Juicing - Day 6 "Take me out to the ball game...."

Day 6.  A much better day, but I still feel like I need more water.  I think that may have been my problem this entire time - water.  This really is the miracle drink.

Jarrett:  Ready to Catch a Fly Ball

We went to a baseball game tonight.  This was the temptation.  I love a baseball hotdog.  Let's face it, I just love a good hot dog all around.  But there were no hotdogs tonight.  Jeff did buy a bag of popcorn and I did have a handfull.  But I didn't have a drink of the coke he bought - the coke that was calling my name like someone addicted to a drug.  I think I was addicted to it - and if I have even a drink, that is all I want.  I must not allow even a sip or its over.
So, even though some popcorn made it to my mouth, I still feel like there was success. 

Happy Juicing!

with love,
Tammy

Juicing - Day 5

Wasabi Veggie Drink - WARNING:  NOT GOOD.  DO NOT DRINK!

Oh my, tough tough day.  I was expecting an easier day today based on what everyone said.  But it wasn't. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the veggie juice I made had way, WAY too much ginger.  It was like drinking wasabi.  I just couldn't do it.  It was painful - TOO PAINFUL.  So I must admit, I caved.  At least I didn't go to the extreme that my husband did (McD's value meal).  My cave was a veggie wrap, mustard only.  Boy, that was the best wrap I've had in a while.  However, I do have a goal and I'm back on the straight and juicing narrow.  So, Day 6 - here I come.

with love,

Tammy

Mommy Moment Break - A Golden Parenting Tidbit

I love Twitter.  I feel like I'm connected to the world with my tidbits of news, highlights, events of both friends and media without having to use an hour to watch the news or read the papers, just a tidbit is enough for a busy mom.

One of those tidbits I have to share, because I think this is golden.  It is from one of my favorite women's pastors and authors, Wendy Treat.  You can follow her on Twitter @wendytreat or follow her blog and listen to her podcasts here: Wendy Treat.  This is what she shared:

PARENT WISDOM:  Get up and talk to your kids...no yelling across the room.  Training, loving, raising strong God kids takes face time.

So today, after a very hard day at work, I put it into practice.  It's really not easy - to walk across the house from the kitchen to the bedrooms and tell Jarrett to come have lunch.  I'm shocked at how much of  a "yeller" I am.  And how I notice Jarrett yelling across the house at me.  So I walked into his room when he was yelling something at me and simply said, "we are no longer a yelling family.  We are going to come to the room where the other person is and talk to them.  I won't yell at you and you won't yell at me."  His simple 3 yr old response was, "ok mommy".  And there is peace already (although that could be because he is napping :)  In any case, it doesn't hurt and as fast as these first three years have gone, I need to treasure "face time" for as long as I can.  I hope you do too!

with love,
Tammy

Juicing - Day 4

Breville Juicer  

Much, MUCH easier day.  I think the key is to drink lots of water and drink the juice more often.  And the result, much higher weight loss when I weighed in this am.  Feeling so accomplished and like I can do this thing.

Also, more energy.  Not that I noticed, but my husband did.  Its 10pm and I decide to paint my nails.  His response, "when was the last time you were up past 9:30, let alone wanting to paint your nails?"  Very true.

Today is the start of Day 5 - let's see what I can do!

with love, 
Tammy

Juicing - Day 3

So Day 3 has come and gone.  It was much easier than the 1st 2 days, but nevertheless, I was still tempted to eat solid food.  Hot dogs at lunch called my name but were resisted.

It amazes me how tough it really is.  And the emotions that are revealed during the cleanse.  The frustration I have with others when I feel like they aren't supporting me in it or inviting me to "cheat".  But cheating is only cheating myself.  I thought I had discipline, but I was obviously deceiving myself or I would not be this overweight to begin with.  Also, the hunger that comes at night.  I really thought I wasn't a snacker at night, but I find that I am fully concerned with food before bed.

So, this cleanse is cleaning more than my body; it's cleaning my soul too.  Something everyone must do now and again.

Happy Juicing!

with love, 
Tammy

Juice - Day 2

Morning Juice

Day 2.

This was a hard day.  Again, harder than I thought. I started off the day with a fruit juice, blended with almond milk.  It was delish!

Breakfast is always easy for me, but come lunch and dinner - that is harder.  After dinner, I did have a protein shake, because I felt like I needed something else.  Well, I was hungry, and that was a good justification anyways.  But tomorrow is another day :)

Let the Juicing Begin

It arrived.  My long desired juicer from Breville.    After watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, I was motivated to start a 10-day juice cleanse.  Truth be told, I need to lose weight; a lot of it.   My knees ache, my feet hurt, my back is sore; I'm sure all from the excess weight.  So for the next 10 days, I will blog about juice.  It might not be exciting for you, but for me it is therapeutic - and accountability.

This is what I'm doing:
Juice only
except breakfast - can make into a smoothy with almond milk.  Staying strictly vegan on this.
If I really need to, will add protein powder to juice to help.

Here we go.....


Day 1:
Harder than I thought.  Breakfast was fine.  Actually really good.  Orange, mango, apple.   Made into smoothy with banana and strawberry.  It really was a good treat.  Lunch was hard though.  I came home from work hungry; very hungry.
Lunch was juice only:  Spinach, celery, ginger, apple, carrot, strawberry.
Taste:  Amazing.  So good.  But its 3pm and I'm hungry again.  I will need to make up extra to have for a snack during the day.

Looking forward to a nice juice dinner.
Oh well, in the words of Joe Gross, "Good atcha for trying".

with love,
Tammy

Summer Fun - Camping

Summer is filled with amazing things; swimming, Farmer's Markets, family picnics and bbq's.  But there is nothing I love more than camping in the summer time.

The day starts early and brisk.  Quite and alone while everyone else is still asleep is a perfect time to catch up on some reading.  And there is something surreal about campfire coffee.  Rich, woodsy coffee that is deep and creamy.  What a way to start out the day.And while I'm still alone, I get to "play" with a bird.  Tossing it grapes that it flies down to take away back to the nest like some exotic treasure

Then there is the fun of camping with a 3 year old.  Everything is fresh and new.  And everything must be done in his boots - green frogs rain boots.  That is ok.  Everything is also explored in his PJs (even with a little crack showing).  That is the fun of camping.  There is no schedule or agenda, no dress code, no worrying about getting dirty.  No texting, cell phones going off, facebook updates, tweets (other than those from the Jays).  Just enjoy nature and each other - spending time loving each other and building memories.  A time to relax, fish, talk, walk, Explore. 

Explore and finding a bow and arrow made from a tree branch.  The arrow really flies and made for so much fun for the whole family.  

We have our favorite place to camp.  La Wis Wis at the base of Mt. Rainier.  Beautiful, surreal, quiet.  Definitely created by God.

I enjoy my time camping with my family.  I hope you do too.

with love,

Tammy