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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Lunch with Lisa

just kidding!

TWO WEEKS AGO I got this intense craving for vegetable juice. I mean like celery, kale, brocolli- the real serious stuff. I have never craved vegetable juice EVER in my life. So since I didn't have a juicer handy I started smoothie-ing. It had been a while since I was doing the dark green smoothies but they were easy to get back into.
  • kale, handful
  • spinach, handful
  • celery, 1/2 stalk
  • parsley, a couple sprigs 
  • 2 green apples
  • 2 bananas
  • 2 kiwi
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1" piece fresh ginger
ONE WEEK AGO I was just coming off of quite possibly the worst EPISODE (PMS) of my life and went right into a full blown cold. I felt like poop for a full week and spent at least half of that week in bed. I was emotional, fed up, and exhausted. You know when you just hit a wall and you know something has to change? Well that was me over the past two weeks. When I get like that it means that I am not being true to who I really am and everything ends up changing. I end relationships, I change the way that I eat, I do anything I can to stop the madness and re-balance myself. This all happened over the last week.

I started eating a lot more fruits and vegetables because I knew that it would instantly make me feel better. And it did. I stopped lying to myself and waiting for my relationship to get better and magically morph into what I actually want and need. And it ended.

YESTERDAY, one day after the WORST Valentines Day in the history of Valentines Days, I met Lisa for lunch at Whole Foods. What a breath of fresh air! We went to high school together, but sadly were not friends back then. ;(  We only reconnected last summer when I realized that she was a Holistic Nutritional Consultant and I wanted to talk with her about what she and I were doing.

I just finished the book Green For Life by Victoria Boutenko which talks about being raw and specifically green smoothie-ing. In it are a bunch of testimonials from people with a whole range of problems. All of them have been helped if not completely cured by increasing the amount of raw fruits and vegetables in their diet ranging from green smoothies in the morning all the way to going fully 100% raw.

One of the things that Lisa said, which I had read before, is that green vegetables are high in minerals, specifically calcium and magnesium. Well, guess what one of the symptoms of a mineral deficiency is? Really bad periods. Hmph...go figure! So weird that all of a sudden I was craving dark green vegetable juice. Not really, I feel like since I cut out most processed foods my body tells me what it needs now in way of cravings. I don't crave potato chips anymore or Pringles or Oreos. I crave kale and broccoli. Ha, I never thought this would happen.

If you remember I tried this going raw thing a few months ago right when we were going into winter, and for several reasons it was a miserable failure. But I feel like I am ready once again to try, so I asked Lisa if she would be able to make me some dinners that were heavier so it would feel like I am eating "real food". Ha, I say real food like raw food is fake. That's not what I meant. I meant cooked food. 


I feel like this time I am in a better place emotionally and physically. It is a huge motivator when you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Plus now is a good time, according to Lisa, to transition with the heavier raw foods because shortly we will be in spring and summer and there will be a huge variety of fresh ripe fruits and vegetables.

Wish me luck! 





P.S. If any of you are interested in making any of these changes in your life please contact me!

6 comments:

  1. You are doing wonderful things for your body and spirit...100% behind you!

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    1. Thank you Lisa!!! I need all the encouragement I can get right now. :/

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  2. Well you certainly chose a great motivator to pick you up, both emotionally and physically. Good luck with the diet.

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  3. Hi Jess, I am Keri. I felt the exact same way two weeks ago and with encouragement from Lisa, I feel much better this week with a better outlook on the future regarding how food affects me. Oh, I LOVE Green for Life! Great book to "pick you up!"

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    1. Glad to hear you are having success!!! Hoping for the best myself, but not putting any pressure on myself to be perfect right off the bat.

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