Wednesday Eats – A Juice Cleanse

It is Wednesday, time for another What I Ate Wednesday post.

I thought I would focus on what I ate Monday because I did a 1-day Suja juice cleanse. I had heard about different juice cleanses for awhile now, including BluePrint, Pressed Juicery, The Ripe Stuff and Suja Juice. You can do 1, 3, or 5 day cleanses with most of these companies. I always held off because of the price, but when I found out my local Whole Foods store sold Suja Juice, I thought about giving it a try. Though the juices are still pricey, I wouldn’t have to pay exorbitant shipping fees.

Why do a juice cleanse? My main reason for wanting to try it was not for some quick weight loss or anything like that, but to do exactly what it says: cleanse my body. I have adopted some unhealthy habits of late, eating more processed foods, snacking late at night and indulging a little too much in my favorite cookies. It’s been taking its toll – I haven’t been sleeping as well which robs me of my energy. So I wanted to give a 1-day juice cleanse a try in the hopes that it would give my body a break from heavy digestion and fill my body with powerful nutrients.

Why I didn’t think to take a picture with the bottles full, I don’t know.

Here is what I “ate”:

Juice #1: Glow – apples, celery, cucumber, spinach, collard greens, kale, & mint. This one had the most greens in it & I could taste the celery, which I’m not a big fan of. But since I have juiced before, I am somewhat used to it and thought it was okay.

Juice #2:  Fuel – carrots, apple, orange, pineapple, lemon, turmeric. I was nervous about this one because of the amount of carrots in it. I have memories of choking down fresh carrot apple juice when I was younger. But I was pleasantly surprised. The pineapple & lemon added a brightness to it & I enjoyed it. I poured it over ice in my Tupperware tumbler so no one at work would wonder what on earth I was drinking.

Juice #3: Purify – carrots, apple, celery, cucumber, beet & lemon. This one was one of my least favorites. I think anytime a juice has celery in it, it brings my enjoyment factor down a bit. It took me longer to drink this one.

Juice #4: Fiji – apples, celery, cucumber, spinach, collard greens, kale, lemon & ginger. Again, this one was okay. I did notice at this point in the day (3:00), I felt more alert & in a better mood than I usually am at this time of day.

Juice #5: Green Supreme – apples, kale & lemon. Yummy! Very sweet & refreshing. But it took me a long time to drink this one as well. I finished it just in time to drink the next (& final) one!

juice #6: Vanilla Cloud – coconut, honey, almonds, acerola cherry, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, & camu camu. Clearly different from the others, this was dessert! I was thrown off by the aftertaste at first, but I got used to it.

So has my 1-day cleanse proven effective? Did it make any difference? I believe it did. Yesterday and today I have eaten “clean,” which basically means I have not eaten any processed foods or added sugar. I’ve kept my evening meals light, which has improved my sleep immensely. I hope to keep it up and update you on what I’m eating next week! Overall, I recommend it, and I’m thinking of buying a few green drinks to have on hand.

Monday Musings – Morning Routines

Earlier this month, I came across a post on LaurenConrad.com on “how to make your mornings brighter.” Since I am not a morning person and probably never will be, I read the article and made a mental note to add some of the suggestions to my routine, such as making your bed right away (a habit I have gotten out of doing), washing your face or turning on some music to get you going.

While the article suggests a perfectly fine morning routine, I noticed one glaring absence: there was no scheduled time for being in the Word.

In Humility: True Greatness, C.J. Mahaney offers a different morning routine to brighten your day:

1. Start by “acknowledging your dependence upon God and your need for God.” As soon as my eyes open, my first thought ought to be, “I need You, God. I am dependent on You.” This relates to what Martyn Lloyd Jones says in his book Spiritual Depression (a book that Mahaney quotes and that I just happen to be reading with my church’s Singles group!), “Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?” Boy, how I need to speak more truth to myself instead of listening to myself!

2. “Begin your day expressing gratefulness to God.” Don’t start your day grumbling to your Savior but greet Him with gratitude. As I confessed earlier, I am not a morning person, and I have been guilty of grumbling and complaining throughout my morning routine. Instead, I am going to resolve to give thanks at the start of my day.

3. Exercise the spiritual disciplines – prayer, studying the Word, worship – in the morning if possible. When we start our day before God, in His Word, and in prayer, we are declaring and demonstrating our dependence on God and our need for Him. How many times have I started my day without Him, declaring that I don’t need Him? Though I wouldn’t say that out loud or consciously think that, that is what my actions are saying. I have downloaded MacArthur’s Daily Bible on my iPad to help with this discipline.

4. “Seize your commute time to memorize and meditate on Scripture.” Although I don’t have a long commute, I am going to start listening to my Word of Life audio Bible in the car on the way to work.

5. Cast all your cares on the Lord (1 Peter 5:6-7). By humbling ourselves and giving Him our cares, we start the day care free. I am guilty of worrying or being anxious about anything and everything. Mahaney points out that this is because of pride. I am trying to be self-sufficient and in control instead of depending on God and acknowledging my need for Him.

Although the Rise and Shine article I mentioned earlier offers some legitimate solutions to making your mornings brighter and smoother, I think I’d rather follow Mahaney’s routine and use my “morning moments wisely, letting the light of God’s grace shine in to brighten [my] entire day.”

How about you? What is your morning routine like?

For those who are wondering about Indy, he is doing so much better!

I am so, so thankful that he is recovering so well. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

(Quotes and content taken from Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney, Multnomah Books, 2005; chapter 5, pages 68-77)

Monday Musings: A Dog Fight

[Warning: This is a long post and there are some graphic pictures]

Yesterday, something that you hope never happens happened. Shortly before 8:00pm, I was walking my dog down the street and back, and as we neared the front door of the house, I let Indy off the leash. I had heard my next door neighbor’s dogs barking, but I never could have imagined what happened next.

Indy dashed over to the side yard of my house, where there are two gates, one leading to my backyard, and one leading to my neighbor’s. Too late I remembered that there is a big gap beneath the neighbor’s gate – big enough for Indy & the neighbor dogs to reach each other.

Immediately, there was loud barking and screaming, and I rushed over to try and separate them. Indy’s head was under the gate, so I couldn’t see anything, but I pulled at Indy and banged on the gate in an attempt to scare the dogs apart. I reached with my hands, hoping to somehow release the dog’s grip on Indy, screaming all the while but I knew then it was futile. They pulled him under the gate, and he was gone. I froze for a second before rushing to the neighbor’s front door. I banged on the door several times, praying that the car in the driveway meant someone was home.

My neighbor opened the door, a bewildered expression on her face. “My dog’s in your backyard!” I yelled as I rushed through her house. She ran with me, and sure enough, they were still fighting. They separated as soon as we came out, and poor Indy was cowering in the corner of the yard. At first, he backed away from me, but I was eventually able to grab his collar. I knew it was bad. I saw skin and blood on the back of his head.

One of Indy’s wounds

My neighbor put her dogs in the garage, and I rushed Indy out of her house, into my mine, and straight to the garage and the car.

Hands shaking, I tried to figure out what I was going to do. I knew there was an emergency vet nearby, but I wasn’t sure if they’d be open. I called my vet, and got the number of the emergency vet to call them. But no one answered. So I called my mom, trying my hardest not to speed too much down the road. She said she would try calling them and would meet me there.

I pulled in and took him inside, and they immediately took him back to give him an injection for his pain. I had to fill out a form, but the whole thing was a blur. Later, I found myself doubting if I had written in the correct information.

While I was sitting in the waiting room, and the adrenaline began wearing off, I realized my left hand hurt. Sure enough, the left side of my hand beneath my pinky was swelling. I had clearly hurt it while trying to rescue Indy but had not even noticed.

Icing my hand after dropping Indy off

Eventually, they brought my mom and me back into an exam room, where they told us he would need surgery to close the wounds, and it was going to require anesthesia and sutures. The doctor was very kind, and she told us she would get to him as soon as she could – being an emergency vet, she had to prepare for all kinds of scenarios – and they would call me to let me know when they had finished.

After paying a hefty $1500 bill, I went home with my mom where she prepared spaghetti, and we settled in for a long wait. At 11:30, I called them to check on his status, and they were working on him at that moment. They called an hour later to tell us to start heading that way to pick him up.

Mom and I arrived and had to wait a few minutes before getting Indy checked out. They gave me an antibiotic and pain medicine to give him, and explained the discharge instructions. I pulled my car up to the front door and moments later, Indy came trotting down the hall, a large blue cone around his neck. He came right up to me, and I gently pet him, but I didn’t see the extent of the sutures right away. They had to take him back because they forgot to remove his catheter, and when he came out the second time is when I got a good look at the extent of his injuries. Yikes.

His sutures and a drain on the left side of his head

I led him out to the car, and he jumped up into the seat and tripped on his cone. He looked so pitiful, it broke my heart. I got him home quickly, about 1:15am, and he was very restless. I gave him a pain pill wrapped in peanut butter (thanks to my brother for that tip!) to help him. He couldn’t seem to lie down with the cone on, so I petted him and tried to decide whether to go to bed or crash on the couch. I stayed on the couch for awhile & then realized he would probably do better if I stuck to our normal routine, so I went to bed.

I awoke around 7 and noticed Indy looked more alert already than he did the night before. I took him outside (on a leash!), and once we came back inside, I watched as he simply stood still in one place before pacing around and eventually sitting. I thought he was going to fall over from exhaustion. When he came to the couch, and looked up at me with those pleading eyes, I took off his collar so he could come up on the couch. He quickly settled down and fell asleep. He has since had a few more snoring naps next to me on the couch, and I’m keeping a close eye on him to make sure he doesn’t scratch or lick or cause his sutures to rupture.

This obviously was not what I planned on posting about today, but I wanted to share the full story for those who want to know. It is very easy to blame myself for what happened – why did I let him off the leash when I knew the neighbor dogs were out? If only I hadn’t taken him off the leash. But as I’ve been learning over the past few weeks, I could not allow myself to dwell on such thoughts. Instead, I made a list of what I was thankful for and tried focusing on that:

1. I am thankful the neighbor was home so I could get Indy out of their backyard. 

2. I am thankful there was an emergency vet down the road that was open and available to take care of Indy

3. I am thankful that Indy was still walking, in control, and didn’t try to bite me. His eyes, as far as I could tell, were unharmed.

4. I am thankful Indy is current on his vaccinations and rabies

5. I am thankful Indy was healthy enough to undergo anesthesia and receive the treatment he needed

6. I am thankful for my mom, who came to support me and comfort me and stayed up so late with me last night.

This is the list I made last night, but obviously, now I would add:

7. I am thankful he made it through the surgery and seems to be recovering fairly well.

8. I am thankful I could take today off work and stay home with him

Now it will simply take time for him to heal and return to his energetic self. Dogs are so loyal and forgiving. He’s such a sweetheart and did not deserve this at all. Please pray for him, for healing and that there will be no infection or complications. And pray for me, that I will continue to focus on giving thanks and trusting in God’s sovereign control.

 

My First 5K

Well, I did it!

I completed my first 5k – Run for Wounded Heroes in Kennesaw. I feel good overall even though I didn’t train for it nearly as much as I had intended.

I left the house at 7:00 & got to the parking area about 15 minutes later. I was nervous about finding a parking space, but thankfully, I was able to find one in a grassy field. I debated about whether I’d have time to come back to my car before the race but decided to take everything I’d need with me in case. I’m glad I did! I had my belt, phone, ear buds, car key and license (just in case!). I also had my Gym Boss timer with me, but I didn’t end up using it.

I found the line to pick up my bib without any problems, and I had twenty minutes to wait until the start at 8:00am. I wanted to use Runkeeper to track my walk/run, so it was a little awkward figuring out when to start it & put my phone in my belt before the race actually started.

Off we go with a bang, and I realize the music in my Runkeeper app isn’t working (this has happened to me before). So here I am with ear buds in and no music & a ton of people around me. I can’t & don’t want to stop, so after jogging for 30 seconds or so, I slowed to a walk and put the headphones in my belt. At this point, I reach up to get my sunglasses off my head and my headband I’d been wearing falls off. A man behind me said, “You dropped something!” and I said, “Yeah, I know. Oh well.” There was no way I was going to stop amidst all those people and get it.

Not off to a good start. But I kept going, jogging until I felt like walking, and then jogging again. I passed the one-mile mark in Swift Cantrell Park under 14 minutes, which is good for me. As soon as you see the mile marker, it gives you motivation to go a little bit faster!

I did walk a majority of it, though, which is fine with me. The humidity was heavy, so I was slick with sweat by mile 2. There’s a big hill leading back into Kennesaw, so once I crested the hill, I jogged the rest of the way to the finish line and finished in 42.04 (or something like that).

According to my Runkeeper app, I went 3.8 miles in 44.26. I didn’t stop the activity until a minute or two after I finished, but 3.8 miles is a bit different from 3.1! I wonder which was more accurate?

 

There was a woman ushering people to the right, so I followed her direction…and felt utterly confused. Where’s the water? The bags? The t-shirts? I finally had to ask someone, and they directed me to the right spot, to the left of the finish line.

The line for t-shirts was insanely long, and I couldn’t even see if there were specific lines – it was just one mass of people. Thankfully, I happened to be in the line for size small, which is what I needed! I grabbed a goody bag and then high-tailed it to my car. All I could think was fuel & shower.

I am currently enjoying a fried egg and cheese sandwich as I type this, feeling good that I accomplished a goal.

I’m going to buy new running shoes as my reward for completing this 5k, and I’m going to buy some Sweaty bands before my next race.

Next goal:

Rope Mill Trail Run 5k – October 26

My Body is a Temple

I heard through the Twitter feed about Michelle from Myers Cross Training selling some cute tanks, so I had to buy some! They recently came in the mail, and I love them.


These tanks offer a great opportunity to witness to others at the gym or when I’m walking Indy outside. But they got me thinking about my motive behind eating well and exercising.
I feel like my main motivation to eat well and exercise lately has been merely to achieve a certain number on the scale or achieve a certain look in the mirror. No wonder I’ve been so frustrated and fruitless! This is not a godly goal. Trying to be thin only for appearance’s sake will only reap frustration because I was never created to find joy in my reflection in the mirror.
Instead, my mail goal should be to “be conformed to the image of [God’s] Son” for His glory (Romans 8:29).
This is not to say I should not care at all about my body or appearance. It goes back to my motivation behind caring for my body. As the gray shirt above says, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
There are two reasons I should care for my body:
1. It is the creation of God
2. He has bought my body
I have a responsibility to maintain the best health I can by making healthy eating choices and exercising regularly. Viewed in the light of Scripture, I am no longer pursuing a shallow, vain goal, but am caring for my body because I love the Lord, the Giver of life, and want to honor Him.
Tonight, I came home and walked Indy down the block to see two of my neighbors out walking their dogs, so we ended up walking to a nearby elementary school together, and then we made plans to do it again tomorrow!
I then came home and made some black bean enchiladas – no recipe, I just threw it together! I started with some onions and red pepper, added some frozen corn, black beans and chopped fresh tomato, and some leftover enchilada sauce. I spooned the mixture onto some corn tortillas, added a little cheese and fresh cilantro from my garden! Delish! I then had a messy kitchen to clean up, but oh well!
Happy Monday!

Black bean enchiladas!

Indy and his new tiger

Update

I finished The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, and I really liked it! As a librarian and former English student, I enjoyed the descriptions of the different libraries Connie visited while conducting her research into the person of “Deliverance Dane,” having to sift through ginormous card catalogs to find what she hoped would be the “physick book” (the story’s present day is 1991, at the beginning stages of digitizing card catalogs). We find out about Deliverance as the author shifts to 1692, the famous date of the Salem witch trials, at which Deliverance was tried, convicted and executed (I found out there was a real Deliverance Dane, and she actually survived the witch trials). We also uncover more about Deliverance’s daughter and grandaughter, Mercy and Prudence, as Connie discovers Prudence’s journal. The author skillfully weaves between the past and present and uncovers secrets that I did not see coming. She includes real people, such as the judge who presided over the Salem witch trials, as well as Sarah Wildes, Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Sarah Good, and Elizabeth Howe, all women who were tried and executed. The author herself (Katherine Howe) is descended from Elizabeth Howe, as well as Elizabeth Proctor, who survived the trials. It blends mystery, suspense and romance without much explicit sexual content or harsh language (a plus in my book!). An interesting read!

Weekly Workouts Roundup

You’ll notice I didn’t do a roundup last week, mainly because there was nothing to round up.

This week, however, was different. Best Body Bootcamp starts tomorrow, so, in an effort to not be totally overwhelmed with the workouts, I disciplined myself to wake up early every morning starting on Tuesday to fit in a workout. I had purchased Lindsay Brin’s Pretty Fierce workout, so I decided to follow her week one schedule.

Tuesday – 10 minute Fit Test and a 10 minute walk with Indy after work

Wednesday – Plyometrics Cardio workout and a core workout = 40 minutes. I woke up twenty minutes before my alarm, which never happens, and completed a tough workout. I took it easy on some of the moves, tapping my feet instead of jumping, walking instead of jogging, and doing reverse lunges in place of jump lunges. But I did it! The core workout gets at your inner core (the transverse abdominis and pelvic floor), and I could feel it for two days afterwards!

Thursday – Tabata cardio = 26 minutes. This workout was tough in the moment, but looking back, I felt like it wasn’t so bad. You do five different moves for 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. For example, we did high knees for 20 seconds and rested for 10 seconds, repeating that for three minutes.

Friday – 30 minute Shredding workout and core = 36 minutes. Shredding was a mixture of cardio and toning. I didn’t push myself as much as I could have but sometimes it’s hard first thing in the morning.

Saturday – I wanted to get a sprint interval workout in, but I kept pondering where I should do it. I didn’t want to do it in my neighborhood because I’d feel too exposed. I thought about going to a local park, which probably would have been the best option, but I didn’t. So the day passed without a workout. But I got a lot of other things done, including grocery shopping, reorganizing the pantry, a haircut and baking cookies.

Sunday – I’m taking a rest day in preparation for Bootcamp tomorrow

Total points for the week (1 point for every ten minutes of activity): 11. Much better!

WIAW

Breakfast:

I followed this recipe. Pretty good! It kept me satisfied until lunch.

Lunch:

Vegetable Quinoa Soup, courtesy of Two Peas and Their Pod.

Snack:

I bought these at Target. They’re pretty tasty and portable, too.

Dinner:

This is actually last night’s dinner – leftover turkey kielbasa, cauliflower, red pepper, grape tomatoes, and Alexia potato wedges. Pretty tasty, and filling! And the best part is, I put it all in one pan that I covered with foil & put in the oven. No clean up!

After dinner treat:

I’m trying to limit my after-dinner treats right now, but last night, I had one chocolate-vanilla swirl pudding cup with 1 tablespoon of semisweet chocolate chips and a mug of hot green tea.

I’m trying to watch my fiber intake to make sure I reach the recommended amount (30-35 grams for women), and today I did! I ate 38.4g! And my protein/carb/fat ratio was pretty good, too: 24%, 51%, and 25% respectively (info courtesy of my Lose It! app)

What I’m Reading

I feel like I’m getting back to where I was when I was younger, reading more books. Last year, I read 39 books – not bad (about 3 books a month), but I know I can do far better. My goal is to at least beat that number, but I’d like to reach 48 books (4 a month) before 2014. Right now, I’m at 11, and March is not over yet! I still have time to get one more book in this month.

Here’s what I’ve read recently:

I’ve been on a Titanic kick lately. I went to my public library and found some videos and a couple of fiction books that take place on or during the Titanic’s sinking. This particular book is about a maid who gets a job with Madame Lucille Duff Gordon, the famous fashion designer. She and her husband, Lord Cosmo Duff Gordon were the ones in the lifeboat that only had twelve people, and they are famed for having paid the sailors not to go back and rescue people from the sinking Titanic. While the story starts on the Titanic, it mainly takes place after the sinking, in New York. There are senate hearings to determine what happened to the “unsinkable ship” and Tess vacillates between working for Lucille and wanting to be a designer herself.

Violets of March was recommended by Julie of PBFingers, so I decided to give it a read. Right away, I found myself wanting to visit Bainbridge Island. The main character, Emily, goes to Bainbride Island to visit her great-aunt Bee in the wake of a divorce. She discovers a diary and gets caught up in the history and mystery of the diary’s story while experiencing a new love story of her own.

This book has been on my list for awhile. I’ve only read the first chapter so far, but it switches from present day, where Connie is working on her doctoral dissertation, and the Salem witch trials of 1690. Apparently, when Connie visits her grandmother’s abandoned home in Salem, she discovers she is somehow tied to Salem’s dark past. She uncovers a yellowed piece of parchment with a name on it: Deliverance Dane. I’ll update you once I’ve finished it.

“A boy in my class said you’re deaf.”

This is what a 5th grade girl told me today when she came to the Media Center to assist me. I smiled softly and responded, “Well, clearly I’m not since I can hear you.”

“He said, ‘She can’t hear. She just reads lips,'” she said. I’m wondering who this boy is but she clearly excluded his name for a reason.

“Well,” I told her. “I do read lips sometimes, but I’m not deaf. I’m hard of hearing.”

She seemed slightly surprised at this, but then her face turned to concern. “What happened?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I assured her. “I was born this way.”

“Oh. I thought maybe something happened.” She then walked away and presumed to carry out the task I had given her to do. And that was that.

It’s not the first time someone’s commented on my hearing impairment. Usually it has to do with my speech, as they try to place where my “accent” is from. I’ve had someone ask if there is such a thing as being “legally deaf,” like “legally blind,” and whether I would be considered “legally deaf.” I don’t know about that one.

Image from http://www.imdb.com

I’ve been watching “Switched at Birth,” an ABCFamily show, on Netflix, and I am fascinated with the conversations in ASL. They recently aired an episode this season that was completely in ASL, with no dialogue except for the first and last scenes. It was really cool. I also can resonate a lot with some of the struggles and barriers that come up for Daphne, the main deaf character. In the most recent episode I watched, she went on several interviews for jobs in restaurants, but they were all hesitant to hire her when they found out she was deaf (she can communicate very well and read lips well). One of her interviewers asked where she was from (Russia?) because of her “accent,” and I could totally relate!

The show makes me want to learn ASL again! I took a few classes when I was younger and then took it as my foreign language in high school. I recognize several of the signs from the show, but I don’t have the courage to begin signing around others.

Maybe if I start signing, the students will really think I’m deaf!