Second batch

I’ve discovered in doing this and keeping a budget is using what you have and playing with the recipes you like in order to get new tastes.  It takes a little practice and a few mistakes, but eventually you figure out what goes together and how to fix it if it doesn’t taste good (never, ever waste a juice).

This is what i came up with in the lab for this second batch

Pat O’Brien

Spinach, kale, Apple, Mandarin sunrise, grapes

F.O.

Orange, carrots, sweet potato, ginger, romaine, lemon, lime

Bliss

Apple, Orange, grape, lemon

Everything is mixed to taste and they are all yummy. Experiment and see what kind of wonderful creations you can come up with.

Ciao

SK

Round 4 begins

In two hours we bought groceries ($55 for two people for about five days), created 15 juices, prepped for ninja smoothies for tomorrow, cleaned, and made a last supper of veggie quesadillas.  The menu these first few days is

Beetlejuice

Beets, ginger, cucumber, lemon, apples, spinach

Warrior

Beets, orange, carrot, sweet potato, ginger, spinach, kale, pineapple, lime

Sea Breeze

Pineapple, cucumber, apple, kiwi

Sublime

Spinach, kale, mandarin sunshine, agave, lime

No excuses y’all.  Let’s do this.

 

Ciao

 

Sk

Let’s get started

I will again say that I really have no idea how to teach anyone to juice the way I do mostly because I wing it almost every time.  So what I’m going to do is give you some basic guidelines to what I would recommend you do and what I have done in the past.

Take pictures of yourself, weigh yourself, take your blood pressure, and measure your tummy, hips, wrists, chest, neck, and forearms.

Create 6 to 8 juices per day and consume 1 to 1 water.

If you don’t have small containers get a box of ball’s mason jars, they work great.

I would make at least two days worth of juice at a time but not more than 3 (maybe 4).  You need to make sure you have enough available to prevent you from cheating.

These first couple of days consume more on a planned schedule than waiting to see how you feel.  The first fast we had juice at 8/9/10/12/2/4/6/8…I could never consume them all but it kept me full and prevented cheating.

Pineapple, cucumber, and almond milk are your friends.  If you make a juice and it tastes yucky for the most part pineapple or cucumber will fix it.  Use almond milk as one of your juices to save time and to give yourself a little treat.

Use a little protein and make a protein smoothie in the morning.  They are thick and filling and kick start you for your day.

If you are making six juices I would recommend:

1)Protein (I just buy whey protein powder and put it in almond milk)

2)Fruit (I like to start the day with something sweet)

3)Root (carrot/sweet potato/beets…something from the ground)

4)Green (high octane, you need-need to get a green one down)

5)Fruit (always nice to have something fun to sip on)

6)Green (you’ll need the energy)

This rotation is different if you are doing green smoothies or if you are using an extractor, but it is a good balance to make sure you don’t have the same drink every time and you don’t overload with too much sweet stuff.

Here’s the basis of my grocery list for today.  I’ll catalog and journal what I’m making and post it here and on instagram.

Spinach (and lots of it)

Kale (big bag)

Carrots

Cucumber

Beets

Sweet Potato

Pineapple

Frozen fruits

Almond milk

Protein Powder

Ginger

Kiwi

Apples/Oranges

Lemon/Lime

Banana

Grapes

Romaine

Parsley

Mint

I’ll hang out in produce for a while looking for things on sale or things that might be interesting to juice.   I don’t really make a menu anymore and prefer to just start with making one juice and let it rip from there.

Good luck to everyone trying some version of this and I can’t wait to hear the results.

 

Ciao

 

SK

 

So you wanna join me you say?

Ok first of all here’s the disclaimer

****Please consult your physician****

I really don’t know where to start teaching anyone else how to do what I’ve done because most of it has been trial by error but I’m going to give it a shot.  I am going  to place all the juicing information on their own static pages for easy access and you can find them all under Juicing 101 at the top of the page.

I’m going to post what I buy, what I make, and how it tastes daily here.  If you are waiting for me to put stuff up before you make yours you’ll be a day behind my process, but you’ll have it all here for your digestion.

 

Ciao

 

SK

What do I do now?

Where are your recipes?

What program are you using?

How did you do it?

Did the weight stay off?

Where do you get your protein?

I fired up a FAQ before my last juicing adventure and it addressed a lot of these questions, but they keep coming from people who do not follow me on here.  I’ve gotten questions on Facebook, on text, and in person.  The in person questions are the best because then I start talking juice and voila here comes a million new questions.

From the beginning I wasn’t juicing for the weight loss or health reasons and I don’t talk about juicing because I’m trying to convert people.  Juicing has totally changed the way I think and relate to food and when I’m fasting it strengthens my faith and spirit.  This journey has been outstanding and now, maybe, it is time to really share what it has done for me and maybe help somebody else.

So I’m going into the lab.  I really don’t know what I’m doing or what’s coming next but what I do know is that I’ve always looked for that one thing that I’m passionate about and that I could really help people.  Could I have struck gold with this one?  Buckle up kids…the plane is taking off shortly.

Ciao

SK

I suck, I lost

Ok not really; especially on the post directly after talking about the power of words to build us up.

The results came in and the winner was not me…or the guy I thought should have won…or any of the other speeches/speakers that I really liked.  But I also was not the judge nor was I offering a scholarship so needless to say it wasn’t my call.

It is very hard to get better with victory.  Sports illustrates this so well in that there are so few professional teams that repeat and win championships in consecutive years.  It is through loss and defeat that teams get better, grow, and ultimately learn how to win.  It is a process that has been repeated in sports, business, love, and politics.  So I’ll take my setback and build from it, but what did I learn?

I’m still pretty good

i am far, far from being good-good, but I’ve still got some talent when the lights are turned on.  I’m seriously not polished and that’s ok, because I haven’t been working on it in years, but with limited time I put something together that resonated with people.  Ultimately speakers have to do just that, we will always be hyper critical of each other and ourselves, but when your 9th grade history teacher hears it and likes it, you know you’ve done something right.

I can reach people

Three minutes is an impossibly short amount of time to craft a message.  Eight days to create said message is also incredibly short.  I wish I could publish some of the things that were sent to me privately about the speech.  You can see the response on my Facebook wall.  It is a very small sample size and most of the people who viewed it know me and care about me, but they were not required to give input.  The best part is the people who don’t already love me, that found a way to reach out to me and say a kind word.

I’ve got to be my number one fan

I have a ton of people who love me and support me.  It is impossible to succeed at anything without support.  But I’m not going to be able to convince people who don’t love me to love me until I love me…the most.  I’ve never lacked in confidence, but conviction and belief are a different part of the equation.  The fan line has to begin directly behind me.

Keep writing

I’ve got to keep at it, it is an art.  Writing blog posts, writing short speeches, and writing bigger things.  I’ve got to use the inspiration in my mind and put it out there.  As a 1b to this, I’ve got to produce stuff and put it on social media.  People that don’t love me aren’t going to find me if I just sit in my living room talking to myself.

Find a mentor

This is old business logic.  Find someone who is further along than you and learn from them.  If I actually want to do something with this little bit of skill I have, I’m going to have to have someone directly help me.  There are no shortcuts to the top.

I’ve got a ton of ideas.  Some are motivational, some are about fitness and weight loss, some are directional, and some are just fun.  I really don’t know what to do next…but I’ll do something; I promise.

Ciao

SK

Ps…Here’s the winner

I hate the sound of my voice

Hopefully you guys don’t

Ciao

SK

Taking chances

Tomorrow I’m really going to put myself out there on a level that I have actually never done before.  Josh Shipp is one of the biggest rock starts in the speaking business in the youth market.  I’ve been getting his newsletter for years.  The only job he’s ever had is the only job I’ve ever wanted…being a professional speaker.

One of the business models that speakers utilize is creating training for other speakers to learn how to do what they have done.  His version of this is called Youth Speaker University.  I’ve known a few that have gone through it and it is a remarkable program, but it’s not cheap.

There’s a scholarship available this year for his program and all I have to do is create a video and put it out there for not only Josh, but the rest of the universe, to consume.  Now I have the utmost confidence in my ability to deliver a speech, I love being on the platform in front of 10 or hundreds of people, I love the process of writing and creating a well thought out message…I’ve just never bothered to put it on YouTube.

The scholarship applications says:

We are looking for someone with heart, legitimate talent and a sincerity to help others.

I can promise that I have two of those three…the talent part of the equation will be judged by the masses.

You never know what you can do until you try to do something.  Job changes with different schedules have gotten me away from Toastmasters, so my chops are totally out of practice.  There is a chance this could be an absolute hot mess.  There is also a very high probability that I won’t win the contest.  There is no way that I lose in this process though.  I get to write, rehearse, and deliver something that I really believe in.  I get to share it with people I love and from there who knows who’ll see it. I get to have a serious professional watch three minutes of me living out my dream.  There’s no way this ends up badly.

Taking chances is almost always scary.  The devil you know is better, than the one you don’t.  I’m going to step out a little bit and see what happens.  See you guys tomorrow.

Ciao

SK

Step away from the scale

We love the scale…or do we hate the scale?  When was the last time you got on the lb pedestal and measured your degree of chubby to skinny ratio?  Is it a digital scale?  Do you cheat on your analog scale and manipulate the calibration (I know I’m not the only one that’s done that)?  They in your bathrooms and kitchens and bedrooms.  They are a standard appliance in the home…but why?

I seriously doubt that any of us are horribly surprised when we step on a scale unless you’re competing on the Biggest Loser.

Let’s also add to the fact that there no surprises the fact that all pounds are not created equal

It is crazy cold here in the classic city this week and I’ve worn jeans to work every day.  Yesterday I wore my fat jeans. As sure as I am that you have a scale, I’m also positive you have fat jeans.  Whether they are an emergency back up pair or they are your daily wearers because you’ve split your seat in your other britches, I bought these jeans from a thrift store about a year ago because I had gone out to dinner and the jeans I wore did not survive dessert.  They were baggy and a nice cut and served their purpose well.  Yesterday…they swallowed me.

Today I put my skinny jeans on.  The same jeans that didn’t survive the Applebee’s adventure that stimulated buying the fat jeans.  I’m also fairly certain that you have some skinny jeans in your closet somewhere.  You can aaaaaalllllllllllmoooooooooossssssssssstttttttttttt button them, but after you suck it all in, it just doesn’t work well.  They aren’t quite cool enough to be hipster skinny jeans, but you love them and you want to one day slide your donk back in them.  My skinny jeans are now loose.

There is so much I’ve learned since the original fast.  I’ve always heard that the scale is not your only indicator…I just didn’t believe it.  I was chasing that same 10 pounds I’ve gained and lost for the past 5 years (and really it is about 10 pounds I keep losing and 20 pounds I keep gaining).  I’m just living now.  I’m trying to make better choices and be more active.  So go step on the scale…yep waiting…write down the number and then go get on a treadmill or eat a salad or make some juice or lift a weight.  Keep doing it a few weeks and months and then before you get back on the scale go pull out those skinny jeans and see how far you’ve come.

Ciao

SK

3.0 FAQ’s

Tomorrow I will embark on my third 10-day juice fast.  The first one was on a dare and the second one I experimented.  I am totally excited beyond belief for this one.  So on the eve of this fast I figured I’d answer the most asked questions from the first two.  These are simply my opinions and observations from my experiences, your mileage may vary.

Don’t you get hungry?

This was my biggest fear going into the first one.  I was probably knocking back 3000 calories a day with regularity and now I was going to go down to only about 1000 calories and none of them are food.  The first fast we did 8 sixteen ounce juices a day for the first three days.  We wanted to make sure that we had enough coming in so we were “full”.  128 ounces of fruit and vegetable juices combined with at least 128 ounces of water on top of it, kept me more than full.  The hungry side of it was really all in my head and after the second day I never experienced feeling hungry.  The second fast I only had 4 to 6 twelve ounce juices per day.  The residual effects from the first fast was my tummy contracting and my brain getting on board with my body.

What are the withdrawals?

I watched a lot of information and read a lot of information prior to fast 1.0.  The consensus is that the first three days are HORRIBLE.  Mine really weren’t that bad, but I also had weened myself off of caffeine and most sugar and bread prior to starting the fast.  The friends that I’ve had do it with me have had some headaches and lack of energy but mostly it has been mild.  I would seriously recommend easing into a fast by backing off of the bad stuff in your diet.  When I took myself off of caffeine my headaches were horrible and I didn’t sleep well at all for a week before the fog cleared.

Isn’t it expensive?

We budgeted $10/day/person on the first fast and we had three adults participating.  After the fast, when I started making my own juices, I was WAY OVER that amount when doing my first few supplemental juices.  I also had no idea how to buy produce, how long things lasted, and what things I liked together.  The second fast there were two adults participating and we spent about $8/day/person as well.  I anticipate this fast being even more frugal because we have continued juicing and have frozen supplies and fruits in bulk currently.  If you go to your local juice bar, a ten day fast will cost you hundreds of dollars.  If you buy all organic it will quickly increase your investment.  I’m actually tracking my recipes and will be making “how I do it” available for everyone following fast 3.0.

Don’t you stay in the bathroom?

Without going into the land of TMI, some folks do and some folks don’t.  Juicing 1.0 nothing changed aside from having to pee all the time.  Juicing 2.0 I had to take a laxative about halfway through to get things moving.  I’ve know and heard of some people that make large TP investments during a fast and some folks that have to constantly get things moving.  Your body is very efficient and you should listen to it and take care of it.  If you need to go, go…if you haven’t been going; get it moving.

Do you really just have juice?

Yes that is all the food I consume.  I do chew gum to satiate the need to chew something.  If you have to eat something, it should be raw and unprocessed.  Basically you could snack on the same stuff you’re putting in the juicer if you just have to eat something.  It is only ten days though, if I can do it…anyone can.

Why can’t you just eat the fruits and veggies?

When was the last time you ate half a pineapple, two apples, and a handful of grapes in one sitting…Go ahead, I’ll wait

Yeah, never.

Even if you love fruits and veggies, you can’t consume them in the volume and ease as you can when they are in a juiced form.  I don’t like fruits and veggies, so this is the ultimate in good-for-you fast food.

Do you lose a lot of weight?

The first fast I lost like 13 pounds and the second one I lost about 8.  For 2.0 I purposely didn’t exercise as much, I think that contributed to the slower loss.

I’m so happy that I tried the first fast.  Not only did I lose a lot of weight and really kickstart my working out and health journey that I’m on, but it changed my perspective and relationship with food.  The inbox is open, if you want to know anything else hit me with a comment or email me: stevieking@gmail.com.

Ciao

SK