It’s crazy me with my crazy green juice again.
I was thinking this morning about why I drink this juice most mornings of the week. I want to be fit and healthy, but I also want to hold on to my remaining shreds of youth for as long as I can.
Maxine was born when I was 27, and it was about that time I started to notice how old my body was feeling. Achy and tired, I blamed it on my second pregnancy. When I still wasn’t feeling like my old young self after her 1st birthday – and the big 3 – 0 creeping ever closer – I knew it was time to get down to business. I wanted to lose weight. Oh right, of course I did. It was only my New Years Resolution for close to the last dozen years. This time though, something was different. I realized it was more than getting into my skinny jeans. I wanted to feel good again.
So I finally did it. I lost the weight I’d always wanted to lose. I ran a marathon. I felt good in my skin. No more achy joints, unexplained muscle soreness or pains. I now sleep better, feel happier and more satisfied with my day to day life than ever before. Confident enough to post a picture of myself in a sports bra first thing in the morning with my camera on my bed head. This didn’t just happen by chance. (Although admittedly the picture was pretty of spur of the moment.) Bitch slap me if you must, but it’s no coincidence that I’ve moved away from the Standard American Diet and focused my diet around whole foods.
Now it’s all about fighting the hands of time. Thanks to The Raw Foods Detox Diet I’ve come realize the fountain of youth lies within a plant based diet. The fact that it makes maintaining my healthy weight effortless is just money in the bank. So yeah, that would be me knocking people over to push my way to the front of the line for green juice.
I’m still only at the beginning of Thrive because lord help me I get to read about one page before someone comes screaming into the room buck naked demanding my attention. From the introduction of alone he reaffirms my beliefs of the power of food and how a plant based diet can slow the aging process. Ummm, yeah, hand over the sign up sheet for that.
After some green juice reflection (thank you Erin) and pondering the reasons I suck down green juice faster than you can strip off your clothes and run naked into my living room, I set up camp to do a some yoga. Stretched out and centered, I enjoyed the continued peace and serenity with my white peach as the naked screamers slept late this morning.
Who needs botox and eye cream when you’ve got green juice? Bottoms up, here’s to keeping my body as young and immature as my mind.
If you’ve changed your eating habits, what factors motivated you? What differences have you noticed in yourself on your own journey toward health and wellness?
Good for your Alison! You are such an inspiring Lady
You make me laugh so much! “…screaming into the room buck naked demanding my attention…” ahhaa.
Love it.
That picture of you is AWESOME as well – and good thinking batman – balancing the camera on your head for minimised shakiness!
Once I started eating better I notice reams more energy. I feel strong and awesome. Although weirdly my skin is way worse than it used to be which is NOT in line with my thinking of what eating well is meant to do for you! Maybe I should just smear cheetos on my face?
Have an awesome Friday!
Okay, I was looking forward to one of your quick, funny, witty, morning “pick me up” posts. You know, the ones that make me smile and marvel at how brilliant you are! 😉
But what do you do instead? You write about the topic that has practically consumed me for the past weeks (so much so that I can’t even write about it on my own blog….). But, now that you ask me, I feel like I can write a book on this topic, but don’t worry, I won’t… Not on your post anyway… 😉
Okay, so first of all, age is so much a thing of perspective. From where I’m looking, 30 is soooo young…
Second, I do try to eat healthy foods for so many reasons: weight maintenance, gallstone “maintenance” – well, they don’t go away, so I try to keep them “happy,” keeping up with the toddler – I don’t want to be one of “those old moms”, all the little aches and pains, sagging skin…
I have been making a very conscious effort to cut out processed food out of my diet, (but I still eat some processed foods once in a while). I’m also eating lots of fruits and veggies (I really always have). I eat some meat and fish, but make sure it’s organic and humanely raised.
And I actually think I look younger. (The other day, someone thought the teenager and I were the toddler’s parents; I’m sure she was half blind, but hey, I get what I can! The teenager, on the other hand, was quite horrified by this incident!).
Where I’m REALLY struggling, is what to do with all my “knowledge” of The Raw Detox Diet. How far do I want to take it eventually… What works for me… I constantly find myself thinking “you are mis-combining” or “you shouldn’t eat this.” And I haven’t even “officially” started to follow the book… I think I just have to take a step back and relax… What I’m doing right now really isn’t that bad… I have to remember that…
Okay, I have sooooo much more to say, but I’ll stop… Sorry for the REALLY long comment… And yes, I don’t make a lot of sense. That’s what my brain looks like right now on this topic… But you are the one who asked! 😉
Happy Friday!
You are BEAUTIFUL. If only I could look that good without makeup. Stunning girl, stunning!!!
“Bottoms up, here’s to keeping my body as young and immature as my mind.” Love this quote! I may have to steel that one, cause that’s one of my goals in life right now. 😉
Being healthy for me has meant feeling freedom. Freedom from disordered eating patterns and unhealthy obsessions.
I think MY reasons for joining the raw food movement are the same as you Alison. Except I am staring 40 in the face…just had my second and last baby and suffered 30 VERY draining and difficult years….Finally felling like the ME that I always knew was inside me wants OUT and to be free. But eating and living like i WAS wasn’t getting me there and accomplishing my weight and energy goals…with “help” like Ephedra and Hydroxycut…(which I used to be addicted too) was NOT an option.
SoI left behind my old “healthy cooking” ideals (because like Andrea..and Andrea, I could have written your comments verbatim) and I decided eating ALL or mostly raw was definitely an amazing lifestyle.
I just did not know how hard it would be to fit it in with the family, my job and lifestyle. How so many of my family would be FREAKED out by it, AND how much I would love it! So many mixed up crazy feelings in one type of diet eh?
I am an “all or nothing” kinda gal and jumped in I did. and get back out I needed too, and now I am slowly treading the water. my attachments to say, grilled cheese and gnoochi is too strong and I have had to learn to give myself some room to grow in this area of my life too (like all the others)
so that’s it. and I mostly want to reclaim some years I lost because life gave me a TON of hurdles to overcome and that drained my sensitive soul a bit too much.
CHEERS and here’s to GREEN JUICE and RAW meals!
LOVE today’s post (as always)
You’re Gawjess!! Even first thing in the morning with a camera on top of your bed head….yes! LOL!
Well, I’m feeling the age creeping up on me. I’ll be turning 46 OCT 2nd of this year….yowzers! And it doesn’t help that I have extra fat hanging on my body to slow me down and cause much of the aches and pains I feel.
But that’s a changin, I’m eating clean, wholesome foods (yea, I still sneak a little bad stuff..shhh, don’t tell..haha…that I gotta quit doin), drinking pure fresh water, and getting in 5-6 days of exercise in each week. The weights coming off, slowly but surely, and my body is feeling such a relief from it all. This gal isn’t going down without a fight. I’m gonna live the rest of my life eating healthy, exercising daily, and looking young because of it……. 😀 😀
You make me laugh! hah, love it.
Being healthy and eating less processed foods for me mean a healthier life. I want to be on this earth a long time damnit, and I want to make sure that happens!
Damn girl!! Look at those buff biceps!! Mama is a hot tamale. I can’t wait until I can post pictures of myself in sports bra mode! (well I could, but then I might have a panic attack and that’s never good).
I am so stoked that you linked to my blog! This day just keeps getting better and better!
I love your thoughts and post and why you keep on drinking that green juice. And I love the responses people have written! Reflection is so important – daily, weekly, monthly, whenever.
I was motivated to change because this is not the true me – and I keep finding her, little bits by bits, through exercising and eating well and treating my body right! A healthy body is a happy body, and a happy Big Girl!
And thanks for reading my blog – even if I decided to change my name (which I didn’t, you’re so right – I love me some big girl).
you are stunning and buff and all the good stuff that people above me said. i like what you said abotu feeling good. there is more to eating healthy and working out than looking good. feeling good is even a better reward. my mom recently whipped her 56 year old butt into shape with me and she says she feels better than she has in over a decade. a bunch of her health issues vanished! i love eating clean, and when i don’t i feel it in my insides and know something is not right. there is something to this healthy living concept!
great post alison!!
You are fit, fabulous and the picture of health. Thank you for your inspiration and for sharing a picture of yourself in its make-up-less pure and clean form. You are beautiful.
Your story is so much like mine! I used to follow diets and they never worked. I just eat whole foods now and I’m the smallest I ever have been!
What a great pic :-), I’m so enjoying reading your posts as i found your blog on this new journey of mine to healthier living.
I thought I was healthy already, Vegetarian for almost 12 years. When I first switched to Vegetarian, I lost weight, my blood levels changed, all my medical problems went away and I felt great.
Fast forward almost 12 years and I was comfortable, complacent… Until I realized I was gaining weight steadily starting aches and pains, headaches, sinus infections creeping back… Getting out of breath easily, and just having a hard time with feeling good… I was eating Vegan cookies, cupcakes, any recipe I saw, I would challenge myself to Vegan’ise it. Since I was never a calorie counter, it never dawned on me how bad even Vegan foods can be with eating too many.
So I started on this raw food journey… A little bit at a time and My Husband is hopping on the bandwagon by default… My little guy is also trying more and more new things.
The green smoothie is our friend.
Its been a wonderful thing!!