Day 61: Over 60% complete!

Hello Friends,

Today I am so thankful for this whole process. I appreciate how much I feel I am growing, evolving and healing during this journey. I am so grateful.

I have realized that it has been awhile since I posted and I apologize.  I want you to know I have NOT given up on this nor have I forget anyone.  I just have been a busy mama getting ready for my youngest daughter to go to school for the first time at a wonderful lil Co-op Preschool where I have accepted a board position; as well as my oldest daughter is attending a new Charter School this year as well as setting up many extra curricular activity classes for them.... We are also busy painting, decorating, and purchasing furniture for our daughters new bedrooms...we are also actively searching for a doggie to rescue....I also just became an Aunt for the first time today!!!............so as you can see, I have been one busy busy mama! ;).  I must admit it has been VERY tough to stick to this juice feast during this time....but I am not giving up. Things are starting to calm down a little bit and I am truly trusting in this process.  I feel that this is the time of "big life changes" that Angela Stokes-Monarch refers to in her book The Juice Feasters Handbook.  I am doing a lot of soul searching right now (when I have free time) by reading Dr. Wayne Dyers book "Being in Balance", watching The Secret Movie, The Secret Behind the Secret and next diving into the book by Abrams-Hicks "Ask and it Will be Given."  I am really working on changing the way I think about things, as Thoughts ARE things. They manifest in your life. And I realize that I have to work a lot on this area.  I have a lot I want to talk about as well as videos I want to make and share with you. Please stick with me during this busy time. I promise that things will calm down in the next week or so.  I appreciate all your love and support and hope that you enjoy this journey as well...

Juices I am enjoying today:
2 Quarts of Green Juices: Swiss Chard, Dino Kale, Bok Choy, Cucumber, Ginger, Lemon, 1 Jalapeno, Apples
1 Quart: Orange/Murcott (Honey Tangerine) juice
1-2 Quarts of Yellow Watermelon Juice

Have a wonderful day friends.

Peace and Love,
Laura

Day 53: This is a Life Changing Journey

Hi Friends!

I'm sure you have realized that I have been quieter lately as I have found this is whole process to be a deeply emotional and life transforming journey for me. I have experienced some life trials in the past week or so and I have been soul searching and tapping into my spiritual side during this time.

As of today, I am so blessed for my families support and my great strength I have within me to accomplish my biggest dreams. I am so very thankful for the movie "The Secret" and the book "Being In Balance" by Dr. Wayne Dyer. They have been a great support for me. My life is
abundant and full of blessings and I am so grateful. :)

I'm happy to say that as of this morning I have lost another 1.0 pounds for a total of 35.4 lbs in 52 days on this Feast! :) I'm envisioning being at 199 lbs at the end of my 100 days on this feast. That means I am desiring to release about 31.2 lbs more in the next 47 days. I have begun my vision board, my spiritual journal, meditating, yoga and increased my exercise and free weight training. I truly believe the Universe will deliver my wishes if I stay steadfast and do not lose sight of my desires. I plan on remaining as positive as possible through the rest of this journey (and the rest of my life.) It is something I must work at. I wrote on my bathroom mirror with dry erase marker "I was born to add value to this world." That is on the top. Then on the left side is a list of the main things I am so grateful for. Then on the right is the things I desire from the universe. I wake up each morning, look in the mirror and meditate on them while I am getting ready in the morning for a good 10+ minutes. It is really life changing for me.

I would like to make a new video soon to share. I have a list of tips I would like to share. Please stay tuned. I hope you have enjoyed my slideshow pics of my weight loss. It has keep me motivated to watch them myself. :)

Well I am off to enjoy my family. I plan on shopping for some more yummy produce, buying paint to begin designing our daughters new rooms and preparing for the upcoming school year.


Juices I will be enjoying today are:
*1 quart of water with lemon juice and msm caps
*1 quart of Green Juice: Dino Kale, Green Kale, Lemon, Ginger, Red Jalapeno, Garlic, Carrots and Green Apples
* 1 quart of green, red, purple grape Juice
* 1 quart of Sweet Melon Juice (it is an heirloom variety from local farmers market, I forget the name)
* Another 1 quart of the Green Juice Listed above


I wish you all a day full of blessing and gratitude. May you receive all you desire. xo


Peace & Love,

Laura

New Weight Loss Progress Pics! Start to -32 lbs

Day 49: I am still here!!!

Hi Friends!

Sorry to have been quiet lately. Been busy getting my life in order for the upcoming school year. Just another few days in the life of a busy mama. ;)  So I would like to say that I am so thankful for the movie "The Secret". I watched it last night and it has really got me to change my thoughts and attitude towards things. I highly recommend you watch it if you have not yet.  Also I will be watching The Secret Behind the Secret soon and will let you know how that one goes. Here is a preview of "The Secret":

I am also happy to report I lost another 1.0 lbs today for a total of 34.4! Yahoooo! Another thing I have decided is I want to do this for 100 days. My goal is to be at 199 at the end of 100 days. A big task but one I feel I can accomplish with the power of The Secret and The Law of Attraction. :) After 100 days I am going to go to a 100% Raw Foods Diet until I reach my goal of around 185 -189.  So tomorrow will be day  5-0!!! Day 50! Half way to 100! I am so happy that my addictions are falling away. I only get the occasional craving for VEGETABLES, especially tomatoes.  I plan on juicing more tomato juices and playing with the recipes till I get one I really like. I love garlic so I may do a garlic basil one tomorrow.   One thing I have done is add a piece of garlic to all my morning "Lemon Ginger Blast" green juices. SO YUM!!! I LOVE them now! :)
Well off to take a warm bath with some Apple Cider Vinegar in it for my skin, while drinking my chamomile tea and watching a juicefeasting.com video :)
Have a wonderful night friends!
Peace & Love,
Laura

p.s. I have a new pic to post soon too of another 10 lbs off since the last weight lost pic. I will post it tomorrow, stay tuned. xo

Exercising on a Rebounder/Mini-Trampoline (YouTube Video)

My Lemon Ginger Blast Green Juice (& Lou Corona Video too) (YouTube Videos)

My Video

Dan McDonald & Lou Corona making the Lemon Ginger Blast

Day 43: Trust in the Process

Today I am so thankful for the strength I possess within. Without it, I wouldn't be where I am today.

Today I am enjoying my Quart of Water with fresh Lemon in it (taken with MSM caps)
I will be making my juices for the day soon. I like to give my digestive system time to wake up in the morning.

So as the title states, we must "trust in the process." Why do I say this? Well I woke up today and lost another .8 lbs (almost a pound from yesterday.) Wow! My body is back at work again releasing the excess weight. I cannot say my body wasnt working the past few days when I hadnt been losing, it most likely was, but it was internal and I it could not be measured or seen on the scale. One thing I remember my old Weight Watchers Leader telling me was "the scale is not a true reflection of your progress."  It has really resonated with me now more than ever before, especially being on a Juice Feast.  Looking back at my daily weights on days 19-23 and days 36-39 days I have hit plateaus. I didnt realize till right now I have actually hit 2 so far. And each time they are 4 to 5 days long. But looking at the overall picture I am so glad I have persevered on and will not give up on this journey. As I stated yesterday, "the BATTLE ENDS NOW!"  And I tell myself that every time I am in the kitchen.  I cannot tell you the power of words and what we tell ourselves. You must try it to fully understand and believe me.  Put on your fridge (or wherever is a good focal place for you) some words that are very meaningful to get you thru your journey, your day, your situation, what ever that might be. Then read those words with truth and conviction each time you see them, and watch the power they have in changing your life. :)

Well friends I am off to make my yummy juices for the day. I plan on making a video today! Feel to great not to ;)  Stay tuned.

Have a wonderful day.
Peace & Love,
Laura

Day 42! Losing again!!! Woohoo!

(I put this on my fridge yesterday.  I am DONE with my battle with food addiction. It must change. I must change it. And I have the power to change it!  THE BATTLE ENDS NOW!)

Today I am sooooo grateful for my grandma. She rescued me when I ran out of apples this morning and brought me 3 large bags of organic granny smiths. xoxo Love you Grandma!

Today I am enjoying:

1 Quart of Water with Fresh Squeezed Lemon in it
1 Quart of Green Juice: Full bunch of Kale, lil parsley, sliver of ginger and jalapeno pepper, 1/2 lemon, 5 small granny smith apples, 4 carrots and 1 mini Italian cucumber.
1 Quart of Orange Tangerine Juice

...and I am planning on making a quart of plum/grape juice and a small green juice tonight.

So as the title states....I AM LOSING WEIGHT AGAIN! As you may or may not of realized I hit a plateau the past couple days. I was getting a bit down about it.  I made peace that my body was doing what it needed to do and that I had lost a significant amount of weight already in such a short time.  I then decided that is was a good time to evaluate myself. I realized I was getting a lil complacent. I decided to take a really nice long walk with my daughters yesterday. It felt amazing. I walked around enjoying the world around me and giving thanks for all I had. I also decided yesterday that I need to stay connected to an inspiring source, like the 10 day juice feast program I did with Natasha St. Michael from RawRadiantHealth.  I missed that motivation daily from the videos and user forums. So, with some money in our account, I decided to join juicefeasting.com for a 60 day membership and it is AWESOME so far. SO MUCH info. I cannot even begin to start. I highly HIGHLY recommend if you are thinking of doing more than 10 days on a juice feast to join the website for at least the 1 month membership. There are over like 300 videos and hundreds of documents and book references and reading and forums. It is great. I will let you know how it goes over the next few weeks.
So yeah, today I weighed in and I was down exactly 90lbs from my highest weigh in at Weight Watchers in 2007 at 324.8.  Today I weighed in and had lost half a pound and was at 234.8. Woohoo! Time for a new picture! My hubby will be back from work on Saturday so I will post a pic on Saturday afternoon! Stay Tuned.

I am so excited about my journey. I have new found excitement again and I am very proud of myself. I am finding that I can and do love myself. And what better way to show myself love than to stick thru this journey till the end?! 
Well more to come soon. I plan on making a video either tonight or tomorrow.
Until then, Have a blessed day.
Peace and love,
Laura

The Most Nutrient Dense Food based on the Andi Score by Dr. Joel Furhman

From Dr. Furhman's website eatrightamerica.com

"As a nutritarian, it’s important that you know the nutrient density of your food. Not merely vitamins and minerals, but adequate consumption of phytochemicals are essential for a normal immune system and to enable our body’s detoxification and cellular repair mechanisms that protect us from cancer and other diseases.

Nutritional science in the last twenty years has demonstrated that colorful plant foods contain a huge assortment of protective compounds, mostly unnamed at this point. Only by eating an assortment of natural foods that are nutrient-rich, can we access these compounds and protect ourselves from the common diseases that afflict Americans. Our modern, low-nutrient eating style leads to an overweight population with common diseases of nutritional ignorance and medical costs spiraling out of control. We need to flip our traditional thinking upside down, and begin eating a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and grains, as illustrated in the Eat Right America Food Pyramid.

In order to measure nutrient density, Eat Right America created rankings of foods according the nutrients they pack. This concept is explained further in Dr. Fuhrman’s book Eat for Health.

Because phytochemicals are largely unnamed and unmeasured, these rankings underestimate the healthful properties of colorful natural plant foods compared to processed foods and animal products. One thing we do know is that the foods that contain the highest amount of known nutrients are the same foods that contain the most unknown nutrients too. So even though these rankings may not consider the phytochemical number sufficiently they are still a reasonable measurement of their content.

 

Keep in mind that nutrient density scoring is not the only factor that determines good health. For example, if we only ate foods with a high nutrient density score our diet would be too low in fat. So we have to pick some foods with lower nutrient density scores (but preferably the ones with the healthier fats) to include in our high nutrient diet. Additionally, if a thin person or highly physically active individual ate only the highest nutrient foods they would become so full from all of the fiber and nutrients that would keep them from meeting their caloric needs and they would eventually become too thin. This of course gives you a hint at the secret to permanent weight control. 

Eat Right America's Nutrient Density Scoring System
To determine the scores above almost all vitamins and minerals were considered and added in. Nutrient Data from Nutritionist Pro software for an equal caloric amount of each food item was obtained. We included the following nutrients in the evaluation: Calcium, Carotenoids: Beta Carotene, Alpha Carotene, Lutein & Zeaxanthin, Lycopene, Fiber, Folate, Glucosinolates, Iron, Magnesium, Niacin, Selenium, Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Zinc, plus ORAC score X 2 (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity is a method of measuring the antioxidant or radical scavenging capacity of foods).

Nutrient quantities, which are normally in many different measurements (mg, mcg, IU) were converted to a percentage of their RDI so that a common value could be considered for each nutrient. Since there is currently no RDI for Carotenoids, Glucosinolates, or ORAC score, goals were established based on available research and current understanding of the benefits of these factors. (limited references below). The % RDI or Goal for each nutrient which the USDA publishes a value for was added together to give a total. All nutrients were weighted equally with a factor of one except for the foods ORAC score. The ORAC score was given a factor 2 (as if it were two nutrients) due to the importance of antioxidant nutrients so that measurement of unnamed anti-oxidant phytochemicals were represented in the scoring. The sum of the food’s total nutrient value was then multiplied by a fraction to make the highest number equal 1000 so that all foods could be considered on a numerical scale of 1 to 1000.

NOTE
Eat Right America's nutrient density food rankings, scoring system, and point determinations of foods is patent pending."

www.eatrightamerica.com

Top 10 Most Nutrient Dense Foods

Top 10 Super Foods

1. Collard, mustard & turnip greens – Nutrient Score: 1000
2. Kale – Nutrient Score: 1000
3. Watercress – Nutrient Score: 1000
4. Bok Choy – Nutrient Score: 824
5. Spinach – Nutrient Score: 739
6. Brussels sprouts – Nutrient Score: 672
7. Swiss chard – Nutrient Score: 670
8. Arugula – Nutrient Score: 559
9. Radish – Nutrient Score: 554
10. Cabbage – Nutrient Score: 481

So try adding some of these in your green juices often! They are FULL on nutrients/nutrition and health!!! 

Fast Food Addiction, Weight Watchers, & Juice Feasting (Video)

A Juice Feast is like Rehab for Food Addicts (Video)

Day 34: Enjoying a Day at the Fair while Juice Feasting

Today I loved the smiles and laughs of my daughters as they rode their favorite rides at the local County Fair. Yup, thats right I went to the fair while I am Juice Feasting. Was it hard you ask? Nope. Not at all. I made all my juices first thing when I woke up and took 2 juices with me! It was a wonderful day despite how crowded it was ;)

Juices I am enjoying today are:
2 quarts Green Juices (really good ones): Spinach, parsley, Carrot, 1/2 lemon and Apples.
1 quart Watermelon Juice
1 quart Mango, Pineapple, Coconut Water juice.


I am still going strong even when life seems a little more tough. I am going to talk about "Life Trials" on an upcoming YouTube Video as well as my ideas behind 92 Day Juice Feasting being like a 90 day treatment for Food Addicts. Stay tuned.

Peace & Love Friends,
Laura

Juice Feast Progress Pictures

The morning I started the Juice Feast I was 266.4. I did not take a picture (as I didn't know my 10 day journey would turn into a 92 day one ;) .Soooo...I have a picture of me from 10/07 when I was 264 (just 2 lbs less from my starting weight on this 92 day Feast) to compare with my progress pictures as I go along on this journey.

So here they are:

The size I was when I started the Juice Feast:
Starting Weight 07/01/2011 was 266.4 (this pic was taken at 264)





Day 23 of Juice Feast. Down 21.8 lbs. Weight 244.6





Side Views:

My 100 lb Weight Loss Slide Show from Weight Watchers in 2007-2008

Hi Friends,
Well here is some pictures from when I was on Weight Watchers April 2007-July 2008 and the 100+ lbs (109 total) I lost during the 15 months. I started at 324.8 at WW and I took a picture as close to every 10 lbs lost during the journey. The last picture is at 224 lbs (I never got to 214 so I dont have one at my lowest of 215.8.) You will now have a good idea of where I have come and how my body looks at different weights. I am currently (Aug 2, 2011, Day 33 on Feast, 238.0 so you can get an idea, I am close to the 2nd to last picture on the slideshow.)

I will post in the next blog post a more current picture of me taken at 244 during this journey and another when I get to 234, which will be very soon (just 4 lbs away!) I will put the pictures next to me when I was 264 from Weight Watchers which is very close to my start weight on this feast of 266. I am sorry but I didnt take a start picture of myself on this Feast as I didnt know I would be doing this long term when I signed up for the 10 day Feast program. So this is the best I got. Hope you enjoy!!!

Peace & Love,
L

Where my Journey All Began... (Video)

Making Fruit Juices + Tips and Supplement Recommendations (Video)

How to Make A Green Juice on a Juice Feast (Video)

Day 32: Starting YouTube Videos!

Today I am so thankful for those in my life that support me. Like the famous Dr. Suess saying goes "be who you are and say how you feel because those that mind dont matter and those that matter dont mind."  I am thankful for all of you that matter in my life and that dont mind who I am or what crazy things I do in my life ;) xo


The Juices I really enjoyed today were:
(1 full quart of water with lemon juice in the morning)
2 quarts Green Juices: Kale, Celery, Lemon and Green Apple
1 quart Orange Juice
1 quart Strawberry Kiwi Cucumber Juice

So...if you havent noticed...I started making videos on YouTube! I was nervous about doing it and sharing my info but it really just felt right. I hope you enjoy the videos! Please let me know if there are any videos you would like to see me make or questions you would like me to address.

Coming up next is my weight loss pics and slideshow...stay tuned for that! You will wowed (I hope!) ;)

Have a great day friends!

Peace and Love,
Laura