The Cardboard Box Diet

Life got in the way of my juicing, but I've started up again! And this time, I'm ALL IN. No "solid" food/meals - all juice, all the time! I've been looking for a way to stay accountable - and I think I've found it! An awesome lady I follow on Twitter, Lauren from Texas, has come up with what she's calling "The Cardboard Box Diet." Basically, it is to get fit, healthy, and make use of all those awesome clothes we've got stashed in boxes and bags and closets that don't fit right now. She's going to post weekly and answer the following questions. I'm going to join her! 

• Weigh-in: 25lbs to loose

• Exercise/Physical Activity completed: Monday, Wednesday: 60 minute water exercise class, Wednesday: mowed the yard. Tuesday: swam 4 laps in the Olympic sized pool @ the YMCA. Thursday (today): organize basement, exercise video on Netflix.

• Average Sleep per night: about 7 hours, very interrupted by a sunburn and itchy feet (what's up with that!?)

• Splurge/Guilty Pleasure: a few raisins on Tuesday, store bought orange juice before exercising in the mornings (it is quick and easy!)

• Success story: resisting the tempting meals I'm having to make for my family. I haven't given in and eaten one yet :)

• Recipe(s): More of a tip this week. I haven't had time (or money) to buy fresh produce - but I can still have wonderful juices to drink! Because a few weeks ago, I DID have a bunch of produce and juice - so I FROZE it in ice cube trays, then dumped them into gallon baggies. Now I can mix and match my juice cubes into juices for the day. It isn't ideal but it saved me from wasting all that money/produce!

• Photo: After fighting with my husband over our cups, I finally came up with a solution. I had this old rack in a closet, unused. We'd never found a way/place for it. Now, it holds our cups with their lids and straws! Easy access, no more lost pieces! Love it :)

My wonderful rack of cups. They rotate which means there's enough room. I wish it was about 6 inches wider.

You can see my whole station, including the juicer, food processor, ice cream maker, griddle, and mixer.

Juicing Journey: Day 15

Life got in the way of Days 12, 13, and 14. This week at school (work) we are administering the End of Grade tests (EOGs) in grades 3 through 6 in both reading and math. This is a LOT of work and stress, making sure we're doing what we need to do to uphold the Testing Code of Ethics. (oy.) Add to that, the best friend and juicing buddy was moving (she's closer now! yay!) and the allergies/cold from hell. So the juicing got put on hold for a few days.

But, I found some grapes in the fridge and some energy and juiced today! A grape-mixed berry for breakfast and the Green Goddess version 2.0. This batch of spinach wasn't as sweet and I was short on green apples (stinking kids! they've been eating my stash!) So I added 2 red apples and 3 pears. It still wasn't quite right so I added the juice of a lime. It now tastes pretty good! You don't really get "lime" from it - it is just a bright flavor from the acid I guess. Hopefully it will still taste pretty delicious at lunch tomorrow and Friday!

I am hoping the stress will ease off after next week. We get testing scores tomorrow evening. Then I'll remediate the students who did not pass and retest them next Wednesday. Then I can be done with it. At that point, I'll probably go on a more "strict" juice diet - maybe juice for all 3 meals. We'll see!

Juicing Journey: Day 11

I had berry juice for breakfast and a berry juice-banana smoothie for lunch. I had a reasonable dinner and an apple for an evening snack.

I feel like I'm fighting a cold - sore throat, super congested, very tired. I made a hot lemon drink last night that helped some. And I also took a 3 hour nap today :) I'm hoping to get about 12 hours of sleep tonight - lots of rest tends to help me bounce back faster.

I made a trek to the store tonight to get apples, spinach, strawberries, and angel food cake. I'll juice grapes and berries for breakfast tomorrow and Monday. I'll do Green Goddess (spinach and green apples) for lunches tomorrow and Monday.  For Mother's Day tomorrow, we'll have strawberry shortcake instead of a heavy, super sweet cake.

Happy Mother's Day to all (and to all a good night!) {Yes, I know I'm mixing my holidays. It's fun!}

Juicing Journey: Day 10

I had an incredibly busy day - and not even at work! My 11 year old had a birthday sleepover to attend tonight so after school we had to run get a gift.  Then I hit the doctor's office to get shot records, the post office, the library, and a Redbox to get a movie for the 9 year old and me to watch.  Then it was pack up the older kid, drive her across the county, and swing by McDonald's to get dinner. Whew!

I did have juice for breakfast and lunch. I'll be juicing tomorrow as well (after an early morning pick up from the sleepover!) I'm looking forward to a lazy weekend at home - it is Mother's Day on Sunday after all!

I treated myself (and the 9 year old) to chocolate chip cookies tonight. I also enjoyed a big glass of milk. I was up sick in the middle of the night again and am wondering if the same thing will happen again tonight. I'm hating it but I'm about ready to point the finger at milk.  Could it also be the cause of my hives?  I might have to do a trial of a dairy free life and also come off my meds. That whole experiment will have to wait until AFTER testing this week! I can't afford to be itchy and miserable while administering the EOG's!

Have a GREAT weekend - and Happy Mother's Day!

Juicing Journey: Day 9

Today was a pretty good day. I deviated again from juice only - had some chocolate this afternoon. I'm going to have to cut myself some slack during the next week. This is probably my highest stress time of year - End of Grade tests! We'll be testing all next week, remediating Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. Finally we'll retest May 23, 24, and 25. A large part of my yearly evaluation will be based on how my students do.  So I need to go easy on myself and not feel guilty if I deviate from the plan. This stressful time will be over soon and I can get back to a more strict juicing lifestyle.

I'm not going to go back to full time snacking - but if I occasionally cave to the comfort food craving, I'll be ok with it.

I did have juice for breakfast and lunch today. Pineapple-orange-grapefruit for breakfast - yum! Green Goddess for lunch with spinach and red apples - eh. It was ok, but not as good as when there are a few green apples. I really like the tang they offer.

Tomorrow's breakfast will be berry juice and lunch will be pineapple-orange-grapefruit or more berry juice. Fruit heavy, but my friend has dibs on the Green Goddess (she LOVED it with red apples.)

How do you cope with stress when you are on a somewhat restricted diet?

Juicing Journey: Day 8

Feeling so much better today. The nausea is mostly gone. Really wondering if it was dairy or possibly tortillas (gluten?) that did it.  Although it did seem worse after lunch, so maybe mango (only new fruit) in the juice didn't agree with me?

I had carrot-apple-lemon juice at lunch. But I also caved to Teacher Appreciation Week and had a brownie (at lunch) and a chocolate chip cookie (faculty meeting.) I had a small sloppy joe for dinner with a smoothie (banana and pineapple-orange-grapefruit juice.)

I stopped by the grocery store today to get apples and spinach and a pineapple (impulse purchase!) I made 3 juices:

• Pineapple-Orange-Grapefruit - got 2 breakfasts and a smoothie out of this.
• Green Goddess - spinach and red apples - had to use red apples because they were MUCH cheaper than green. Hoping this still tastes good. Got 3 lunch servings out of 1 bag of spinach and about 6 apples.
• Berry - strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, thinned with water. Got about 1 quart. Will use this for snacks and breakfast.

This weekend I might make a giant batch of Green Goddess to drink. I am thinking my progress is slow because I have so many fruits. Maybe some time with a veggie juice will spur some weight loss.

I've got energy (!) so I'm going to rearrange some things in my office. More tomorrow!

Juicing Journey: Day 7

Today was spent feeling nauseated. I was up twice last night feeling sick. I went to work today though because being out a week before testing is impossible. After lunch (green juice and a banana) I felt especially bad. I left directly after the kids dismissed from school. I voted, took a long nap, and had noodle soup for dinner.

I'm beginning to wonder if it could have been the cheese (first dairy in a while!) or tortillas (first gluten?) from dinner last night that are making me feel bad. I'd try one or the other tonight but I don't really want to take a chance on another day feeling sick!

I did not juice today, I have plenty left over from yesterday. It has been 1 week since my juicer arrived on my doorstep! I'm loving the changes it has brought to my life already.

Did juicing (and other diet changes) reveal food sensitivities and/or allergies? How have you handled it?