Why, hello my long lost readers! I've been getting back into the swing of life after the holidays, and unfortunately i've been hit with the post-holiday writing slump. I even went to a coffee house to write some children's book material last week in hopes that the creative ambiance would help me reach a new level of writing nirvana, but I left with pretty much nothing. I guess we spend a lot of creative juices over the holidays, coming up a little dry in January!
I had a friend ask if I would do a blog about juicing, so here we are. My fabulous hubby bought me an Omega juicer for Christmas!! Hip hip! I really wanted to add more raw veggies into my diet, and not all veggies work well in a smoothie. I mean, carrots and celery smoothie? Chunky ewwww monkey. So, I can't wait to tell you how it's going, and especially about the surprise side effect I've had since we started.
when we returned home from our Christmas trip down to Florida, I started juicing for my family every morning. A nice mix of fruits and veggies, and I absolutely LOVE it. The Omega Juicer, (find it at Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Omega-VRT350-Dual-Stage-Vertical-Single/dp/B00434JINO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1358867893&sr=8-3&keywords=omega+juicers), is a heavy duty juicer that has a cool motor, so it doesn't kill sensitve enzymes and also helps extend the life of your juice if you want to juice for two days at once, for instance. There are a few parts, but I find it easy to clean and put back together. I keep the juicer out on my counter, and I haven't found it inconvenient at all.
My go-to juice has been half carrot, half citrus just because I brought home practically every available bag of oranges and grapefruit at the fruit stand when we were in FL, and not to mention, it's been perfect to shorten our winter colds and has kept us healthy with all of the vitamin C, A (and D from some nice sunshine outside this winter)! I have also enjoyed green juice, which is a mixture of kale, celery (watch out, the celery flavor is strong!), cucumber, broccoli with an orange or apple tossed in for sweetness. I also will add some fresh lemon juice to the veggie- heavy juices, which seems to give it that extra bit of brightness and makes it taste better.
Really, you can try any combo you want: I have added tomatoes and kale to the orange/carrot mixture and both worked out well. Whatever I have on hand, I throw in! You need a LOT of green to make a lot of juice, whereas a grapefruit yields the most juice, surprise surprise. However, I figure I am getting straight nutrients to my body, so even if it's not a full glass of green juice, it's still providing my body with the best medicine!
One side effect to all of this juicing was quite unexpected. As many of you know, I am currently expecting my 3rd baby, and I am 29 weeks along. Pretty much the entire fall through Christmas I was struggling with what seemed like a severe case of pregnancy depression or anxiety. I never went to the Dr. for it, but man- I was an overwhelmed MESS! So, miraculously, the DAY AFTER I started juicing, my depression went away entirely. Like, boom. Done. Gone. I was so excited and grateful that it went away, but I am sure my poor kids and husband are even more glad. Now, obviously this isn't some huge scientific study or anything, but in my experience, I feel so much better! What a great motivation to continue the juicing! Mind you, I was eating a healthy, real food diet before, so it's not like I switched from eating fruit loops every morning to healthy juice- juice was just something I added to an already healthy, whole food diet, and it has really made a difference!
We still eat fruit and veggies whole or in smoothies for variation and fiber, etc. too.
So, if you've thought about juicing, I do highly recommend the Omega Vert Juicer, and juicing in general.
Here's to your health!!!!
Love,
Anna
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