I decided, when my head finally surfaced after the fiasco of a storm July turned out to be, that while I had twitching fingers, and things to say, I was going to wait and give myself a fresh slate, beginning in August.

Sometimes, life just lays you out flat, and as you stare up into the sky, assessing whether all your limbs are intact, and if you can, in fact, still see clearly and breath, time stops having a quantitative quality.

So here I am, August 1st.  Dirt brushed off the shoulders, standing upright again, and ready to take on the world.  Sort of.

The man and I recently (and that’s the truth ~ we’re only on day #3) began ‘green juicing.’  There is a lot of information out there on green juicing, but I am lucky enough to work for a man whose wife is super duper (technical term) educated and certified on more levels than a person can count.  She sat down with me and we went through the basics and now it is up to the man and I to continue on.

Basically, in a nutshell, blah blah ~ green juicing is really good for you.  Normal, everyday diets don’t tend to include enough body-nourishing food, and green juicing helps you to absorb all the goodness much faster.  As I understand it, juicing separates the juice from the fiber of the plant, therefore eliminating digestion (which would normally take care eliminating the fiber) and it’s like a jolt of goodness straight into your system every time you drink juice.  Huge benefits, plus plus plus right?  Why isn’t everyone jumping on this immediately?

Aaaand there’s the rub…. as anyone who juices knows, juicing is pretty labor and time intensive.  Which makes it a lifestyle commitment.  The man and I are still working this out (as well as different juice concoctions) and it’s definitely one day at a time.

Can I be very honest and admit that after Monday, I was feeling pretty skeptical about the whole process (and pretty hungry).  But by the end of the day yesterday, I was feeling really enthusiastic.  I did feel better ~ even after two days, which was encouraging ~ and once you dig in, everything feels a little less intimidating.

Green juicing is good for a number of things ~ getting healthy, losing weight, staying healthy.  I’m not saying I wouldn’t have been interested in learning about it outside of necessity ~ but I might not have jumped in both feet first if I hadn’t felt that in the best interests of my health, it was the best choice for me.

Like I said, July was a rager.

A few things I’ve been trying to keep in mind as I navigate this new world of liquid veggies and health ~

1.  The juice and smoothies should be green.  Green leafy veggies are very alkaline and water-rich, plus being full of all kinds of goodness (minerals, enzymes, etc).  The whole point of green juicing and green smoothies is that they are, well, green.

2.  The ratio of veggies to fruit should ideally be 3/4 vegetables to 1/4 fruit.  Newbies (like the man and I) are advised to aim for at least a 50/50 ratio, because you should like what you’re drinking, not choke it down.

3.  An apple can pretty much make any combination of ingredients taste drinkable.  Seriously magic.

We have made several juices and green smoothies so far, but my favorite consisted of the following, put through our 450 watt GE juicer.

G & J’s First Green Juice

5 oz baby spinach

1 bundle organic carrots (I was advised that carrots with the greens still attached are the best, because they are the freshest.  So that is what I used.  Not sure how the taste would be affected if regular, “everyday grocery” carrots were subbed, but I’m fairly certain the juice would be palatable.  I did not, as a sidenote, put the carrot greens through the juicer.)

1 golden delicious apple, cored

1. Juice! Enjoy!

The man and I have a centrifugal juicer (things get pushed down through a chute toward a whirring blade surrounded by a mesh cup), so I cut up the carrots and apple into small pieces to make it easier to feed into the chute.  I juiced the spinach first, then the carrots and finally the apple.  Then I pulled out all the pulp, and ran it through two more times (it netted me another 2-3 oz of juice, and I have to tell you, it was worth it).

As I said at the top, sometimes life just lays you out.  And after standing back up and taking stock, sometimes changes must be made.  Starting now, the man and I are making some life changes, and I’m choosing to have faith that these changes are a step in the right direction, toward a healthier ‘us.’ Hope you’re ready to go on the journey!