My 30th Year

I turned 30 in October and there has been something about this “thirtieth year” that has been different. In the past I have resolved to work out, eat healthier, lose a few pounds and for some reason, right around my 30^th birthday, things just started to click. For years my parents have told me to work out and eat right for the health benefits, not for weight loss, but as every woman who has ever wanted to wear a bathing suit knows, results are ALL that matter! My general pattern was: something would put the idea in my head that I needed to shape up (a hot tub party, a tight-fitting dress, jean shopping, etc). So I would resolve to eat healthy and exercise. I do this for a day or two and, when my pants still fit just as snuggly as they did the day before, I’d give up.

My “excercise” plans have ranged from walking to running to biking. Past plans have included workout DVD’s and circuits I cut out of health magazines. Once I joined a really expensive gym. Nothing ever stuck. I generally don’t like to work out. I like to do physical things, but not when the point of the physical thing is weight loss. I like to swim, I like to play sports, I like to walk when the purpose is sight-seeing, and I never enjoy running. Ever.

So a little before my 30^th birthday I joined a gym. It’s not a fancy one and not terribly expensive. I had to sign a contract, which I know is a horrible thing, but I felt like I should be able to committ myself to working out. I pay $25/month and I figured that if I went 5 times a month, then it was worth it. I didn’t go into this experience with any illusions of grandeur. Just go to the gym from time to time. Thankfully, I’ve discovered zumba. Zumba burns a ton of calories and doesn’t feel like exercise at all. Don’t get me wrong. It feels like hot, sweaty, can barely breathe work – but not exercise. I actually look forward to zumba! Also, when I'm in a bad mood, stressed out, cranky, I now find myself CRAVING a trip to the gym.... seriously... I've never experienced such a thing before...

Eating healthy wasn’t too big of a leap because we already don’t eat too bad. I did Weight Watchers for a month or so with a co-worker and what I learned the most from that system was portion control (no you do not need to have two rolls with that meal, heck, you don’t even need to have ONE roll!) and respect for the little things. While on WW I got 29 points a day. Suddenly a tablespoon of butter or oil (1 point) feels like a lot, especially when I've grown to be quite liberal with the oils and butters! A mindless snack might be 5-10 points – that’s a lot! So it helped me put my day in perspective. Someone brought in donuts at work and I just couldn’t refuse, ok, well don’t feel guilty, just have a light dinner or hit the gym after work.

Now on to my newest piece of craziness. The hubs and I watch a lot of documentaries as you probably won’t be surprised to hear. Several of them have included or featured, in some way, the effect of juicing. We’ve talked about buying a juicer for a while and over Christmas break we finally did (a $100 purchase is a big deal in our household). So far, we love it. So far, we’ve made fruit juices. So far, we’ve only used the juice to supplement our diet.

Until today.

This weekend we decided to make a real honest effort at a juice detox of some sort. After reading and reading we settled on a modified diet. We will replace two meals a day and all snacks with juice or raw fruits and veggies and eat good, healthy dinners.

Today was Day One.

Breakfast was a “Morning Energizer” which included parsley, carrot, and apple. It tasted mostly like parsley, but was drinkable and got me through the morning.

Mid-Morning Snack was “Cantaloupe Cooler” which is cantaloupe and strawberries. Better than parsley!

Lunch was a veggie salad with a little bit of the Cantaloupe Cooler as my dressing. Not awful, but I made the mistake of including mushrooms and let’s just say that mushrooms and Cantaloupe Cooler are not a good mix.

In addition I’ve been drinking water with lemon in it and I brought a banana that I waited until the very last minute to enjoy (which is now).

I’m not a chugger of beverages, especially these types of beverages so they last me quite a while just sipping on them.

After School Snack is a "Watermelon Spritzer" which contains watermelon, strawberries and sparkling water.

Before committing to this plan, I had already defrosted a pot pie that I made and froze a while back so that's what we'll be having for dinner.

How do I feel? Crappy. All the juicing info says that at first you might feel groggy (check), tired (check), and experience headaches (check). I’m not, however, hungry, which is kind of a surprise. And I felt fine all morning. The grogginess just hit me this afternoon. I’m also a pretty serious coffee drinker so the headache may be caffeine withdrawl.

I do think, if nothing else, this will give me an appreciation for dinner. All day I’ve been dreaming about the from-scratch, pot pie that I have at home, ready to be thrown in the oven. I also savored a banana, alone in my classroom during my planning, as a near spiritual event.  Mmmm... solid food....