Day 31: I COMPLETED A WHOLE MONTH!!!

Today I am so grateful for my family. My daughter learned how to ride without her training wheels today and it made me so so proud!!!
And...I am so proud of myself! I have completed a full month on this journey! AND...I REACHED MY 1 month goal! I weighed in today and I had lost 10% of my body weight in 30 days! I started on July 1st at 266.4 and today I am 239.8.  That is 26.6 lbs gone in 30 days! Woohoo!!!

I have been working on a couple You Tube Videos to share as well as putting together a slide show of my weight loss from over 330 lbs to current.

Off to see if I can get my videos up to share...Stay tuned!!!
Peace & Love,
Laura

Some of my Favorite Juice Feast SItes, You Tube Videos and Blogs

Juice Feast SItes:

http://juicefeasting.com/

http://www.raw-wisdom.com/jfsupplements

Day in the Life of a Juice Feaster

A Juice Feaster's Handbook

Angela Stokes Monarch's Website
She did a 92 day Juice Feast and wrote the Juice Feaster's Handbook

http://www.rawradianthealth.com/blog/
(where it ALL began. I did Natasha's supervised 10 day Juice Feast to begin this journey.)

Phil Mccluskey Website
He did a 100 day Juice Feast



Some Neat Blogs:

http://juicefeasting.blogspot.com/

http://rawreform.blogspot.com/

http://globaljuicefeast.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?user=19qkk0m1cwnph

http://www.courtneypool.com/2009/05/7-day-green-juice-fast.html

http://juicefeast.wordpress.com/

http://rawinmotionblog.typepad.com/raw_in_motion/2009/03/my-92-day-juice-feasting-journey.ht


You Tube Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HOlL8cRRFg

http://youtu.be/YPz2A5WE70w

http://youtu.be/VcXW67jIEA4

http://youtu.be/4Ip-VkRgHkM

http://youtu.be/mdTkbD601Tk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfrIzc9Km8E


(If you have any other Juice Feasting Resources you enjoy please share below in the comments so I can check them out and share on my list with others as well. :)

Day 28: We have a new passanger on board!

Today I am so thankful for my family. My husband took my daughters to a mini golf park and they had a wonderful time. Seeing them happy brings me the greatest joy.

I weighed in and was down 1 lb from last weigh in, bringing the grand total to 24.6 lbs in 27 days! So awesome!!!

Juices I enjoyed today were:
2 Green Juices: Spinach, Apple, Cucumber
1 Apple Carrot Juice
1 Grape Blueberry Juice
and 1 liter of water first thing in the morning with lemon juice.

Also, Supplements I am taking for now as recommended by David Rainoshek with JuiceFeasting.com and Angela Stokes of RawReform.com & RawFoodWorld.com are:
Bee Pollen
Hemp Oil
MSM
Kelp Granules
Zeolites
Chlorella (until I run out, then Spirulina)

So as the title states, I have a NEW PASSENGER on board with me on the juice feast. My HUBBY!!! He started day 1 today and is shooting for a 7 day Juice Feast. I am so proud of him for taking this step for his health!!! I will let you know his progress as he weighs in daily and goes along his journey. So far he has had to take NO INSULIN today (he is type 1 Diabetic) except for his low dose "long acting" 12 hour insulin he has to take twice a day. No fast acting shots like he usually does several times a day. His levels have been consistent between 54 (got a lil low) to 150 after a fruit juice. This is AWESOME! He has had higher numbers some days after large cooked in the past and he has always had to take his fast acting insulin shots.  Today, nothing.  That's so exciting for the first day! I am so flippin proud of him and am so excited to see what happens on his journey!!!

Well,  I have 2 tired lil girls up way pass their bedtime that I must get to bed....

I will be back here tomorrow as I have more info to share...
Have a great night.

Peace and Love,
Laura

The New "Dirty Dozen" and Clean 15

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released its annual Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. The list includes the fruits and vegetables that tested highest and lowest in pesticide levels based on 51,000 tests by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the FDA. The “Dirty Dozen” are: apples, celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, imported nectarines, imported grapes, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, domestic blueberries, lettuce, kale/collard greens. The foods that tested lowest in pesticide residues (the “Clean 15”) are: onions, corn, pineapple, avocado, asparagus, sweet peas, mangoes, eggplant, domestic cantaloupe, kiwi, cabbage, watermelon, sweet potatoes, grapefruit, and mushrooms. The list is helpful for consumers -- who can lower their pesticide consumption by 92 percent by choosing five servings of fruits and vegetables from the “Clean” list rather than the “Dirty” list each day. Still, EWG points out that since 2001 the USDA has detected 215 different pesticides in fresh fruits and vegetables sold in the U.S., and while some produce is less contaminated than others, some level of pesticides were found in 7 out of every 10 samples analyzed.

Day 25: Trials in Life

I always want to start out with something I am grateful for. Today I am so blessed to have wonderful daughters who make life so meaningful. They remind me to slow down and enjoy the simple things like today at the beach. We collected various seaweeds, sea shells and looked at all the bugs and animals around the shore. It was an amazing day. I feel truly blessed to be their mommy.

So today I weighed in and I am down 23 lbs now! Woohoo! Still going strong even during that "time of the month."

Today I enjoyed:
2 quarts of Green Juice: Kale, Celery, Cucumber, Lemon, Parsley, and Green Apples.
and
2 quarts of Black and Red Grape Juice 

I am worried about my new juicer after the incident with the large nectarine pit my daughter accidentally put thru it yesterday. It just isnt acting the same. I am on the fencing of returning it and getting the Omega 8006 (which is actually cheaper.) It creates less pulp (which i do NOT like in green juices, but enjoy in the fruit juices but it takes longer to juice. It is a lot easier to clean up though. I HATE cleaning! Or I am thinking of calling in a repair for it as it isnt working properly and waiting to see what happens. Not sure yet. I will let ya all know what I decide soon. The 8006 Omega does do more things too so I am leaning on returning this Omega VRT 350 for it but I will miss the ease of juicing. Hmmm.......I will sleep on it.


So I wanted to touch base on life "trials" or whatever you would like to call them, when life gets a bit tough. What happens when life gets tough and you are drinking all juices? And you are a food addict?! Well I can tell you! It gets TOUGH!  I have been going through some life "trials" sort a speak recently and I can tell you I am really seeing clearly how much I have the tendency to turn to food! I have to stop my train of thought before I get to the kitchen. I realize that if I can redirect my feelings and take a LOT of deep breaths and clear my mind of the negativity I CAN and HAVE got through it! It is amazing the clarity I have now. I cannot believe how much I could of been eating at this point in my life if I had not been on the juice feast! Also, a TIP from me! When you get cravings, drink a LARGE glass of water or 2 or 3! It works almost every single time for me to curb my cravings as I have been experiencing some recently.  My cravings are almost always for salty things like tortilla chips or seeds/nuts. So I am thinking I may just be thirsty! And I think I am right. I also think I am going to be more diligent to juice more celery/bok choy to keep my sodium up and maybe even add some Himalayan sea salt to my water and see if that helps too.


Well thats its for now ladies and gents. Its off to bed for this juice feasting mama.

Peace and Love,
Laura

Just watched a GREAT MOVIE about Healthy Food, Cancer, Medications, and more...A MUST SEE!!!

If you haven't see this movie yet I HIGHLY HIGHLY ...HIGHLY recommend you watch it. And if you cant afford to watch it, come to my house, I will let ya watch it ;) Or I know a good Christmas gift for you besides my other fav at this time Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Hmmm...I wonder if family and friends would be upset if I gave them just these dvds this Christmas??? I personally could not imagine a kinder gift! ;) hehe

Day 24

Today was a beautiful day!  Warm and beautiful!  I am so thankful for those that are inspired by my journey. It gives me such a big boost to hear from you all and it keeps me going!!! As of this morning I was down 22.2 lbs! My energy is great and I my brain feels clear.. So today I started my day off with a large quart/liter of water with some fresh squeezed lemon juice. I headed off to the local Farmers Market with my kids and we scored some amazing organic/pesticide free produce!!!  Just take a look below!  And I got all of it for under $60. After the Farmers Market we headed over to a local Natural Foods Market and I got a large fresh juiced "green goddess, (carrots, cucumber, celery, spinach) and add an apple". Yum. Then I came home my daughter made me a Nectarine Peach Juice! SOOOO GOOD!! The ONLY thing that got me a little bit on edge today was when my daughter threw in a piece of nectarine with the pit still in it...and I knew when I turned my back it happened because the sound was HORRIFYING!  It was the same if not worse than nails on a chalk board! EKKKK! And then my beloved brand new, less than 2 week old juicer completely turned off and wouldnt even open!  I was so scared that it was damaged badly.  (PLEASE NOTE: NEVER PUT PITS DOWN A JUICER! ;)) Eventually, after running water and soap thru it I was able to get the juicer open and free the cracked up pit out.  But there was some damaged that remained. The filter has some small dents in it and there are 2 little metal pieces that are sticking out that I am hoping I can push back in properly. Otherwise...I am going to have to call in a service order tomorrow to Omega. Guess I better register it tonight, eh?! haha. I am happy I got the Omega over the Hurom as the Omega has a 10 year ALL parts warranty. Whew! Well at least the juicer still works for now. I will keep ya posted.
So on that note. I know a lot of you are asking me what kind of juicer is a good entry level juicer? I would say the Breville Juice Fountain.  It is sold at Bed Bath and Beyond brand new at $150 and you can use the 20% off coupons they send in the mail or you can get a 20% off coupon if you sign up online for their emails to be sent to you!  Here is the juicer: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=13687110  It is also ironically the SAME EXACT juicer that was used for everyone that juiced on the Fat Sick and Nearly Dead Documentary. Its simple, inexpensive and it works. If it still is too much at this time I highly suggest you try Craigslist. There are people that are always selling their juicers for good prices. If you want to take it to another level one day and have a juicer with a long warranty and that juices quieter and runs at a low rpm so your fruits and veggies are not oxidized like the standard type juicers, I personally recommend either the Omega VRT 350 or Omega 8006 Juicer. The Omega 8006 runs about $300 and the Omega VRT runs about $380.  I just say you get what you can and start juicing! The sooner the better!
  And before I close for today I wanted to say that I am thinking about putting together some YouTube videos with Q and A's and how I am doing, what I am juicing, etc etc. So if you have any ideas for what you would like to see me do or questions you want me to address please let me know!
  Thank you all for being inspiring me to continue to inspire you all! It means a lot to hear the positive I am making in your lives. I am here for you.
To Our Health,
Laura
(P.S. Please let me know if there are any problems posting comments on here under my blog posts.)

Where the journey all began. My Story.

Lets see. Without going into great details I will start here....I have had a food addiction since I was about 5/6 years old when traumatic events began in my life.  All I could find near me was food to comfort me and suppress my overwhelming feelings of confusion, pain and feeling alone. Food became and has been essentially my "best friend" ever since.  Fast Forward many years to high school and I found myself at a full grown height of 6 ft 1 inches and always around 200 lbs (big, but athletic girl:). I had been playing basketball since 3rd grade so it was keeping my food addiction and very poor eating habits from totally ballooning out control, weight wise that is. Health wise, it was already taking it affects on me and it was showing in many ways by high school. Some of the things I experienced were various skin rashes, which were labeled as psoriasis and eczema depending on the doctor. I would get outbreaks on my upper arms and thighs often that could never be explained. I was prescribed a array of lotions and creams, and had skin biopsies preformed on the outbreaks to no avail. I had a very sensitive digestive system most of my life, that only recently I have learned was most likely being tormented by pasteurized milk and dairy products as well as wheat gluten.  I always felt tired and never felt fully alive. My memory and thoughts were always foggy.  After high school I found myself getting out of shape quickly and starting to gain weight.  About 35-40 lbs.  So I quickly joined Weight Watchers and got crazy addicted to working out at the gym. Because of this I quickly found myself at about 200 lbs once again,  but this time much more  fit and tone and I was pretty happy. (Note: the ideal weight range for women of my height is 152-189.  Now I am big boned, so I feel pretty fit and good right around 200, but would love to be in the 180 range.)  Right after this weight loss (before reaching "goal") I then made a big life decision with my husband to move to Las Vegas. This was my first time away from all my friends and family and  I found myself falling into my bad eating habits shortly after moving. I began binge eating on fast food most days and it just spiraled out of controlled fast . I ballooned to almost 300 lbs in just 2 years by the young age of 22.  I know, crazy huh?! I found myself pregnant with my first daughter at 25 and my second at 27 all while being well over 300 lbs. So from 22 years old to 27 I was very obese.  But finally it all changed.  After my 2nd daughter was born I realized I HAD TO CHANGE for my children. When my 2nd daughter was just 3 months old I went back to good ol' Weight Watchers (start April 2007-July 2008 end). I weighed in at 324.8 (ouch!!!) and lost 109 lbs in 15 months landing myself at 215.8. I was almost to my ultimate goal of "being in the 180s" (or even just under 200!) I learned a lot about nutrition and was eating mostly whole and organic foods.  But then LIFE BEGAN TO GET TOUGH! And I mean pretty darn tough!  I found myself going through MANY MANY life trials and I turned right back to my old habits and food addictions. I slowly (if you call it that) gained back 50 lbs in 3 years!!! I found myself back in my hometown in California at the end of the 3 year period and  at an unhappy 266.4 lbs (June of 2011).  I realized once again, something HAD TO BE DONE!!! This time I was at a completely different place mentally though. I had learned so much during my 10 years in Vegas (again, crazy huh?!)   realized how important it was to eat a Whole Foods diet rich in Organic Fruits and Vegetables as a main staple. This time I wanted to take it to another level. See, rewind to back just 7 months to November 2010.  I met and amazing woman named Darlene Navarre that taught me the basics of Raw Foods and what they had done for her and her family and I was so inspired! I began reading up on Raw Foods and the benefits of a high or all raw food diet and I started to incorporate them into my diet. I made Green Smoothies on most mornings and was having big salads almost daily and lots of seeds and nuts and fruits as snacks. But it just wasn't enough. My food addiction was so powerful I kept gaining...Fast Forward now to June 2011. The scale was reading a 50 lb weight gain! I knew it was time to do something and soon...but what?!  Weight Watchers was great but I could NEVER keep the weight off. My food addiction always won in the end. So on June 30th I was browsing Facebook and found a link by a Raw Food Consultant I followed for a 10 day Juice Feast. I swear it was like blinking in bright yellow and screaming at me to read it. I read about it and immediately signed up.  I did the 10 day juice feast and felt amazing and didnt want it to end! So I researched and learned I could do this much longer as many many people do. Lots of people do 90-100 day Juice Feasts. So that is where I am now. I am on day 24 now and feeling AMAZING!!! I am shooting for 92 days or possibly 100. We shall see! I am so excited about what the future holds and I hope you enjoy traveling this journey with me as much as I do on the actual journey itself. Have a great night friends.

Peace and Love,
Laura.

P.S. Stay tuned for a photo slide show of my weight loss from 324lbs, to where I am as of this morning (I took a new pic and will continue to take new pics.) I am 80.2 lbs from my starting weight of 324.8 at Weight Watchers 3 years ago. My starting weight on the morning of July 1st 2011, day 1 of the Juice Feast  was 266.4. Today is day 23 of the Juice Feast and when I weighed in this morning I was 244.6 so I am down 21.8 lbs to date!!! That's about 55 lbs from my ultimate goal of 189 (or less). Cant wait to see what the future holds!!! Good night friends.

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead Extended Trailer

For anyone thinking about starting a juice feast I recommend checking out this Documentary first for great inspiration. I finally got to watch it yesterday on day 22 of my feast, and I am so glad I did. I think it is a great film. More info here: http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com