My New Juicer

After years of reading about the benefits of juicing I finally committed and bought my first juicer this month. I bought a Breville BJE200XL 700 Watt Compact Juice Fountain on Amazon for $99 including free shipping. (It is currently listed at $90). I decided on this juicer because of the excellent ratings and reviews and suggestions by friends over on the Crazy, Sexy, Cancer site. It is really one of the best purchases I've ever made for preparing food. I've posted some pictures below.













This morning I juiced 2 pears, an apple and a handful of grapes










The juicer is stainless steel and plastic and can juice fruit whole, no slicing or peeling required. Cleaning is easy with 5 removable parts for a quick cleanup.













Ingredients listed above made about 1 1/2 cups of pure juice.













The leftover pulp is as dry as sand. There is zero pulp in the juice.










Every morning I experiment with a new combination of fruits and vegetables. Tomorrow I am trying a recipe for a cucumber, spinach, apple and mint juice. I'm also going to start adding some fresh wheat grass. Honestly I can't think of an easier or faster way to get your needed dose of fruits and veggies. If you don't juice, I highly recommend you start.

Gotta any New Years resolutions?

Of course I do too, just wondering how long I'm going to stick by them.
In no particular order are a few of my more important ones:
1. Learn to cook
2. Stop swearing (broken on January 1, ah well... it was too f*cking hard)
3. Try to use the phone more, or at least Skype those I love to talk more than email
4. Cut back on the booze (do I really need that glass of wine?)
5. Love more easily
6. Give more
7. Stop procrastinating
8. Walk and water myself more
9. Travel (studying at Oxford in England in May,Spain in October, LA and San Francisco for fun, Florida and Colorado for family, Ireland for my soul)
10. Take more risks (new job, new opportunities...who knows?)

The Vitamin Shoppe

One of my new favorite shops is the local Vitamin Shoppe which is conveniently located a few stores down from my neighborhood Trader Joes. Quick and healthy shopping without having to drive all over town. Last night I went in looking for a new multivitamin (one without gelatin) and ended up happily browsing for 30 minutes. Not only does The Vitamin Shoppe have a mind boggling selection of vitamins and supplements but they also have a great selection of healthy snacks and bath and body products. The Burt's Bees items were cheaper than my local Target and Walgreen's so I stocked up on the items I haven't been able to find elsewhere like the Burt's Bees Radiance Night Creme with Royal Jelly (from honeybee's!).
Check out The Vitamin Shoppe's website here:

Yummy Food for the Soul

So after today's difficult workout, I've stopped crying which is a good thing, I am regenerating with some yummy foods.
I started out with good and hearty Irish oatmeal this morning at 7 am with a teaspoon of natural honey and a handful of raspberries and blueberries. After my workout I made a delicious 4 eggwhite scramble with feta cheese and green peppers with a slice of Irish brown bread and Kerrygold Irish butter and a banana. I'm already feeling better and am almost ready to start packing for Las Vegas.
After spending some quality time in Ireland over the last 2 years I am completely addicted to a few Irish food items and a shipment of my favorites arrived at my home yesterday. Every day I have 2-3 cups of Lyon's Tea which I buy from the Food Ireland website here: http://www.foodireland.com/
I also enjoy good brown bread and Food Ireland has a delicious selection which they ship to you within 2 days.
I've always been an egg addict and love a good hard boiled egg soaked for days in a jar of leftover pickle juice. "Pickled eggs" are a Southern favorite and I grew up eating them along with pickled pigs feet in Florida (way before I went vegetarian). Near my family home in Gulfport Florida the local convenience store had large jars of pickling pigs feet and eggs on the deli counter and they were a cheap and delicious treat on a hot summer day. There is no way one of those feet would cross my lips now, but I still love pickled eggs. My healthier eating habits have me losing the yoke and enjoying the whites, but the taste remains the same.
I gotta go pack for Vegas, I'll be taking my own oatmeal and tea for the mornings and hopefully can find a healthy buffet for the mornings after our late nights.

Back to the Grind

Well after having Friday and Monday off due to working Saturday and Sunday, I am back to the grind at work and eagerly awaiting my trip to Las Vegas in 3 days.
Trainer Troy is teaching me to box, which we worked on this morning and has me eating oatmeal EVERY MORNING! Apparently as a veggie, I am not getting enough protein and amino acids. So oatmeal and egg whites it is!
After getting the kid off to school this morning, he left the TV on to MTV and some show called The Hills was on. I couldn't look away, it was like a train wreck involving all the popular kids in high school. Fake jobs, fake problems, fake boobs, it just went on and on and because the episode was in Las Vegas I watched the entire episode. I was seriously dumber after watching but completely enjoyed picturing the stupid girl Heidi and the annoying girl Lauren's faces while hitting my trainers gloves. They did go to a cool looking nightclub I may have to check out this weekend though...

Losing my mind and...

hopefully my "wobbly bits" (in the words of Bridget Jones).
This morning I signed up to work with a personal trainer 2x a week starting next week. Over the last 3 years I have completed a 6 month boot camp class, worked with a female personal trainer for a few months in 2006 and tried various yoga and pilates studios, but I still haven't built up my cardio. Until I met Troy today. Troy is my fitness Master for the next 6 weeks. Not needing to lose weight my trainer will instead teach me how to increase my endurance, flexibility and strength and to maintain my fitness goals. My biggest goal is to enter my first mini triathlon next summer (1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride and 3.1 mile run).
Each day I have to write down everything I eat and drink and try to finish 4 liters of water a day! I will have to live vicariously through my Bridget Jones' DVDs for awhile.

Mark Darcy: (Bridget gets out of bed covered in a sheet and begins to fumble around) "What on Earth are you doing?"
Bridget Jones: "Getting dressed."
Mark Darcy: "Why're you dancing around in that tent business?"
Bridget Jones: "Because I don't want you to see any of my wobbly bits."
Mark Darcy: "Well now that's a bit pointless isn't it. As I happen to have a very high regard for your wobbly bits. In all circumstances."
Bridget Jones: (Bridget's head emerges from the sheet) "Really?"
Mark Darcy: "Absolutely. I think it's high time we had another look."
(Bridget drops the sheet on the floor)