And.... it's done.

It's been an interesting week, for sure.  I've learned some things along the way.

1 - plan ahead - know how long you will be away from a blender, a toilet, and a restaurant that serves soup.  Know what gas stations sell "Naked" juice or "Bolthouse Farms."

2 - If you don't have time for breakfast, or you are the sort of person who tries to eat a breakfast sandwich or oatmeal while driving, a smoothie is the way to go.  As we've already seen in some of my recipes, you can get a lot of food into one delicious beverage.  It's a lot easier to drink and drive than it is to eat.  Bottoms up.

3 - While smoothies are yummy and make you feel awesome, it's important to be able to chew some real food.  As with all aspects of life, balance is key.  Smoothies serve their purpose when they're needed, and I highly recommend them to anyone who has a hard time getting the necessary fruits and veggies in on a daily basis, or someone who tends to miss meals because they're too busy.

So that's that.  I plan on continuing on with one or two smoothies a day in addition to some real, certifiably chewy food.  Bring it... NOW!  HA!

Pizza Places don't always lead to Pizza

I don't have much to say today - mainly because it was a long ass day, and I don't feel like saying much.   I woke up early, did a sick workout, dropped Skyler off, hit Walmart for a thumb drive, and all before 9am.  Then it was back to back English classes, a lunch break (smoothies and soup in my car), and a 3 hour biology lab.  It has got to be about ten years or so since I've had a lab, and I felt WAY out of my element.  Ugh.  Excel?  YUCK!  Maybe I'll learn something useful from it.  Who am I kidding?  I've already learned something useful!  I know how to average and get the sum in a spreadsheet now.  That's more than I knew this morning.  Yay.

My biggest challenge hit at 4:50 when I got out of lab and sped off to pick up Skyler so I could bring her to MMA for 5:30.  We made it, but I was getting hungry.  So was Skyler.  Knowing that I didn't have anything ready to eat at home (poor planning), I called good ole Pizza Pizzazz in Danielson, and they informed me that both of their soups today were meatless.  So, needless to say, I had to walk past beautiful glorious aromatic pizzas on my way to get soup.  Tempted? Hell friggin' yes, I was!!  But the soup was amazing, and I made it home without breaking.  One more day...

Oh.... my..... GAWD! I want some chips.

My will power is staying strong, but I'm definitely a crabbier person when denying myself the stuff I want to crunch on.  Winter break ended today, and back to school I went.  I brought a cooler loaded with smoothies, and sucked them down in between classes, but I don't think I had enough early enough.  The past few days I'd been pounding them down like an nascar fan drinking coors lights.  Today, I started off slow in my rush to get to my 8 o'clock class.  By 8:50, when class ended, I was hungry, and that lasted until I went home at 1pm for a ginormous bowl of soup and another smoothie for the ride to work.  I had more soup for dinner, and at this moment, I'm feeling as bloated as a nascar fan (if you are taking offense to this, please don't... it's a joke, laugh!).   I definitely "drank" too much today.  I intend to start tomorrow off better.

A valuable lesson can be learned by my failure today.  Eat more in the beginning of the day.  We need food for energy, and after fasting all night long (sleeping), we need to get some food in there so we have enough energy to make it through the 2pm slump without feeling the need to buy a monster coffee.  Not only that, but stuffing yourself full of food in the latter part of the day makes your body overloaded before sleep.  Going to bed with a full stomach does not promote a good night's sleep.

My energy level, regardless of my mishap today, has been pretty high.  In fact, I think I can fairly say that I'm totally over my 2pm enormous cup of coffee.  Having had issues with fatigue and focus in the past, I found myself thinking clearly in class this morning and didn't once daydream about napping (aren't daydreams what happen when you nap during the day?).

I don't have any recipes for you today, but I do have a secret to share.  I'm not completely alone in my crazy endeavor this week.  When Mike (the BF) figured out what I was doing Sunday night, he jumped on board.  He told me today that he's really enjoying the smoothies for breakfast and lunch, but he's definitely missing out on real food (as am I).  I can definitely see a change in him though.  He used to walk in after working looking ragged and miserable, but he's looking kind of glowy (new word) lately.   We have a date Saturday night to go to Applebee's for some real food.  Why there?  Gift certificates, of course.

Teabag wisdom:  "May you have love, kindness and compassion for all living things."

Day 4 - Desserts!!!

I woke up this morning at my usual 5am with the intention of working out.  When I saw that school was delayed two hours, I got excited because that meant that I got to sit around for a while sipping coffee before hitting the trainer for an hour and a half.  I followed my sweat session up with some thorough stretching.  I make it sound easy, don't I?  Well, it wasn't.

When I got on the trainer and started turning the cranks this morning, my legs felt like dead weight and my mindset was likewise.  Somehow, I told myself to just give it a few minutes and see how I felt.  After about halfway through the first 30 minute set, I felt better.  Then I told myself, "Train like you mean it."

The rest of the workout wasn't easy. In fact, it hurt like a mo-fo, but I gave it my all.  Skyler slept through all of my swearing and noises and woke up with a big goofy smile when she found out it snowed.  I even let her go outside to play in it before breakfast because I was afraid it'd be gone before she got home from school.

As far as my smoothie menu for today, I made some of the same ones from the past few days.  I've been thinking that when this is all done, I'm going to be having my desert smoothies on a nightly basis, and I'll probably still have the spinach smoothies in the morning.  There's no way that I could go permanently without crunch.  Smooth is nice, but crunch.... (my mouth is watering).

I started thinking about take-out on my way home from work.  I was headed home to make some delicious soup, but the tastes and smells kept jamming up my thoughts.  Fish and chips, chinese, pizza, spinach and artichoke dip, pizza, garlic bread..... (mouth watering again).   I had a rough drive home.

So, I'm still going strong, sort of.  I'll confess, I bought some White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter and stuck my finger in for a big mouthful.

Here's tonight's dessert:

1 cups almond milk
1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries
2 TB White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter
1 TB Maple Syrup
1 TB Sunflower Seeds
2 TB shredded coconut (unsweetened)
(makes 2 servings)

I'm sure that the calories in that are comparable to ice cream, but the nutrients should far exceed anything you'd find in Ben & Jerry's (no offense to the most delicious ice cream company in the world).  I find that this concoction tastes pretty f-ing amazing.  I should start a smoothie dessert business.

When the going gets tough... the tough gets colder.

DAY 3


Today was tough!!!  I'm not gonna lie.  Going into this, I kinda had a feeling that Day 3 would be pretty difficult.  With a brisk 8 degree start this morning, I knew that it was going to be pretty hard to drink cold smoothies all day.  Work consisted of standing at the controls of a firewood processor, pulling levers and only doing a minimal amount of moving around.  Sure, I got to climb up and down some equipment every now and then, but it was all cold metal equipment.  Add a meal of frozen goo to that, and I might has well have just injected ice into my veins.  I did bring some hot soup in a small thermos, but by the time I ate it, it was luke warm soup.

When I got home this evening, I was bombarded with the lovely aromas drifting over from the pizza place down the street.  Seriously???  Luckily, I still had some soup left in the fridge, and to kick it up a notch, I added some Pizza Magic (if you haven't googled this stuff yet, get on it).  I'm capping it off with Skyler's favorite from yesterday for desert (see yesterday's Reese's flavored blueberry treat).  Meanwhile, I'm in my sweats and bathrobe, directly in front of the wood stove, and I'm still cold.

I should really not be complaining though.  At least I have a coat and a warm place to sleep at night.  Before work this morning, I went out to get myself a pair of mittens, because gloves just weren't going to cut it today.  On my way down Main Street in Danielson, I saw the town homeless guy.  He didn't have a coat or gloves!  I feel bad complaining about being cold when I really have no idea what it's like to be truly cold.  If anyone has what I'd guess to be a size large spare coat lying around, maybe you could drive down and see if you spot that guy, and hook him up.

Alright, enough preaching.  Here are some new recipes:

#1
1/2 grapefruit
1 pear
1 c spinach
1/2 c carrot
1 packet Emergen-C
1 TB Chia seeds
2 1/2 c H2O
(not bad...  I'm pretty sure I've made one similar to this already)

#2
2 bananas (small)
1/2 c pineapple (chunks & juice)
1 c mango
2 c almond milk
1 TB PB
1 TB sunflower seeds
(really yummy!!!)

That's it.  I had more soup today than yesterday on account of it being cold and all.  It'd be nice to have some comfort food like mac n cheese, but that would ruin EVERYTHING!  I've already made it through Day 3, so I'm almost halfway done.

"To know others is smart; to know yourself is wise."

Smoothies and Soups - DAY 2

Today went relatively well.  I forgot to mention in yesterday's post how often I've been peeing.  I think this is significant because it shows how well I'm hydrating myself at the same time that I'm bombarding my insides with nutrients.  Every smoothie I make is mostly liquid, so I haven't been drinking a ton of water.  Hydration is great!  Being hydrated ups the energy level and makes your whole body feel fantastic.  Having to pee all the time kind of sucks.  I had to find a tree twice yesterday on the mail route.  Thankfully, today was my day off, so I was able to use an actual bathroom every 30-60 minutes or so.  

As far as cravings go,  I made salsa for Skyler today, and I had to handle the corn chips.  Somehow, I managed to keep them away from my mouth.  In the evening, I had to make her a grilled cheese on the "everything" rye bread I love, but I didn't let myself get too envious.  I enjoyed some soup and the smile on her face.  She thinks I'm nuts.  My motto for the week is, I have the rest of my life to eat chips and shit if I want to, I can make it 7 days.  

Skyler even let me make her a couple of smoothies today.  She had one with breakfast that she loved, and another as a snack that she admitted tasted a lot like Reese's.  That's her in the picture at the right.  I would  never suck her into my food experiment, but I certainly do try to encourage her to be openminded about the stuff I blend up.  Not only did she enjoy some of my weird concoctions, but she even did some yoga with me.  What a trooper.

So, here are the recipes you've all been waiting for:

#1 (pic on right)

2 c spinach

2 pears

1 c. pineapple (canned in juice)

2 1/2 c H2O

1/2 c shredded carrot

It was absolutely delicious, and Skyler agreed that it was the best tasting smoothie yet.  That is, until she had the purple one.

#2

2 c almond milk

2 TB Peanut Butter

2 TB sunflower Seeds

1 c spinach

#3

*The one Skyler is holding.  I didn't drink it, but it was just for her as a yummy healthy treat.

1 c almond milk

1 c blueberries

1 TB PB

1 tsp Chocolate Nesquik

#4

*This one was just an experiment.  I wanted something that tasted like pizza because I was tired of sweet stuff.  I'm not going to call it a success or a failure, but I'll just say it was interesting.

1/2 tsp garlic

1/3 c spinach

2 white mushrooms

1/2 c diced tomatoes (garlic, basil, onion)

2 c tomato soup (the nasty Campbell's kind because that's what I had)

1 tsp Pasta & Pizza Magic Seasoning (google it - amazing)

(I couldn't take a picture of this because it looked like complete crap.)

#5

*I liked Skyler's snack so much that when I got done my workout, I had to make myself something similar.

1 1/2 c coconut milk

1 c blueberries

1 TB Peanut Butter

1/2 scoop of Vanilla whey protein powder 

(While I am pretty much non-dairy consuming, I still haven't given up the whey protein or cheese.  It's a struggle.)

So far, I've gotten some pretty cool recipes out of this experiment.  Feel free to let me know if you try any and what you think.  

"your greatness is not what you have, it's what you give"

I woke up at 5am this morning, sat down to enjoy my coffee by the wood stove in the basement, and somehow decided that today would be the start of an experiment in food.  I've been reading about juice fasts and smoothies for weeks.  I know the benefits of eating clean, and I'm not trying to lose any weight.  Considering the fact that I've only had one cold in the past year, I think I'm pretty damn healthy.  Not only that, I know a lot of people would love to have the genetic predisposition that I have to be small and fit.  Image isn't everything though; it's what's on the inside that matters.  No, I'm not talking about personality, although that does tend to be pretty important.  What I'm getting at is all the other stuff in there...  we have organs that we can't see (duh) that depend on us to keep them healthy.  There are plenty of skinny people out there who look freaking hot as hell on the outside, but their insides are all caked up with doritos and cheeseburgers.  It's high time we start taking care of the parts of us that keep us feeling alive. Literally.

I've been pretty open about my daily smoothie habit (kale or spinach with fruit and stuff).  It's an easy way to get in a couple servings of veggies and fruit, and it helps clean out your intestines while boosting your energy.  I know that I couldn't handle a juice fast because that basically consists of just juice for a set amount of time.  I need fiber and chunks of stuff.

So, what I am proposing, for the next week (maybe longer provided I feel as good as I hope to), I'm going to have smoothies and soups all day everyday.  Today was day one, and I had no problem meeting my daily calorie expectations today, and I never really felt like I was hungrier than I should be.  My only true temptation was the almost irresistible aroma coming from the greasy diner near work.  The smell of fried food is an embarrassing weakness for me.

Smoothie #1:
2 cups coconut milk
2 small bananas
1 small pear
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice

Smoothie #2:
4 c.H2O
2 c. spinach
1 c. raspberries
1 c. mango
1 TB chia seeds
2 TBs sunflower seeds
1 packet of Emergen-C

Smoothie #3:
2 c. almond milk
1 c. blueberries
2 TBs Peanut Butter (natural chunky)
16 dark chocolate chips (ghiardelli 60%)

Smoothie #4:
2 c. coconut milk
2 pears
1 TB maple syrup (the good shit)
1 TB sunflower seeds


(I have veggie soup simmering on the stove as I type.)  

I woke up with a headache that I had most of the day (probably due to all the shit I ate yesterday and then capped off with beer).  I felt energized most of the day, and even now, 12.5 hours after waking, I feel pretty peppy.  So far, so good.  The biggest problem I foresee at the moment is in resisting my corn chip addiction.  Maybe I can find a way to put them in the blender... jk.  The whole point of the smoothies and soup is to have super nourishing stuff non-stop for a week.  Corn chips don't have much in the way of nutrients, so I'm going to have to wait til next week (or later) to get my crunch on.  

Until tomorrow....