the green life

this Black Friday morning, I was dying to burn some cash even though i'm kinda strapped at the moment.  it was painfully hard to make the (smarter) decision and go for the juicer I've been wanting over the gorgeous, burgundy pebbled-leather tote bag I was drooling over, but i'm proud to say that I did!  here is a picture of the first glorious juice I made as soon as I got home with my new Breville juicer.  I used a whole bag of baby spinach, carrots, cucumber, kale, and apples. 

 

 

 I've been feeling so tired and out of shape lately.  it is suprising how even being a few pounds overweight will alter your mood and health.  everything else has been going well in my life as of late and this is just another mole hill I need to climb.  for starters I will start juicing as a breakfast meal replacement.  I also love a big veggie juice along with a lean protein for dinner after working out.  I've yo-yo'd dieted a lot in my life and my weight has always fluctuated quite a bit unfortunately.  From this I've learned that typically it needs to be a healthy lifestyle change to keep the weight off.  Also you need to learn what type of dieting works for you.  I love healthy food, but I can't feel deprived by not getting enough of it, so I tend to do well when I can eat larger quantities of the good stuff.  I typically diet but cutting out processed and refined foods and carbs and taking in as much veggies and lean protein as I want.  I don't have a sweet tooth which makes it easy, but I have to eat large, filling meals.  A good typical diet plan for me goes:

 

Breakfast: veggie/fruit juice

almonds or string cheese (protein)

 

Lunch:

As much (non-starch) veggies as I can eat

Grilled chicken or Fish

Brown rice (a cup)

 

Snack:

almonds

or wheat crackers with swiss cheese spread

 

Dinner:

Veggie juice (all veggies)

As much lean protein as I want (chicken or fish, turkey meatloat, etc)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought the Breville Ikon Multi-speed juicer shown here for $199.  I did a lot of research and read a lot of customer reviews for different juicers.  The price point is what I was looking for.  unfortunately I don't have $400 to spend on a juicer at the moment and I wanted on nicer than the flimsy Jack La Lanne that will run you $100.  Reasons I like this juicer model:

 

• similar to the model I used when I worked at the juice bar.  The same components and relatively easy to put together and take apart.  Pieces are dishwasher safe.
• there are different speed settings on the juicer from 1-5 to juice different fruits and vegetables based on how soft or hard they are for maximum juice potential. 
• it juices greens relatively well for a centrifugal-style juicer and this price point.  this style of juicer is not made to juice leafy greens unfortunately, but it does a pretty good job at juicing the greens. 
• good model for beginners/intermediate juicers.  I am not obsessed with juicing quite yet, so this is an easy-to-use model for everyday use.

I am pretty familiar with good flavors that go well together and quantities and portions to use from working at the juice bar.   If you are new to juicing I would recommend trying lots of fresh juices from different juice bars first.  You will notice that a lot of things are typically paired together for good flavor profiles (carrots/beets/ginger, etc).  You can experiment with recipes by researching health food blogs and recipes from pinterest.  Happy juicing!  I'll keep y'all updated on my juicing adventure!