For the past two years I've been hanging at a weight that I am not comfortable with. The number on the scale has been the same as on the day I checked out of the hospital with my second child and I easily dropped another 15 pounds within a few weeks postpartum back then. Not good. Unfortunately, I'm no longer in my 20s or 30s...but in my 40s. I work out, play tennis and walk a lot. But, I also like to eat and drink and I have poor self control when it comes to counting or consuming calories. I am great at maintaing my weight, but losing weight is another story. Generally, I'm tired of feeling dumpy and I thought Lent would be a good kick in the rear to get me going.
Part of my Lenten commitment has been training for a 5K breast cancer race for the cure in early May. A bunch of church friends are "racing" and raising money
in honor of one of our sister parishioners who is celebrating her 3 year anniversary
of being cancer free. The second part of my commitment has been, no booze on
weekdays and counting calories. I decided to kick things off with a 3 day juice cleanse. Overall it wasn't so bad, but I did miss chewing. I also found that by day 2 my mind
was consumed with thoughts of making every juice product I saw, made, or tasted into
a cocktail...after all I really am a mixologist at heart. I made about half of the
juices I drank over the course of my three day experiment and carrot juice was
the liquefier for several of them. Carrot juice is okay...but wouldn't it be better
if it was a carrot martini? Yes, that's the way my mind works.
in honor of one of our sister parishioners who is celebrating her 3 year anniversary
of being cancer free. The second part of my commitment has been, no booze on
weekdays and counting calories. I decided to kick things off with a 3 day juice cleanse. Overall it wasn't so bad, but I did miss chewing. I also found that by day 2 my mind
was consumed with thoughts of making every juice product I saw, made, or tasted into
a cocktail...after all I really am a mixologist at heart. I made about half of the
juices I drank over the course of my three day experiment and carrot juice was
the liquefier for several of them. Carrot juice is okay...but wouldn't it be better
if it was a carrot martini? Yes, that's the way my mind works.
Click photo to link to the recipe
Once the three day "cleanse" was over...I had leftovers...time for some fun and the birth of my carrot martini. The best part of this drink happened when I was getting my props ready to take a picture of the cocktail. I didn't have carrots with the tops on and I thought maybe I could fake it by putting cilantro next to the carrots. Then I thought maybe the drink could benefit from a little cilantro infusion and a handful of chopped cilantro kicked it up to a
recipe worthy of sharing
and photographing. People leave milk and cookies out for Santa Clause, maybe I should leave one of these out for the Easter Bunny?
I'm not sure full time juicing is something I'll do again, but I've decided that some of
these "juices" could be the key for me to an issue a lot of folks overlook when trying
to lose weight, which is maintaining a steady blood sugar level. (Click here to read
more about how your body turns your unused sugar into fat, and how to blood sugar
and insulin work in the battle of the bulge.) I am now drinking two sips here and there
of one bottle of pre made juice through out the day, I'm also popping raw almonds with
my sips. It helps keep me from bad snacking and at least in theory is helping to keep
my blood sugar level balanced. This is much like the 7 little snacks instead of
three meals a day that many weigh loss experts recommend.
these "juices" could be the key for me to an issue a lot of folks overlook when trying
to lose weight, which is maintaining a steady blood sugar level. (Click here to read
more about how your body turns your unused sugar into fat, and how to blood sugar
and insulin work in the battle of the bulge.) I am now drinking two sips here and there
of one bottle of pre made juice through out the day, I'm also popping raw almonds with
my sips. It helps keep me from bad snacking and at least in theory is helping to keep
my blood sugar level balanced. This is much like the 7 little snacks instead of
three meals a day that many weigh loss experts recommend.
Click photo to link to the recipe
Odwalla brand's C Monster, Strawberry C is one of my favorite pre-made drinks and once again I was pretty sure it would taste even better with liquor. A lot of these juices are rather thick and sweet so I thought about trying to make it lighter...adding bubbles with seltzer. I'm also really into adding herbs and this time I used mint which tasted great and looked really pretty too. Without the alcohol I think this C Monster Punch would make a really pretty drink for a kids party. (FYI My kids tried it and liked it!)
I've been off the full juice band wagon for a few weeks, but stayed on with the calorie counting and running regime. It looks like my discipline has paid off. This morning I ran about 4 miles in 35 minutes, and I've managed to get about 8 pounds lighter during Lent. (I should also mention I've only eaten 2 girl scout cookies...out of the 20 boxes in my house...now that's real self control!) So, on Easter it will be time for me to congratulate myself with a reward. For Martha, reward = a drink. I'm going for the visually appealing blackberry pineapple smash. Surely, it's at least a little healthy...after all there are blackberries in it and they are full of antioxidants! XO Enjoy! Martha
Click photo to link to drink recipe
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