How do you find balance and sanity with all of the health headlines and recommendations?
I am trying to be healthy so that I can enjoy life. I don’t want being healthy to be my life.
Just one area that that makes want to pull my hair out is “what is a healthy diet”. Voices surround us shouting: eat raw foods, be vegan, juice fast and don’t use plastics! Should I feel guilty that I am not vegan? I say no, but I do a little anyway. I will eat beef, chicken and eggs but I will make them organic or free range or humanely raised or whatever the proper buzz word is for it. I will not eat pink slime if I have a choice.
I use plastic water bottles, but I do recycle. I use glass containers for my foods, except when I don’t.
I have fallen in love with my new Breville juicer, but good grief, it’s a whole new world of shouting voices. I am using organic produce because the thought of the volume of pesticides I would be taking in sickens me. I have only been doing it every other day for a week and I already feel better. However, my fridge is full and my counter and floors need to be cleaned from the fine mist of healthiness that sprays out. Yes, I do cover it when adding things, but that doesn’t stop all of those vitamins from escaping to the rest of my kitchen. I don’t compost, so I have started trying to find things to do with the pulp. Of, course you can’t waste good food, create waste for landfills or ignore all of that fiber.
I will try to fill you in on some of the decisions I have made or will make. I hope it may be useful to you in someway even if it is nothing more than to just know that you are not the only one trying to find a sane, healthy lifestyle that leaves you time to live your life.
Thanks for joining me,
Katie D
Sounds like this will be a great blog! Good luck!
Thanks so much!
I have a question for you Katie! I’m going to do a 3-day juice fast in a couple of days. I would appreciate any advice you could give me. I thought of you right away because I know you do a lot of juicing. Do you have any combinations you like? Eventually I’d like to buy a book, but I won’t be getting one before I do the fast. Are there any books you recommend? Thank you! Kim
Good for you! I started by browsing the internet for ideas and recipes, but ended up just experimenting. Here is the link to my first juice. I think the main thing is to add enough fruits to balance the veg. If you are new to juicing or do not like the heavier green taste, start with romaine lettuce and maybe spinach. Cucumber and celery are also nice ways to lighten things up but keep it green. Coconut water is a good way to thin things out if it gets too thick. I try to keep some on standby. I soak all fresh produce, even ‘pre-washed’ items in a vinegar-water bath for a few minutes. There have been a lot of recalls on packaged lettuce. Kale, chard and pears are in almost all my juices. When I get bored, I add 1/4 hot pepper, fennel or just have a frozen berry mix. I like adding in citrus sometimes but do not like the rind that many say is so good for you. I may leave a sliver of the rind. Dandelion greens and beets (root and greens) are supposed to be good for detox. Drink lots and lots of water since your body will be trying to detox on the fast. Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for all of the great information! I am very impressed that you can manage 2 blogs. I have a hard enough time with 1. 🙂
I’m going to try and get to a farmer’s market tomorrow and find some organic fruits and vegetables. We don’t have a Whole Foods or Co-op close to us. Our local grocery store does have a great supply of organic produce, but it is so expensive! I have quite a few things ready in the garden right now, so I thought it was the perfect time to try it.
Thank you again for all of your advice! I’ll let you know how it goes. 🙂
Picking from your own garden is the best! I steal from my neighbor when I can 8).
Isn’t that nice? Fresh vegetables and you don’t even need to do any weeding! 🙂
8). He loves gardening and even grows things he doesn’t like.
That sounds like my husband. He has never smoked in his life, but has grown tobacco plants the last two years. They get huge! They are fun to watch grow. 🙂
Ha. There were several tobacco farms where I grew up. They are cool. Of course some of the guys would use the rows of tobacco to hide pot. TMI I guess, but I thought it was funny back then.
That would be very interesting to see a crop of tobacco! It’s nice to hear about your childhood memories! 🙂
8). Let me know how the fast goes. I have never made it past a day (or really tried). I am thinking about it.
I decided to wait for the weekend to start the fast. I’ll let you know how it goes. 🙂