I’ve been having trouble finding an eating plan that works for me.  The problem is that I work weird hours.  I leave the house at 10 AM and I don’t get back until 7 or 8.  I usually don’t want a meal then.  After some trial and error, I found a plan that seems to be working.

The husband makes smoothies in the morning when he gets up.  It is a banana, some sort of fruit, almond milk, and spinach.

I need a snack of some sort about the time I leave for work.  I’m either having juice or something like carrots.  I have to fight the temptation to just pick something (unhealthy) up on the way.

I get lunch (hopefully) between 2 and 3.  I need to get out of the office.  I like to go to a restaurant and have time to sit and read.  It helps clear my brain from the morning and get me ready to face the public all afternoon.  I’ve tried to cut this out by bringing lunch but going out helps me mentally.  I’ve decided to make this the main meal of my day.  Everything else is smaller and snackier.

After I get home I have something small like juice and/or nuts.

I’ve been doing a lot of juicing lately.  I’ve done juice fasts in the past and I feel great on them.  Then I get out of the habit and don’t feel as good.

juice

Beet, red cabbage, carrot, and orange.

I know that people aren’t always big fans of juicing because it strips out the fiber.  I like it for a few reasons.

  • The argument that you would be better off eating the whole food is misleading.  First of all, you wouldn’t normally eat that volume of food at one sitting.  Second, let’s get real.  The voice in your head isn’t asking, “Hmm, should I juice this or should I cook up the beet and cabbage?”  It is asking, “Should I have juice or a doughnut?”
  • I think of juicing as bathing my body in nutrients.  It is a quick shot of the vitamins and enzymes of produce that I don’t normally eat.  I hate beets but I’m ok with them in juice. I like to count up the number of different fruits and vegetables I’ve had in a day.
  • Liquid diets are good for my body type in Chinese medicine.  My weakness in this system of thought is digestion.  The more easily digestible my food is the better.  Soups, juices, and smoothies are easier for my body to process.  One of the ways of measuring health is by looking at your tongue.  My tongue gets swollen indicating a low chi if I eat junk.  When I juice, the swelling goes down.  This leads to me staring into mirrors admiring my tongue from different angles.  I want to tell people to, “Look at my tongue!  Isn’t it amazing?” but that might be weird.

I don’t use specific juicing recipes.  I just buy what is available and throw it together.  I think of juicing as being a bit like quilting – everything goes together if you mix it up enough.

the veggie nook