[Leeney]

Maintenance is good, Monica. My weight might vary a pound or two, but it has been around 140 for a long time now. This month I am going to be doing a cleanse to try to improve my health a bit more and I am a bit anxious about it. I will be doing about 30 days of juicing, not restricting my calories, but just getting all my nutrition from juice. I've been excited about it for a long time, but now that the start date is drawing near, the anxiety is creeping in!

[Kaylagal]

Hi Monica and Leeney,

Leeney, I have several juicing books in my MOUNTAIN of diet books including the juice lady's. Her story is phenomenal! I juiced one week once and was totally amazed at how I was never hungry, felt lots of energy and was totally pain free of arthritis. However, I had zero weight loss that week which was my main reason for juicing. My dead metabolism......arrrrrgh!

Both of you, have a great week-end. Just breezed in to tell you hi and I am still hanging in there. Eating raw diet lately. Having some success with good 'ol fruits and veggies. Coming off very slowly now though. :/

[MonicaC]

Hi Leeney, wow maintaining with a 2 pound deviation is just a dream come true. That is so awesome and I am so very happy for you and inspired by you that it can happen. I have been experimenting with blending up different fruits and veggies for my morning smoothie. I love the immediate gratification of just chopping and blending and viola there is a tasty breakfast no cooking involved. Today was strawberries, cucumber, spinach and flax seed ground up. It was quite filling and felt good for most of the morning. Now ate a big salad and feel full again but not stuffed. My issue still is night time and the evening meal tend to overeat there. Going to measure out as Cattrix said. It sounds really like you are challenging yourself with your healthy eat well for your body maintenance. I heard that juicing is a good way to get your body to rest from digestion while helping you detox. Are you following a specific protocol or how did you get inspired? I think this is good to know just because you are at maintenance educating oneself on self care and different protocols like juicing is a good way to make maintenance interesting and stepping up what you are willing to try. Do you have any people who can help you to know what is normal to expect and what is a sign that something is off? I am eager to hear of this journey. Sounds great.
Hi Kaylagal, nice to hear from you. I am trying to incorporate more raw foods and still doing a little bit of cooked foods. I like the ratio that I am doing, breakfast raw, lunch raw with like today had hard boiled eggs in salad and dinner raw with some meat. I have filled out my plate with mostly raw however do a smattering of cooked and it is feeling better to my system. My stomach does not feel as heavy after this switch from my past food of all cooked and a smattering of raw on my plate. Interested in hearing what is a typical day on your raw diet?
Thanks for posting, it is nice to feel there is still a sense of community. Love and Light.

[MonicaC]

Wow, we are now in April. I tried to do a bit of weeding since the garden beds are quite full of them already. It is a beautiful day today and the evening breeze is so inviting so am going to keep my windows up to keep the fresh air circulating. My cat loves to perch himself on the ledge and watch the birds go by. I can't let him outside as he is no match for the coyote. I had a great day. Breakfast did my smoothie, Lunch did a big salad and one hard boiled egg. Dinner did turkey SPAM slices, quinoa, asparagus and smaller salad. It was all very yummy and added a few raw almonds as my snack mid afternoon. I feel lighter in my body from eating good foods and I must say was not so tired today as I did not do any wheat. Added three probiotics capsules to my day as an aid to my gut's flora. Read today as well. Love and Light

[Leeney]

Hey Monica, when you're weeding your garden, pull off some of those dandelion leaves and put them in your morning smoothie! Great nutrition!

There is lots of information about juicing out there and I am joining a site called juicefeasting.com that has all kinds of info on it. I have been prepping ever since Jan. for this, so I am quite ready with equipment and mind set. I also have been spending a lot of time on Spark People where I got my initial inspiration and where there is a wealth of information and support; and of course I welcome your support as well. I am hoping, as you say, to give my body a rest from its digestive work for a while and hopefully get some added health benefits as well. I have heard wonderful reports of healing from those who have done this.

Rhonda, coming off is coming off, and slowly beats not at all! Give yourself credit! I know how hard this is!

[Cattrix]

Monica, we occasionally have coyotes and other semi dangerous critters here also.
I second the dandelions suggestion by Leeney, I love dandelion leaves, eat them only if you have no pesticides or chemical fertilizers on your yard.
I need to get out and get a mess of them out of our back yard. Just opened blossoms are good to eat also, take the green cap off the back and throw in a salad or throw them in a stir fry.

Enjoy your yardwork, we need to get out and turn our little beds for getting some kale and chard in.

My rhubarb looks like it might produce better this year,.


unfortunately the only way I think it's good is in pie, or crumble.

[MonicaC]

I got a new puppy at first was going to get it for my mom who needs a dog as she lost her dog in December but this little girl is growing on us by the minute she is a sheltie-poodle mix by big dog is training her to go outside. It is so cute the puppy wants to do everything that my big dog does and that is great because my big dog is well trained and just sheer joy. I love my big dog even more as she is so great with the puppy.

[Leeney]

Sounds wonderful! She'll bring so much joy into your life!

My cats were that way too. When I got the kitten, the big one trained her, and he seemed to calm down since he had such 'responsibilities.'

[MonicaC]

It has been a while since I posted and this is due to falling off my own better knowledge of what works for me. Today just restarting again. Going to try to slow down in my eating out as this is such a part of my social life but it is not doing great for my body. Ate a bowl of pasta saturday evening and felt so exhausted that slept most of sunday. Just zoned out on the pasta wheat kind and it was hard for me to get out of the fog of my reaction to pasta. Never have enough when I eat it and then just zone out.
A clear sign not to do that again. So today on this bright and sunny monday morning. I drank my lemon water and now having a celery/apple/cilantro/water/lemon juice smoothie. Don't feel like cooking so this is my late breakfast meal.
Love and Light.

[Leeney]

That smoothie sounds yummy!

[MonicaC]

Another day of a big smoothie of cucumber, ginger, dandelion greens, lemon, and parsley with a lot of water I had made about 40 oz is the result and drink that all morning long. It quite satisfying and if I start my day with this concoction then I am less likely to overeat later in the day. Yes, to a high nutritious drink of greens. Leeney I think you have converted me to the green smoothies. What was your combo again? Have a great day. Remember to check out your farmer's markets and support people who grow food that is amazingly delicious and the variety is awesome. Love and Light.

[MonicaC]

Saturday morning, took the dogs out and now having my dandelion greens/ginger/cucumber/cilantro/spinach/lemon/celery smoothie. Had to remember what all is in here. I love it as I am a big eater, this is the most filling breakfast that is very alkaline and makes my system just feel good after I have the morning of this stuff. It is interesting again with yesterday in the evening don't eat a lot as I feel like my nutritional needs are met and I am quite satisfied with water intake as I put a lot of water in my smoothie as I prefer it watery than thick. Not feeling hungry is a great feeling too. Love and Light.

[MonicaC]

Happy Sunday, lost a little weight and feel better that it is with eating my large green smoothies. It is important for me to not feel hungry and also lose and this green smoothie is the solution for me. I feel better with my green smoothie in the morning.
My new pup got me up at 2:45am to go out and then again at 5am so my sleep has been cut but hopefully when she gets a bit bigger this not happen. The weather has been so very gorgeous. I love the small of honeysuckle in my backyard. So it makes me very happy each time I pass by this big beautiful vine filled bush. Have a great day. Love and Light.

[Leeney]

Monica, I am so glad you are finding success with your smoothies! In answer to your question, I really make a different smoothie daily depending on what produce I have on hand. I do not follow a recipe.

And I really am going to post on my thread soon! Honest! I am having a bit of trouble getting back into the eating routine again. The trouble is that the juicing demanded so much focus, and now that I'm no longer doing it, i have eased up on the focus and as a result, my eating has been a bit sloppy. Glad you are getting back into a routine again. The puppy will too.

[MonicaC]

Thanks Leeney for your words of encouragement. I always appreciate your posts and wisdom. It is fun thinking up different smoothies. I try to stick to berries, apples, peaches, pears those fruit with a lower sugar levels. If it is too sweet I tend to want more of it. I love the full feeling I get with the smoothie as a meal option and have been getting more greens in my diet than ever before. Yippy to that. Thanks again for your post. I miss hearing from everyone. Love and Light.

[MonicaC]

Happy Monday, lost a bit of weight 1.6 pounds and never felt hungry. Yippy. Yesterday went out walking with the dogs so it was nice to be in the forest and enjoying the good weather. Today a beautiful day and funny how a little weight loss makes me feel hopeful again. I am just so happy. This morning did my 16 oz of water as I felt thirsty when I woke up. Did a more fruity smoothie which was 1/2 frozen banana, 1 orange, 1 cup of strawberries and lots of water. Felt a bit hungry later in the morning and ate a fresh pear. It feels good to feel full and I am excited that I found a way to get some weight loss also. Love and Light