NOTE: These entries were originally posted on Facebook during November 2014, a month in which I embarked on my first super-extended juice. I began the month with some significant health problems and ended it some 40 pounds lighter!
Since then, I have eaten a whole-food, plant-based diet and lost a total of 125 lbs. and counting. I hope you are able to benefit from my struggles. Enjoy, and feel free to leave a comment!
Day 31. Thirty-One. Wow! The end of the month, which means that it would be kinda awkward to continue the whole "Juice-ly" gimmick. No worries, though. I've already thought of a catchy label for the first half of August, as I wind this fast down.
"Ahhhhh," Bugs Bunny once crooned in an old cartoon. "Something new has been added!" To my November mix, that is. On top of getting my eating under control, I was starting to feel the pressure of the many, many deadlines staring me in the face as the semester came to a close. Not only did I have my own papers to write, bu I also had a monstrous stack of undergrad papers to grade as well. Oh, and did I mention that certain, usually gluttonous, holiday coming up in a matter of mere hours? I don't remember feeling any especial pressure, for some reason. Just renewed determination to show myself that I could in fact maintain healthy eating habits despite an exponential rise in my stress level. Why I didn't remember this lesson at the end of the spring semester is beyond me. But...hey! All's well that end's well, right? I sit here today, teetering on the edge of the outskirts of OneDerLand, and I wouldn't be anywhere close to this weight without God's grace and my two-month extended lapse.
Good thing that God is willing to teach me this lesson as many times as I need to learn it. Read on!
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Juicevember 25th (late edition, 275.6 lbs.) – deadlines. Thanks so much to all of my new accountability partners who took me seriously yesterday and either prayed for me or actually got up in my cyber-face about how I’ve been doing with holding down this addiction. Don’t worry, I’m still juicing, and I wasn’t seriously tempted on that front yesterday.
Today, though? Different story (which will come in Part Two later on). For now, enjoy!
It’s the most. Wonderful tiiiiiiime. Of the year.
For grad students, that is. Twenty page papers on top of quizzes, finals, and whatever other assessment device your prof thought was a great idea to assign at the beginning of the semester, but now that Crunch Time is officially upon us, not so much. I’m still trying to figure out how it’s humanly possible to cram so much work into such a short period of time without heads exploding like ripe whiteheads on teenaged faces all over the history department.
Anyway, I’m fortunate not to have to go to class for the next week, but that doesn’t mean my work schedule isn’t all the way full. Which is better than the alternative, I guess. Last night after my late class I had a total adrenaline dump. When I put my oldest daughter to bed I usually lay on my side with my head propped on my hand, mainly to prevent myself from falling asleep before she does. Last night, however, when she moved over and sweetly invited me to join her and her “baby” with their heads down on the pillow, I couldn’t refuse. An hour later, and probably in the middle of a dream about eating something I shouldn’t, I jolted out of sleep to try to get some last minute pre-trip items scratched off my checklist. As it turned out, the only thing I got done was “get a full night of sleep to stay awake on the drive.” At some point in that semi-conscious haze that happens right before we drift off to sleep, I thought about getting back up to compose a reasonably coherent post, but my head never made it off the pillow. No worries, though. Double entry today!
Why are the shortest days always the most difficult? Yesterday I tried my best to focus on class, but my mind was on the other side of town, to quote an old O’Jays song. One of my classmates in my sociology class thought it would be a grand idea to bring in homemade chocolate chip cookies. Believe it or not, desserts don’t really get me all that much, until I’ve eaten a slice, or a piece, or whatever. Now, if she had decided to bring in several pounds of pulled pork, we’d be having a different conversation right now. Probably with me writing from the hospital. Thank goodness she was a self-proclaimed baker and not a caterer!
Then, my undergrad class. The lecture portion lasted all of 15 minutes but seemed like ten eternities because I was thinking about many, many other things. Like different recipes for vegan cheese. Sounds pretty innocent, but this will represent a major challenge as I add solids back into my diet. Back a few years ago when I did the vegan thing for the first time I stumbled upon a quick and easy way to make a concoction out of cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic, and lemon juice that tasted close enough to a cheese spread to satisfy my craving for that particular taste. Since I hadn’t really dealt with my addiction at that point, I ended up eating a lot of the cheese straight from the processor (believe me, there’s a way to lick the blades without getting hurt too badly), and rarely, if ever, allowing it to last more than a day.
This time, however, I’m looking up recipes that demand discipline. I will need to put my almost finished product in the fridge for several hours, even days, before it is ready to be eaten. And I’m also planning on cutting whatever I make in half, so that I won’t be able to eat it all in a day. I’m hoping to be able to take what I’ve learned this month into that waiting period and learn not just to be able to “wait it out,” but also to be able to, you know, live life normally while my food ripens. Instead of what I’ve found myself doing recently: thinking about all the great stuff I’ll be able to make when I’m able to eat solids again.
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| The absolute WORST case scenario on December 1st - a return to "normal.". |
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Tomorrow, the countdown begins! You enjoy your weekend, and I'll catch up with you Monday, August 3rd. Or should I say, "All-juiced" 3rd? [see - I told you I had a catchy name up my sleeve.] In my flashback post, we land in Michigan for the holiday, and I experience a small but significant non-scale victory at the dinner table. I also receive an update on my steadily improving health. Stay tuned! In the meantime, peace and blessings to all!
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