My hubby's 20lb weight loss and my moment to be real

For the past six weeks my husband has been eating watermelon and grapes in abundance for breakfast everyday. Then for lunch most days he has eaten scrambled eggs and one slice of toast. I pack his evening meal to take to work. He takes more watermelon and grapes, some bananas, one sandwich cut in two and some days a small bag of chips. More recently he has opted out of taking a sandwich and wanted a bag of cashews. There has been one or two days of variations, depending on the fruit I had on hand. Over all this has been his diet. This is a drastic change from his greasy, sugary vending machine, fast food fare. My hubby has now lost over 20 pounds by eliminating sugar and making some simple dietary changes. (although he has eaten something sugary on three different occassions, during special events).
Snicker bars and snack cakes used to be part of his daily diet, so this is a BIG change. He says he no longer craves his sugary treats.

My husband has always believed in my healthy living practices, even though he did not desire to join me wholeheartedly. He has shared with others whatever he has learned from me or has picked up from other healthy living resources. He has encouraged many people to change some of their eating habits. He has taken his green smoothies to work and of course everyone wants to know about the green stuff he is drinking..this has created an open door to share his knowledge. I know of at least one person who started drinking them because of this.

Where am I going with this? This is a lifestyle. But to make it a lifestyle it takes time. My husband likes to say he is in transition. He has been in transition for quite some time. That is okay, you don't usually change your lifestyle overnight. Changing the way you eat is Hard, ask most people. I didn't just get where I am overnight and I haven't arrived or graduated into perfection. That comes when I am dead. Thanks be to God. I am just striving to glorify God in my body, and that means that I take care of this temple He resides in so that I can be effective for Him. He has given me life and a body to live in. I do not want to destroy it because I choose to ignore what my habits are doing to it. For years I did not really consider how my eating habits were impacting my life....physically, mentally or spiritually. Therefore I suffered in many ways. Now I see a clearer picture of the connection of diet and lifestyle and its impact on all of these areas. I choose life today, a life of vibrant, healthy living so I can be involved in it... and not be set aside or put on the shelf because I feel too bad to actively be a part of it.

I'd like to encourage you to begin making healthier choices by adding more raw fruits and veggies into your diet. Go ahead begin the transition. It doesn't matter how long it takes, it just matters that you begin.

Today's menu~


16oz green lemonade

3 oz wheatgrass with water from young coconut (my husband and I split the water from one coconut)

afternoon~Chocolate/coconut shake

evening~ Bok Choy salad

snack~2 very ripe bananas sliced and sprinkled with raw cacao powder, raw blue agave & a few walnut pieces. mix and eat

My kids and I watched a couple of sitcoms~those old habits of munching on something die pretty hard and that bag of chips that the kids like to eat are sometimes difficult to keep my hands off....so I indulged....but I've got to say...greasy..greasy feeling all over my mouth and teeth...I want to be free from this. I had some kombucha ginger tea so that will help with my digestion. I am human and it is okay..I am okay that I did this and I won't beat myself up for it because I know that for the most part I am eating a good healthy diet...but I am also hopeful that I can make a better choice next time. I do know that if that junk isn't there I won't eat it. So maybe someday it won't be there, maybe all of my family will want to be on this train and maybe they won't. Time will reveal what it will and I'll be blogging about it, Lord willing. Until next time~try to make healthy choices and when you don't just keep striving to do better. :)



Chocolate shake~

meat from one coconut

1/4 c. raw cacao powder

1 t vanilla

stevia

ice cubes



I had about 10 oz and two of my family memberers had about 16oz each



Dinner~



Bok Choy Salad



1 head of bok choy

3 bell pepper~mixed colors

handful of mixed greens

shred all of this in food processor

Dressing

1 mango

1 tomato

1/2 bunch cilantro

1 celery stalk

juice of one lime


pour over salad mix and enjoy!

Green Lemonade




GREEN LEMONADE

4 bunches of celery
5 lemons
1 bunch of beet greens
1 cuke
1 beet
1 finger of ginger
stevia

Being Prepared, Wheatgrass, Watermelon juice & Green powders

1st thing this morning I drank 8 oz of watermelon juice

After watching a youtube this morning I was inspired to have some
wheatgrass/coconut water juice~this juice is alkalizing, hydrating and cleansing... for the benefits of wheatgrass check out this site http://www.hippocratesinst.org/Wheatgrass/Benefits-of-Wheatgrass.aspx
for the benfits of coconut water go to here http://www.knowledgebase-script.com/demo/export.php?ID=320&type=PDF

noon~bowl of pineapple, banana, raspberry, blueberries, blackberries, sprinkled with sesame seeds and coconut flakes (unsweetened)

8 oz of watermelon juice(prior to my walk)
MSM~ 3 capsules

Snack before dinner
1 red bell pepper, 1 red hot sweet pepper~didn't know it was hot til I started chewing!!!
handful of fresh strawberries

dinner~Big Salad with mixed greens~leaf lettuces, collards, parsley, celery tops, grated carrots & cabbage, cherry tomatoes, pressed garlic, 1/2 avocado diced, squeeze of lemon
Salad Dressing~ small tomato, 1/2 red bell pepper, clove of garlic, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 of a lime squeezed and blended in vitamix
I added a light sprinkle of nutritional yeast for some added flavor
My salad was too big I couldn't finish it.....

My daughter and I went on a 3 mile walk in the 90 degree weather today....we had a good sweat!

Today I was not prepared so I did not drink the amount of juice that I usually drink...I really enjoy my green lemonade and always feel energized and super hydrated during the day.
Being prepared is essential to this lifestyle. Watermelon juice is an easy one to make quickly.
Just throw some chunks into a blender and strain or pour into a glass and watch the pulp come to the top. Drink the juice and toss the pulp into your compost pile, unless you have blood sugar issues. You may want to drink it with the pulp as a smoothie or skip the watermelon juice. It can be too sweet for some people and spike the blood sugar. They digest so quickly that they will cause digestive distress for most people. I find it is best to have them first thing in the morning and then wait for at least 30-60 mins before I have anything else.

Sometimes I use green powders. They are very convenient for when I don't have time to make my juice. You add the powder to water or juice, it can also be added to smoothies. Powders are not the best choice but it is better than doing without. Always make sure that the powder is dehydrated at a low temperature and organic. This will preserve most of the valuable enzymes.

Another way to be prepared is to always have fresh fruit and veggies around the house and take some with you when you go out. That way if your errands take longer than planned you'll have something to eat and not be tempted to indulge in something that is not good for you. I like to take a cooler bag with an ice pack and some juice and fruits and/or veggies. If I don't have time to cut them up I will try to clean them and pack a knife if needed. You could also take some seed crackers~ I usually keep a box in my car. Raw nuts, raw trail mix are a couple other choices. Just don't over indulge. Nuts are fatty and remember to drink plenty of water with your dehydrated fruits. Beware some people have trouble digesting nuts and fruits. It is always best to practice proper food combining. (You can find food combining charts on the web for free)
If the ideas shared are not feasible there is always a grocery store. They have fresh fruits and veggies. Just go to your produce department, get some bottled water to clean them up and there you go. You can usually find produce chopped up and ready to eat. Just read the label to make sure it is preservative free.
Also, keep a paring knife in your vehicle for times like these.

If you are really ambitious ~after your purchases you can clean and cut up some of your produce and have it ready to throw together a quick meal or take along. Usually one day a week I will try to spend several hours in the kitchen making 2 to 3 salads and other dishes that are ready to consume for my busy scheduled days. This is extremely helpful.

I have many other ideas I will share as I go along but for now that should get you started.

Now I have to go and make my green lemonade!!
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I just finished with my kitchen duty for this evening and am sitting down with my raw milk cheese some peppers and seed crackers...I made almost one gallon of green lemonade, 3 pints of smoothies, watermelon juice ( I cut up a watermelon for my hubby to take to work & with the white edges and some red parts I made my juice~he doesn't like the white parts, which are good for you, so I let nothing go to waste)

almost 1 gallon of GREEN LEMONADE

4 bunches of celery
8 rainbow chard leaves
1 large zuchinni
1 large cucumber
1 beet
5 lemons
1 large piece of ginger
6 squirts of liquid stevia

It looks kinda dirty but taste delish...cannot wait to devour some in the a.m.

I also made some smoothies

MANGO/BANANA/KIWI SMOOTHIE
2 mangos
3 bananas
2 kiwi
spinach to the top of the vitamix
1 c. of water

blend and fill 3 pint jars