Day 20 - Believe It or Not This Is Really Fun!

What do I mean by the title today.  Well, this is my 20th day on my Fresh Start Journey juice detox/diet.  My last blog was on Saturday.  Sunday and Monday I was totally busy but kept to my diet.  I juiced only in the morning by having apple juice and apple/orange juice.  Even though I did not blog and did not juice the rest of the day, I made sure that if I reached for anything I wanted to eat, I would have vegetables already made up to snack.  Sunday after church, we went out to eat and I had a vegetable platter.  I kept off the egg and jack cheese..yummy!!..but my stomach and my acid reflex would not have liked it much and neither would my diet.

I lost 1 lbs so in total I lost 17 lbs in 20 days.  I am finding out that the weight comes off slower when you eat solid foods than when you juice.  Today I started off with a green apple juice and made this delicious vegetable juice for lunch and dinner.    

Tomato Lettuce Cucumber Detox Juicer Recipe

3 large, ripe tomatoes

6 leaves leafy lettuce (I prefer romaine or kale)

Cucumber (about a 2-inch piece)

Handful of fresh cilantro or parsley

Small wedge of lemon or lime

Juice all ingredients

This combination of vegetables and fruits is so very delicious with just a twist of lemon added.

Cucumber is a fruit that came from the same family as pumpkin, zucchini and other squashes. It has a dark green rind and white succulent flesh. There are 2 types of cucumbers the pickling varieties and the slicing varieties. The pickling variety is relatively small (2 - 4 inches long).

Health benefits of Cucumber

• 
  Very low in calories; provides just 15 calories per 100 g. Contains no saturated fats or cholesterol. Cucumber peel is a good source of dietary fiber that helps reduce constipation and offers some protection against colon cancers.
• It is a very good source of potassium, an important intra-cellular electrolyte. Potassium is a heart friendly electrolyte; helps reduce blood pressure and heart rates by countering effects of sodium.
• It contains unique anti-oxidants in good ratios such as ß-carotene and a-carotene, vitamin-C, vitamin-A, zea-xanthin and lutein. These compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease process.
• Cucumbers have mild diuretic property probably due to their high water content, which helps in checking weight gain and high blood pressure.
• Cucumbers surprisingly have high amount of vitamin K, provides about 17 mcg of this vitamin per 100 g. Vitamin-K has been found to have potential role in bone strength by promoting osteotrophic (bone mass building) activity. It also has established role in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in their brain.
  
  Thanks for stopping by to read my blog.  Have a blessed day!!
  
  

Day 10 - I Am Continuing My Fresh Start Diet

Well, here is day 10 and am still juicing.  I will continue to juice another 3 days and will see how I do.  I did not lose today which is fine.  I still have not exercised so I cannot blame it on the diet.  What this diet does is detoxicating my body and I am learning to eat healthier.  The total amount of weight I have lost is 10 lbs in 10 days.  That alone makes me very happy.

I have been searching the internet on some great recipes and found this delicious green lemonade.  The recipe calls for Kale but I had picked up some Swiss Chard.  It's taste is a bit bitter and strong but it works pretty good in this recipe.

Green Lemonade
1 head of romaine
5-6 stalks of kale (I used swiss chard)
2 sweet apples  (I used 2 green apples)
1 whole organic lemon (if not organic peel the skin)
1-2 tablespoon ginger (optional, I used it)

As you can see this recipe gives atleast 2 glasses of green lemonade. This green lemonade is pretty good but a bit potent.  Maybe the ginger made it stronger so next time I will just use a tiny piece of ginger.  This is why juicing is so good because you can always adjust it to your liking.  There is no right or wrong.  It's all in the taste buds.

Health Benefits of Swiss Chard

Swiss chard is an excellent source of bone-building vitamin K, manganese, and magnesium; antioxidant vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E; heart-healthy potassium and dietary fiber; and energy-producing iron. It is a very good source of bone-healthy copper and calcium; energy-producing vitamin B2 and vitamin B6; and muscle-building protein. In addition, Swiss chard is a good source of energy-producing phosphorus, vitamin B1, vitamin B5, biotin, and niacin; immune supportive zinc; and heart-healthy folate.

Swiss chard may be a less popular vegetable here in the United States, but his cousin of spinach is known to be one of the most nutritious vegetables you can eat, and is quite popular in European countries.  In fact, some nutritional analysis comparisons show that Swiss chard is second only to spinach in the World’s Healthiest Vegetables list.

Health Benefits of Romaine Lettuce

• Romaine lettuce contains vitamin C and beta-carotene, which are highly beneficial for the heart. It prevents the oxidation of cholesterol, which builds up in the artery walls in the form of plaque and blocks off the blood flow. This creates a clot, which leads to heart attack.
• The lettuce has fiber elements, which help in keeping the digestive system healthy. It helps in lowering the cholesterol level by helping the body make more bile. It does so by binding to the bile salts in the colon and removing them from the body, which in turn gears up the bile production.
• Romaine lettuce contains folic acid, which is as much beneficial for the heart as vitamin C, Beta-carotene and the fiber elements. It helps the body convert homocysteine into other benign substances. Homocysteine is a dangerous chemical, which if not converted, can directly hamper the blood vessels. This can, in turn, enhance the risk of heart attack.
• The lettuce is rich in potassium, which helps in bringing down high blood pressure, another cause of heart disease.
• Romaine lettuce is extremely helpful in fighting the fatal disease cancer. The American institute for Cancer has listed it in its group of foods that fight cancer.
• The lettuce is extremely low in calorie content and has high water volume. It is rich in vitamin A, vitamin K, folate, vitamin C, manganese, chromium, vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and the minerals like potassium, molybdenum, iron and phosphorus. Romaine is, thus, rich in so many vital elements for the body and is a highly nutritious food.

Caution

• Romaine lettuce may contain a considerable amount of pesticide residues, which are highly detrimental to health. They can seriously affect the liver’s function of processing other toxins. They also affect the cells’ production of energy and hamper the nerves’ capacity to send messages. In order to avoid the pesticide-related deadly effects of the lettuce, it is advisable to consume only the ones that are organically grown.

I have alot of respect for vegetables now that I am learning the nutritional value and the importance on eating organiic because of the pesticides that are used in the vegetables especially fruits which is absorbed into the skin.  Always chose wisely and if you can, organic.