Carrots and berries and kale, oh my!

A couple weeks ago, the hubby and I watched a movie about two guys who lost a ton of weight and "got healthy" just by drinking juice from fruits & veggies.  This "juice fast" was all they consumed for 60-days or longer.  They were observed by doctors throughout that time and had blood tests measure important hormone/body chemical levels.  One guy, who started out at almost 430-pounds, dropped his weight by about 200# while simultaneously, getting off a bunch of the meds he was on for various health issues.

The movie was interesting... a bit infomercially (selling the juicer and the book), but it had one point that that really hit home for us...

Raw vegetables are good for you.

That said, neither of us feel we get enough veggies in our diet.  We try, but sometimes we just don't try hard enough.  And we don't eat poorly (I can't tell you the last time we ate at one of the major fast-food places - it has to be close to 10-years), but could we be healthier if we tried to follow the "Strive for 5" lifestyle?

Then we asked the question... should we get a juice extractor and have a veggie-smoothie every day?

I posed this question to my friends on FaceBook.

For the most part, the response was the same... too expensive, too much work.

OKay... sure.
I can see their point.
BUT...

Veggies ARE more expensive than junk food.  If I make this a priority for me, and my health, then I should be able to make it work.  Right?

Too much work?  I don't know.  I didn't have a juicer at that time, so I had no idea what if would be like to process fruits & veggies and then clean up the machine.  Yes, I'm sure it's more work than buying pre-made juice, but it can't be that much less work than cooking up a veggie for dinner.

Long-story-short, I really wanted to try juicing.  When talking with a friend, I found out that she had one that she never used and would be happy to give it to me.  HOORAY!  Now I can "try it before I buy it" (which is awesome, because my research has shown that a decent juicer costs about $200.)

And try it, we did... I went to my local Farmers Market & grocery story and bought Kale, Cucumbers, Apples, Grapes, Carrots, Lemons, Limes, Oranges, Celery, Broccoli, Beets, and Blueberries.  Each day (for the last 4 days) we've taken a mixture of these things and made juice out of them.  We spent a little over $50 on fruits and veggies, I estimate it should last the two of us about a week.

Ya know what??? It's not bad!

Yeah, it looks terrible... swamp green in color.
And yeah, Kale tastes a bit like grass, but it's REALLY good for you (lots of micro-nutrients) and mixed with other stuff, you don't notice it as much as you would if you ate it alone.

Clean-up, too, is easy!  The machine comes apart, you pull out the "pulp" and rinse the components.  That's it.  Leave it on the counter to dry, and you're ready to go the next morning.

So, we're going to keep trying this and see what happens.
Will we feel healthier?  Will we have more energy? Will we lose any weight?
I don't know.

All I know is that I'm taking a step in the right direction to put more nutrient-dense foods in my body... and that's the point, isn't it?

Do you juice?  Got a favorite recipe?  I'd love any feedback you'd like to share.