This is a day to celebrate. It’s DAY 30 of the Juice Thing.

Okay, I’m back with the to-be-continued.

What I have come to call the “FlyLady Attitude” (Something done imperfectly can still bless your life) has become my mantra. I have SOOOO not been perfect at this juicing thing. I have sometimes eaten some food, even besides eggs. The other day I went into Costco at 12:30 P.M. I was hungry and tired. I have read Jason Vale’s book, Freedom from the Diet Trap: Slim for Life. His book is all about Drug Foods and the addiction trap. In it, Jason talks about taking responsibility for your food choices, and being conscious about the impact those choices will have on your body. He also says that if you choose to eat something, whatever it is, you need to own the choice. Just make the choice, don’t stand around whining about it one way or the other. With this in mind, on my way into Costco, I decided, “That’s it. I’m starving. I am absolutely going to eat whatever samples they have today.” At the same time, I was going there to buy more veggies to juice. Don’t you love irony?

So they had something like a gazillion food samples available (of course), but I only ate the ones that I thought I’d like, which was about three things, so I ate them, and they all tasted so good. Ha. Actually they didn’t. Those taquitos were not that great, and I actually spit out the General Tzao’s Chicken, because eew. It probably tasted just fine to lots of people, but after the massive doses of real food flavor that I’ve been saturated with, that stuff was no bueno. I confess I LOVED the organic sausage, and I even bought some for the freezer. I may be certifiably crazy. Even when I go back to “regular” food, it’s going to be generally limited to high quality real foods and mainly for just one meal a day, so sausage? What was I thinking? Although I didn’t buy a ton, I might now have a three-year supply for occasional indulgence.

So, back to owning your food choices and the consequences thereof. “Just make the choice, don’t stand around whining about it.” I need to work on that. Lately when people ask me how the juicing is going, I have generally said that I hate it. How’s that for not whining? I’m having some adjustment challenges. I spent five days proving the rule that you won’t lose weight by juicing fruit, because it causes an insulin (blood sugar) spike. Lovely. So I’ve been juicing mainly vegetables, and while they taste good, it’s one more sugar adjustment to make. I have discovered that I despise cauliflower juice, and barely tolerate broccoli juice. All those raw, leafy greens that everyone says are so good for you? I’ve learned that they make me lose my voice. I already knew this about raw spinach, but it seems the same thing happens with kale also. I don’t know about chard, that one may be okay, and lettuces seem to be all right, too. At any rate, I have to be careful and can’t put too many greens into my juice. Cabbage juice does well for me but I can’t stand the smell of the pulp and I find I’m getting tired of the juice flavor also. (FYI, all of these are combined with other vegetable juices, never straight, yuck.) Fun times, yeah. I think that learning new things is just sometimes hard and I have to be patient until I learn what works for me.

I told myself that on Day 30 I would evaluate how things are going with the juicing and decide whether I would really continue this 60 day journey. I’ve found myself craving lactofermented vegetables lately. Things like sauerkraut, and kimchi. I know that the thought of these things turns some people’s stomachs, but I like them, and I know that the probiotics and vitamins in these kinds of foods are off-the-charts good for you. So I’ve decided to continue the juicing journey, yet broaden things a bit by adding in some of these fermented foods.

Making lactofermented vegetables takes time – fermentation is an extended process, but just knowing that they are coming has me so excited. I have a HUGE sauerkraut crock that is currently working a batch of kraut, and will take a while before it’s ready, but I also have found some of the coolest thing-a-majigs for doing an airtight ferment in mason jars (Pickle-Pipe Airlocks), and so I’ve started some batches of vegetables that I will probably eat in about seven to ten days, rather than wait the full four to six weeks. Oh, in case anyone is interested, the book I used for reference on fermentation recipes is called,  Ferment Your Vegetables: A Fun and Flavorful Guide to Making Your Own Pickles, Kimchi, Kraut, and More. (I don’t make any money from the links, they are just for your convenience.) There are also half a gazillion websites about fermentation, but I would caution you that some (many) of the methods presented are not airtight and therefore not quite as protected from mold (eew), and undesirable bacteria growth. For more sciencey information about this, this article is a good place to start – “Three Lies about Lactofermentation That Might Be Affecting Your Health”.

So that’s the that. I’m at Day 30 of imperfectly juicing, but I’m still learning about how food works in my body, what is good for me, and what isn’t. I’m down about 20 lbs for what it’s worth, but more importantly, I’m seeing signs of healing in my body and that’s what’s most encouraging in the big picture. I do have discouraging days, and yesterday was one, but when I hold on to the big picture, I get through frustration a little better. Thank heaven Mr. Hot Stuff is my biggest cheer-leader and supporter. It makes a huge difference.

This song, yesterday, gave me hope that I can continue this journey: