Weight: 222.8
Yesterday
Breakfast: nothing
Lunch: 2 - 12oz V8
Afternoon snack: 12oz V8
Dinner: 18 - 24oz of soup, 40oz of juice, 2Tblspn all natural peanut butter, 2 stalks celery
Water: Not enough. I didn't drink much water yesterday. Less than 32oz.
Last night I decided that I would try a little solid food. I took the veggies that were getting wilty in the fridge and weren't good candidates for juice and chopped them up. I also took the pulp from the veggies of my juice last night and added it. I tossed in some spices and some canned veggies (chopped tomatoes) as well as some chicken broth. I took the broccoli florets and put them in the soup, while juicing the broccoli stems.
My juice last night was very veggie tasting. Lots of kale, lots of spinach, broccoli, carrot. I added a few small apples (granny smith, very small) and a couple medium red delicious apples. I added a pear and a lemon. After I'd juiced all that, I remembered the strawberries and blue berries. I juiced them, then tossed in another apple (to clean the screen and get all the blueberry out). Adding the strawberry and blueberry completely overpowered the veggie taste. I refer to it as tasting "smoothe" or "dull" when there is a mix of veggies in with the fruits. I don't know any other way to describe it. Straight fruit juice is "vibrant" and "sweet" and "tangy". Adding veggies to it makes it "smoothe" and "dull" -- though usually still sweet.
It amazes me how *sweet* veggies taste to me, now. I never in my life thought of them as "sweet". Tomatoes, carrots, peppers, celery, cabbage, broccoli -- even brussel sprouts! It all tastes very sweet to me, now.
I've discovered that putting items into your juicer in a particular order works better. Apples always go last. They have a thin, watery juice that cleans things out and causes the pulpy to flow out better. Leafy stuff always first: kale, chard, spinach, parsley, etc. Follow that with a cleansing juice: apple, pear. Next are the pulpier fruits: strawberries, blueberries, peaches, orange, lemon. Follow everything with apples. Also, juicing lots of pulpy stuff sometimes requires adding apples *with* it, so it doesn't clog up the juice spigot.
Armed with my juice (kale, red pepper, celery, cabbage, carrots, spinach, broccoli (stems), apple, pear, peach, strawberry, blueberry) and my soup (carrots, celery, cabbage, broccoli (florets), tomatoes, onion, brussel sprouts, red pepper, cabbage, kale, spinach, oregano, basil, parsley, "cajun spices," "mexican spices," cumin, black pepper, garlic salt, tobasco) I went downstairs to watch a movie with my wife. I found a couple wilty celery stalks and some all-natural peanut butter. I dipped the stalks and had about 2 tablespoons of peanut butter on the celery stalks.
It was a very yummy dinner. I had about 3-4 cups of soup, 40oz of juice, a couple celery stalks and 2 tablespoons of (all natural) peanut butter.
I emphasize "all natural" peanut butter because the stuff you buy on the shelf in grocery stores is mostly corn syrup. It's high in calories and fat. It's processed. Any food value it might have had is mostly gone and all you have are a high calorie, fatty source of a little protein. With the all natural, you have high protein with some fat and no sugars, so low calorie. I prefer all natural cashew butter, but I'm out and the next co-op order isn't for another month and a half. *sigh*
I had an urge to snack on more peanut butter, but I resisted the urge. I simply thought about it. "Am I hungry? No. Do I need more protein? No. Do I need more food at all? No. Am I just wanting a flavor in my mouth? Probably. Do I want more calories and fat? No." And I passed. It was very easy. I also thought about a second bowl of soup--but decided that I'd wait to see if I was actually hungry or just wanted flavor and texture. Turns out I wasn't hungry.
It's like there's an old, grumpy man living in my tummy who says, "I remember the days when there was plenty around here, lots of tasty stuff and filled to the brim, all the time." And I have these doctors and nurses leading that old, grumpy man back ot his room saying, "Yes, those were the days, weren't they? Now, we have healthier food and you sleep better and don't feel upset all the time."
One of these days, that old, grumpy tummy of mine may become young, lean and personable. :)
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