November.

November is my favorite month.
leaves quickly changing colors and falling all over the ground.
the air is cooler and i can finally wear scarves!
i feel like i sleep better too.

and can we please talk about sitting by a fire?!
the temperatures are usually just right for them.
so far this year i have warmed my hands by a fire twice this month.
i'm trying to plan more of those soon.

my favorite holiday [Thanksgiving :)] is at the end of the month.
i enjoy it most because it's about food and fellowship.
and i am thankful for the extra time i get to spend with my family.
and hopefully catch up with some old friends.

of course, maybe it's my favorite because it's also my birthday month :)
i will turn 36 this year.
the more time i spend in my 30's the more i know these are some of my best years.
i am growing older and, hopefully, wiser.

i already feel like November has flown by.
so i will try to savor these last 10 days as much as i possibly can.
i am headed to the upstate this weekend.
i can't wait to bundle up and collect some beautifully colored leaves.

three things i'm trying to quit...

      we all have things we struggle with, things we need to give up. i have more than these three things, for sure. these are just the ones that i know are most important for me to quit right now. 

i don't really put that many packets in my cup.

      1.  fake sugars. we’ve all heard the rumors that “they” tell about fake sugars: what it’s doing to your brain, how awful it is for you in the long run, etc. well living w/ diabetes can lead to using fake sugars instead of real sugar.

the one place i tend to use fake sugar a lot, or at all, is in my coffee.  even though i only drink decaf, I still drink a lot of coffee five days of the week.  at the end of each day i may have consumed between 10 to 15 packets of fake sugar. ridiculous. i know. this has been going on for about a year now, maybe longer.

so this week i decided to start backing off of them and now i’m down to 6-9 a day. of course, the end goal of this is to not use them anymore. my goal for next week is 4-6. slowly but surely :)

what is sleep?

2. staying up late. i can’t remember a time when i didn’t enjoy staying up late. i always feel like I need to be the last one asleep in the house. i’d like to blame this on (but cannot) years of slumber parties where the first girl who fell asleep always had the misfortune of ending up w/ whip cream in her face, or some other absurd prank young girls like to play on one another. i never wanted to be that girl. and I never was :)

fast forward some years and here i am. always hopeful of going to sleep before the 12 o’clock hour, and pretty much failing to meet that curfew every night. i get this second wind and then it’s all over. and of course i play on my phone for a good 30 minutes each night once i get in bed. dropping it on my face at least once during that time.

i am usually running off of six to six and a half hours each night, excluding friday nights if i am fortunate enough to sleep in the next day. and just like fake sugars, not getting enough sleep is so bad for your health, in so many way and on so  many levels.

if i do happen to get seven to eight hours of sleep a night, i feel so good and so happy about it and think “i should do this every night!” i’m just not consistent in this area of my life. and I NEED to be, as it leads to my third thing that i need to quit…

this is my actual alarm :)

3. showing up late to places. including, but certainly not limited to: work, dinner, coffee dates or working out w/ a friend. i know that it is so selfish and disrespectful. i am fortunate to be surrounded by super loving and gracious friends, family, bosses and coworkers.

from time to time, people get upset w/ me about said tardiness. some people even pick on me about it. i can say that i try my best to get places on time, but if i was really trying my best then this wouldn’t be on the list, now would it?

oddly enough, when i do show up somewhere early I feel so awkard, like “what do i do w/ this time?” it’s as if i have no idea where to stand or sit or what to do w/ myself. weird you say? yes, I agree :) however, if it is a serious situation, such as being in a wedding, i will not be late. that would be the worst offense.

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friends, hold me accountable, please. ask me how i’m doing with these three things when you see me or talk to me. i hope to tell you by the end of this summer that i have conquered all three :)

wishing you all a safe memorial day weekend!

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day 7: juicing

on my final night of the juicing cleanse i got nine and a half hours of sleep. i had the day off and was able to sleep in so that was nice. i had more of a "brunch" juice since i slept late. it was weird thinking that i was making my final juices, and nice at the same time.

my final juice ingredients :)

in case you were wondering what the food cost has been for me over the last week, my total spent was $150. i still have some carrots, celery, a pineapple and some ginger left over. i plan on cooking the carrots tomorrow night for dinner. i will definitely eat the celery and pineapple, but i'm not sure what to use the rest of the ginger for yet. 

my friend lauren came over and i had her juice some carrots while i filmed it. i hope you enjoy seeing my juicer at work :) it's crazy how fast it juices them, right? also, i sound silly :)

tomorrow i will have my final weigh in and be able to finally eat solids again. i'll be sure to update you on my total weight loss and how i'm feeling after eating real food again.

come back tomorrow for my juicing challenge recap :)

day 6: juicing

i was only able to get six hours of sleep last night. really it was my own fault. i enjoy staying up late and on the weekends i feel more freedom to do so. however, i was not exhausted like i thought i would be. in fact i felt really good all day, but i was definitely tired by10:30 pm. i got my five juices in again today w/ lots and lots of water. 

the picture above is an example of juice that would technically equal three normal "meals" that you would eat. the juice that it makes is enough for my three "meals" and then i juice some more for "snack" juice.

today i played baseball w/ some friends and it was so much fun. other than that i have not gotten much exercise during my juicing cleanse. i have been doing squats and some crunches. i'm looking forward to a walk tomorrow and getting back in to my normal workout routine on tuesday.

can you believe i only have one more day left? i can't. i'm interested to see how i feel after incorporating whole foods again. i will be eating really healthy for the first three days. i will mainly be eating a lot of the foods i juiced, just whole now. it will be so nice to chew on something and hear that crunch sound again. i love things that crunch when you eat them :)

i just think the juice foam looks so pretty :)

i watched the football game last night at my bosses house w/ our youth group and i had some of the kids taste the juice i had made for dinner. and most of them loved it. one of them even said it tasted like fruit punch :)  

ONE MORE DAY! see y'all at the finish line :)

day 5: juicing

i got seven and a half hours of sleep last night. again i felt really good, but i also got in a two hour nap :)

due to that nap, i threw my juicing schedule off and only drank four juices. but i wasn't hungry and made sure to drink lots of water in between.

another yummy juice in the books! (not pictured: ginger & blueberries)

if you didn't notice the link in day 1 to the new juicer i chose, please scroll over the word Breville, click the it and you will be directed to the store where i purchased my new juicer. one of the main reasons why i chose that juicer is b/c the spout where you put the fruits and veggies in is so much bigger. and as i stated before, it's quieter and the clean up is so easy.

last night i bought some pears to put in my remaining juices. excited to try those. today i started saving the kale, spinach and carrot pulp from my juices. i plan on using them in some recipes on tuesday, which i will of course share w/ you all. 

here's the pulp!

there are only two more days left in my juicing challenge. i can't believe i'm almost there. i'm almost finished. it has surely been a challenge and also a learning experience. and so many people have been so encouraging to me about this process. thank you again if you were one of those who have spoken words of encouragement to me and if you have said a prayer for me during this time.

see y'all back here tomorrow :)

day 4: juicing

seven pounds people! 

that's how much weight i have lost after three full days of juicing. unbelievable. that brings me back up to 26 pounds total lost. what?! i know that there is a great possibility of gaining back some of the weight i lose from this juicing cleanse, but i'm excited to see how much more i lose by day 7. 

there is a lot going on in this juice and it was so yummy!

i got eight hours of sleep last night and i'm feeling great! i made another juice today that is so good. i'm halfway there and feel like i'm finally starting to enjoy the process. i'm still drinking five juices a day and alternating water in between each one.

i have decided that grapefruit is my favorite thing in a juice :)

if this juicing cleanse has taught me anything it's that i need to drink so much more water than i have been  drinking. now i love water, and besides decaf coffee that's usually all i drink, but it has become very clear to me that i need to be drinking more. it's good for your body for so many reasons.

see y'all again tomorrow :)

day 3: juicing

i can already tell my skin is looking different, like it has a glow to it or something. last night i only got six hours of sleep, and needless to say i was tired. i didn't feel exhausted though, i'm assuming juicing has helped w/ the lack of exhaustion.

i put my juice in this fun old glass oj bottle :)

i started my morning off w/ the rest of some yummy juice i had made the night before. i continued to alternate water w/ my juice. i made a gazpacho type juice to drink for "lunch" and a "snack." i was thinking it would be like cold soup or something. that was a huge mistake. it was not disgusting, but after three sips i knew i could not finish it all. i only drank 1/3 of the pitcher it made. i ended up drinking a lot of water while at work the reminder of the day. 

the best juice i've ever made :)

when i got home from work i immediately juiced something else that i knew would be yummy. and it was :) maybe the best juice i've ever made. what a relief! i was starting to get discouraged and now i know i can do it. i was really excited to be able to drink the rest of that juice for "breakfast."

tomorrow i will weigh in and see just exactly what this juicing cleanse is doing. see y'all then!

day 2: juicing

my first full night into the juicing challenge i got 7 hours of sleep. i thought for sure when i woke up i was going to be groggy, per usual, but in fact i was not. i felt really good and had a lot of energy during the day. 

i realized from day 1 that i needed to drink more juice throughout the day and not wait so long in between "meals." i did really well and alternated 24 oz. of water between each juice again. however, i did not pay close attention to what times during the day that i juiced. i was more concerned w/ trying to drink the juice five times a day. and i made sure to start my "breakfast" at 9:30 am. 

yummy juice for the latter part of day 2: carrots, cucumber, tangerines, strawberries, lime, celery, apple, tomato, pineapple and bell pepper. (not pictured: spinach & kale.)

food smells from today were extra strong. i wasn't even hungry all day, but i was wanting what i couldn't have. it is weird not eating solids. when i cook, i just throw things together most of the time. and that's exactly how i juice, which has worked for me so far.

i thought day two would be easier than day one for some reason. but it wasn't. as i said before, i wasn't hungry at all, which was great. however, by the end of the day i just wanted to chew something! i was honestly craving a hamburger :) before bed, i kept wondering if i had bitten off more than i could chew w/ this challenge. (pun intended) and i prayed that i would really crave the juice. my peeps have shown me so much love and have been so encouraging. i thank you immensely for it all. 

maybe i already started planning my first solid meals for when the 7 days are up :) a townhouse salad for lunch sounds about right, doesn't it? 

5 more days to go! see y'all tomorrow :)