60 Day Juice Fast

So, as you can tell from the title, I am doing a 60 day juice fast. "60 days!!" You say in surprise. Yes. 60 Days.

Why am I doing this?

I am overweight for one. I have been overweight for all of my adult life. I have a few health problems due to the extra weight: plantar fasciitis, lower back pain, knee pain, dizziness, foggy-underwater feeling/pressure in my head (especially when I lay on my stomach)....just to name a few. I am also doing this for spiritual reasons.

What about protein?

Majority of fruits and veggies have protein in them (most likely all, but I don't know that for sure). Skeptical? One particular juice I drink called Joe's Mean Green Juice, has 8-9 grams of protein per juice. That is just one juice. Do a little research and you can find out how much nutrients, fiber and vitamins are in any of the fruits or vegetables you are curious about.

(I add more celery and apples.)
Juice Recipe:
6 Kale Leaves
1 Celery Stalk
2 Cucumbers
1 Green Apple
Ginger Root

Am I taking Vitamins?

No. After my research, I believe that I am getting all the vitamins I need from the juice I am drinking.

Why 60 Days?

I needed a drastic change and quick. I wasn't sleeping well, my headaches from 10 years ago were back, I was having indigestion and heartburn from just about anything I ate; I just all around didn't feel good. I couldn't get up in the morning because I was SO tired. I had serious problems focusing at school or in any task I was trying to accomplish. I may change my number of days. I don't know. At this point, 60 days is the magic number for me.

What Did You Do To Prepare?

I didn't "prepare" per say. Although, I DID change the way I was eating about 2 months prior. I stopped, almost completely, eating out at drive thru restaurants, drinking soda or juice (yes even the ones claiming to be low in sugar), started drinking more water (usually about 60-80oz/per day, although I should have been drinking at least 100 oz.)
I started listening to my body more, experimenting with the different foods. Seeing that if I ate meat for lunch, even in a salad, it made me tired and groggy, so I chose sushi instead (yes it has fish in it, but I noticed, for me, that I didn't feel as tired as I did before).

Most Important

I DID MY RESEARCH. I have been watching documentaries, reading articles, etc. to prepare myself and my mind for this fast....for the past 3 years. (SAY WHAT!?!?) Ok, confession time. It has been 3 years because I didn't have the courage to take on such a task. I was scared. Why? It would take to long to tell my back story, but bottom line, change for me is like jumping off a cliff into a deep pool of water. You know you will be safe because others have done it, but you just have to get over your fear and jump. Take a leap of faith.

Day 3

Today is day 3. It is the end of the day. Let me tell you. Day 1 was ok, not that bad. Yesterday, Day 2, was a little harder....then I got home. Being sedentary is NOT my friend. The cravings were horrible! And MAN am I cranky! The upside: I am thinking more clearly. I have this problem where I say junk that should just stay in my brain, example: today at school. *sigh* My brain told me, "Shut Up! Don't say ANYTHING!" I should have listened. Whether I was right or wrong, there is a place and time to share your opinion...today was not one of them.
Don't cast your pearls before swine. a.k.a. Don't give your opinion if it won't make a difference.
Got home and the hubby tells me he is going to make himself an omelet. I tell him to keep it in the other side of the house. Our house is RIDICULOUSLY small. That smell didn't take long to waft into the bedroom where I was. And would you know it, those hunger pangs/craving pangs I was feeling left for half a second when I smelled that. Weird, right? I thought so too.
I went and made myself a juice after he was done cooking, let me tell ya. =)

Weight Loss

So far, over the past 2 months, including the past 3 days, I have lost 12 pounds. Minor, I know. In the last 3 days I have lost 3 pounds. Pretty good, I think.

Something I was told that would happen, that didn't was bowel movements. I was told to expect A LOT of them. 1st day, a little bit of craziness, day 2 a little less. Today, 1 1/2. I say 1/2 because they were so minor. (Eeeew! Gross. Why are you talking about BM?)
BMs are how we get rid of all the toxins in our body. You don't want it coming out of your skin. That amount of poison coming out of the skin is dangerous, I think.

Recommended Sources Of Information

Documentaries:
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (Available on Hulu, YouTube (free) & Netflix)
* Forks Over Knives (Netflix)
* Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue (Netflix)
* Hungry For Change (Netflix)
* Food Matters (Netflix)

* Theses documentaries are primarily about changing the way you eat and why. Not just juicing.

Other Documentaries

The Gerson Miracle (Netflix)
Dying To Have Known (Netflix)
The Beautiful Truth (Netflix)

These documentaries are about people using Gerson Therapy (Nutritional Therapy) to cure cancer, heart disease, tumors, diabetes, and a myriad of other ailments, via eating organic fruits, veggies, juicing veggies and high doses of specific vitamins.
HIGHLY RECCOMEND

JUICE ON!

What's on my heart....

 

For some reason today, I have just had a peace in my heart I cannot explain.

It may have something to do with the book I am reading or the music I have been listening to or maybe even my prayer time lately. I don't know, but for some reason, especially this afternoon, after lunch, I had this peace about me. It wasn't even noticable at first, until I started to drive home and I realized that honking horns and the hustle and bustle of life around me, was disturbing that peace. Then I CHOSE to push all the distracting things happening around me, out of my head and hold onto that peace I was experiencing.

 

I am currently reading "Bad Childhood -- Good Life" by Dr. Laura S. A very good book, even for those who have had a relatively good childhood. It has opened my eyes about SO much. I always thought I needed "closure", whatever that ACTUALLY means, from the person who hurt me so badly when I was younger. As I am reading this book, I am realizing that closure is not them saying "I'm sorry I hurt you, will you forgive me?" It is me Letting Go of what they did to me and My Perception Of It. Granted this person is still, somewhat, in my life - So I must be able to move past my past and go on with my life, whether they do the same or not.

 

I know it may be viewed as a cliche, but the Serenity Prayer definitely fits here. At least it fits for me. In the way I view it to mean for me at this time in my life.

 

I am looking at all of the things that I have gone through, experienced, seen, and lived along side of, in my short (almost) 27  years of living. For some people, it could fill 3 lifetimes. It is amazing the life changes that happen between 17 and 27. The situations that God has allowed me to see and experience, but not necessarily be affected by. Then to see the effects of these situations on those closest to me, even years down the road. The residual ramifications that are still there 5 years later or even longer. Some people may say "5 years? Hmph. That's not a very long time." That is unless you were one of the ones effected. Time seems to drag for a little while, then one day you wake up and you realize that you are a different person. That all of the turmoil, pain, heartache, sleepless nights, emotional agony you went through...has now cultivated you into this beautiful person. A person who has OverCome. Yeah, there will be more trials and turmoil in life, but once you come out of a trial that has lasted for more than 2 years, 5 years, or even 25 years, you look back and see all the things you overcame. You look at the beautiful rose that God has unfolded you into, and you see all the life lessons you learned along the way, that you now can share with another who is traveling the path you just walked....It's amazing how God unfolds the rose (you).

 

 

I'm not sure how I got off on this tangent, but I guess I was just speaking what was on my heart.

I am by no means a wise or knowledgeable person, but I am so thankful that I can see where I've been and how it has shaped me.

The leadership of The Rock Church in Elk Grove, CA. is the best (in my opinion) in the world. I remember Pastor talking to me when I was young about what I was wearing to church one night. It wasn't exactly immodest, but it wasn't modest either. It was attention seeking. I am thankful that he cared enough to talk to me about it. It may have taken me almost 15 years to see that he cared and that his leadership is what I needed to be under, but I'm here. That's what matters right now.

I feel like I have been in recovery at TRC Hospital and I am about to be discharged. =) lol
Best feeling in the world.

Been A While.....

I can't even remember the last time I posted on here. I think it has to be right after I got married...almost 3 years ago.

I started another blog....that I cannot find for some reason. Which is actually a good thing. I started it at a very bitter time in my life, so it wasn't very positive.

I have always loved sharing my life with others, and I think this is a great way to do so. Considering Facebook has become, in my opinion, just as annoying as MySpace. Ads galore, sponsored or otherwise....I digress. =)

I always thought that blogs had to be a certain way - either vague or descriptive - black and white. Following my sister's blog, and a few others, I have figured out that it NOT the case.
Thank Goodness for me =)

I have changed, appearance-wise, A LOT. Got a little chunkier, cut my hair, etc. Well that is not all that has changed. I have changed on the inside. I have become just a teensy bit wiser with age.

At almost 27, it seems the last 5 years have been more like 15 years of life experience. Changing my perspective on SO many things.

When I look at these two pictures, I see so much difference.

2010

2013

I see all the trials and lessons I learned. I see the heartache and pain and the eye opening experience. I see all the people that passed away, the people who made an impact on my life.
And Then, I see who I have become. The people who are still here that are STILL making an impact on my life. I see all the results of those lessons that I learned. I see that I am no longer the bitter, angry little girl I was towards certain people in my life back then. I may still be a little girl at heart in some aspects of my life, and I am by no means a seasoned woman, but I am somewhere in between.

My hubby and I recently returned to church, after being gone for around a year. In that year, especially the last 3-4 months, was some of the most impactful times in my life. I may go into it one of these days, but there were so many things that happened, spiritually and emotionally that it would probably take 5 or more posts to get it all out.

I have been on a journey. That's about all I can say without bursting into tears. I feel like the Lord has been so merciful and gracious to me in my life. I may not be able to speak of the "fond memories" of childhood like my sister, or remember good things that I learned as a youngster, but I can look back over the years of my life and say, "That person taught me so much. I was never the same after they were in my life." I can say this about so few people, but those that I can say that about, I will NEVER forget. I can only say Thank You so much for so long, until it probably gets old - no matter how true it may all be. The same of the opposite is true, unfortunately - but, isn't that true for all of us?

I will make no promises to keep this blog up on a regular basis, but I would like to. I would like to share my life with others. Maybe my story will help someone else some day.

In Other News.....

I am on the journey to health. I have never been the type of person to make it past Day 1 of Such And Such Diet that is proclaimed to have helped people to lose 10lbs in 10 days. Although I have tried - let me tell ya. I have seen a few documentaries that I am enamored with.

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpLQwWKb3l8

The Gerson Miracle
http://www.youtube.com/movie/the-gerson-miracle


Dying To Have Known
http://www.youtube.com/movie/dying-to-have-known?feature=mv_e_rel_b

The Beautiful Truth
http://www.youtube.com/movie/the-beautiful-truth?feature=mv_e_rel_b

Forks Over Knives
https://www.youtube.com/movie/forks-over-knives

Just to meet to name a few. I am by NO MEANS a vegan or vegetarian. I am just trying to become more health conscience.

I am also trying a few other things in other parts of my life. Learning Spanish (attempting), sewing, gardening, etc. That's another post for another day.

The Latest Good News (Warning! EX-TREME-ELY long post)

So the latest news is.....

Let's see. Since the day of our wedding; I'll start there.

A few days after our wedding A got a call from Campbell's Soup for an interview. This was a long and hard time coming. Last year A applied for a job there but didn't get on. Which made the thought "How are we going to survive another year?" go through our heads. When he did get the call....well....I looked like a crazy woman running around in circles, jumping up and down, screaming my head off....you get the picture. =)
Going back to last year for a second: God had promised A that he would get this job, so in turn we decided that we would give the first two paychecks to God.
When he got the call this year, I started praying about where we should give. I didn't want to give just to give, because we had committed it, I wanted it to be God directed. Pretty much right off, I felt like missions was the right direction. Around that time there was also a major push for missions at church; there was even a group that went on a missions trip with our Hope Core (the Apostolic Pentecostal version of Peace Core). So when he got the call, a little over a month ago, that he had gotten the job, I prayed that God would direct us to a specific missionary. Preferably one that we knew personally. I wanted to be able to hear and see first hand the experience of the missionary.
Two weeks ago yesterday, I got onto FB (facebook) and had a post on there that one of our friends (K) was going to have a car wash that Friday to support her missions trip to Beliz (south of Mexico).
The thought came to me that this might be the missionary that I've been praying about, but I wanted to be certain, so I kept praying. I decided to volunteer my time and when I got there K and another friend of ours, M, were talking about the financial issues of the trip. It struck me as weird, because I had just been praying about that in my morning devotions. "God, let your will be evident." Later on when K's Mom showed up and the subject was brought up again, K's Mom said "like you said honey, if it's God's will he will make a way" and she kinda looked at me as if to say "right?" I immediately knew that that was confirmation of what I had been praying about, right in front of me. I went and called A (my husband) and asked him how much we had left after Tithes. He told me the amount and I asked if he would be OK with us giving that amount to support K's mission trip. He agreed.
I went to K's Mom and explained to her that A and I would like to help support K. She told me that it was so sweet that we would volunteer and that she knew K was right about "if it's God's will he will make a way". When I got around to the amount she broke down and cried. She finally told me that the amount we were going to give was almost the exact amount of K's plane fare to Beliz.

(I'm gonna let that sink in for a second.)

I don't know about you, but the feeling I got when I heard that made me go weak.

Maybe it's because I was on the giving end of a miracle blessing...I don't know.

I have heard all of my life the miracles that people have experienced. Financial, spiritual, physical.

~Just enough money to pay the bills

~The Minister's family sitting down to an empty table and praying over a meal that wasn't there and the getting a knock on the door and the local grocer being there with his truck backed up to the door with a truck bed full of groceries

~Having a flat tire 150 miles from home, putting chewing gum in the hole, and making it home safely (and the moment the car comes to a stop in the driveway the gum stops working and the tire deflates)

Need I go on?

Besides the presence of Jesus, it is the most amazing feeling I have ever felt in my entire life. Whenever I relate this story to someone, I always get chills.

The next thing that happened:
A week ago today, the 2nd check came and on Friday afternoon, about 7 hours before A had to start work, I asked him where he had decided that we would be giving the check to. He told me "All Together Now" (our church building fund). The next morning, I get a text from him at 5:30 saying that he will be staying late at work. I thought nothing of it.
When he got home, he told me the reason why. He was pulled aside by M, the morning coordinator (morning supervisor). He was told that the night shift supervisor had put his name in to replace one of the transferring cooks. M told him that he would be training to be a cook.
So that might not seem all that interesting, until you read this:
A has only been working there for 3 weeks (at the time) AND the cook position (as a permanent employee, which he is not, yet) is the highest paid non-management position in the plant! I freaked when I heard this. God's promise was already coming true. The Lord had promised me last year that if A and I were faithful and obedient, that A would move through the ranks faster than anybody ever had at that company. It's already started.

The last thing that happened was this: The day before A got the call for the Campbell's interview I got a letter in the mail stating that since my parent (a disabled veteran of the the US military) has received their 100% disability rating, I was approved for eligibility of educational funding. This entails: 8 years of full tuition paid to any school in CA and a monthly stipend (income). My choice of career, Psychiatry, will take me 10 years to get my Doctorate. God is an on time, providing God.

So to sum this all up in a timeline:

June 20th ~ A gets the interview call from Campbell's
July 19th ~ I recieve the VA letter
July 20th ~ A gets the call to start work that Thursday
August 21 ~ A gets a promotion & raise

In two months time, God has blessed over and above our wildest dreams. The saying "You can't outgive God" has been more than true in our lives, this is just the latest example.

Thank you for taking the time to read my VERY long post. I hope this gave you some encouragement, uplifted your spirit in some way, or maybe just warmed your heart a little. In any case, I just couldn't keep the wonderful things that Jesus has done in our lives to myself. It's too exciting.

I'm Getting Married!

TODAY!!!!!!!! 8 Hours, 1 Minute and Counting!!!!!!!!

Bible Thoughts

SO I was reading in Exodus the other day and I came across something. The last verses of chapter 31 talk about how God called Moses up into Mount Sinai and how the cloud of the Glory of God was visible from the ground. The Very First Verse of chapter 32 talks about the children of Israel asking Aaron to build them an idol to worship because they didn't know if Moses was still alive or not.

My question is this:

How do we go from seeing the Glory of God right in front of us to worshipping other gods? (i.e. TV, Sports, Money, Material Things, etc.)

I asked this of a Pastor in my church the other day. His answer was (something to the effect of) that we get side tracked and impatient. 40 days and nights for the children of Israel (and Christians today) is a long time, therefore it's easy to look to another source for answers. Thank you Pastor S. for imparting your wisdom.

After our conversation, I thought about it. I DID THAT! I got impatient with God with things in my life and left walking with Him to find my own answers! I must have seemed dense when I asked that, but I'm glad I did; and had the chance to realize the lesson to be learned.

How many of you have walked away from God looking for your own answers because it seemed like He was taking to long? How many times?

There Is A Way! to stop the wandering.

Read Your Bible

Pray Every Day

And You'll

Grow, Grow, Grow

I forgot!

I forgot to post who won!

Stephanie! You are the lucky winner. lol Even though we have been corresponding through email. hahaha

Sorry Ya'll! I'm a "forgets-a-lot" lol