A reader of my blog recently asked me: "How'd you lose that first 40 pounds?" For me the keys were: smaller portions and the addition of veggie juice(s) to my diet. Yes, some exercise here and there too, but those two changes helped me immensely. I haven't juiced in awhile, so I thought I'd make some this weekend and post up the recipe. My two favorites are: Mean Green (full of kale, spinach, parsley, lemon, & apple) and Homemade V8 (recipe to follow). Just LOOK at how pretty and colorful that bowl full of veggies is!!
The thing about juicing is that it takes time. Time to shop and make sure you have all the necessary ingredients. Time to gather them all. Time to chop them up (the better juicer you have the less you have to chop b/c it can handle bigger pieces). Time to juice it. And my least favorite, time to clean up afterwards.
I timed myself today and it took exactly 24 minutes from start to finish.
Because of that, I try to make double (or triple) batches, so that at least I feel my efforts are worth it!
Here is the Homemade V8 recipe:
4 Plum Tomatoes
1 Large Cucumber
1 Red or Orange Bell Pepper
1/4 small Red Onion
1 cup Parsley - leaves & stems
1 Lime
*Note - there is NO SALT in this recipe!! Normal store bought v8 is LOADED with salt. How much salt???? Twice as much as McDonald's french fries to be exact!! WOW!! But this homemade version has none and yet still tastes amazing! Fresh, natural, loaded with vitamins, and sooooooooo good for you... yes, please!
**Also Note - this tastes better chilled (imho)
Here's my juice halfway through juicing (look at those rainbow colors!)
And the finished product. This double batch made 50 ounces! More than enough for 2 large servings... I drank half with lunch; the other half I'll take to work tomorrow. (As I've said before: It tastes better than it looks!)
So for lunch today, I had a serving of this Homemade V8, plus 2 ham/hummus roll-ups, that were DELICIOUS! I discovered this really amazing Edamame Hummus at a local market, and it is a-mazing. My ham/hummus roll-ups were only 170 calories total and packed in a whopping 16 grams of protein!
A reader of my blog recently asked me: "How'd you lose that first 40 pounds?" For me the keys were: smaller portions and the addition of veggie juice(s) to my diet. Yes, some exercise here and there too, but those two changes helped me immensely. I haven't juiced in awhile, so I thought I'd make some this weekend and post up the recipe. My two favorites are: Mean Green (full of kale, spinach, parsley, lemon, & apple) and Homemade V8 (recipe to follow). Just LOOK at how pretty and colorful that bowl full of veggies is!!
The thing about juicing is that it takes time. Time to shop and make sure you have all the necessary ingredients. Time to gather them all. Time to chop them up (the better juicer you have the less you have to chop b/c it can handle bigger pieces). Time to juice it. And my least favorite, time to clean up afterwards.
I timed myself today and it took exactly 24 minutes from start to finish.
Because of that, I try to make double (or triple) batches, so that at least I feel my efforts are worth it!
Here is the Homemade V8 recipe:
Here's my juice halfway through juicing (look at those rainbow colors!)
And the finished product. This double batch made 50 ounces! More than enough for 2 large servings... I drank half with lunch; the other half I'll take to work tomorrow. (As I've said before: It tastes better than it looks!)
So for lunch today, I had a serving of this Homemade V8, plus 2 ham/hummus roll-ups, that were DELICIOUS! I discovered this really amazing Edamame Hummus at a local market, and it is a-mazing. My ham/hummus roll-ups were only 170 calories total and packed in a whopping 16 grams of protein!
Do you think you could try veggie juice?