One of my friends gave me a juicer a year ago. It was a beautiful piece of machinery that cost him $400 bucks, and I would be a total FOOL to pass on this. This friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, is one of those people who gets into diet fads, spends limitless amounts of money on what is needed for such “fad” requirements, and then quickly loses interest a week later. I am the freeloading friend that benefits from these antics, and when a nice Warring Juicer landed in my lap, I thought “Saaawwweeett!!” Sadly I will admit that a year later, I have finally started to use it. I have carted this thing along to count them, 3 apartments over the last year (I have lived like a gypsy but that is a longer story), and kept thinking to myself, “Once I get settled, my new Jack Lalane juicing regimen will begin.” Yeah well, a year later here we are.
I am sure right about now you are asking, “Wow, after carting a 25 lb. juicer around for a year to countless apartments, what made you FINALLY start using it?” It is my personal belief that as a previous single person, I lived like a wild animal. I ate much of my meals on the go, out of a Jewel shopping bag, and thought little about any actual nourishment that wasn’t in the form of a Women’s One a Day washed down with a gulp of beer. I recently moved in with my now boyfriend, and when you love someone, you want to start taking better care of yourself and them. At least, that’s how I feel.
Slowly over the last month I have started to nest… work out, think about my meals more, and not wash down vitamins with wine… so plugging in my juicer seemed the next logical step. My boyfriend works almost as many hours as I do, also a chef, and as a result, cooking for pleasure, let alone health is the last thing on our minds. I have to give him credit, as he was the one that was really gung ho about this idea, so I went to the produce market and spent about $25 to start. Little did I know it would really change the way I lived.
It started out basic: apples, carrots, beets, oranges, ginger, garlic, etc. Then as spring slowly moves into summer, I find myself buying pineapples, kiwi, and mangos! Let me first tell you the first thing you will discover, is that fruit actually tastes very vivid, almost 3D. It is like experiencing your fruits and veggies for the first time because you are extracting them in their most pure form.
A trick I also started doing is to take the pulp that accumulates in the juicer and add them to my drink, as lots of nutrient are found in the skins and it adds a nice thick texture that keeps me fuller longer. After a couple of weeks I began to feel more energized, and when I woke up in the morning, I got right up…. no lazing around, which is odd for me! I incorporate 1 glass of fruit juice in the morning—the brightness wakes me up like a cup of coffee, then save my 1 glass of veggie juice for night time. I cannot say enough how I am kicking myself for not using this sooner.
Another thing I noticed is that now when I grocery shop, I actually shop the perimeter of the grocery store and not the inside of it, as I have heard many dieticians say this is how we should shop. Also, I was in this weird habit of drinking a lot of soda, and when I wouldn’t have one I would crave the sugar I got from it in a weird way. Now that I have started juicing, I hardly drink soda. I just don’t crave it, which is amazing!
There is such a trend in healthy eating lately. I made a comment to one of my Chopping Block’s colleagues the other day how such classes as “Gluten Free”, “Vegan”, and “Vegetarian” sell out quickly. I encourage you, if you have not tried juicing yet and are curious, give it a whirl. I hope it will inspire you!
Do you juice? If so, what are your favorite flavors?
So I went on a quest for some yummy yet quick serve fruits and veggies to incorporate into my food choices. I could not find much going on in my local grocer (that I was willing to go out on a limb for anyway) other than broccoli and pineapples. Using these items as my base, I made a stir fry with a wonderful sauce we carry at The Chopping Block called “Seoul Sauce” from Chicago Chef Bill Kim. The soy balsamic added the perfect amount of “zing” to my base. I then added some chicken, peapods, water chestnuts, onions and carrots and had a wonderful meal that gets me closer to my weight loss goal and took just a few short minutes to put together.