasn't that tough at all. I only work four on with four days off so that helps too.

Just a note, I was too be setting up a video blog. Though I haven't made any videos yet, it's not to say that I won't. Stay tuned for those to come yet. Cheers!

I gotta go, I gotta go!

Day 4.

Holy Pee Pee Train Batman did I ever go to the bathroom a lot yesterday! Countless times up and down. Not just for a quick relief either, I'm talking a full bladder enough to put out a fire on a three story home. Another symptom I've noticed is how many times I'm brushing my teeth. It's like drinking three pots of coffee, your teeth afterward feel grimy. Must have something to do with the raw juicing perhaps. I couldn't find anything on this anywhere online.

So yesterday I felt like crap. No beating around that bush about it. Today I feel better. But haven't noticed any significant loss of weight yet. I do notice I don't feel so lethargic as I did 4 - 5 days ago and
have no problems waking up in the morning. I'll admit, I have not been true to the regiment of just juice. I have been eating solids, albeit carrots and celery. So I will need to phase these solids out completely I feel. As well today I will be using more greens than fruits. I feel the fruits are still loading my body up on sugar, and I need to cut out as much sugar as possible.

Tomorrow I'll be at work for 12 hours. So I'll be pre mixing everything I need and put it into a sealable plastic jug to take with me for the day. We'll see how that goes.

I have not incorporated any kind of exercising at all so far. I don't feel motivated just yet for anything. Maybe I'll start walking soon.

Am I Sick?

Day 2 & 3.

So incorporating day two events into today's day three blog, I gotta tell you, yesterday felt a little easier to tackle than day one did. However today, day three, I really don't feel so well. I feel sick. Throat is sore and red, slight headache, and here we go, bowl movements are......not solid. Hey, if I didn't add this stuff in here, you'd be silently asking yourself about it so I'm doing you a favour here in a way. That's why you're here right? To get the inside scope on this smoothie-ing thing.

So I feel sick. But am I really sick?

Let's look at some factors I've researched about this process...

Your body hordes toxins from the foods, chemicals (caffeine, alcohol) we put into it. So having that daily morning coffee in the morning or that evening can of pop at night when caffeine or theobromine gets stored in your tissues. When you detoxify, your tissues puts this stuff into the bloodstream to carry it out. Because your body gets overloaded with toxins, it can't dispose of everything, so it stores it in places.

Because your body expels of more toxins than it stores, it can and will start eliminating those toxins fairly quickly when you begin detoxifying. The downside to this process is you begin to feel sick because the toxins stored are all of the sudden are now in the bloodstream awaiting to be dumped out. Your immune system seems to react to them in the same manner. All in all, this is a natural process and you will get over it.

So, it seems that although I, or you, feel sick when detoxifying, we actually are not. We are on the path to becoming healthier. Stick with what you're doing. The 'sick' moments will pass. Sticking to anything is tough enough, but trying to stay with something that feels like it is making you feel sick is a real challenge. So here I am on day three. I see I am down 1 lb. It's one of many I hope.

I Have To Drink What?!

Day 1.

I fill the Vita-Mix with 3 cups of water. I add a bale of fresh kale. Handfuls of fresh spinach. A whole cucumber. I turn the juicer on and listen to the sound of my vegetable drink being blended at 240 mph. I slow the speed down long enough to open the top and toss in fresh pineapple, an apple and strawberries and add 4 celery sticks. The smell is that of freshly cut grass with a hint of banana as it is the last bit of fruit going into the Vita-Mix juicer. I stop the juicer and there sits an entire jug of blended vegetable and fruit mixed together to form this green sludge that apparently hampers powers in which Popeye himself attested to in years of cartoons.

This is juicing (smoothie-ing). And this is my experience.

Day 1 was yesterday, July 30th 2013. I've decided that in order to drop about 70lbs of weight I will try doing it through juicing. Though not new, juicing for me is. The people I've seen loose weight to this act is incomprehensible. Imagine, being able to loose 80lbs in 60 days simply by drinking your vegetables & fruits. Is this a miracle breakthrough. Not at all. It's science. From a nutritional standpoint anyway. Like the apes do, I will too. Berries, leaves (I'll pass on the bark thank you very much) and water. I will incorporate this kind of eating into my daily life and see what benefits I get out of this.

Will I become healthier or sick? Will I look younger as I once did 20 years ago or will I look horrible, as if I am in some sort of need of a sandwich or doughnut? Will I ultimately lose weight? More so will I loose the weight I have set as a goal to lose?  We'll find out soon enough. All tracked through a blog in which I will update everyday to give you a firsthand look at the changes, struggles (and headaches) I will be experiencing.

Yesterday I experienced a bad headache. Not sure if it was from the sudden change in eating, or the lack of caffeine. I suppose from the lack of coffee I was now quitting. Popped a couple of Motrin to help ease the pain. I was already hungry as it was and now to have a headache to boot was not going over for me. But I was doing it...I was really now juicing! How worth it is this process going to be I wondered? So day one was tough as nails. Hoping day two goes better is anyone's guess.

No more solid foods. No alcohol. No caffeine. I must drink only raw fruits & vegetables. For the next 60 days. Cheers.