Our Journey in Juicing
Every time I post about juicing I get a whole boatload of questions and yesterday was no different. Here are some resources and ideas to get you started.
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Our Current Routine
Chuck’s routine right now is to get up at 5 am, go for a three-mile run and come home and juice just carrots before work. For lunch, he takes (I think) a couple of Clif Bars and some nuts. He drinks a ton of water at work. When he gets home he drinks a cup of coffee and juices a mixture of vegetables. Sometimes he eats a small portion of the dinner I cooked, other times he eats rice cakes and avocado, some raw nuts, and some fruit.
I juice once, sometimes twice a day. Yesterday’s juice consisted of one apple, one orange, four carrots, half a cucumber and a handful of spinach. Neither of us are “juice fasting” just adding it into our diet while focusing on eating healthy, whole foods. Juicing is a great way to get extra micronutrients (the ones that heal our bodies!) into our system. Imagine eating that pile of fruits and veggies as a “snack” after a run…Apollo also drinks juice daily and I believe it has contributed to his lack of sickness and colds this winter.
Are You Juicing for Weight Loss?
Am I planning to lose more weight? Yes…but I’m not focusing on a number as much as trying to become “lean” and lose the extra body fat I have. When I began this my body mass index number was exactly on the border between “normal” and “overweight”. It has been great to see my BMI drop and now be nowhere near the “overweight” mark. I will say I am within ten pounds of the weight I was when I got married…16 years and 9 babies ago! And I am proud of that. I am also proud of my new ability to run a mile…I couldn’t even do that back in high school!
So, it’s the overall picture of health and fitness that we are working toward, and weight loss just happens to be one of the benefits. Chuck is a heavy equipment operator and now has guys at work asking him about juicing. You can’t miss the fact that he’s lost 30 pounds!
Equipment We Use for Jucicing
We use a Champion Juicer. I don’t remember why we choose this one (we’ve had it for 8 years). Before that. we had an Omega jucier, which worked but was difficult to clean. My parents just bought a Breville juicer.
I look at every sip of juice that take as one step toward a healthier body and one step toward feeling better.
Resources for Juicing
This is an amazing documentary by Joe Cross. This is what jumpstarted our journey with juicing and health.
The follow-up to the original movie. Every bit as inspiring and informative!
Reboot with Joe Juice Diet: Lose Weight, Get Healthy and Feel Amazing!
Full of ideas, recipes and inspiring true stories. If you don’t want to buy it, check it out from your local library.
Websites and Free Recipes
Delicious recipes and gorgeous photos!
Ten delicious recipes to get you started.
Healthy Juice Recipes Board on Pinterest
Thanks for the info. BTW I love your new site, not as “homey” as the other one but I’m sure it will get there.
Thanks for all the info. I am sure you are already aware of this but I would make sure to watch the fruit in the juice. Not only is it pretty caloric in juice form(say juicing 3 pieces of fruit several times a day) all that frutcose is not good for you. I won’t bore you about the liver and it converting frutcose to fat etc…there are plenty of articles out there on the Internet about it.
I don’t have a juicer. i assume yours lets you drink the whole fruit? the peels or skin and all?
I am just throwing this out there mostly to others who read your blog and may start juicing. I have known people on Weight Watchers as an example start and gain weight as their(WW) program has a daily point target and now fruit and veggies are “zero points” in addition to this.
Really only 3 half cup servings a day are recomended. That could be a large banana and a very small apple. Being a vegetarian I myself have gained weight in the summer from watermelon etc. We can eat a whole one everyday if we wanted.LOL. However if you don’t usually workout or not a healthy eater I bet juicing can really help you.
Way to go!!!!
Does Chuck really run on an empty stomach? My DH runs and he cant phathom it. he however has a metabolism of a jack rabbit and puts natural PB on and in everything
Liz, yup, I totally limit my fruit juicing because it is so yummy I could live on just that. Usually I put one apple in my veggie juice because I like a bit of sweetness (Chuck never does). That photo is actually of the first time I ever put an orange in too! But hey, I was trying to be real, and that was the juice I had that day 🙂
Thanks for the posts on the fantastic lifestyle changes you’re undertaking!
Thinking about the fact that you’re eating well, exercising and still not feeling great… it certainly could be the sleep thing… but have you had your hemoglobin level checked recently? How about your thyroid level (TSH)? Anemia and hypothyroidism are really common and could both also contribute to making you feel rotten even with a good diet and activity.
Robyn, on the odd day I get some extra sleep (Chuck helps with Apollo or sleep in on the weekend when he’s home) I feel much better. If I still feel this way once I get some sleep, I will definitely get checked out. Thanks for you concern.
You know, I didn’t realize how chronically sleep deprived I was in medical school until I started on a non-clinical year and started getting 7-8 hours/night. Suddenly I could watch movies! Go to concerts! Talk on the phone! All without falling asleep! It was like getting an important part of my life back, that I had kind of forgotten I had.
Aaaaand, then I had kids. Oh well 🙂
Hi Renee
I read your juicing post with interest as we have just started doing the same for breakfast each morning. I use raw beetroot, celery, carrot, apple & orange.
I went to Joe Cross’s website for a few minutes then got distracted so didn’t read much. I could not believe my eyes when I went shopping yesterday afternoon at our local Woolworths store, there amongst the DVD’s was his Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead DVD!!!!! This guy is Australian and I have never heard about him before! What are the odds that that DVD would be sitting there waiting for me to buy it after reading your blog!??
Thanks so much, hubby and I will sit and watch it tonight. I think I have converted him… he was a bit dubious about drinking raw beetroot but says its very tasty now! Lol!
Cheers – Joolz (Australia)
I love love love juicing!! I’ve had my juicer for a few months now. I wish I could keep the kitchen counter clean enough to use it more regularly! I was trying to do it at least once a day, just to compliment my usual meals and make sure I was getting the needed fruits and veggies.