I'm still here

Sorry that I've been such a slacker the last week. I know it's been over a week since I blogged last. I did fairly well this week being back on regular foods. I went out to eat twice this week and both times I got a salad (no croutons). I've been making some delicious fruit smoothies with either Greek yogurt or almond milk. Pretty tasty! I bought some spinach chicken burgers from Whole Foods so I had those for dinner this week (no bun). Overall I would say that I've done pretty good. I did have some pizza on Friday night and Saturday afternoon but I limited the amount I ate and we always use Turkey pepperoni and veggies on it so I didn't feel too bad.

I went to my boot camp registration this week. I figured it would be a one on one registration but instead there were 4 other ladies there and 1 guy. Nothing like getting weighed and measured in front of strangers for the old self esteem. They are a little stricter than I thought they would be about class times. They really want you to sign up for a specific time with little deviation so I signed up for the 5:30 am class. Yikes! I really hope I'm going to be able to get my butt out of bed that early 5 days a week for the next 6 weeks. It's really the best time for me because I can get it out of the way and then get ready and hopefully be to work by 8 am. If I find that it's not working out as well maybe they will let me switch to 5:30 pm although then I will have to fight traffic to get over there.

I read the Paleo Diet book by Loren Cordain today. It's rare for me to sit down and read an entire book in one day but it was a quick read and I think I'm going to give it a try. After attempting juicing it shouldn't be quite as rigid. They offer 3 levels. Level 1 allows 3 open meals a week. Level 2 allows 2 open meals a week and Level 3 allows 1 open meal a week. They suggest level 2 or 3 if you are looking to lose weight. I think I'm going to start with level 2 so that I can still have some dairy now and then. If you're interested in finding out more about Paleo I stumbled across this blog which also links to several others on the subject.

They weighed me at the boot camp registration and I'm only 2 pounds down from where I started on August 1. I guess it's better than nothing. I have been walking on my treadmill for at least a half an hour everyday for the last two weeks (though I've gotten a little lacks this weekend). I have noticed that my clothes are fitting looser so I'm trying not to feel too discouraged. In fact yesterday I put on a pair of jeans that had been a little tight and they were loose so I felt pretty good about that. I still have a ways to go but I've already made significant improvements in what I'm putting in my body so I try not to let the numbers get me down.

I will try to write tomorrow evening to share my first morning of boot camp experience. It should be interesting.

2 days and counting

Well, here it is. My brand new Juicer. I've reached the point of no return. Monday I start my juice fast. I haven't been doing well with Reboot's (jointhereboot.com) recommendation of cutting out dairy before starting the fast. I had a bowl of cereal yesterday and some cheese on my sandwich at lunch. It's REALLY hard not to eat dairy. I haven't had any today though so I am feeling a little less defeated.

I am feeling less optimistic today after my visit to the grocery store. I feel like this juice fast could send me to the poor house if I don't find more inexpensive sources of fruits and veggies.

I had planned to decide which recipes I was going to use for each day and then shop accordingly but I got really discouraged when I realized that in the next 2 weeks I'll be making and drinking 56 juices that have to be at least 16 oz each. That's a lot of fruits and veggies.

Today I went grocery shopping at Kroger. I bought regular groceries for Ken totaling roughly $56. I bought the following fruits and veggies totaling $38.75

5 pound bag of carrots $4.99
1 bunch kale $0.99
2 containers strawberries $3.00
1 bunch celery $1.39
2.5 pounds grapes $6.27
2 Grapefruit $1.58
2.4 pounds cabbage $1.66
0.21 pounds ginger root $1.19
1 cucumber $0.99
2.5 pounds red delicious apple $4.26
6 kiwi $2.00
1.4 pounds pears $2.33
1 pound sweet potatoes $1.04
3 oranges $2.07
1 bag green apples $4.99

So it might seem like I got a lot of fruits and vegetables for my money and that might be true but I might only get 2-3 days of juice out of this if I'm lucky. That means I'm going to have to buy a lot more to get me through this next 2 weeks. The food that I bought for Ken will surely get him through the next two weeks but it is not all the most healthy food.

So you can see the dilemma that I (and many others) face. Eating healthy is REALLY expensive and eating junk is cheap. I might have to get a second job just to afford my new eating habits. There is a produce market up the street called Easy Way. I think I will try going there next and see how that pans out. I really want to see this fast through but I'm afraid I might not be able to afford it. I don't like ending this post on such a pessimistic note but it's not just me I'm thinking about. How are we to expect that people in this country will ever live a more healthy lifestyle when we keep the most vital foods out of reach.

When checking out at the grocery store it took extra long because the cashier had to keep asking me what my items were and looking up the codes for items that obviously aren't bought by a lot of people. Just more proof that we don't eat like we should.