Juiced.

I have always loved fruits and veggies but I swear I would buy them & then they end up going bad, instead of eaten. I wouldn't consider myself an overly healthy or unhealthy person; I eat what I want, when I want. Luckily what I want is not always a hamburger & fries (I actually have realized I really am not a fan of red meat, & never have been). I go through phases where I eat really healthy and workout a lot & then I go through phases where I don't really follow any specific diet.

Recently I noticed a friend posting their #juiceoftheday that would consist of wonderful fruits and veggies all juiced into what looked like delicious swamp juice. Swamp juice? Delicious? Right... I began to really consider buying a juicer & at first when I looked at them, one on the cheaper side was around $80, which I wasn't sure was worth it. I figured I'd just start eating more fruits & veggies. I finally splurged one day while at Target. I'm not sure what it is about that place but I never feel buyers remorse after easily spending $100 there... every time. I know I'm not the only one either! After I bought it I couldn't wait to raid the produce section at the store. I bought Kale, rainbow chard, carrots, apples, cucumber, beets, loads of spinach, pineapple, mango, & a whole handful of other green goodies. The only remorse I am feeling now is the fact that I didn't buy more because now that I have been juicing the past 4 days I am running out of veggies! Buying a juicer was quite possibly one of the best investments I could have made & my body is already thanking me. Before I started juicing I would have to have some sort of caffeine in the morning. I would push snooze about 20 times, put on my makeup half asleep while downing a cup of coffee, & on the way out the door grab a diet coke to drink while I was on my way to work. Mind you this is at about 8 AM & I already am on my second form of caffeine. Later in the day I would hit that wall & need another pick me up. I'd swing by the cafeteria to grab an Amp energy drink & that would hold me over until I'd crash soon after I was done with my work day. This is a very extreme case & I wouldn't always do this every day, but there was always some sort of caffeine in my system to wake me up. I didn't even plan on juicing to give up these things but since I have been juicing I just so happened to not even crave or need anything else to give me energy. The nutrients I get from the juice give me so much energy & it's REAL energy. I'm so happy I started juicing & I definitely would recommend it to anyone that is interested in it too. Even just adding the green juice to your normal daily routine will give you more nutrients.

A few things I have learned since I started juicing:
- Cucumbers are GREAT for juicing because they provide so much juice. Make sure if you are using a cucumber that is NOT organic, that you peel the skin off. If it IS organic then you can put the whole thing in, skin & all.
- Drink the juice as soon as possible after juicing it.
- Making extra and storing it isn't the best idea, but if you DO decide to store some for later, make sure you put it in an airtight jar, filled as high as possible to the top to make sure there is as little air as possible. The extra air oxidizes the juice & causes it to not have as many nutrients as it does when you first juice it. Also think about when you cut an apple & it starts to turn brown...
- When you juice put mostly greens/vegetables & not as much fruit. The fruit contains a lot of sugar & should be added to add a little flavor to your green juice.


A wonderful documentry to watch about juicing is now streaming on Netflix instant. It's called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. WATCH & LEARN!

I will continue to share any tips that I find helpful for beginning juicers & welcome any tips from YOU as well! I think I already have added one of the more expensive juicers to my want list. LOVE!

XOXO, Rixxyy