Day 27: Muffin Juice?

Still juicing, juicing juicing. But I haven't had the motivation to update! Very sorry to all 3 of you lovely, loyal readers who have been waiting for this, here it is at last!

I've lost a total of 22lbs by this point and I'm wearing some of my smaller clothes again. That of course thrills me, but not enough to make me continue to fast beyond this month! I have been working out steadily for the past two weeks and I plan to continue that, along with healthy food choices, and lose another 30lbs. 

MY JUICER BROKE! That is in all caps because I did indeed yell a lot when it happened. My handy husband super glued the broken bit back on only to have in break again within hours. Oh the frustration! This was on Day 23! My Dad was over the second time it broke and I might or might not have shed some tears right before his inner Daddy hero came out just in time to save the juice fast! He called a friend of his who owns a really snazzy juicer and was willing to let me borrow it as long as I needed to finish the fast. Praise God for good friends and great family!

Now on to these beautiful muffins! No, I did not eat one. But I'm wilting outside the kitchen and I really needed a challenge to distract myself from unwanted thoughts of food. Oddly, it is cooking that most relaxes me. These are made from scratch, but do not despair! I'm not a talented baker and I still pulled it off. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

Raw

Cooked

Justin says they're delicious!

Ingredients:

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

¼ tsp vanilla extract

For the muffins:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

1¼ cups vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the topping:

½ cup sugar

5 tbsp. flour

1½ tsp. ground cinnamon

4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:

For the filling, combine the cream cheese, vanilla  and confectioners’ sugar  in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth.  Once blended, cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator.

For the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F, and line muffin pans with cupcake  liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend.  In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree ,, vanilla and oil.  Mix on low speed until blended.  With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

For the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend.  Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is coarse and crumbly.  Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (2 tablespoons).  Spoon a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture into the very center of each cup.  Divide the remaining batter among the cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely.  Sprinkle a tablespoon of the streusel mixture on top of each muffin.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving, the cream cheese filling will be very hot!

I did not write this recipe! I found it on Pinterest.com and only tweaked it a bit. Perfect fall treat and you don't even have to be a fan of pumpkin! 

Two tips: 

1.) Be generous, never stingy with the vanilla extract. 

2.) Use more than 8 ounces of cream cheese, it's better to have too much than not enough filling!

Day 19: Just a quick update

Haven't lost weight in two days! I have two theoretical excuses for this:
1.) I put salt in my juices for two days, therefore I retained water. As evidence I would like to present my ring finger, where my wedding band is usually lose and is now snug do to the sudden onset fluid retention.
2.) For the third day in a row I've exercised vigorously. Fluid gathers around your muscles after exercise. 


I'm not bothered by the stand still as much as I expected to be. My clothes are fitting better and better and I can see a big difference in my body from head to toe. Therefore I'm going to juice right on through and hopefully I'll have some more weight loss to report soon!


My energy is fantastic! The increase in energy is my second favorite thing about this fast, right behind the weight loss of course!


One last thing, here is a link to several great recipes on the "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" website. Great resource, but just keep in mind that these are suggestions and you should modify them in any way that will help you like it, juice it, and drink it! For instance, I do NOT use ginger root! But you may like it!


http://jointhereboot.com/reboot-program/recipes/juice-recipes/


Happy Wednesday and thank you for reading!

Day 16: Your number one question answered

The question I get most often is, "What about protein?" To which I say, "What about it?" Here are the ways in which I get my protein.

1. Broccoli 
2. Spinach
3. Kale
4. Soy beans <---best way!

Obviously I am not consuming nearly as much protein as I was before the fast, but I am consuming enough to survive and thrive for the time being. I'm not suffering from a lack of protein nor am I losing muscle mass. I actually lifted weights a few days ago and the recovery was only slightly rougher than it normally is on my every day meat eating diet.


UPDATE: A little over half way to the goal and I'm still juicing strong! By this morning I'd lost 16.6lbs and as long as I remember to juice, my energy is souring. I'd like to take a moment to recognize my incredible husband who not only tolerates but goes out of his way to soothe my cranky moods, hunger pains, and excessive complaining. His support is priceless.


I still haven't tried a juice with parsley or cilantro and I'd really like to do that soon. I'll let you know if I find a tasty recipe! Speaking of recipes, here is one for a protein loaded juice that doesn't taste half as bad as it sounds!

• 4+ cups soy beans(buy a frozen bag and thaw)
• 1 large broccoli spear
• 2 green apples
• half of a lemon

I leave you now with an example of 

amazing support(which is something you'll need to juice fast!):

We put up the Christmas tree this weekend!
Happy October, baby Jesus!

I think he knew how much
this would cheer me up.

It worked. I feel happier and
more motivated when I see it!

Day 11: A few quick motivators

Still going strong and I'm 1/3 of the way to my goal! In case you haven't noticed it lately, the weight ticker can tell you that I have lost 13.4lbs! I had a few really rough days where I wanted to give up but here's how I got through them:

1. 7 Ways to Fight Back Against Food Cravings (READ IT!)
   http://amyswrites.hubpages.com/hub/7waystofightbackagainstfoodcravings
   
   
2. My amazing husband. I asked him to bring me home a rotisserie chicken, instead he brought me these beautiful roses for my desk. 
   
   
   
3. I made a count down calendar to hang where I spend the most time, at my desk.
   
   
   
4. We made a DELICIOUS watermelon/pineapple juice which cured me of my sweet tooth for two whole days.
       

(How do you motivate yourself?)

Day 8: I'm Positive

Just for today, I vow to speak only positive words, voice no complaints, and focus my mind on uplifting topics.
Just for today.

A couple of people have asked about juicing recipes so I'm going to continue to post them as I find tasty combinations, like this morning's breakfast for example:

2 cups seedless grapes
1 peeled orange
1 green apple
2 carrots
3 stalks celery

I am on goal so far, positive words and positive thinking, but that does not exempt me from giving a brief synopsis of dreadful Days 6 and 7.

Day 6: Scary bad. Picked up a FREE and delicious Cahalls chicken salad sandwich, bag of chips, and candy bar from my school's lobby where they were giving them away. Intended to give this to my beloved husband after class, after my THREE HOUR class. Sniffed the box all the way to class. Got to class only to find that everyone else was devouring their free and delicious food and there would be no escape from smelling, seeing, and hearing this horrific SET UP. Made it through the class by making lists of reasons why not to give up, lists of things I want to wear that don't fit, and lists of insane athletic feats I will one day be able to preform if I could just resist this chicken salad temptation. Finally made it out, took the sandwich to my hungry husband, and stared at him as a completely self-aware foodaholic while he ate the best sandwich I ever did smell. The rest of the day I was cranky, hungry, and made restless by numerous powerful cravings. I did not like Day 6.

Day 7: Not as bad as Day 6, but still uncomfortable. Spent most of the day at work where I bake, handle, and sell food. After work I ran home to walk the dogs, juice, and change clothes so I could head over to where my brawny husband was helping some friends of ours move into their new house. The three hours I got to help with moving were a wonderful distraction, but NOT coming home to put together a huge, hot, home cooked meal was a really big let down. Cold juice at the end of a long, exhausting day is not what I want.

TODAY: I'm being positive. I'm thinking, talking, and acting in positive ways in the hopes that this will make for a better day not just for me, but for my wonderful husband who puts up with my every mood!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend and that just for today, or maybe just for an hour, you can be positive too!

Day 6: Carrots speak for themselves

Day 5: A few discoveries that rock

Don't be alarmed by the pictures of solid food, I'm still juicing! I woke up at 8:10am...and got out of bed! Weirdo, I know. But that's how good I felt! I was ready to get up, so I did. Not to mention all the little critters sitting beside the bed and staring longingly towards the kitchen, that's always a strong motivator. Now it's around 2pm and I'm feeling a little sleepy, but it's time for another juice so maybe that will perk me up. But before I go I'd like to go over a few crazy facts:

1. Even though I'm overweight, I ate pretty fantastic before I started this fast. We cooked every meal at home and had two veggies for every meat on our plate, but I still detoxed. My body still went through the headaches and nausea because it contained toxins that shouldn't be there. My point - anyone can benefit from a juice fast. To illustrate my "I ate very healthy" point, here are two typical meals that I consumed on a regular basis:

2.   Celery! I despise it. But I can juice it! Spinach, Kale, Celery, Cucumber - all veggies on my black list, until I juiced them. Without the awful texture, I not only tolerate celery, I enjoy it. Don't knock it till you juice it.

3.   I feel nourished, healthy, satisfied even when I drink a juice. It's not at all the same as drinking water or something else in the traditional "beverage" category. 




Have you taken a look at the weight ticker in the top right corner yet today? Check it out to see how much I've lost by the morning of day 5! 

Day 3: Hunger drains my focus

Day 3 is here and almost gone! NO headaches today and only the slightest bit of nausea - what a relief. I was in school all day and I was feeling a little stressed so as soon as I got home I automatically walked to the kitchen. Not really hungry at all, just wanting to soothe myself with something salty. Thankfully, I remembered I'm fasting and ran from the kitchen but the experience was eye-opening because I wasn't aware that my after school snack was a pleasurable habit, not a need. 

I can't seem to get my thoughts together today, unless you want me to think of something delicious to eat and then I'm your woman. So here's a few bullet points to sum up the past 24 hours:

• I'm not tempted to break the fast, but I do very much enjoy sniffing other people's food.  I never realized the world smelled so tasty. 
• My sweet mother gave my loving husband a marinated steak and two potatoes to cook for himself for dinner last night. I'm glad someone's feeding him, but did he have to eat it in front of me?
• Purchased a purple bottle to take juice with me to school and work. Glad you can't see through it. I'm not ready to answer questions about "the brown stuff in that bottle."

This turned out to be MUCH too sweet,
so I added 4 cups of baby spinach and greened it right up! 

At least it's pretty, right?

My dinner.

Oh and by the way, I've lost 6 pounds. I'm looking forward to getting past the water weight, but I'm still happy about the loss! I've added a weight ticker to the top right hand corner of my blog so I can count down, pound by pound to my goal. Please leave a comment before you go and come back soon for more updates!

Day 1: Nausea can't last forever

Day one is over! I'd celebrate if I didn't have a headache. I miss my coffee and turkey sausage this morning, but I have already had my breakfast juice and sent my husband out the door with one as well and I'm feeling good. We took "before" pictures last night and I find those very motivating. This isn't how I want to look or feel - so I'm changing it. 

Just to be clear, this is a very healthy program. There is nothing our bodies want more than fresh fruits and vegetables. But I realize that people respond much better to results than they do to talk so we'll save that conversation for a little bit down the road. For now, take a look at what I juiced yesterday on day one:

Breakfast

Lunch

An afternoon pick me up I split with Justin.

I didn't have a "supper" juice because I was feeling quite full and tired, but I did have one cup of an organic vegetable broth just for the sodium content (23%). Vegetable broths are a good option for anyone who has low blood pressure like myself and wants to avoid fainting, but be careful to either make them yourself at home or find one in the store which has a list of ingredients containing ONLY veggies and water.

Day 2 will be a bit more complicated than yesterday as I actually have to leave the house for several hours today. I plan on making a juice right before I go and taking it with me because I know me, if I get hungry away from home I'm going to eat whatever sits still long enough for me to catch it. Chick-fil-A usually sits pretty still in this town.