So my juice for the day was Orange + Carrots + Celery. This concoction came about because I am unable to consume Spinach. During a cleanse, one's digestive system essentially hibernates and instead focuses on cleansing and riding one's body of toxins and all the gunk we have shoved in it for years or however long we have been shoving gunk into our systems. Well, spinach seems to wake my digestive system up not too gently and send it running about dazed and confused which in turn upsets me. The sad thing is I loved the taste of the Spinach + Orange + Basil and thought it would be the juice mix that would see me to the 60+ days finish line. (I just switched to Johnny Cash on Songza and at this time of the night/morning what does he choose to sing? Ain't No Grave!) Part of this cleanse was an opportunity for me to become more positive and so instead of whinging about the fact that I can no longer consume my favorite juice, I decided to find a substitute. While it does not taste as good as the Spinach Orange Basil, it will do. For those who might find the taste of Celery over powering, cucumber may be a good substitute for the celery. And while I did not try the Orange Carrots Celery mix with Basil, I am going to try it tomorrow. I think it needs a little oomph!
Now, I am an avid traveller, a firm believer in the phrase "the world is your oyster" and I am trying to eat as much of said oyster as I can. One of my decisions early this year was to visit someplace new at least twice a month. This was impossible during the first couple of weeks of juicing as I was battling hunger pangs and demons and could concentrate on little less safe trying not to eat my co-workers who were starting to look like food. However, once I got the cravings under control I began making plans for travel and was looking forward to discovering new cities in different ways. This time instead of looking up all the popular restaurants and bars, I would be looking up the juice bars and soup kitchens...kitchens that served broth. I must admit I was very excited about this new way of travel and saw it as an adventure. As all things in life however, the adventure has been peppered with good and bad and like ying and yang, the good has been very good and the bad has been very bad. In the course of this gastronomical adventure, I have also discovered how full of crap restaurants that label themselves as healthy can be. I have discovered that calorie counts are merely suggestions for if food is not measured properly then said calorie count becomes obsolete. I have seen a Peanut Butter Banana smoothie advertised to contain 300 calories made with a a heaping ladle of peanut butter which should not have served at the measuring device. Now, according to most peanut butter jars I have looked at, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter contain between 180 - 200 calories. If you put in what looks like 4 tablespoons and are still to add the banana and the "low fat yoghurt" which looks like ice cream to me, how can the smoothie still claim to contain 300 calories. Basically, what I have learned is that whenever you eat out, you need to question, contest and adjust - question what your are eating and what is in what you are eating, contest the ingredients or portion sizes and adjust intake following a meal eaten out. This journey has made me question any and everything. I have 1000 questions for the person preparing my food and the sad things is that there are usually not enough answers. I refuse to let these 60+ days be in vain, so I am going to do what I have to do to maintain the sanctity of this freshly laundered body. At least on the inside.
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