Juicing
My highest weight was 254. Before I stopped smoking - knowing that I was likely to gain weight afterwards - I went back to eating like I had as an athletic kid, including fresh raw juice. At 218, I just stopped smoking. ("Just" = it wasn't when I planned to stop, the time, as they say, seemed right.) Shortly after I was topping out the scale again. (Transfer addictions, usually more subtle than this, and I go way back.)
Anyway:
Dude. Juice is amazing. It is for me, anyway, because I'm farkin' five about some foods and no-way-no-how is something I don't like getting past my palate's Gandalf. Cooked cabbage family vegetables? You shall not pass.
I feel amazing when I am drinking juice. I look amazing when I am drinking juice. (And, obviously - or I hope it's obvious, we're not talking apple or orange juice here - I'm talking carrot and kale, spinach and parsley.)
I am looking forward to being able to add juice back in.
I get that we can all be highly "territorial" - perfectly willing to share space but protective and even defensive - about The Yellow Brick Road that worked for us.
I want juice on my road. That's a me thing. If it is different from a you thing?
Well, yeah. Me. You. Even spelled differently.
If I get to the juice point and discover that for any of a variety of reasons it isn't working for me anymore - I will reevaluate. (And I will be hella disappointed.) For now I have every intention of adding my beloved juices back.
Oh, and another thing: Juice isn't a pleasure trigger for taste for me. I don't actually like the taste - I tolerate it. I damned sure didn't get round by making foods I "tolerate" part of my life plan. I do, however, get serious pleasure from how my body feels when I juice. (Oh, the difference between "want" and "need" and the long miles between them. I've spent years bouncing back and forth between them - part of the whole point of dropping ten grand on partial amputation of an innocent organ is the help in spending more time on the fidelity side of the line when Need and Want are diametrically opposed.) Listening to my body is, most assuredly, part of my life's plan today.
Sara
If you have a Trader Joe's near by you can get their Garden Patch vegetable juice. It's really tasty, fairly low in sodium and carbs. I drink a glass as a snack just to get some veggies in and frankly just to get that veggie taste that I miss since I can't really fit too many veggies in my diet right now. I'm 3 months out and have lost 76 lbs so apparently it hasn't harmed my weight loss. I should add that I'm not a real carb watcher at this point and am doing just fine, but would start to watch the carbs if it becomes necessary. I guess you just have to try and see what works for you. Hope you get to enjoy your veggie juice, I know I do. Good luck to you.
