Saw me cooking eggs and thought I was back at it

and I am - juicing that is. Juicy Details (3/18/10 - 4/7/10):

3/18/10:

• Weight: 256.5
• Citrus Explosion: This is my own concoction. What's in it you ask? I'll tell you. 1 Navel Orange + 1 Honey Tangerine + 1 Juice Orange + 1 Minneola Tangelo + 1 Red Grapefruit. This made a full mason jar. And it was pretty damn good if I do say so myself.
• Sweet Potato Pie (aka Ol' faithful! aka Heaven's Nectar): 4 yams + 1 tsp of cinnamon. I remember the days when 4 yams would almost overflow my mason jar, this only made like 3/4th. What's up with these dry ass yams?
• Carrot-Pear-Strawberry: 6 carrots + 2 Bosc pears + 6 strawberries. Another of my own creations, just something I put together from stuff I had and it's a keeper.
• Spinach-Apple: 3 cups spinach (packed) + 4 apples. Nothing new to see here folks, keep moving. Still a good green juice though.

3/19/10:

• Weight: 254.0
• Carrot-Pear-Strawberry: 6 carrots + 2 Bosc pears + 6 strawberries. Still good :-)
• Citrus Explosion: 1 Navel Orange + 1 Honey Tangerine + 1 Juice Orange + 1 Minneola Tangelo + 1 Red Grapefruit. Ditto.
• Coconut Milk*: Um. See Coconut Milk saga below.
• Sweet Potato Pie: 4 yams + 1 tsp cinnamon. The magic is still there but not as strong.

3/20/10:

• Weight: 251.5
• Citrus Explosion: 1 Navel Orange + 1 Honey Tangerine + 1 Juice Orange + 1 Minneola Tangelo + 1 Red Grapefruit.
• Spinach-Apple: 3 cups spinach + 4 apples.
• Sweet Potato Pie: 4 yams + 1 tsp cinnamon.
• Coconut Milk*: Ah...this is not the golden ticket I thought it'd be.

3/21/10:

• Weight: 250.5
• Spinach-Apple (leftover from yesterday): 3 cups spinach (packed) + 4 apples.
• Citrus Explosion: 1 Navel Orange + 1 Honey Tangerine + 1 Juice Orange + 1 Minneola Tangelo + 1 Red Grapefruit.
• Coconut Milk*: 16 oz + some agave; Eureka! I found it! Plain ole coconut milk didn't do it for me but with a little agave this is gold! This made it all worth the effort of making it.

3/22/10:

• Weight: 248.5
• Sweet Potato Pie: 4 yams + 1 tsp cinnamon.
• Citrus Explosion: 1 Navel Orange + 1 Honey Tangerine + 1 Juice Orange + 1 Minneola Tangelo + 1 Red Grapefruit.
• A craving for hunger hit me and I had some of hubby's sour cream and onion chips (no hubby, you don't have to go hiding them from me) and I was this close to going to McDonald's but got distracted by doing something else.

3/23/10:

• Weight: 247.0
• got my hand caught in a coconut trying to open it the "easy" way.
• tried a mix of sweet potato and coconut milk - pretty good
• Citrus Explosion - Grapefruit: 1 Navel Orange + 1 Honey Tangerine + 1 Juice Orange + 1 Minneola Tangelo. I ran out of grapefruit. This was sweeter without the grapefruit, as you might expect but in the future I'm not sure if I'll add it back or not. It's good either way.
• Sweet Potato Pie: 4 yams + 1 tsp cinnamon.

3/24/10:

• Weight: 246.5
quickie and video star yesterday; quite disappointed in the # given my workout but I did have several spoons of food. Coconut Milk*: 16 oz.
• Apple Spice: 4 apples + 1 tsp cinnamon.
• Coconut Milk
• Several spoons of food
• 1 Avocado + seasoning

3/25/10: I was sick last night (TMI: it had to come out of both ends for it to be over). So I started today knowing I was going to eat (lightly), drink water and work my way back.

• Weight: 244.5
• Breakfast: 2 salmon cakes, 1 piece of wheat toast w/butter (the butter was added before I got the toast unfortunately), a few bites of scrambled eggs and 1 spoonful of grits.
• Lunch: Imagine Foods Organic Creamy Tomato Basil soup + two pieces of bread.
• 1 Izze Clementine Sparkling Juice
• Dinner: 1 piece of jerk chicken from Manna's and chicken ceasar salad ($3.00 worth).

3/26/10:

• Lunch: 1 piece of jerk chicken from Manna's and chicken ceasar salad ($3.00 worth).
• Dinner: Chicken ceasar salad at Lenox Lounge.

3/27/10:

• Weight: 245.0
• Feeling Fine. Um...just okay.
• Carrot-Pear: 6 carrots + 2 pears.

3/28/10: I did Day 1 of the Quickie and a tough interval workout on the treadmill. Organic Vegenaise Mayo & spices and or teaspoons of peanut butter have been serving as my compassion.

• Babs' Apple, Carrot And Beet Juice: Yeah, this was truly terrible but it isn't going to be a repeat.
• Honey Tangerine-Kiwi: 6 honey tangerines + 4 kiwi. I really thought this was going to taste good but it tastes furry. It tickles my throat and I don't like that.
• Sweet Potato Pie: 4 yams + 1 tsp cinnamon. This was from the day before and I'd forgotten about it. It tasted nasty cause it was so old I guess. Lesson learned.

3/29/10:

• Weight: 246.0! Not happy about this weight gain, not sure why.
Can't really remember but I know I didn't have much juice and it was probably all Sweet potato juice (sans cinnamon as that hasn't been so good to me lately).

3/30/10:

• Weight: 244.0
• Sweet Potato & Coconut Milk
• Carrot Ginger Root Beet Juice; only had 5 carrots
• Tomato Apple Drink Recipe; used Tomato Apple Drink Recipe. This was a PLEASANT surprise. If you had asked me what if this was a good combination or what it would taste like, I would have been wrong. I will definitely be having this again!
• Sweet Potato-Apple (3 sweet potatoes + 3 apples); This was good. A welcome drink after so many misses.

3/31/10:

• Weight: 242.0
• Sweet Potato-Apple (3 sweet potatoes + 3 apples); This was from the day before.
• Mock V-8: tomatoes + garlic + spinach + carrots + sweet onion + celery + lemon juice + hot sauce. I didn't like V8 as a kid but again, I'm making life changes and learning to love the things that are good for me. But, even though I haven't had a V8 in years, I feel like it would taste better than this.
• Grapefruit-Garlic: 1 grapefruit + 2 cloves garlic. This is another recipe from the first feast and as weird as it sounds, it's a goodie. But, I'm going to need to double it to really get a full jar.

4/1/10:

• Weight: 241.5
• Mock V-8 (tried seasoning it, made it better but I still only drank half and that was forced.
• Tasty green juice; It was green alright. Tasty on another planet and in another reality. I tried making it better with agave but there was no hope for this. I forced a lot of it down, just to get it in and I'm a champ for drinking as much of this as I did.
• Yamalicious: 1 yam + 1 pear + 1 apple.
• Liver Mover: 2 apples:1 beet + top. I forget that beets are the gouch of vegetable juices. They get inside your colon and whatever's in there starts trying to get out. 'nuff said.

4/2/10:

• Weight: 242.0
• Coconut Milk*.
• Yamalicious++: 2 yams + 1 pear + 1 apple. I needed this to make more juice so I added a sweet potato.

4/3/10:

• Weight: 241.0 - Not happy about that!
• Fennel-Pear (from yesterday)
• No recollection of what else I had.

4/4/10:

• Weight: 239.0 - Finally! That's all I have to say that.
• Fennel-Apple: 1 bulb of fennel + 3 apples. Since pears are apparently as valuable and expensive as gold now, I decided to try this with apples. Why didn't I think of this before. It's a good as my old favorite Fennel-Pear. Now I can stop fretting about the price of tea in China and the price of pears in America.
• Honey Tangerine-Pixie Tangerine-Kiwi: 6 honey tangerines + 4 pixie tangerines + 4 kiwis. This time I skinned the kiwis. I feel like an idiot. It's clear to me now that these furry bastards are not to be eaten or juiced with the fur on.
• Yamalicious: 1 yam + 1 pear + 1 apple. I clearly am going to need to double this. America is getting fatter cause the fruit is getting smaller apparently.

4/5/10:

• Weight: 241.0 - Son of a B!
• Yamalicious: 2 yams + 2 pears + 2 apples. Delicious as always. Thank you God.
• Chard-apple: 3 cups of rainbow chard + 4 apples. You know, as long as chard is less expensive and more available than spinach, this is a good alternative. Just got to be careful not to overdo it with the chard. Those extra leaves I stuffed in there made this too strong.
• Black Plum-Red Grapes: 4 black plums + 16 ozs of red seedless grapes. Ohhhhhhhhh, I had been waiting to make this. I know when I made it up that it was going to be good and it was. Damn it was good. It is sweet but still, so worth the wait.

4/6/10:

• Weight: 240.0; Are you f'ing serious?! Maybe it's time for an enema!
• Bok choy-apple: 7 stalks bok choy + 4 apples; Okay, this was an experiment and it won't be repeated. It's not that the juice tasted bad, cause it was actually okay but it was a lot of bok choy and I physically reacted to it as I was drinking (i.e. slight nausea) and then before I could finish half the jar my stomach was bubbling! So I looked it up and uh, cabbage and related greens have that effect so less bok choy per juice for me going forward.
• Carrot-Pear: 12 carrots + 4 pears; This only made one jar and I expected to get two jars out of this. I feel like the fruit is smaller than last year or something.
• Imagine Foods Organic Creamy Tomato Basil soup

4/7/10: After yesterday's enema and the bok choy effect, I was toying with the idea of eating a small something. Once my produce yielded less juice than I expected and needed, I decided I would eat something. No, the feast is not over. Stay tuned.

• Weight: 241.0
• Pineapple-Coconut Water
• Lunch: Salmon wasabi salad + 1 hard boiled egg. I went to Whole Foods and was hoping for chicken ceasar salad on the salad bar but no such luck. It was important to me to keep the portion small, to have only protein and vegetables and not to have any cookies or chips or anything like that. I wanted whole food. Pun not intended. The food was fine. Good even I guess. I actually bought 2 boiled eggs but only ate one and I got two of those big spoons of the salad. I ate it and kept it moving. I did think a lot about what I'd eat while I was in class so that concerned me
• Fabulous Fennel

4/8/10:

• Weight: Didn't weigh this morning before my water.
• Fabulous Fennel. This surprised me. I am scared of the way beet juice makes things look. It's a beautiful color (beet red/purple) but it just looks serious. But...this was actually not bad. I took a couple of sips and didn't die and I was like let me really take a drink and see how it goes. I really could (and should) make this again.
• Yamalicious: 2 yams + 2 pear + 2 apple.
• Apple Pie Juice: I actually made this with 2 carrots + 2 apples + 2 pears

They really should install seatbelts on wagons...

to keep me from falling off. I could really hurt myself! Well, here I am, several bumps in the road later and I've gained back some (a good bit) but NOT all of the weight. I stress that because it's a small victory and I do value it. In fact, despite what my husband thinks, the Juice Feast was not an exercise in futility. While I have gained back some of the weight, I did good for many, many months after, eating healthy in general and working out, often twice a day. AND, I do like vegetables more now than ever before. So take that! At this moment, (I have written and rewritten this blog post many times over the past months) and I definitely have disappointments but also a renewed sense of determination...

I'm disappointed because:

• At this point last year, I expected to be in an entirely different place today than I am. I expected to be under 200 lbs (well under) and working hard at reaching my goal weight. I even daydreamed about being a personal trainer and inspiring other overweight people and emotional eaters to succeed like me. While I did inspire other people, I eventually lost my own way...
• I expected to be baby-ready and I'm not. This is made even more disappointing by the fact that my hubby recently stated that he was ready for a baby (soon)...something he'd not said before. So I feel like I am the hold-up to the next phase of our life as a family. Beyond that, after such a blessing with the surgery and recovery, it's a shame that I would go back to any of my old habits knowing the regrowth rate of fibroids. Plus, and I admit this could be psychosomatic, once I really lost my way, I felt like I felt the fibroids growing back. No, no physically, just in my mind and that made (makes) me feel like a failure.
• I am disappointed that I allowed myself to be lulled into that false sense of security that I had conquered the problem. When dealing with any type of compulsion, this is always the road to relapse...and I have a lead foot.
• I think others are disappointed in me. So many people were pulling for me that to have regressed and let them down makes me feel like a letdown. And it seems to reinforce that nagging voice that says "told you you couldn't do it and everybody knows it".
• I am disgusted that I allowed myself to gain back any of the weight. I was so proud of losing it and I swore I never would.
• I am disgusted by how un-sexy I look and feel. I was starting to get my swagger back and my libido was shaking off the rust.
• I am disgusted that I have so many tools at my disposal and fingertips and used none of them.
• I am disappointed that my aches and pains are back. I creak and crack like an old house.
• I am disgusted that my clothes are snug and I can't wear some of the newer stuff I bought. Now I'm caught in that really stupid limbo place of not as big (thankfully) and what few really big clothes I kept I can't wear and not as small (unfortunately) and what few smaller clothes I bought I can't wear. It is taking everything in me not to get a couple of velour track suits and keep it moving.
• I am disgusted that the double chin is back and in full effect. I got something for the damn double-chin though...if I can't lose that weight, hijab here I come!

But, all that said, I am not giving up. I'm starting again. I know hubby doesn't see the value of Juice Feasting and my best friend doesn't think I should do it again but I want to. I'd always planned to do it at least yearly for the health benefits alone. This time I want to do it for 120 days. That's about double the duration of my last Juice Feast and had it not been for wanting to celebrate my 30th birthday with food and drink, I'd have done it then. Before you ask, yes it's safe. The program is designed for at least 92 days but not to exceed 120. Everyone has something that resonates with them, that helps them get their head on straight and this is it for me. I don't have an eating plan that I intend to follow yet (after the Juice Feast), just a daily calorie limit and procedures that need to be lifelong irrespective of my eating plan. So here are my tools for during and after the Juice Feast:

• Food and exercise journals; I plan to record all my intake, right now to understand my patterns and in the near future to help me make healthy adjustments. I've wanted to make my food and exercise dairy part of the blog for some time so hopefully I can find a tool that will allow me to do this.
• Regular journal; I've always wanted to journal but as a kid I lived in a house of crazies around whom one could not dare to have such an item. But, I'm an adult now and my info is safe (presumably) so I will do at least one journal entry daily to help me express my innermost thoughts and feelings instead of eating them. For obvious reasons, not all of this will be on the blog.
• As a fan of the Biggest Loser, I've secretly wanted a Body Bugg but couldn't justify the expense (or the purchase of another piece of fitness equipment) but lo and behold, hubby got me one for Christmas (maybe he does know me).
• Support: I have and have had the support of my husband and family since the beginning but now I'm reaching out for more support. I've joined Peer Trainer and a few other support groups. People who have a support system and group and people to whom they are accountable usually are much more successful than those who do it alone (according to numerous studies and statistics). I'd gone to an Overeaters Anonymous many years ago and wasn't completely sure it was for me. I'm considering going back and following the 12-steps. I'll revisit that shortly.

So that's the low-down. Oh and I've already started...and today is day 21...

Old Business, New Business...

Here's a very brief rundown of juices and smoothies I've had since my last post... Good:

• Sweet and Green Juice
• Apricot-Pear
• Carrot-Pear Juice
• The Pain Remover
• Professor Plum
• Bowel Regulator
• Pear Plum
• Pineapple Punch
• The Coola-Hula
• Road Runner Energy Boost
• Sweet Jicama Drink
• Cleansing Weight-Loss Juice

Not so good:

• Green Dream

Here I am, I've survived surgery and done pretty well. But...I have started to gain back the weight I've lost. I'd be lying if I said I didn't know why...I've reverted back to some old habits and I've been eating like I'm a rescued Anne Frank. Last week especially, I felt two things - hungry and tired and I gave in to those two things. So, I'm back here as part of my getting back on track. They really ought to install seatbelts on these bandwagons...a person could be seriously injured falling off. So, in terms of new business...here are two new things you'll see here on my blog...

• Photographs of everything I put into my mouth. I read about this photo food diary idea somewhere (can't recall where) and I'm going to give it a try. I know that when watching You Are What You Eat, I've always found it jarring to see all the food (and types of food) people are consuming and this is an attempt to do that to myself.
• I'm running again and my goal is to be marathon-ready in a year's time. So, in addition to the other types of activities I do, I will be updating you on my running progress and hopefully some photo finishes!

On my mark...get so...go!

And just like that, it was over.

So Juice Feast #2 has come to an end prematurely and I'll explain why in a sec. As you know, I prefer to handle business first. So here goes.

Thursday, May 14, 2009:

• Splueberriness (1 bunch spinach, 2 6oz. boxes blueberries); This made about 1.5 cups of juice. This was okay...and I mean just okay. As expensive as blueberries are, I don't think this merits buying them again for this particular recipe.
• Blueberry Grape (2 cups grapes, 2 cups blueberries); This made about 1.5 cups of juice also. Now, this would be worth buying blueberries but still it requires so many blueberries which in case I haven't mentioned are expensive.
• Grape Apricot (4 cups grapes, 3 apricots); Okay this is a hodgepodge because the other two made less than 2 cups of juice. This made about 2.5 cups. You know what? This wasn't bad at all but if I made it again, I would need to strain it because there were lots of blueberry and grape skin pieces floating around in it.

Friday, May 15, 2009 (On the road again):

• Twinkels Pink Juice (1 fennel, 2 Fuji apples, 2 carrots, ginger, lemon); Mine was more light orange but I digress. Anyway, it was okay, sweetish and it made a full mason jar.
• The Honey Bunch (1/2 honeydew, 2 bunches grapes, 2 golden delicious apples, 2 peaches and 2 kiwi); I should have known that such juicy fruits would make loads of juice but I wasn't thinking. This made a ton of juice...good juice...but a ton of it nonetheless. I would make this again.
• Royal flush * 1.

Saturday - Sunday, May 16-17, 2009:
Liquiteria because we are in Rochester this weekend for a graduation.

• Green grasshopper * 3; No complaints.
• Royal flush * 3; Ditto.

Monday, May 18, 2009:

• Green grasshopper

Tuesday, May 19, 2009:

• Green grasshopper

Now, back to why Juice Feast #2 ended. Although I'd spoken to my doctor (who will soon be operating on me) about it and she'd said ok, I had second thoughts and some Googling produced articles advising against it. So, I made a call to her office and while waiting on her to get back to me, I went to do the medical clearance stuff with my primary care dr. and he strongly advised against continuing the feast going into surgery and she then called and indicated that she too thought it was not a good idea to continue. Based on her research, juicing/detoxing can put some stress on the body and it's best to go into surgery without that stress. So, what do I do now? Here's the plan: Breakfast: Smoothie (of the groceries I bought for juicing before the kibosh) Snack: Juice of same said groceries Lunch: The arugula-based salad I love so much featuring - baby corn, roasted onions, jalapenos, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, avocados and olives (stuffed with peppers). Let me just say that this salad and my love for it is borne out of Juice Feast #1, as I'd hoped, it really did help me to embrace and love eating things that are better for me. Dinner: Another salad (cause I love that salad) and a small portion of whatever is for dinner.

Full of it...

...it being gas. My stomach is just gurgling and pushing out air. I am so grateful that there is no odor because otherwise, I would be unfit to be around. I think it's the breakfast juice which had about 4 or 5 pears in it and pears will do that you. Today's menu:

• Carrot Pear (6 carrots: 4 or 5 pears); I made this Tuesday but ending up not drinking it so it was Wednesday's breakfast. It had the color and scent of carrot but the overwhelming taste of pear which I love but this was just a fluke. It's not supposed to have that many pears in it, I just had too many left and needed to use them before they went bad.
• The Niagara Falls Cleanser; This was good, made more than I expected and made a mess. For some reason this makes a mess in the juicer. I've got to read the manual, maybe these two fruits should be juiced on low so the juicer doesn't spit so much juice at me.
• Delicious Green Juice (2 cups grapes, spinach, 1 stalk celery, 1 cucumber); This was not delicious at all. It's possible that celery is the devil's backup pitchfork.

This feast seems to be going slowly...I feel like it's dragging on. Today is like day 8 but it doesn't seem like it. Anyway, off to make today's juices. Menu? All of these are new juices so I hope they are good to me.

• Splueberriness (1 bunch spinach, 2 6oz. boxes blueberries); This made about 1.5 cups of juice.
• Blueberry Grape (2 cups grapes, 2 cups blueberries); This made about 1.5 cups of juice also.
• Grape Apricot (4 cups grapes, 3 apricots); Okay this is a hodgepodge because the other two made less than 2 cups of juice. This made about 2.5 cups.

If compassion calls, let me speak to her

Saturday was the first day of a 20-day juice feast. You would think I'd not done this before because I struggled to get through the day. I wanted to eat so badly. It's always amazing how much I miss eating at first but the first three days are always the toughest. The other thing I've struggled with is this damn blog. I rewrote the post so many times over so many days that here we are on day 4 and this is the first post. Anyway, I decided to trim the fat, here's the haps with the juice:

Saturday:

• Fennel Pear (1 bulb fennel: 3 pears) * 2; This is an old standby...always good.
• Peach Pear (2 peaches:4 pears); Ah, a newbie. I wasn't blown away and I expected to be but it was good.

Sunday (I'm using fresh pressed juices from Liquiteria because we are in Boston today):

• Green grasshopper * 3; No complaints.
• Royal flush * 2; Ditto.

Monday:

• Apple Apricot Peach (4 apples:4 apricots:4 peach); Pretty good...I'd make it again!
• Cruciferous Surprise (kale, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, apples); Not as good as the first time I made it and it was a lot of hassle for little more than half a jar

Tuesday:

• Minty Thrill Smoothie(pears, kale, mint, water); this I made into a smoothie since I was making an autologous blood donation. I had to use the word...it's just fancy speak for "I banked blood for myself...for my upcoming surgery. Anyway, the smoothie was just okay, kinda bland but the first time I made it, many moons ago, it was good. I have to make it at least once more to break the tie.
• *Edit* Minty Thrill Juice (pears, kale, mint); I don't know why but the juice version of this is so much better than the smoothie version. Perhaps the water in the smoothie literally waters down the flavor. Now, I don't have to make this again to know if it's really a good one or not, juice version is a keeper...smoothie version, not so much.*Edit*
• Carrot Pear (6 carrots: 4 or 5 pears); so I miscalculated the number of pears I needed last week and I had too many and they were going bad so I just threw in the extra pears. This is my dinner tonight so hopefully this variation is tasty. *Edit* This will be my breakfast tomorrow morning since I had the Minty Thrill juice for dinner. *Edit*

Past, Present and Future

This is a post that has been in draft since Feb. 8...I never said I wasn't a procrastinator!

Let me forewarn you, this is probably going to be a long post. Let's not beat around the bush...I have SUCCESSFULLY reached the end of my Juice Feast. I feasted for 58 days and as of yesterday, I have begun the feast breaking process which takes 6 days. I weighed in at 262.0 lbs and on 2/7/09 I was 217.8 for a grand total of 44.2 lbs. Today I'm 215 lbs! It was not easy but I felt it necessary and I cannot tell you how PROUD I am of myself for seeing this through. So, what now? Well, this is where the post gets long... Past In my past, I obviously over-ate and under-exercised both of which contributed to me being where I was when I began. But, during this process I've mulled over lots of little things that I've done that I will change to continue this journey.

Past	Present/Future
Giving up after less than three weeks because I can't see the results.	I can now honestly tell you that my expectations weren't always reasonable. I wanted to lose weight immediately and most people do because seeing results is gratifying and motivating. Now, I will zealously keep track of my measurements and take weekly digital photos so that even when I can't see or feel the difference or the scale doesn't show one, an impartial eye will be able to prove me wrong and keep me going.
Eating when lonely	You might wonder why I would feel lonely at all. After all, I'm married, I have good friends and I get along very well with most of my family. Yeah, it's sounds illogical. But the lonliness isn't external, it's internal and it's a carryover from another time in my life. One which I am learning to let go (really). So, rather than eat when lonely, I'm learning to identify that feeling and instead, either journal or reach out to someone and talk about why I feel lonely.
Waking up and eating	Sometimes, I wake up at 2:00 AM and I can't immediately go back to sleep. For the 30 minutes or so that I'm awake I instinctively head to the fridge or cabinets and grab something. While I can't stop myself from waking up (though my new eating habits will probably help me sleep more soundly), I can just relax and not eat and if I feel truly hungry then a piece of fruit, nuts or crudite is what I will reach for.
Not having healthy snacks on hand or having them on hand and not eating them	What can I say? I was making bad choices. Having healthy snakes on hand is the easy part. I love hummus and pita chips and healthy organic chips and I have plenty of recipes of healthy things that I know I like. As for making good snack choices going forward, well...I want to now. Meal and snack planning is part of my new life as is portion control. So, I'll always make sure I have snacks I like here and keep talking myself into those good choices until they become the habit.
Not preparing for meals in advance	This was a huge issue. I'd gotten to the place where I barely cooked before Juice Feasting and when I did it wasn't always the healthiest meal. More often than not though...I/we ended up eating out and I would made order loads of food (probably not the greatest stuff) and then devour it. If I did cook, the next day I wouldn't eat my leftovers. I don't know what it is about me and home-cooked leftovers. My plan now though is to cook regularly and to make at least 4 servings. One of which I will seal using my Foodsaver and have on-hand for a quick grab and eat. Before I'd used this as an excuse, a reason to run to McDonalds and get a combo meal or to Manna's and spend $8-$11 on my plate alone.
Making everything unhealthy off limits	Yeah this is almost a setup. The moment I tell myself "I will never have McDonald's again" is the moment sabotage sets in. McDonald's won't be a mainstay in my diet but I did say I'd allow myself the occassional indulgence and I will...just less of it and less often.
Combining foods incorrectly	We have this huge poster called "The Food Combining Guide" on the kitchen door and guess who hasn't been following it? Didn't anybody ever tell you it was rude to point fingers? Anyway, I've been resistant to following it. Why? Well, I don't exactly know. It's hard to change and the suggestions take fortitude, which I wasn't displaying much of earlier (where food was concerned anyway).
Controlling my portions	I have been eating like a linebacker. Newsflash to me: I've been cut from the team. I plan to use that rule that says a portion of anything is the size of my palm. Given that I have these small petite hands, if I follow that rule...portion control should be the least of my worries.
Taking care of my body externally	Almost immediately after taking better care of myself in one area, the motivation was there to do so in other areas. So, it all being interconnected, I'm doing a better job moisturizing, pampering, massaging, etc.
Letting lazy days turn into lazy weeks, months and years	Physical activity has to be the norm, it has to be more days a week than not. Taking a break is fine but letting a break turn into a lifestyle is a no-no.
Not being adept at adapting (when it comes to food and exercise anyway)	Things aren't always going to be perfect and when my plans are derailed, I can still make healthy food choices and get in phsycial activity just because I'm not at home in my little world.