Let’s get started

I will again say that I really have no idea how to teach anyone to juice the way I do mostly because I wing it almost every time.  So what I’m going to do is give you some basic guidelines to what I would recommend you do and what I have done in the past.

Take pictures of yourself, weigh yourself, take your blood pressure, and measure your tummy, hips, wrists, chest, neck, and forearms.

Create 6 to 8 juices per day and consume 1 to 1 water.

If you don’t have small containers get a box of ball’s mason jars, they work great.

I would make at least two days worth of juice at a time but not more than 3 (maybe 4).  You need to make sure you have enough available to prevent you from cheating.

These first couple of days consume more on a planned schedule than waiting to see how you feel.  The first fast we had juice at 8/9/10/12/2/4/6/8…I could never consume them all but it kept me full and prevented cheating.

Pineapple, cucumber, and almond milk are your friends.  If you make a juice and it tastes yucky for the most part pineapple or cucumber will fix it.  Use almond milk as one of your juices to save time and to give yourself a little treat.

Use a little protein and make a protein smoothie in the morning.  They are thick and filling and kick start you for your day.

If you are making six juices I would recommend:

1)Protein (I just buy whey protein powder and put it in almond milk)

2)Fruit (I like to start the day with something sweet)

3)Root (carrot/sweet potato/beets…something from the ground)

4)Green (high octane, you need-need to get a green one down)

5)Fruit (always nice to have something fun to sip on)

6)Green (you’ll need the energy)

This rotation is different if you are doing green smoothies or if you are using an extractor, but it is a good balance to make sure you don’t have the same drink every time and you don’t overload with too much sweet stuff.

Here’s the basis of my grocery list for today.  I’ll catalog and journal what I’m making and post it here and on instagram.

Spinach (and lots of it)

Kale (big bag)

Carrots

Cucumber

Beets

Sweet Potato

Pineapple

Frozen fruits

Almond milk

Protein Powder

Ginger

Kiwi

Apples/Oranges

Lemon/Lime

Banana

Grapes

Romaine

Parsley

Mint

I’ll hang out in produce for a while looking for things on sale or things that might be interesting to juice.   I don’t really make a menu anymore and prefer to just start with making one juice and let it rip from there.

Good luck to everyone trying some version of this and I can’t wait to hear the results.

 

Ciao

 

SK

 

Step away from the scale

We love the scale…or do we hate the scale?  When was the last time you got on the lb pedestal and measured your degree of chubby to skinny ratio?  Is it a digital scale?  Do you cheat on your analog scale and manipulate the calibration (I know I’m not the only one that’s done that)?  They in your bathrooms and kitchens and bedrooms.  They are a standard appliance in the home…but why?

I seriously doubt that any of us are horribly surprised when we step on a scale unless you’re competing on the Biggest Loser.

Let’s also add to the fact that there no surprises the fact that all pounds are not created equal

It is crazy cold here in the classic city this week and I’ve worn jeans to work every day.  Yesterday I wore my fat jeans. As sure as I am that you have a scale, I’m also positive you have fat jeans.  Whether they are an emergency back up pair or they are your daily wearers because you’ve split your seat in your other britches, I bought these jeans from a thrift store about a year ago because I had gone out to dinner and the jeans I wore did not survive dessert.  They were baggy and a nice cut and served their purpose well.  Yesterday…they swallowed me.

Today I put my skinny jeans on.  The same jeans that didn’t survive the Applebee’s adventure that stimulated buying the fat jeans.  I’m also fairly certain that you have some skinny jeans in your closet somewhere.  You can aaaaaalllllllllllmoooooooooossssssssssstttttttttttt button them, but after you suck it all in, it just doesn’t work well.  They aren’t quite cool enough to be hipster skinny jeans, but you love them and you want to one day slide your donk back in them.  My skinny jeans are now loose.

There is so much I’ve learned since the original fast.  I’ve always heard that the scale is not your only indicator…I just didn’t believe it.  I was chasing that same 10 pounds I’ve gained and lost for the past 5 years (and really it is about 10 pounds I keep losing and 20 pounds I keep gaining).  I’m just living now.  I’m trying to make better choices and be more active.  So go step on the scale…yep waiting…write down the number and then go get on a treadmill or eat a salad or make some juice or lift a weight.  Keep doing it a few weeks and months and then before you get back on the scale go pull out those skinny jeans and see how far you’ve come.

Ciao

SK

3.0 FAQ’s

Tomorrow I will embark on my third 10-day juice fast.  The first one was on a dare and the second one I experimented.  I am totally excited beyond belief for this one.  So on the eve of this fast I figured I’d answer the most asked questions from the first two.  These are simply my opinions and observations from my experiences, your mileage may vary.

Don’t you get hungry?

This was my biggest fear going into the first one.  I was probably knocking back 3000 calories a day with regularity and now I was going to go down to only about 1000 calories and none of them are food.  The first fast we did 8 sixteen ounce juices a day for the first three days.  We wanted to make sure that we had enough coming in so we were “full”.  128 ounces of fruit and vegetable juices combined with at least 128 ounces of water on top of it, kept me more than full.  The hungry side of it was really all in my head and after the second day I never experienced feeling hungry.  The second fast I only had 4 to 6 twelve ounce juices per day.  The residual effects from the first fast was my tummy contracting and my brain getting on board with my body.

What are the withdrawals?

I watched a lot of information and read a lot of information prior to fast 1.0.  The consensus is that the first three days are HORRIBLE.  Mine really weren’t that bad, but I also had weened myself off of caffeine and most sugar and bread prior to starting the fast.  The friends that I’ve had do it with me have had some headaches and lack of energy but mostly it has been mild.  I would seriously recommend easing into a fast by backing off of the bad stuff in your diet.  When I took myself off of caffeine my headaches were horrible and I didn’t sleep well at all for a week before the fog cleared.

Isn’t it expensive?

We budgeted $10/day/person on the first fast and we had three adults participating.  After the fast, when I started making my own juices, I was WAY OVER that amount when doing my first few supplemental juices.  I also had no idea how to buy produce, how long things lasted, and what things I liked together.  The second fast there were two adults participating and we spent about $8/day/person as well.  I anticipate this fast being even more frugal because we have continued juicing and have frozen supplies and fruits in bulk currently.  If you go to your local juice bar, a ten day fast will cost you hundreds of dollars.  If you buy all organic it will quickly increase your investment.  I’m actually tracking my recipes and will be making “how I do it” available for everyone following fast 3.0.

Don’t you stay in the bathroom?

Without going into the land of TMI, some folks do and some folks don’t.  Juicing 1.0 nothing changed aside from having to pee all the time.  Juicing 2.0 I had to take a laxative about halfway through to get things moving.  I’ve know and heard of some people that make large TP investments during a fast and some folks that have to constantly get things moving.  Your body is very efficient and you should listen to it and take care of it.  If you need to go, go…if you haven’t been going; get it moving.

Do you really just have juice?

Yes that is all the food I consume.  I do chew gum to satiate the need to chew something.  If you have to eat something, it should be raw and unprocessed.  Basically you could snack on the same stuff you’re putting in the juicer if you just have to eat something.  It is only ten days though, if I can do it…anyone can.

Why can’t you just eat the fruits and veggies?

When was the last time you ate half a pineapple, two apples, and a handful of grapes in one sitting…Go ahead, I’ll wait

Yeah, never.

Even if you love fruits and veggies, you can’t consume them in the volume and ease as you can when they are in a juiced form.  I don’t like fruits and veggies, so this is the ultimate in good-for-you fast food.

Do you lose a lot of weight?

The first fast I lost like 13 pounds and the second one I lost about 8.  For 2.0 I purposely didn’t exercise as much, I think that contributed to the slower loss.

I’m so happy that I tried the first fast.  Not only did I lose a lot of weight and really kickstart my working out and health journey that I’m on, but it changed my perspective and relationship with food.  The inbox is open, if you want to know anything else hit me with a comment or email me: stevieking@gmail.com.

Ciao

SK

Fruit Cake?

Oh the weather outside is frightful…and so is fruit cake!

I was at a Christmas party with friends over the weekend and discovered that someone who I have known for years actually likes fruit cake.  Considering I didn’t realize that anyone actually consumed the gelatinous creations, I was even more shocked that someone I consider a friend considers them a delicacy.

It is amazing what you can find out about people if you just ask questions and listen.  In the same way that a fruit cake has all kinda “stuff” that is surrounded with different types of “goo” and shaped with some type of special “filling”, most of the people in your life are similarly fruit cake-ish.  Considering I don’t know how you actually consume an actual fruit cake (I believe that it is sliced, but possibly it is pulled like pork, I’m not sure), I can’t make this metaphor preserve nearly as well as the magic of a jelly loaf.  In whatever way you gain access to your seasonal party in your mouth I would assume that it makes a sound when you cut into it.  I’ve asked people questions over the years that I clearly remember hearing a sound in the pregnant pause while they were attempting to create an answer.

Are you still seeing her?

What happened that night after the concert?

Did you mean for your hair to end up that way?

If a horse is a horse of course of course, how much wood could a woodchuck chuck?

Silence can be some of the loudest moments of your life.

FC appears to be a fairly busy taste concoction.  I’m betting that no two bites are the same (either because of the layers of fruit or the fact that the actual loaf has changed its physical properties several times since its actual preparation).  There’s a lot of challenge when you are really asking questions but one of the biggest is that each successive question can give you not only a different answer but a completely different set of questions.  If you didn’t know that someone had a certain experience until you asked, you definitely don’t know where the conversation is heading next. Listening is a skill but we don’t give asking questions any credit for being an equally important skill.

Ultimately I think the most magical thing about squishy fruit bread is the fact that not only is it a holiday spectacular but it stays, in its current state, FOREVER.  One of my bits of advice I’ve given to my female friends over the years when they were interested in boys is for them to pay attention to the amount of questions he asks about you.  When someone is genuinely interested in you, they want to know you and ask lots of questions about you and your life.  Answers don’t go away, they stay with you forever.  You may not be able to recall them all, but they are there…in the same state they were given to you.  That knowledge of the people in your life is what creates depth in relationships.  I think we all crave deep, meaningful relationships (at least we crave them more than fruit cake).

After we were done teasing our friend about fruit cakes we continued with our festivities.  There were several other moments in the evening where I learned new things about my friend’s lives.  Luckily I was not required to actually learn what fruit cake does to one’s pallet after white wine.  In the interest of full disclosure, I did sample fruit cake once in my twenties…it has now replaced a filling I lost in a tooth since it is still with me all these years later.

Ciao

SK

Do you remember?

I will go out on a limb and say that most, if not all, of us has a great moment we look back on where we were “in pretty good shape”.  It may have been playing sports in high school or when you completed a race in your 20s or after a biggest loser challenge at work in your 30s.  There’s some cool memory you have where you felt pretty good about who was looking at you in the mirror.

Mine was in my 20s and playing pick up basketball ALL THE TIME.  There is zero exaggeration in all the time.  I was probably on some kind of basketball court five days a week.  I played basketball instead of going out.  I wasn’t really trying to be in shape, we were just having fun and the by-product was I could run and jump and had a little bit of stamina and strength, pretty freaking awesome.

Fast forward from that happy picture you have in the full length mirror to the pictures you take now that are just of your increasingly round-ish face.  I was trying to think the other day when I got fat.  As with most things it is a slow and arduous process to reach the rotund physique that I created in my soon to be 41-year-old body.  I do recall a moment though when I was getting out of the shower and realized that my fat rolls on my back were now touching each other (sexy imagery I know).

Being sloppy was pretty fun though, aside from the aches, pains, shortness of breath, and ice packs.  I just ate and slept and ate some more.  I was lucky enough that my fat-boy was still able to be a fairly active dude.  Those good genetics allowed me to just keep on keeping on with my life because “it wasn’t that bad”.

I remember being smaller, but I really don’t remember what it felt like to be “in good shape”.

I remember the feeling of getting excited about a buffet

I remember the mouth-watering goodness of birthday cake

I remember eating a third plate in one sitting of a holiday meal

But I don’t recall what if felt like to actually be fairly fit…that’s pretty sad.

I remember someone telling me once that while recovering from alcoholism he had to create “new tapes” that would play in his head.  He had to create new responses for the situations his entire life that had previously been to take a drink.  I want some new healthy tapes too.  I’d like to know what waking up and craving green smoothies instead of chicken biscuits feels like.  Maybe I can automatically enjoy an apple the way I’ve enjoyed a Twix my entire life.

Reset

Restart

Re-live

Timehop is a pretty cool app that goes back into your social media archive and shows you what you posted in previous years.  There has been tons of cool stuff but something I have also realized

DUDE I’VE BEEN FAT A LONG TIME

and I’ve been putting it out there a long time and I’ve been fighting it a long time.

Finding that 20 something basketball kid isn’t about a resolution or a plan or a program.  That kid didn’t have any of that.  He just played and lived.  That kid didn’t eat great but that kid also knew that if he wanted to be able to not suck on the court that night I couldn’t destroy five trips back through the buffet line either.

Reset

Restart

Re-live

Making new memories takes time and most of us hate that part so we’d rather just keep pulling up the mental VCR on the old memories that are comfortable and safe.  Gang you can’t find a VHS tape now to save your life, yet you won’t upgrade your mental Beta tapes for fear of losing something special.  I think it is a good day to try this fancy new HD life guys…come on, you’ve got nothing to lose.

Ciao

SK

Excuses, excuses, excuses

This is the part of a blog where the writer tells you all the reasons he hasn’t been writing.

Fill in the blank _______________________________________________________________ is why I haven’t been blogging.

More than anything else, I just haven’t taken the time and sat down and wrote.  Writing is like running for me.  I love to do them both, but I have to schedule time for both activities and sometimes I just get lazy and stop.  Luckily I always come back because I love them both so.  Usually It takes a little bit of motivation for me to get on board and come back and today is no different.

Now for those of you interested in juice stuff, I have been actually writing down recipes and I will be creating a separate section on the blog for juicing and juice fast type things.  I’m not going to commit to when I’ll get it up, but hopefully before my next fast (January 5 if any of you want to start planning now).

This fitness journey for me really start with Carlos Whitaker and his #fitbyfourth initiative he started back in the summer.  That got me moving, fasting got some weight off and changed habits, and I’ve just kept at it.  Well ‘Los is back at it again with #fitbyfirst coming at us right now.  31 days to get a jump-start on a healthier me.  I’ve really done well watching what I eat, exercising, and continuing to lose weight, but everyone likes a little motivation from time to time.  One of the keys to the Journey with ‘Los is to journal.  I have terrible handwriting, so one again I’ll be bringing my journal here to share with you guys.

The first couple of days are easy…Take a before picture, make a video to yourself from yourself, and do the fitness test.  All items are complete and I’m ready to get after it.  2015 will be my year to get back into the under 200 lb club.  I also have plans for a half marathon and wait for it…muscles!!!!  I also have a pile of personal and financial things that I have been working on and improving that will continue to move forward for me.

So I’m back…again…don’t hate me because I’m wishy-washy, just love me because…well…just because I need love darnit.

 

Ciao

 

SK