Sunday, May 27, 2012

One year later... One year wiser??

It's been about a year since I started this blog and tried for a 60 day juice fast.   Looking back, here are some of the lessons I've learned:

  • Energy.  After seeing nutrition so clearly (while juicing), that same clarity quickly became muttled up.  A few bites of this or that processed junk would increase to a few pieces, then to a few meals.  Quicker than I can believe, I was back to my very poor food choice habits.
    •   Plan: Focus on food as energy.  Experience taught me: 
                                -   Juicing and healthy eating gave me boatloads of energy.
                                -   Junkfood makes me lethargic.

  • Timing:  Being busy, for me, isn't just an excuse -- it's a fact of life.  While I thought I was super busy a year ago, I've become even busier since then.  I create my own reality, so "busy" is a choice -- and I need to keep my work schedule and social life in check.  Besides, there's no time like the present.  If I wait till I'm not busy, I'll most certainly be dead! 
             Plan:  ORGANIZE, simplify, and hire out those tasks that I can't plan on 
             completing timely

  • Rigidity vs. Flexibility.  I tried to stick to the ReBoot plan 100% -- with no variances except for some pre-bottled juices (BoltHouse and V8).  Easily bored, I ended up consuming way too few calories near the end.  It basically became a super low calorie diet -- which led to a large amount of hair loss about 6 months later.     ((One point to note-- even though my calorie consumption was super, super low--- I STILL had plenty of energy! )))
                Plan: Modify the ReBoot to work with my current schedule and lifestyle. 
    • Most of the time, I will be juicing.  However, during most of June I'll be traveling for work and staying out of town. 
    • During my travels, we'll be taking clients out to lunch and having dinner meetings.  As such, I will be consuming some "real" foods.  Having issues with colitis (mentioned in earlier posts), I'm limited to the amount of salads and roughage I can eat.  
    •  I'll take it day by day and drink the jucies as much as possible -- but, again, I didn't want to wait for "better" timing.  I'm going to make it work for me -- regardless of where I am.

  • Simplicity is essential to making this work again.  The V8 (warmed as soup) and Bolthouse (juice only- not smoothies) helped me get through before and it will again.
                 Plan:  Juice cubes in the MagicBullet and "Naked" juice in the hotel.
    • I've already juiced my oranges, strawberries, apples and blueberries.  After freezing them in ice cube trays I bagged them up.  (I have yet to juice/freeze the veggies)  My MagicBullet is packed in my luggage and I've confirmed that the hotel (for June) will have a fridge/freezer.  I can buy bottled juices, a few at a time, and keep in the hotel, too.
    • The hotel  "bistro" sells "Naked" fruit juices, so I can always grab a quick bottle if I need to.

  • Desire.  I just want to look and feel as good as I looked and felt when I was juicing before.  The energy is incredible and the overall "good feeling" can't be beat!

    • Plan:  Regardless of everything else going on in my life, I just want to be happy and feel good.  This modified-ReBoot can get me there!