Quitters

I used to be really into healthy living. I ran 5 miles a day, I went to the gym 5 nights a week, I ate spinach salads and raw veggies for lunch, and I had muscle tone in places that are now very, very mushy. I really took care of my body not just for vanity's sake, but also for my future health.

These days, I have trouble sticking with any sort of workout plan very long. Remember my ab challenge back in February? Yeah, I gave up after Valentine's Day. I still care about healthy living, but it's more of a lofty idea for the future, something I'll do once I finish this plate of brownies. I guess I'm just in a bad habit of no exercise and eating like crap and my body is paying for it.

After Sunday's baconfest, JD and I watched a documentary called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. It was so inspiring, we decided to do a juicing cleanse to jump start healthier eating for us. We did our research, brought the juicer up from the basement, and decided to start on August 1st.

Our initial goal was 30 days. I convinced JD that might be a wee bit ambitious for first time cleansers. We settled on 10 days, with me doing a modified cleanse since I am still breast feeding Penelope. Nothing but juice for JD for 10 days. Juice and raw foods (nothing processed) for me. No coffee, so sugar, no bread, no meat. Oy.

We were so excited on Tuesday night. We were hours away from the beginning of healthier, fitter selves. How foolish of us. Everything was going great on Wednesday morning. We woke up early and juiced kale, apples, carrots, lemons, cucumbers, and celery. We felt great...until about 10 am.

Then the headaches set in. Blinding, painful, withdrawal headaches. I stayed in the fetal position all day while the girls fended for themselves. JD came home from work early from exhaustion. We were a mess. We spent the night talking about grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza, and burrito bowls from Chipotle. We wanted to give up.

We trudged on though and the next day, we felt a little better. Losing weight on the scales didn't hurt either. We woke up early to juice again, this time hoping that the worst was behind us. It wasn't. Around 10 am, the headaches raged on. I decided I wasn't cut out for cleansing. I was cut out for food. And lots of it. I decided that I had to eat myself into a healthier me. So I had a bowl of oatmeal and a banana. Then I took a long walk to the fishing pier. I felt so much better. Juicing is for the birds. 


JD came home and decided that feeling like crap for a couple of days wasn't the way to a healthier him either. We discussed what we had hoped to gain from this experience before the headaches set in (ridding our bodies of the chemicals found in processed foods, better eating habits, and healthier, fitter selves for life) and decided that we could accomplish it without going through the torturous juice cleanse. We decided to give up. And then we made spinach and grilled chicken quesadillas with avocados and ate until our shrunken stomachs were bloated and full. It was heaven.

Actually, we don't feel like we gave up at all. Although JD is a little touchy every time I mention the fact that we are big, fat quitters... The day and a half juice cleanse put us more in touch with our bodies and really made us think about the kinds of things we want to put in them in the future. Our new goal is to eat 75% natural foods (fruits, veggies, nuts, legumes) and eliminate the processed foods that come in a box or a can. The rest will be lean meats and hormone free animal products (cheese, eggs, milk, butter). Lots of water and regular exercise too. We are going to incorporate regular juicing in our diets as well since the benefits are undeniable.

I'm really proud of JD for initiating this cleanse and sticking with it for more than 1 day. He is the guy that used to think a PopTart and Hawaiian Punch was a healthy breakfast. Even though we technically gave up, we are still inspired and committed to healthier eating for life. That doesn't sound at all like quitting to me!