Go Play Outside

I took the plunge today.  I accepted an Etsy team request and jumped back into being part of a community with weekly treasury competitions.  It's been awhile, and it feels exciting to be back with a team.  

This week, the theme given is "Outdoors", and below, you can see my compilation.  

Etsy sellers never fail to supply me with oodles of inspiration with their products.  

Check out these lovely items below.

and . . .

Go Play Outside

Have a lovely day!

~Callie

Finished! 7 Lbs in 7 Days

Finish Line: Well, we made it!  7 days of juice fasting and we did it!  My husband dropped 10 lbs (lucky guy!) and I dropped 5.6 lbs in the 7 days, not quite the 7 lbs that they said I would, but it still feels really good.  I'm wearing dress pants that I didn't quite fit into before this, which is a victory!  I still want to drop about 10 more pounds to be at my ideal weight, so this has been a good start.

The last day of the fast was good and a little hard too.  I was quite tired of juicing by the end of the day, even though I love juicing, and by the evening, I was stoked to get to go to bed.  When I got up this morning, I wanted nothing to do with my juicer, so my husband and I started out slow with watermelon.  Then, I showered and got ready for the day, and made us eggs with spinach and a little bacon.  I sautéed brussel sprouts for myself with Johnny's seasoning also, and the combo tasted divine.  Unfortunately, the eggs did not settle well with my husband's stomach.  Poor guy.  We took the rest of the day slow and ate small portions, which helped.

It's weird though.  All of the things I craved while juicing, didn't sound that appealing to me today.  We even opted out of getting Chinese food like we had planned (probably a good thing).  And honestly, I still crave sweets.  I'd love to eat a big chocolate chip cookie right now.  I've eaten a little super dark chocolate and that has helped.  And, although my stomach has filled quickly today, I have wanted to eat and eat.  

In all, this entire process has been quite interesting.  Feeling great, then really tired; food cravings, then not; happy then irritable.  It's just interesting.

So, to wrap up, am I glad we did this?  Absolutely.  Do I want to do it again right away.  No.  Am I going to incorporate juicing into my daily routine?  Yes.  Am I going to go back to eating breads and refined flour and sugars?  No, only on occasion.  Am I going to eat mostly fruits, vegetables, meats and fish?  Yes!  Am I going to keep losing weight and feeling better and better in my clothes.  You had better believe it.  And, finally, do I recommend that others try this?  Yes.  Take the challenge and see how you feel.  I believe it can only do good things, despite the moments it feels challenging.  

So, thanks for following my progress.  It's been fun to journal throughout this journey.

~Callie

Day 6: 7 Lbs in 7 Days

Day 6:  It is the end of day six on the 7 Lbs in 7 Days juice fast that my husband and I have embarked on this last week.  One more day and we get to chew a meal!  Woo hoo!  I can't wait!

Today was actually a pretty good day.  Work had me busy for most of it, my husband and I worked out in the yard afterwards, and then we watched Cinderella Man (oh, how I love that movie!) in the evening.  It probably also helped that two of the juices today had a bit of plain yogurt in them.  But, overall, it didn't feel too hard today.

Even so, one consistent factor has remained throughout this entire journey:  No matter how great we feel, we can't wait to eat!  Seriously, I think my taste buds and my sense of smell have heightened.  I'm very in tuned with the smells of food around me wherever I go.  

I think this fast has actually helped my sweet tooth too, because I'm not craving sweets.  I want whole foods - meats, fruits, vegetables.  Meat and salad, meat and salad, they're all I want!  

I was down another . 5 lbs this morning for a total of 5. 2 lbs lost in the last five days.  And don't underestimate the impact of five pounds.  I mistakenly neglected to measure myself before we started, but by the way my clothes fit, I can tell that I have lost inches.  I really feel good.

I joke with my husband that the best part of going to bed at night is getting to wake up and see how much weight I've lost.  

And speaking of that, it's 10:28pm.  Time for bed.

Goodnight.

~Callie

Day 5: 7 Lbs in 7 Days

Day 5:  It's day five and thank goodness.  This is a great experience, but, I can't wait to eat a meal.  It's going to be amazing!  My husband and I talk about what meal we're going to have first when we can chew our food again.  Oddly, I think it's going to be Chinese.  We've both been craving it the last few weeks and neither of us have had it in years.  After we get that craving out of the way, honestly, I want salads and meat and fish.  

Juicing for this long has given me a whole new appreciation for food!

Highlights of day 5:  I was down .7 lbs this morning.  I am feeling even greater in my jeans.  I feel good on this juicing spree.  My face looks brighter.  I look more alert.  I feel good the majority of the time.  I haven't given in and eaten anything.  

Lowlights of day 5:  Like all of the days, I got fatigued quickly and deeply when I exercised.  One of the juices we drank today was not great.  I had a moment of intense and overwhelming frustration and anger when I couldn't find my camera battery charger (I still haven't found it), I know due to this fasting.  

Most surprising part of this whole experience:  How I feel great one moment, and then, as if almost instantly, I'll feel so hungry and like this is so hard.  It's the weirdest feeling.  Thankfully, I feel good waaayyy more than I want to just give it up. 

10:30.  I'm exhausted.

Goodnight.

~Callie

Day 4 - 7 Lbs in 7 Days

Day 4:  I awoke this morning feeling excellent!  I felt happy and hopeful and excited for the day, and not very hungry.  In the middle of the day, my husband and I went to town and in the grocery store, I wasn't tempted by everything I saw.  I felt great today.  

In the early afternoon, my husband and I decided (well, it was my idea) to go out onto our property and pick up logs that had been cut for firewood.  We loaded a bunch in the back of the truck, got stuck in a creek because we were so loaded down (another story), and unloaded and stacked everything in the barn.  Pretty good work out, aaaaand we were pooped.  We came back to the house and juiced right away.  I've found that exercise is a lot more exhausting on the juice fast.

This evening, like every other day, I started to feel hungry.  I would love to have fish, or chicken, or taco salad, even lasagna.  I don't know what it is, but the evenings are the hardest for us both, which is the reason we go to bed at 10pm.  That might be late for some, but it's a bit earlier than normal for us.  We do it because we're so excited to wake up again and juice.  Ha!

Today was the best and the easiest, I think.  However, I still can't wait to have a real meal too! I've found I have very mixed emotions while on this fast.  One minute I feel great, and then as if out of nowhere I'll feel like it's really hard to do this.  Thankfully, that feeling is short-lived.  It's interesting.  

I think this is a good challenge for me.  I'm learning a lot about willpower.  

Oh, and by the way, when I got up this morning, I had lost another 1.7lbs.  4.2 total lbs in four days.  Not bad.  I feel great in my jeans!  

It's 10:15pm.  Bedtime! 

Goodnight.

~Callie

Day 3 - 7 Lbs in 7 Days

Day 3:  So, the end of my third day has come on the 7 Lbs in 7 Days juice fast.  The inspiration for me waking early this morning was getting to drink a juice.  I started with hot peppermint tea and then juiced for breakfast and to bring with me to work.  I felt quite great for most of the day.  I did have one moment of feeling really weak in the afternoon, but that was because I got home a little after 3pm from work and I hadn't had my 2pm juice yet.  Though, once I got some apple juice in me while I juiced, I was good to go again.  I have found I need the juices every three hours and water in between.

Today, we made a juice that had plain yogurt in it, and I was so excited to have it, only to find that it wasn't that exciting.  It did give me a full feeling though, and my husband said it was his favorite juice so far.  Go figure.

All in all, I feel pretty great.  And though the smell of food in a grocery store or cafe (I was there with my co-worker) still makes me want a meal that I can chew, I have to say, there was something liberating to me today about restraining myself against a craving.  I've lost 2.6 lbs in the last three days and I still have 10-15 that I would like to loose to feel like I was at my perfect weight.  This juice fast is going to get me closer to that goal, but I think it might also give me a one up on cravings.  I don't want food to control me.  I want to be in control of what I eat and feel great after I eat, not guilty.

Off to bed . . . it's 10pm.

~Callie

7 Lbs in 7 Days

So, my mom recently finished 7lbs in 7 days, a 7-day juicing fast, and she says she can't remember the last time she felt so good!  She's down 13lbs and says she will never go back to eating any other way.  We've always eaten healthy for the most part, organic as much as we can, and lot's of vegetables at every meal, but she said she needed something to really help her change her body and how she felt.  This did it for her.

She got the 7lbs in 7 Days app for her iPhone and it told her exactly what juices to make and how to make them for the entire 7 days.  I thought that was brilliant and so easy!

So, after my mom and her best friend came to visit last weekend and raved about how much they enjoyed doing 7 Lbs in 7 Days, my husband and I decided to try it.  I LOVE juicing and have juiced as part of my morning routine on and off for about 7 years.  I think it's one of the best things since sliced bread, and it makes me feel a lot better than sliced bread.  

So, I thought, "Why not try it?  I've never fasted for a week, and I'm up for the challenge."

Tonight, my husband and I are currently ending our 2nd day on the program, and I thought it might be fun to try and blog about how I feel each day.  

Day 1:  Since I started a day late, I will briefly tell you that I felt quite good on the first day.  The juices tasted fantastic (not as fantastic to my husband, but he doesn't like veggies much) and I felt slightly hungry a couple of times, but nothing too bad.  However, by 10pm, we were both in bed.

Day 2:  Today, the juices have tasted great all day and for the most part, I haven't felt hungry too much.  Well, that is until my husband would remark about how we couldn't eat and then I would think of how great juicy chicken and a salad would taste, or when driving through town with the temperature outside in the 80's, a huckleberry shake!  Though, all in all,  the day was pretty good.  I noticed that at about 4pm on both days was when I felt the hungriest, and tonight, really for the first time, I have felt quite hungry.  I've been keeping busy to keep my mind off of the fact and made a hot cup of peppermint tea, which helped, but didn't solve it.  It's 10pm now, and I'm going to go to bed because when I get up in the morning, I get to have a freshly made juice!  Woot!

My mom says after day 3, I won't really feel hungry.  At the moment, I can't wait until next Thursday when I can eat a meal.  Ha!

We'll see how I feel tomorrow . . .

Goodnight.

   ~Callie