Juicey Juice

I'm all about trying new things. Just kidding. New things are the worst and I hate change. But I am a bit of a bandwagon hopper when it comes to fitness, and all of the juice cleanses out there have definitely intrigued me. There were many purported benefits such as glowing skin, more energy and focus, and a jump start for your metabolism. A few of my coworkers decided to do a cleanse (the same week of writing report cards) and I decided to jump on board!

I knew a juice cleanse wasn't going to be a cure for my quest for weight loss. Sure, I'd lose some weight, but as soon as I took a bite of anything all that weight would jump right back on, but I was eager to get a jump start on eating healthy and being more mindful. Read on to see if I achieved my goals...

my meals (x3) for three days

The juice cleanse was three days long. Each day I got to drink 6 juices, including: green dream (kale, romaine, apple, celery), PAMP (pineapple, apple, mint, pear), beetastic (beets, apple, ginger), lively lemonade (lemon, cayenne, agave), tropical dreams (greens, cuke, cilantro, pineapple), and cozy cashew milk (cashew, cinnamon). 

The BEST juices:

-The green ones, which were pretty savory, were delicious and satisfying

-PAMP. Seriously so delicious and refreshing. Would have been more delicious with tequila in a salt rimmed glass and some chips and guac...

-Cozy cashew milk. Nights would have been very sad without that delicious, milkshake-like drink!

The WORST juice:

-Beetastic. Decidedly NOT beetastic. I struggled to get through that drink every lunch... I'm so not a beet girl, unless they are in a salad with goat cheese. 

I felt pretty good throughout the cleanse. I didn't cheat once, which was the surprising part for me. I'm a pretty mindless eater and I tend to just grab snacks throughout the day without truly thinking if I really am hungry or just want to eat... I drank a lot of water with lemon and cucumber and herbal tea to stay hydrated and I had each juice 2-3 hours apart. I got a lot of sleep too. During the cleanse, I went to bed at 9:00 on the dot each night, and got up a little later (5:20 in the am, whoa watch me sleep in a whole extra 20 minutes!) since I didn't have to worry about making coffee, breakfast or lunch. 

On Saturday at 12:00, I had my first bite of food and sip of coffee in over 90 hours. I had oatmeal and it was so delicious. I wanted an almond croissant, but thought of all that hard work I just put into my body, so I settled for the oatmeal and I really have no regrets. Well, I still want the almond croissant, but the oatmeal left me completely satisfied! 

Would I do another juice cleanse? Probably. It was rejuvenating and left me feeling lighter, more focused, and I got great rest during it. I'll be interested in seeing whether I am able to continue making better food choices or I will fall back into my mindless-eating ways. Overall, I highly recommend it (expect the beet juice. I'm going to need something other than beet juice in my next cleanse!)

Reintroductions

Well, just about 2 months has flown by since the last time I've posted. Work has been extremely busy and planning a wedding hasn't been at the front of my cortex. So in case you might have forgotten...

I'm Marie. I'm a teacher in the Bay Area. When I'm not in the classroom (and I'm in the classroom a lot), I enjoy running, wine tasting, yoga (especially the hot/Bikram kind), cooking, reading, watching home improvement shows and model house hunting. 

this is his way of 'rebelling': standing on the closed side

My future husband (!!!) is Joel. He's a technical support rep for a cloud-based healthcare something something company. (Remember how no one on Friends knew exactly what Chandler did? Kind of the same thing over here...) Joel loves many things passionately: me, the Beach Boys, Giants baseball, comic books and super hero movies, and local history. He also likes to eat my cooking and look at model houses too.

after my first half marathon, 2010

We started dating in November of 2005. We lived in the same dorm: I was on the second floor, he was on the first. We actually saw each other for the first time at the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz: it was the first week of school in September and I saw him hanging out with a bunch of the girls from the dorm and thought I had no chance. It was a terrible night for me! Joel saw me all alone, and he thought I was beautiful. He made every effort to get to know and woo me when we got back to the dorm. Right before Thanksgiving break we were official! 

our first Giants game together (and my first game ever), 2006

We've done a lot of growing up together in the 8.5 years we've known each other. He supported me through several difficult deaths, gave me wine, snacks, and encouragement as I earned two degrees, was by my side when I hunted for my dream job, and helped me carry my mattress through city streets as I relocated during my junior, senior, and grad school years (staying sane during a move is no easy feat, and we've had some stupidly difficult moves). 

I've been there for Joel as he pursued his dreams, worked with him on his various projects both in and out of school, supported him through many tough job searches (graduating in 2007 right as the economy collapsed was not easy!), and celebrated his many successes.

We moved in together in August of 2010, when we both found jobs that would give us some stability. While marriage was definitely on our minds, we both wanted to wait until our careers were more stable: Joel was a contractor rather than a full employee and I was an assistant teacher rather than having my own classroom. 

Three years later, in March of  2013, Joel was offered his current position. Ooh, I was getting so excited! We were very close to landing dream jobs which meant marriage was on the horizon. I toiled and fought for my dream position at the school I was currently working at. After a rigorous interview process and 3 month long wait, the position was mine! By October of 2013 we were seriously perusing rings. Then in November, 8 years after we became official, Joel quietly asked me to marry him in our bedroom, after I helped him change his windshield wipers (you can't let go of a girl this talented!) 

We're currently procrastinating planning a fun, bright, romantic and casual wedding for 100 guests at the place we first laid eyes on each other: the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Planning has been a wee bit stressful as trying to stay within budget in this area in California seems to be near impossible, but I'm determined to keep things easy and breezy. Hopefully this post won't sit here alone for a couple of months and I'll be more regular with the updating!