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!

Anyway…

I’ve had lots of raw thoughts floating through my mind lately. There are so many shades of raw in the raw food world. Many strive to be 100% raw. Others seek balance by working toward a 50/50 raw food/cooked food meal plan. Some Raw Foodists are vegans; others eat meat and consume dairy.

In the past, I’ve reflected on raw juice fasting, gone 100% raw, admitted to falling off the 100% raw food wagon, confronted emotional eating, food labels, and judgments, and so much more.

I never had the desire to eat raw meat, though. That, to me, is just… too much for me to even fathom.

There’s no doubt I love raw food – my body literally craves it. A LOT. I love the freshness. I love the crunch. I love the taste. I love how it makes my body, mind, and soul come alive. It’s awesomeness.

But I had an epiphany a while back. When I wrote an article for Raw People titled Living Raw In A Cooked Society, I was feeling very much alone. In case you’re not one who clicks through on links, here’s an excerpt:

“At times like these, when you’re surrounded by a cooked society, those of us who are on a Raw Food Journey can feel so alone, overwhelmed, and discouraged. I know I do.”

Yes, there ARE positive aspects of that article. And I do believe in Raw Foodism. Totally. But when anything in life brings us to a point where we’re not satisfied anymore or we’ve strayed from our original passion for it, that’s when it’s time to evaluate where we’re at in life now and if we want to continue on the way things are going – or make changes. It’s that simple.

Just because I’m not 100% raw anymore, doesn’t mean I eat horribly. I’ve had so many people – lots of you readers! – tell me that I’m just too hard on myself. You were (and are) right.

As I look at the above photos, I see raw food. I also see a delicious helping of salmon salad (also has some raw ingredients) and some All Natural Ranch dressing for dipping veggies. I agree, Raw Foodies make raw Ranch. I’m not saying I’ll never attempt that recipe. But I don’t see this meal as a “bad” one.

Sure, I can whip up a fantabulous fish-less recipe. But salmon has always been one of my all-time favorite foods and I just can’t deny myself the pleasure sometimes! Like raw food, my body craves salmon as well. And when I eat salmon, it’s like my body absorbs strength and health from it. I see that as a positive. And it took quite a while for me to realize that it’s OKAY to eat salmon. This is my life. My body. My health. My choice.

If you’re irritable, feeling weak and sickly, and are still holding out for 100% Raw Foodism – just to be keeping up with other Raw Foodies, maybe a Raw Reality Evaluation like I’ve experienced is something that would work for you.

And I ride Pink Beauty anywhere from 2-10 miles each day. Sometimes, I ride 16-30 miles in a day. Yeppers.

I’ve also maintained a 100+ pound weight loss for several years. Although my weight has fluctuated about 20 pounds here and there over the years, I’ve kept off over 100 pounds. That is HUGE. I have to remind myself of that sometimes. I am too hard on myself. <—I WAS too hard on myself.

Raw Resolutions?

2011 didn’t begin with a long list of resolutions for me like past years. Instead, I’m going the opposite direction. As I ponder this new year, I envision the following blessings…

• life (with my new husband!)
• food – including LOTS of raw!
• health
• bike riding (Pink Beauty!)
• walking
• yoga
• and. so. much. more!

I choose to focus on the positives 2011 will bring – including satisfying my salmon cravings!

I’m STILL Raw Juice Girl, though. I love raw juices and smoothies. I love how my body, mind, and soul evolves and finds calm and peace when I’m juice fasting. I’m still firmly planted in my raw roots – I’ve just realized 100% raw, 100% of the time, isn’t for me.

Plus, my husband is QUITE the gardener so I’m looking forward to an abundance of fresh produce this year!

What about you? Did you make a long list of resolutions? Are you too hard on yourself? Or have you decided to go the opposite route this year like me? Let’s talk!

In Other News

Don’t forget about…

• Free Samples & Discounts

• (Healthy) Deals & Steals

• 12 Days of Christmas Special (good through January 6!!)

Happy New Year!!!!

Breakfast

Warm lemon water is what I drank first. Half an hour or so later, I decided I’d have fresh grapefruit juice. If you’re a grapefruit lover, you’ll adore fresh grapefruit juice!

Two Grapefruits

(I peeled ‘em before juicin’)

100% Grapefruit Juice

It made about 14 ounces–all for me!!

Fantabulous!!

Snack

Instead of another juice, I had a glass of water with organic apple cider vinegar and my daily dose (a tablespoon) of E3 Live.

Lunch

I felt like switching things up for my lunch juice and I came up with a….

Cabbage Concoction

chunk of my Amish-grown cabbage (shown here)

handful of spinach

2 kale leaves

small apple

half of a lemon (peel, seeds and all)

1 carrot

1 celery stalk

nob ginger (about an inch thick)

handful of parsley

Love the Colors!

Spicy!

I actually loved the spicy flavor of this green juice but if you don’t like ginger or spicy flavors, you’ll want to leave the ginger out of this one or use way less.

Snack

No afternoon snack today. I just had some iced herbal tea with lemon.

Dinner

I sat out that container of frozen pineapple-strawberry juice from yesterday earlier today and just had a cup of that. I felt like having a simple dinner, so I did!

That’s it for day 11. And I’m happy with how it went!

Just tuning in? Catch up:

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!

Until tomorrow… happy juicing!

Contest Alert!

• Erica over at I Run Because I Can is having a super fantabulous contest for peanut AND almond butter PLUS other yummy stuff!! Check it out!

• Kristin from Iowa Girl Eats is hosting a super duper cool contest for Real Simple magazine and RAWsome Pure Bars!! Hurry and enter!!

• Don’t forget about the Living Tree Community contest! (You’ll win a 16 ounce jar of Coconut Mango Persimmon Butter AND an 8 ounce jar of Raw Almond Butter–both organic!!)

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!)
• Living Tree Community (Raw almond butter and organic coconut mango persimmon butter!)
• 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!)
• 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.

Michele L. Tune

Making Up Your Mind to Juice Fast

Okay, so you’ve decided to go on a juice fast. Maybe it’s just because you want to get healthier, or perhaps you’re looking to get a jump-start on weight loss. Let’s hope you’ve decided to sacrifice your favorite foods and survive a few days on raw juices because you want to focus on cleaning your body and helping it get rid of years – maybe even decades – of all the bad stuff that’s caked up inside. Let’s also hope it’s because you’ve truly searched your heart and wholeheartedly decided to lead a lifestyle that promotes life instead of one that promotes sickness, premature death, and obesity.

If you’re only planning on juice fasting to lose weight, you may as well not do it. Yes, most people lose several pounds juice fasting – I have. But weight loss is about so much more than lost pounds. Weight loss is about changing your entire lifestyle – mind, body, and soul. Weight loss is about targeting why you gained weight in the first place and what you’re going to do to prevent yourself from gaining weight again once you’ve lost it. So, although you probably will lose weight during your juice fast, it’s best to think of those lost pounds as just part of the process and not your sole reason for juicing fasting. Trust me; I do know what I’m talking about. I’ve lost over 100 pounds – and kept it off.

Made up your mind yet? Fantabulous! Let’s get started!

A few ideas for that pre-juice fast menu:

Organic Greek yogurt with raw walnuts, and fresh or frozen blueberries

This is a yummy treat you can enjoy any time. I prefer Oikos organic Greek yogurt myself, but you may like another brand. (Nope, I didn’t get paid for saying I love Oikos – it’s delish, filling, and most importantly, healthy!) Besides the protein in the yogurt, you’re getting protein from the heart-healthy walnuts, and loading up on antioxidants in those juicy blueberries.

Chopped avocado, tomato, red onion, juice from a real lemon

This is yum-o!! Simply cut up a fresh tomato and avocado and toss in a bowl. You can add a homemade vinaigrette if you want to. I don’t. I do squeeze the juice of about a half of a lemon over the avocado. (I wouldn’t use the lemon juice that comes in a bottle.)

Salad: raw spinach, Napa cabbage, carrots, blueberries, raw walnuts, salmon

This is one of my favorite salads ever. You can throw in whatever your favorite veggies are. The blueberries are optional but they are divine on salad! If you’re a big meat eater, adding salmon or tuna to your salad is a wonderful way to still feed your body a protein that will satisfy you while staying away from red meat. I normally don’t eat salmon or tuna within a few days of a juice fast, simply because it’s a little bit difficult for our bodies to adjust to an all liquid diet after consuming a lot of protein each day.

Prepare, Prepare, Prepare

I’ve mentioned this before but it really is crucial to prepare your body and your mind before setting out on this amazing journey with raw juices.

I’m so used to juice fasting it’s pretty much become second nature for me. I listen to my body – and mind – and I know when both are craving a raw juice fast. You’ll learn to do this too as you become more experienced with juice fasting.

I never, ever recommend that you start a long juice fast right off the bat. Like anything else, you want to ease your body into juice fasting. Think about it. You wouldn’t wake up one day and decide you want to be a runner, hop out of bed, and run the longest marathon there is. No, you’d go buy yourself some running shoes, maybe pick out an area to start running, jump online and study the stretches you need to do to prepare your muscles for a run. You might start jogging and/or doing some other exercises.

The most important message I want to share is that juice fasting is a marvelous way to nourish your body and mind. It’s a beautiful journey between the person who is fasting and the raw food our bodies were made to consume. It’s a great way to slow yourself down and find the calm that lies within you, but is drowned out by all the world’s chaotic noises.

Have you ever juice fasted? Are you just venturing out to try it? What are your thoughts on juice fasting? I’d love to hear them!

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 receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health.

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