Day 1 of Reboot (Express)

I watched a documentary, "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" on Netflix last week. I saw two men who were overweight and unhealthy, Joe and Phil, turn their lives around by doing 60-day juices fasts. I am starting out with sensible eating fruits and vegetables and juicing. The Mean Green juice that was the base of Joe and Phil's juice fast. It is 6 leaves of Kale, 4 stalks of Celery, 1 Cucumber, 2 Green Apples (I use Granny Smith because I LOVE them), 1 Lemon, and a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger. The apple and lemon take the edge off the bitterness of the kale. It is very tasty and very healthy.

I am 63 years old with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, GERD, and depression. I have been going to the doctor for 3 month checkups for several years. The last time he did bloodwork, he warned me about the high cholesterol, and that he would put me on cholesterol meds at my next visit in 6 months. I think he gave me an extra 3 months to DO something about myself. He said, "Barbara, it's diet and exercise," and I heard him loud and clear.

I had a juicer (Acme Supreme Juicerator) sitting on my shelf for YEARS, I mean 20-30 years. It was time to take it down off the shelf and clean it. I started juicing, but after a day or two realized I needed to get a new cutting blade. I found one on Amazon.com. I started using the new blade and it zipped right through the produce!! But then it started vibrating and jumping around as though the basket was full, but it was only after juicing one apple. I think I need a new "clutch nut" but in the meantime started looking at the Breville Ikon Multi-speed juicer which is 900w, rather than the Acme 550w. Like Tim the Toolman Taylor, I said I need some POWER... So my juicer was ordered and this morning I found it was out for delivery today!! So I can get really serious about juicing and doing the reboot.

The new Breville I ordered is like this: You put the produce in the chute, the pulp goes out one side and the juice comes out the other, into a pitcher which is provided. This way you don't have to keep stopping to clean the pulp basket like you do with the Acme. You put a plastic bag in the pulp basket, so when you are done juicing, you just lift out the bag and toss it, or if you have a compost pile, you can put it there. Some people add onion and garlic, herbs, water, to the pulp and simmer for 15 mins, then drain the stuff off, making a nice vegetable broth that can be sipped. I like this idea because I hate the idea of throwing out the pulp... It's my PA Dutch "Waste Not, Want Not" sensibility.

So I will attempt to do a documentation of my progress, ups and downs, successes, etc. of my journey to a healthier, happier, more active person.

Let's just see how this all plays out!!??