fat, sick, and nearly dead?

fat, sick, and nearly dead...that was a title that caught my eye one night as i was browsing the hulu free documentaries to distract myself from the boredom of having my boyfriend out of town for 2 months. it resonated with me. nearly dead? well, no- of course not. sick? well, sick of being fat. and i AM fat right now. as a matter of fact, probably my fattest since quitting smoking over 10 years ago (not that i got all of that weight off, either). sigh. haven't we been down this road before? yep, and as long as you'll keep reading, i'll keep sharing these struggles and this journey. after all, i have to believe that in most ways i'm pretty average, and others are surely struggling with the same things- especially in the 40-somethings.

so i watched the documentary and it was life changing. i am not just being dramatic (this time. haha). it really was an eye opening, transformational film. it chronicles the journey of a 41 year old guy who found himself fat, out of shape, struggling with an autoimmune disorder, and staring down the reality of his own mortality who decides to go on a 60 day juice fast. okay, that is a little extreme, even for me- and i am the queen of extreme...but he did it and it saved his life. probably literally. he is off all meds, feels great, and is HOT! okay, let's be real here. that is the part that resonated with me the most- the desire to be HOT!  under all that fat, out of shape mediocrity was a much younger looking and much better looking guy. i'm all in.

monday night i watched the movie with teary-eyed admiration. tuesday i bought a juicer. so far, i haven't looked back. i can't get past the desire to chew at least some of my food, so i am juicing about 90%. i have a juice for breakfast, one for lunch, one as an afternoon snack, and another later in the evening. dinner is a large greens salad with some protein (nuts or tuna, etc...) and a little olive oil and vinegar. yay- i get to chew!! the juices are delicious and i haven't found a combination that i haven't loved, yet. today's breakfast was orange beets, grapefruit, oranges, and carrots. lunch was kale, celery, green apple, lemon, and ginger. my snack was beets, carrots, celery, lemon, orange, and basil. the combinations are endless and yummy.

how do i feel? so far, pretty darn good. let's start by saying that between the juicing and walking an hour or so a day, i have lost 6 pounds in the past 10 days. i am peeing like a racehorse (sorry- but it's true!) so try to go to bed a little earlier each night to make up for the interruption of sleep. i can tell that my neurotransmitters are firing differently now that they are getting all of these super concentrated nutrients and aren't bogged down by "junk". my dreams are vivid and crazy. my skin is glowing. my body is firming. it is all good.

is there a downside? giving up coffee (i switched to green tea or yerba mate) made me a little groggy the first couple of days and i found myself dropping things a lot as i adjusted. my energy level was also lower, probably due to a drastic decrease in processed carbs and calories overall. other than that, most of the effects have been positive. i am also not particularly hungry. i am definitely ready for my next juice by the time i can have one, but i am no hungrier (or maybe even less) than i was between solid meals. i think i may be onto something!

i challenge you to at least watch the movie and see what i found so inspiring. then visit the website fatsickandnearlydead.com to read the success stories and check out the before and after pics. there is also info on juice recipes, and how to do a "reboot". you may not end up going on a juice fast, but i bet it gets you up off your couch, moving more and eating better. my roommate already took that challenge and i have dragged her to the dark side. she likes the added bonus that when you juice, you don't have to cook. hey- whatever motivates you, right?! 

stay tuned...