I went shopping today. And not just any shopping – whole foods shopping. Can I get a hurray?!

As I mentioned in my recent confessions post, I’ve been a bad, bad girl. I’ve let processed foods slip back into my diet (aka mouth). I’ve grown away from those every day raw juices, smoothies, and Greek yogurt snacks.

But no more!

I’m taking control of my health and life and am getting back on track. I’ve gained weight since being married. But I’m not the only one, I know. Just ask The Healthy Apron!

Nah, I won’t really blame my husband. I’m the one who put the food in my mouth. LOL!

It’s just that since being married, I think I’ve let my guard down and just eaten whatever I want, whenever I want, and have lost sight of my original health goals.

Believe me, it’s easy to get caught up in how juicy or creamy something tastes and just thinking “oh, I’ll get back on the wagon tomorrow” – knowing tomorrow might never come.

I’m not saying just give up all those on-a-whim treats. Those little moments and yummy tastes are the spice of life. I’m just saying I have to reign myself back in and get with the program! My own program!

Look at all the yummy produce!

Yep, our bicycles are parked in the kitchen. LOL! 

Whole Grain, All Natural Oats for chilly mornings!

Cashews ‘cause they’re SO yummy!  

Onions – I love ‘em raw or cooked!  

Bananas aka Nanners – for smoothies + snacks!

Broccoli + Carrots for nibbling!

Potatoes (aka taters) – love ‘em raw or cooked!

My long lost love, Greek yogurt!

Kiwi – SO juicy and delish!

Pears – crisp and delish!  

Avocados – you won’t BELIEVE

what they’re going in!  

Lemons & Limes – for tea and salad!

Grapefruits!

Purdy bell peppers! 

Cantaloupe – for snackin’ + smoothies!

Cucumbers – I could eat gazillions of ‘em!

So many bright and natural colors! 

I also bought some canned goods, tea, eggs, and meat (the husband loves meat and has shared the love with me – he’s a fantabulous cook and I’m spoiled!).

I’m excited to be getting back to more whole foods, my yoga practice, and living a more healthy lifestyle. As friends have called me in the past: healthatarian. LOL! 

So, what about you? Do you cram as many whole foods into your meals as you can? Have you been eating whatever is available just so you can make it through the day? It’s SO easy to fall into that rut. Do you judge others for falling into food and exercise ruts? Do you judge yourself?

If you’re in a rut, just start climbing out like I am. Purpose in your heart to make tomorrow different, even if it’s baby steps. Just start.

We must love ourselves, love whole foods, and enjoy life…

Are you on board? Talk to me, people!

And don’t forget the sweet freebies. You have until the 30th before your coupon code expires!

First, I’d like to remind you about the current contest I have running: The Bolder Mat Company Yoga Mat + Stacy McCarthy’s Yoga DVD. (Contest ends Wednesday, August 19th. There are SEVEN ways to win!!)

My day started out with an hour of yoga, which was fantabulous! I almost fell asleep during Shavasana, I was SO relaxed! (Have I mentioned lately that I’m in LOVE with yoga??!!) After that, I gobbled up an organic Greek yogurt with frozen blueberries on top (this is by far my FAVORITE, non-raw meal)!

Then, I did some writing + blog work and some other stuff. Once it was time for lunch, I was STARVING.

Spinach Salad

a bunch of baby spinach leaves (this is a bigger bowl than it seems)

organic tomatoes (from my garden)

frozen peas +organic  bell pepper from my garden (lightly steamed with coconut oil + Italian herbs)

hemp seeds (from www.manitobaharvest.com)

macadamia nuts

THIS SALAD WAS DELICIOUS!!! YUM!!!

Once lunch was finished and cleaned up, it was time for me to stop procrastinating and make some chocolate pudding from avocados! Enter: Chocolate (Avocado) Pudding Heaven!

Cleanin’ Out the Fridge + Garden Overflow

There was a little of this, that, and the other in the fridge where veggies are concerned. I’ve been eating a LOT of salad but needed to clean out those odds and ends. Also, I needed to use up some freshly-picked garden veggies…

Organic, Heirloom Tomatoes

Organic Heirloom Bell + Banana Peppers

All from My Garden

First Up: Tomato Juice

(After I washed all that garden dirt off!)

Beautiful Tomato Juice Bubbles!

Made 3 Cups + a Little Leftover

Just for me!

Next Up: Juice Concoction

rest of the tomatoes

3 bell peppers

5 big banana peppers

whole bag of organic carrots (16 ounce) + a few other stray (organic) carrots

2 big cucumbers (from my garden)

teeny bit of spinach

Juice Concoction Bubbles

Juice Concoction Pulp

(The pulp went to the ducks, chickens, and turkeys.)

Organic, Heirloom Cucumbers

9 big cucumbers went into this juice!

Gorgeous Cucumber Juice Bubbles

Those 9 cucumbers made 3 cups of juice (shown above) + half of my oversized, favorite cup for drinking right away!

Cucumber Juice for Me!

It’s a Raw Juice Party!

In all, I ended up with:

1 – 3 cup container of tomato juice

1 – 3 cup container of cucumber juice

1 – 3 cup container which contained 3/4 cucumber juice + 1/4 juice concoction

2 – 3 cup containers of juice concoction

1 – 12 ounce Amazing Grass shaker cup of cucumber juice

1 – 12 ounce Amazing Grass shaker cup of cantaloupe juice

leftover 8 ounces or so of cucumber juice, which I drank in my polka-dotted cup (shown above)

Cantaloupe Juice

I forgot to take a photo of the cantaloupe but it was organic, heirloom (from my garden) as well.

It made 12 ounces–which fit perfectly into an Amazing Grass shaker cup! This one went into the freezer for later. Yum!

Juices in a Nice, Clean Fridge!

What’s in your fridge?

Be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life PLUS get to enter all sorts of awesome contests!

First, I’d like to remind you about the current contest I have running: The Bolder Mat Company Yoga Mat + Stacy McCarthy’s Yoga DVD.

I get so many emails thanking me for sharing snippets of my personal life, I thought I’d share with you that in between writing reviews and hosting a contest, a birthday snuck up on me. The big 34 slapped me on Wednesday (the 12th). It seems pretty weird how time whizzes by until one day you’re in your 30s and you wonder where “Sweet 16″ went.

No, it isn’t raw…

Don’t get me wrong, I’m actually thrilled to be 34. Back in my 20s, some of my doctors weren’t even sure I’d live to see 30–my health was really, really bad. It’s surreal, actually, that I’ve come so far.

If this post seems a little heavy–and long–I apologize. I just thought I’d share my heart with you….

In February of this year, I lost a cousin. He would have been 33 this month. He was a handsome young man, a great husband and dad. I grew up with him, went to school with him, and thought we’d make fun of each other’s wrinkles when we were old. He was one of those cousins who was more than “just another cousin”.

Not long after that, I lost another cousin. I didn’t know him well. He lived in another state. He was only 36.

In early May, I lost yet another cousin. She would have been 29. She died just about 3 weeks shy of her birthday. She was always more like a little sister to me, than a cousin.

All 3 of ‘em left children and spouses.

And, as I celebrated turning 34 over 100 pounds lighter than I was at one time, I had an epiphany: I could die tomorrow. Although I’ve worked hard to be slimmer and healthier for the past few years, it isn’t always health-related issues that bring on death. Sometimes it’s a car accident. Sometimes it’s a freak act of nature.

I can’t tell you how many times I had walked by those glass doors and peered in at that turtle ice cream cake (pictured above). Oh, I have the willpower to resist. There’s no way I could count the times over the past few years that I sat on the sidelines and watched everyone else enjoy cake and ice cream or cupcakes at birthday parties and other celebrations–because I was on a mission to lose weight and attain my ultimate health. I didn’t lose over 100 pounds by gobbling up cake and ice cream. I lost it because I have a strong will, I’m dedicated, and I can persevere through almost anything.

So, I decided this: None of those 3 cousins I mentioned above got the chance to have another birthday. So, I celebrated. I splurged. I enjoyed my special day. And, yes, I ate cake and ice cream. I ate it for my cousins (yes, I’m an emotional eater!), and I ate it for myself.

I realize Raw Food Purists would frown on my decision. But I just couldn’t stand the thought of dying without knowing what that turtle ice cream cake tasted like! Some things are better left NOT a mystery. I don’t have to ever eat it again–although I enjoyed every single bite of the one piece I had (the rest went to family). I also enjoyed that little bit of Rocky Road and Peanut Butter Panic ice cream you’ll see pictured below.

I had a wonderful birthday. I’m so blessed!

My piece

Gooey Caramel Center

I actually had the piece of cake and ice cream with my family the night before my birthday. My mom thought it was funny to get me the two ice creams below (they’re those teeny tiny little containers) because she knows how much I used to love coffee ice cream and caramel… well, there’s not enough room here to write about my love affair with caramel over the years. Anyway, I saved those little containers for the next day, my birthday. And they were delicious!!!

Coffee Ice Cream + Dulce De Leche

On the morning of my birthday, my mom made me my all-time favorite (non-raw) breakfast EVER: a spinach omelet made with farm fresh, organic eggs (from our farm), spinach, bell peppers, sea salt and herbs, and a tiny amount of cheese. Also, a cup of herbal tea (in my favorite, big pink and white polka-dotted OVERSIZED cup).

Birthday Breakfast

Couldn’t finish it!

I decided to eat whatever I wanted on my birthday. Maybe next year I’ll have a raw cake and some raw ice cream. This year, I wasn’t equipped with a dehydrator, and a professionally made raw cake just wasn’t in the budget (or even available in my area).

I don’t think I splurged too bad,do you?

Birthday Lunch

bunch of spinach leaves

frozen blueberries

yummy macadamia nuts

DELISH!

I remembered my leftover omelet, so I threw it on top of my salad–YUM!

Zero Candy Bar

Turtle

I nibbled on that Zero and Turtle all. day. long. I was too full to eat dinner.

Birthday Cards

Here’s a few of my favorite cards I got this year…

(From my brother)

(From my parents)

(From my aunt)

I also did over an HOUR of yoga–it was FABULOUS!

What is your favorite part of your birthday? Do you splurge on cake and ice cream (raw, or not)? Or, do you chow down on raw veggies and treat it as just any other day?

And, if you’ve read this long post all the way through, you’re a fantabulous reader!

So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.

I drank my warm lemon water first thing this morning.

Breakfast

I felt like having a cantaloupe juice with a scoop of berry flavored Amazing Grass SuperFood powder.

(Crave that amazing feeling? Click on the photo below to find out how you can!)

I saved you the agony of a photo of my cantaloupe juice because it was slimy (that’s never happened before!!) and the Amazing Grass powder clumped up and it was disgusting looking! I had to throw it out–and believe me, I can’t stand being wasteful!

Since my cantaloupe juice was out, I drank some of the beet concoction I made yesterday with a scoop of the berry flavored Amazing Grass powder.

Snack

I usually have my daily dose of E3 Live mid-morning, so when I looked in the fridge and noticed that my weekly portion of thawed E3 Live was used up, I decided to give the E3 Live Brain On a try. (I’ll be reviewing the E3 Live and E3 Live Brain On in upcoming posts–and there’s a contest coming for it, too!)

E3 Live, Brain On!

E3 Live has to be kept frozen to maintain its freshness. Each week (according to the directions), I take it out of the freezer and defrost it a little by sitting it in a bowl of hot water. After a few minutes, I pour a few tablespoons in a small glass jar and put the lid on and keep that in the fridge. It’s recommended to only keep about a week’s worth in the fridge at once. Keep the rest frozen. I prefer my E3 Live as a dose by itself–it really does make me feel alive! I can’t wait to see how/if this Brain On enhances my mental clarity and memory.

I also had some water with a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar in it.

Lunch + Dinner

I enjoyed some herbal tea with lemon and wasn’t hungry so I didn’t have a lunch juice. For dinner, I had another of my beet concoction juices and called it a day.

Until tomorrow… happy juicing!

Don’t forget to catch up on my 30-day juice fast…

Day 1 of a 30-Day Juice Fast and Juicer Mishaps

Day 2 of a 30-Day Juice Fast–and AMAZING GRASS!!

Day 3–E3 Living!

Day 4 + Wheat Grass Galore + a Juicer!!

Day 5 — Dead or Alive?

Day 6 + Father’s Day Bliss!

Day 7, Cucumber Chia Heaven!

Day 8, Let’s Talk About Weight!

Day 9–and I’m Feelin’ Fine!

Day 10–Learnin’ About Lemon!

Day 11, Grapefruit Juice Heaven!

Day 12 with Sprouts on Top!

Day 13 and Juiceless

Day 14: Salad in a Glass

Day 15 + Living Tree Community Contest Winner!

Day 16 + Books by Dr. Bruce Fife

Day 17 + Green Pineapple Juice

Day 18 (Catching Up)

Day 19 + July 4th Celebrations!!

Day 20 + My Dad’s Birthday!

Day 21 , Winding Down

Day 22 + AMAZING Watermelon

Day 23, Repeat

Day 24 + Heirloom Rainbows

Upcoming Contests Featuring these Fabulous Companies

• 2 books by Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet (These two books have GORGEOUS photos and the recipes are amazing!
• 2 Food Matters DVDs (Haven’t had a chance to watch this one yet, but do check out their site–they have a RAWsome message to share!!)
• Detox 4 Women by Natalia Rose (I read this book last night and it’s awesome; it really helps you understand water retention, etc!)
• Oh Nuts! (raw macadamia nuts and pecans) <— These are seriously delicious nuts–and they’re JUMBO sized!
• E3Live (Green-tasting (which I don’t mind!), but I REALLY notice that it’s making me feel better. It was definitely put to the test through my recent stressful events!)
• 2 books (Coconut Water for Health and Healing and Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body Through Oral Cleansing by Dr. Bruce Fife
• and MORE!

You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!

So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.

Breakfast

I felt like having cucumber juice for breakfast. I added a scoop of berry flavored Amazing Grass SuperFood powder to it.Yum!

(To find out just how berry-licious this superfood powder is, click on the photo below!)

Amazing (Grass) Cucumber Juice

All Shook Up!

Snack

Mid-morning: After breakfast, I drank some herbal tea. I also had a shot of E3 Live and a glass of water with a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar.

Lunch + Dinner

I juiced some leftover cantaloupe so it wouldn’t go to waste.

Cool Cantaloupe

(Made about 3 cups. It was about 3/4 juice and 1/4 water.)

Heirloom Rainbow

1 big (heirloom) beet (from my garden)

several (heirloom) beet tops (from my garden)

heirloom lettuce (from my garden)

small (heirloom) bell pepper (from my garden)

4 organic carrots

huge bunch parsley

2 pieces ginger root (approx. 1 inch each)

5 celery stalks

Kinda Mucky Looking

The beet concoction made 3 cups. I diluted it 50/50 and ended up with 6 cups.

Ready to Drink!

Note to self: If I make this beet concoction again, I’ll remember that it included a LOT of lettuce and does NOT need to be diluted. It tasted very bland and just wasn’t fun to drink! (I added a splash of cantaloupe juice to jazz it up a little.)

Until tomorrow… happy juicing!

Don’t forget to catch up on my 30-day juice fast…

Day 1 of a 30-Day Juice Fast and Juicer Mishaps

Day 2 of a 30-Day Juice Fast–and AMAZING GRASS!!

Day 3–E3 Living!

Day 4 + Wheat Grass Galore + a Juicer!!

Day 5 — Dead or Alive?

Day 6 + Father’s Day Bliss!

Day 7, Cucumber Chia Heaven!

Day 8, Let’s Talk About Weight!

Day 9–and I’m Feelin’ Fine!

Day 10–Learnin’ About Lemon!

Day 11, Grapefruit Juice Heaven!

Day 12 with Sprouts on Top!

Day 13 and Juiceless

Day 14: Salad in a Glass

Day 15 + Living Tree Community Contest Winner!

Day 16 + Books by Dr. Bruce Fife

Day 17 + Green Pineapple Juice

Day 18 (Catching Up)

Day 19 + July 4th Celebrations!!

Day 20 + My Dad’s Birthday!

Day 21 , Winding Down

Day 22 + AMAZING Watermelon

Day 23, Repeat

Upcoming Contests Featuring these Fabulous Companies

• 2 books by Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet (These two books have GORGEOUS photos and the recipes are amazing!
• 2 Food Matters DVDs (Haven’t had a chance to watch this one yet, but do check out their site–they have a RAWsome message to share!!)
• Detox 4 Women by Natalia Rose (I read this book last night and it’s awesome; it really helps you understand water retention, etc!)
• Oh Nuts! (raw macadamia nuts and pecans) <— These are seriously delicious nuts–and they’re JUMBO sized!
• E3Live (Green-tasting (which I don’t mind!), but I REALLY notice that it’s making me feel better. It was definitely put to the test through my recent stressful events!)
• 2 books (Coconut Water for Health and Healing and Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body Through Oral Cleansing by Dr. Bruce Fife
• and MORE!

You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!

So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.

Breakfast

While I thought about what I’d juice up for the day, I made myself a morning juice: the last of Friday’s Amish-grown cabbage concoction and 1 1/2 scoops of Amazing Grass SuperFood powder (I needed an extra boost!).

(Just click on the photo below to learn more about this berry-licious product from Amazing Grass.)

Watermelon Juice

(This watermelon juice was made from (almost) a full zip lock bag of sliced watermelon.)

Raw Juice To Go

Top, left corner is the cucumber juice. Top, right corner is the apple juice. Lower, left corner is the watermelon juice. Lower, right corner is the cantaloupe juice. Each container measures 3 cups.

Snack

I drank a watermelon juice on the way to the festival (nope, I didn’t get a photo–just grabbed it and loaded my other juices into the cooler and hit the road!).

I also had my daily shot (a tablespoon) of E3 Live.

At the Festival

(Taken from the roof of the new restaurant–which I forgot to get a pic of.)

Look at that Heirloom Garden!

Nearby Farms

After wandering around the festival for a while and checking out the handmade crafts, homemade foods, and heirloom seeds, etc., we decided to head for the park for a picnic.

Picnic at a Park

My Picnic Juice

I decided to have an apple juice in my Amazing Grass shaker cup. And that’s good old water in the pink to-go bottle.

Beautiful Watermelon, eh?

After my watermelon juice was gone, and lots of laughing and talking, I discovered I was craving another juice, so I poured myself a cantaloupe juice before we left the park.

Cantaloupe Juice

After we left the park, we drove around and soaked up the local scenery: Amish farms, old buildings, gentle rolling pastures…

I made sure to drink plenty of juices yesterday and today because of the back pain zapping my strength, so I drank another apple juice, watermelon juice, and cantaloupe juice during the afternoon.

Dinner

To end the day, I drank a refreshing cucumber juice. It was just what my body needed after the day’s events. My dad had a great birthday and we’re so very blessed to have him!!!

Remember folks: It’s not what you’re eating (or not eating), it’s the good company you’re keeping and the good times you’re having that make each moment special and precious!

Until tomorrow… happy juicing!

Don’t forget to catch up on my 30-day juice fast…

Day 1 of a 30-Day Juice Fast and Juicer Mishaps

Day 2 of a 30-Day Juice Fast–and AMAZING GRASS!!

Day 3–E3 Living!

Day 4 + Wheat Grass Galore + a Juicer!!

Day 5 — Dead or Alive?

Day 6 + Father’s Day Bliss!

Day 7, Cucumber Chia Heaven!

Day 8, Let’s Talk About Weight!

Day 9–and I’m Feelin’ Fine!

Day 10–Learnin’ About Lemon!

Day 11, Grapefruit Juice Heaven!

Day 12 with Sprouts on Top!

Day 13 and Juiceless

Day 14: Salad in a Glass

Day 15 + Living Tree Community Contest Winner!

Day 16 + Books by Dr. Bruce Fife

Day 17 + Green Pineapple Juice

Day 18 (Catching Up)

Day 19 + July 4th Celebrations!!

Upcoming Contests Featuring these Fabulous Companies

• 2 books by Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet (These two books have GORGEOUS photos and the recipes are amazing!
• 2 Food Matters DVDs (Haven’t had a chance to watch this one yet, but do check out their site–they have a RAWsome message to share!!)
• Detox 4 Women by Natalia Rose (I read this book last night and it’s awesome; it really helps you understand water retention, etc!)
• Oh Nuts! (raw macadamia nuts and pecans) <— These are seriously delicious nuts–and they’re JUMBO sized!
• E3Live (Green-tasting (which I don’t mind!), but I REALLY notice that it’s making me feel better. It was definitely put to the test through my recent stressful events!)
• 2 books (Coconut Water for Health and Healing and Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body Through Oral Cleansing by Dr. Bruce Fife
• and MORE!

You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!

So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.