Get Your Juices Flowing

Are you a juicer?

Starting today I will be.  For seven days.

Chris and I have juiced several times, and the kids love it (David particularly).  My parents gave us a juicer for Christmas a few years ago and we go through periods where we use it a lot, then we put it away and don't use it again for six months.

One of the guys I work with (Travis) and I talk about food.  A lot.  Like, probably more than normal.  He and his wife try to eat health consciously, juice a lot, and their four year old has never been to McDonald's.  Most people think that's weird.  I think it's genius.  I wish I had never taken my children to McDonald's.  And before I start getting a million comments about how I hate McDonald's, give me a break.  You cannot say that you think, given the choice, McDonald's would be a better choice for anyone over some chicken cooked at home.  

Chris and I have made very conscious decisions about the food the kids get at home, and we try to eat out very little.  We want to teach our children to make good food choices so they can have healthy lives.  It's working with David, who would rather eat a mango than a cookie.  Trust me, he likes some junk food, but given the choice the vast majority of the time he would make a good choice.  Henry struggles more with this, because (like his parents!) he likes to eat.  Jack is pretty good about choosing fruits, notsomuch veggies.  And Katie will eat anything.

Enter Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead.

This is a fantastic movie about a man who was tired of eating to excess, taking medication to control an immune disorder, and was sick of being fat.  He travelled the country talking to people about their eating habits and juicing.  He lost 90+ pounds by doing a 60 day juice fast, then following that with eating micronutrient foods, which are the most nutrient dense foods like green vegetables, beans, nuts and fruits.  

I'm not planning to do a juice fast for 60 days, but I'm totally willing to try it for seven.  

I stocked up on fruits and veggies, printed some recipes out this weekend, and pulled out our juicing book of recipes.  I got really serious about it, as you can see.....

I put my Keurig in the cabinet so I'm not tempted to drink coffee.

And my juicer is on the counter, ready to go.

And someone please remind me why I decided to start this on the big boys' first day of school.  I've been up since 2:30 worrying about David, and won't have any coffee today!!