Cough***Hack***Blow

My lovely husband gave me his gremlim germs. I've been sick for over a week. You would think the green drink would have prevented all this?? lol I feel like total crap. I hope to catch up and start posting again soon.

Fergie--I definitely think the green drink has become a habit. The eating healthy part is a daily struggle, but I'm trying to stay committed. We're trying to stay committed.

Day 30! We did it!!

Wow. I can't believe it. I wish I had something really profound and interesting to say. All I really got is "We did it for 30 whole days."

Honestly, I haven't really lost a lot of weight or felt amazing. What I do feel better about are my food choices. I no longer feel guilty after a meal and this has become a permanent change for me. I'm sure more weight will come off as I exercise more, so I'm trying not to let that discourage me. I know that eating better is benefiting me in more ways that I can see and feel. I'll continue drinking the green drink daily with the hubbs :)

I can't say enough to thank everyone for all the support I've received. I want to also and especially thank all of you that participated in this challenge. Best of luck to you in continued healthy eating!

Days 28-29...almost there

Tomorrow is the day! I can't believe it's been 29 days. I've been really busy keeping my mom occupied. Does it make anyone else feel guilty when you mom is cleaning areas of your home? It's kinda weird. I want her to relax and she's constantly trying to do stuff. Anyway...

We're almost there.

Days 26-27...Expense of eating well

I grocery shop often. Always have. I can go to the grocery store daily and it doesn't at all feel weird. However, since starting this Challenge I have not only been shopping daily--but also visiting multiple stores daily. Eating everything fresh keeps me going to the store and the green drink ingredients are not as easy to find as one may think. Parsley, spinach and ginger are not available at every grocery store daily. Parsley seems to be the toughest. Even if the store has it, it usually looks like crap. WTF is up with the pond of nasty water most stores have it floating in? I know they don't want it to dry out, but isn't that what the fake "rainfall" is for?

And then there's the expense. Wow. I have really noticed that it's pretty pricey to eat like this and I'm not even doing all organic. Not even half organic. I haven't figured out if there's a trick to save more yet. I do shop around at different stores cuz I know certain things are cheaper at certain stores. For example, cucumbers are .99 cents each at Safeway and 3 for $2.00 at Giant. Shoppers Food Warehouse is hit-or-miss with the fruits and veggies, but it tends to be a cheaper store overall. Anyway, I'd say my grocery store bill has probably doubled. It being winter isn't helping either. Ughhhh.

BTW, I want to thank APoopSlingingMonkey for the suggestion of recycling pulp back through the juicer. Definitely works!!

Day 25...Show some support

The lovely and very talented JJ from Reproductive Jeans is selling her newly recorded Christmas Holiday CD. All the profits from the sale of the CD will go toward helping Mook and JJ become parents. As you know, ART and Adoption and therapy for when things fall apart are all very expensive. Please stop by JJ's blog and get details on how you can do something wonderful for someone else. I know not everyone celebrates Christmas--but we all know someone who does. Consider giving the CD as a gift. I personally know that JJ has a beautiful voice from the Braces Bunch CD, and I've met her and her husband Mook in person and they're awesome! Can't wait to receive my CD :)

Days 23-24

Mom's here. Don't really know what to do with her besides take her on my daily trips to the grocery store. She likes the green drink and the meals I'm making. I just found out that she's a Type II Diabetic diagnosed in March. Wow. She's always been thin and a healthy eater. Her doctor told her it was probably genetic. My grandmother was diabetic towards the end of her life. She lived to be 80. My mom is 61. It's scary to think about your body turning against you. It's scary to realize sometimes you have no control over which disease or diseases you may end up suffering with. One of the things infertility has taught me is that you never know what will happen. You never know inside your body or outside of it.

Thanks for the continued support and to everyone one for hanging there with this challenge. I'm so proud of us all! Only 6 Days left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 22...Back to basics

I haven't mentioned infertility in quite a while and yesterday "Shar" left a comment asking how D and I are dealing with the male factor (MF) diagnosis. She and her husband have just found out they have a MF problem too. When we first found out, we wanted a solution. We tried vitamins, bags of frozen peas in the evenings, boxers, urologist after urologist, drugs, and finally exercise--which was the only thing that helped improve D's count. Of course, we were devastated and still are. These days, we've shifted our thinking somewhat to getting healthy and feeling better. It just doesn't feel right to go forward without doing this first. Granted, when we started this 3-hour-tour-to-hell, we were both younger and I was in much better shape-- but that was then and here we are now. I really don't know how we "deal" with it all. Just wake up and get outta bed...most days. I've definitely been depressed--am depressed--wanted to run away. Still here. We've been seeing a therapist together and it's helped more than anything else. So that's it. We're focusing on something that we can control and have let get out of control--for now.

Shar, if you have any other questions feel free to email me. Also, visit Mel's blog list and find others dealing with a male factor diagnosis. Which reminds me I really need to update my blogroll! I have so many new friends and readers to add :)

Day 21...A new juicer

We used the new juicer all weekend and this morning. I decided to get a Breville because it came highly recommended online and in the book I'm reading. It has a really powerful motor and spins a lot faster than the LaLanne juicer--supposedly. It was also reported to be an easier clean-up.


Here's D "juicing" the limes and lemons separately. We learned that it's easier and quicker to do them this way rather than taking the time to cut the peel away and put them in the big juicer.


Here's another tip: When juicing greens, put them in between fruit pieces. Otherwise, they seem to just shoot through the machine without juicing. Make a sandwich :)


There's the juice shooting out of the spout and straight into the container. No chance to get splashed.


One great feature is the little plastic piece that keeps the foam from going into your glass. Wonderful thing. D doesn't have to leave the house with a veggie mustache :)

So far, I like the juicer. I am a little skeptical about the better juicing power though. When using the LaLanne, it usually yields at least 2.5 glasses of juice. I'm using the same amount of fruits and veggies and only getting 2 glasses. Perhaps there's less pulp getting through?? Not sure. As far as the clean-up, this makes just as much of a mess in my opinion. However, it has smaller pieces so it's not as awkward to clean. The basket is a little tougher to clean because of the finer steel mesh. If anyone wants the promo code to receive an additional 10-20% off a purchase at M.acy's dot com--email me. Offer ends today. I got the juicer for $134+tax.

Today and tomorrow I'm gonna be busy getting the guest room and bath ready for my mom who is coming for a month tomorrow evening. I was suppose to do all this getting ready stuff in the beginning of November. I can't believe I did this to myself. Anyway, everyone enjoy your day!

Day 20

Wow. I can't believe it's day 20 of this challenge. Only 10 days left. This weekend was really tough. Having friends here made it difficult motivation-wise to stick to eating sensibly, especially since we went out to eat at least once all three days. Surprisingly, I didn't do terribly with my choices. If nothing else I learned that I can make good decisions at most restaurants, and even when it's harder (like at Maggiano's??!!) I can eat much smaller portions and not take home leftovers. In the end, I feel like I can continue this "diet" indefinitely. It's a good feeling. I think something has finally shifted in my way of thinking when it comes to food choices.

My friend brought a 20% Macy's discount coupon for me and I purchased a Breville Juicer so I can give D's cousin back his juicer. We're definitely going to keep juicing daily. The hubbs is addicted and I'm sure it's doing some healthy healing for me too :) Maybe I can post pics of the new juicer in-action tomorrow in case anyone is interested.

I'm so sad I had to miss the DC Bloggers cookie exchange today. Boooo-hoooo!! I hope everyone had a great time and I'll see you all next month :)

Days 18-19 Busy bee

I have friends that came into town from Florida, and I'm keeping busy doing touristy DC things! I'll definitely do a longer post tomorrow.

Enjoy your weekend!