Hey there, fellow juicers and weight-loss-ers! Since this is my blog, I could lie and tell you that I juiced 100% for the past 3 weeks, and you would never know if that were true or not. But Alin is making me tell the truth… Plus, I was going to tell the truth anyway….

So, for the first 9 days, I juiced 100%. Didn’t cheat at all except for one meal with my parents and brother before they went back to Phoenix. As a result, I had lost 9 pounds. I then had one more cheat meal with my husband on my Thursday night date night, which was planned, and went back to juicing. Next thing you know, I am making excuses for another cheat meal, that wasn’t in the plans. And then it was cheat meal after cheat meal after cheat meal. I know I cannot be the only who who has gone through this. Mentally, I feel like I am back to where I always end up everytime I am on a “diet”. Feeling completely, and utterly defeated.

Well, I am going to start up again today, with 100% juice. Thankfully, through all of that “cheating”, I had only gained 1 pound back from the 9 that I lost. My plan is to only cheat Thursday night for my date night, and Sunday night for our family outing/dinner. Here’s to hoping I stick to it this time. I am going to take this week by week instead of thinking of it as 60 days.

May I also recommend this Starbucks 16oz Clear Acrylic Tumbler? I paid around $15 bucks for mine at Target. It’s a bit steep for a cup, but juice tastes better through a straw (for me, at least) and you can take it ANYWHERE. Below, I filled mine with 4 large carrots + 1/2 pineapple + 1 green apple. SO GOOD!

Totally off-topic, but somewhat on-topic, how amazing is this dress by Christian Dior?



STATS:
Starting weight (08/24/11): 221 lbs
Current Weight: 213 lbs
Mini goal weight (09/21/11): 208 lbs
Ultimate goal weight (03/10/12): 140 lbs for my 10 year wedding anniversary
Pounds lost so far: 8 lbs

Aaaaaaah! I lost 9 pounds! That’s N-I-N-E pounds in only one week! (I am so excited, I couldn’t wait.)

So here’s what’s been going on in the past week. After my trip with my best friend to Savannah and Charleston, I came back home for one day to pack and go on my next trip to Ocean Isle Beach with my family who flew in from Phoenix. As soon as I finished packing, I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, and I was immediately motivated to get my life back on track. So much so, that I began my 60 day juice fast ON MY VACATION. Everyone kept telling me to wait until after my trip since it would be hard, but I was determined not to wait and began while I was still motivated. And I did. And I stuck to it. I had a “cheat day” on Sunday on my last day with my family, and a small Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt with fruit last night, but other than that? All juice. And as a result, I lost 9 pounds! The strangest part about all of this is that with my old habits, which included A LOT of carbs, I would down a huge bowl of pasta or a huge bag of chips and feel hungry within an hour or two. Now, I drink a tall glass of freshly squeezed fruit and/or vegetable juice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I never feel hungry. At all. Which still boggles me, but whatever. It works! I have received many requests for recipes on what I have been drinking via my Twitter and Facebook. Here are a few of the ones I have tried and love.

Breakfast:
3 apples
*mix sour and sweet apples

Lunch:
4 large carrots
1/2 pineapple (rind & core removed)

Dinner:
3 tomatoes
1/4 red bell pepper
1/4 green bell pepper
2 garlic cloves (peeled)
1/4 jalapeno pepper
1/4 onion (peeled)
1 celery stalk

I use the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer which I bought at Costco for only $89. The recipes above are from the recipe booklet included with the juicer and there are so many more great tasting ones inside. Anyway, I wanted to share my success with this so far, and I hope that I have inspired some of you to kickstart yourselves back into shape. And because no blog post is interesting without a photo, here’s a self-portrait from today.

STATS:
Starting weight (08/24/11): 221 lbs
Current Weight: 212 lbs
Mini goal weight (09/10/11): 205 lbs for a wedding we shoot in Savannah
Ultimate goal weight (03/10/12): 140 lbs for my 10 year wedding anniversary
Pounds lost so far: 9 lbs