17 July 2012

Psychic game

Tonight I learned of this new game. You and a partner individually think of a word and then you countdown "3-2-1" and say the words at the same time. Once you say the words, you try to connect the words on the next round. The object of the game is to say the same word in as few rounds as possible. Tonight Kerianne and I played this game and it was PSYCHIC (well, we felt like psychic telepathic mind readers):


shoe ... angles
stiletto ... rock climbing
lead climbing ... bouldering pad
belay(er)

We both said belayer. I think it's fascinating how we got there, from "shoe" and "angles." 

An important rule to remember when playing this game is you can't think too hard about it. You should say the first word that comes to your mind.

14 July 2012

Day 3 Juice Fast



Today I made my favorite juice thus far:
pineapple
grapefruit
It was so sweet and both fruits yielded so much juice, which was very satisfying. The most frustrating thing with the juice fast, apart from a cloudy mind and a hungry stomach, is how much of each food you end up throwing away. I'm finding that the juiciest foods are grapefruits, grapes, celery, apples, and blueberries. The problem here is that these are packed with sugar and dumping sugars into your body will give you great energy for about 30 minutes and then you will crash. Just like when eating a candy bar or drinking maple syrup... It's important to balance the fruits with the vegetables. Lots of vegetables. Lots of organic vegetables. Needless to say, it's getting pretty expensive. But worth it, I think...

Today was my first day of training, which made juicing really difficult. The trainer gave us a task to find groceries to match specific diets. We were assigned vegan, vegetarian, raw, dairy-free, sugar-free, and gluten-free. I had dairy-free and grabbed vegan cheese to bring back to the break room. We had to learn all we could about the product and answer questions. When everyone returned with their food items, the trainer announced that we would each be sampling all the foods! What a nightmare! People brought the most delicious things like sweet potato hummus, fresh local guacamole, dark chocolate coconut bars, etc. I couldnt/didn't try any of it because I was juicing. The thought came to me that if I want to be an informed employee, I should sample these things, but then I thought, "No, it's better to continue juicing because I'll inevitably come across a whole foodian who wants to learn about juicing. In the end, I didn't feel bad about bringing nasty vegan cheese to the table—at least I didn't miss out on that. Apart from that one long activity, I'm enjoying training and even getting a lot of support with the juicing. I'm going to like working here.


11 July 2012

Juice Fast Day Two

Today was the second day of juice fasting and it went much better than yesterday. I made three juices:
  1. Spinach, grape, apple
  2. Apple, lemon, ginger
  3. Spinach, carrot, apple
All three were delicious, except I have a harder time with carrot juices. The first couple sips are easy and even enjoyable, but as I get to the bottom of the cup I want to gag. Why? I'm not sure. Carrot juice has the same effect on me as whole carrots—if you eat them to fast, you feel like your choking? Maybe this is just me. As far as side effects and feelings went, I felt good today. Not great, but good. I felt a perpetual throbbing in my head that was signaling I was on the verge of a food headache but I never quite got the headache. When the throbbing got more intense, I would drink another juice or lots of water and it subsided for a while. My real success of the day was attending yoga in the park with my roommates. I felt energized the whole time. I was afraid I might crash or have to sit through some poses because I would not have enough strength or energy but that was not that case. I didn't feel like I was overexerting myself at all. I felt fine, which makes sense because I'm getting bursts of vitamins, energy, and nutrient-rich juice going straight into my bloodstream. I'm excited to see the benefits in my skin and sleep. Today was a good day just like yesterday. I hope I can keep feeling this way for the next 8 days.





Juice Fast Day One

I'm going on a juice fast. My goal is to fast for 10 days, but I won't feel like a failure if I only make it to 5 or even 3. There is something about reaching this goal that motivates me, though, and I don't want to let that fire go. Yesterday was technically day one. I spent most of the day trying to procure a juicer, so I was drinking water with the exception of Tropicana Grapefruit Juice and a Juice 'n Java freshly pressed apple juice. (Did you know Juice 'n Java presses apples everyday for fresh apple juice? Try it. Juice 'n Java—the only place I consistently go to for both their drinks and poor customer service. It's worth it.) I finally retrieved a juicer around 9 p.m.—a Jack Lalanne Power Juicer Model MT1000 from this couple that was selling it on Craigslist. Annie was so sweet to let me borrow hers but as soon as I saw the one for sale, I had to have it. That was an impulse buy for sure, but I've been using it ever since, so justified.... I got home past midnight one juicer richer and one stomach hungrier. However, all in all, the day went really well for drinking mostly water. a.k.a. I wasn't hangry and could concentrate on a conversation for a decent amount of time.