Camila's Comeback!

Camila said:
This morning I was upset at myself. I hadn't replenished my fridge for juicing so I stopped and got an organic kombucha ginger tea. The stuff tastes vaguely reminiscent of vinegar but I gulped it down. It helped give me some perspective. As I sat there in my car wincing at every sip, I realized that my attitude was starting to change about this entire journey. I realized that my relationships didn't make me gain weight, that I made myself gain weight. The weight gain was my reaction to a negative situation.

Can I change my mind that radically to finally allow myself to experience a healthy, happy life? My determination to prove that I can had been renewed.

Happy Monday, everyone :)
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Awesome post, Camila. God, I wish I was half as self-aware at your tender age. Like with most things in life, cognizance of a problem is the first step to remedying it. You're right: NOBODY has the power to make you choose poorly. That's yours to own. People can influence us negatively like that only if we allow them to. Knowing now that you have in the past allowed unhealthy food and other poor health choices to "calm" you during those storms, you need to find a healthier alternative when similarly stressful occasions arise. Believe it or not, some people go for a run or go play racquetball when they're stressed or sad! Crazy! ;)

Keep up your efforts! You are doing a fantastic job and you're setting the path for others to follow.
 
Sunflower, thank you! Your words are so kind :) Trust me, the number of pounds I want to shed might not be very high but I still have a rough time. I feel like it makes it easier to get off track...because I rationalize just that "I can pick it up next week...I'll be fine..." nope! Thanks for reading, I really appreciate the encouragement!

Don - Thank you! Haha, I am almost 24 (does not feel 'young' to me anymore but I realize that I have to appreciate it while it is here!). Maybe you could call it a quarter-life crisis? Haha. I have my first 'real' job, am just now getting used to not being a broke college student, and have been feeling really responsible lately paying all my bills, paying off loans, juggling work/social life/healthy living. Don't get me wrong, I really like the life I've made for myself, and I seriously *do* like my job. Haha, I don't know. But lately the reality of 'real life' has been hitting me harder. I feel like I have to work harder at everything...my job, my social life, my relationship, my health...etc. because I do not want to lose any of it! I guess I see why it is easy to push my health aside. I've been thinking a lot about how to deal with stress in healthier ways. I think that I have come to some thoughts about that which I will get into below.

So today was really interesting. Work was alright. No real crazy stuff. All of our executives are at a conference this week so that leaves me a bit more relaxed than last week.

I was 1.5 lbs back up this week ago my weigh-in. I hate to admit that but it is what it is. It's going to happen now and then. In a way I see it as a test. Normally at this point I would give up. I'd think "gosh darn it I screwed up the last few days," and dive deeper into that hole. Which brings me to this:

Routine...or perhaps structure?...is a necessity for me. I like to go to my two grocery stores at least once a week. For some reason food shopping as become oddly therapeutic for me. I feel power and control in decided what I am going to put in my body for the next weeks. Beyond that, finding new recipes is another great stress reliever for me. I used to be SO intimated by cooking. All of the healthy recipes I found had a billion obscure ingredients that I could not rationalize affording. But I stopped rationalizing and started experimenting! Things do not always turn out perfect...but I am learning and getting tons better.

Wow, sorry for the ramble, haha! I hate the feeling of being away from the place for too long. You all keep me incredibly motivated, focused, and of course you keep me smiling! So the scale may be up this week for the weigh-in. Life happens. Poor choices happen. It's when I allow them to pile up on each other that real problems being.

Tonight, I tried a new creation: Curried quinoa wrap. I've been craving curry for awhile now so I made this recipe to try out and hopefully use as a lunch. Now...it turned out pretty good. I think the recipe I used called for way too much salt, so I'd modify that next time. Honestly though? It was everything else that was mind blowing. I've attached two pictures that show what went into the wraps. The first is a green pea, onion, and cashew mix that went right into the quinoa, and the second is "citrus slaw" consisting of avocado, lemon/orange juice, carrots, and baby spinach. I think they both turned out beautifully and when everything was combined the taste was really nice.

View attachment 20536View attachment 20537

Anyways, back to juicing tomorrow. Hope you all have had a great Monday!

~Camila~
 
Hey you! You are doing great! & I love your food!! haha - this is the 3rd day of my juice fast...& i m not hungry but when I look at food - I just start daydreaming lol!
Anyway. I love grocery shopping too! I always did! My habits changed though a lot in the past few years - it makes me somehow feel empowered knowing that what I buy is good for me. I mean looking at my cart full of vegetables & fruits - just gives me pride!! :)
By the way I saw you had kombucha the other - I usually buy the one with mango puree. First it did taste weird and I didn't finish it - but by now I have acquired a taste for it.
Back to your food - looks yum! INteredted in the curry wrap recipe - if you may pass it to me? I am allergic to avocado for 2 years now sadly - so I can't have that.
You know the quinoa burger recipe is still on my menu - i was gonna prepare it last week - but we didn't have onion! I had all the other ingredients ready to go. & now I m juicing - so I ll put it on the menu for next week!
 
Justina - You are doing absolutely fantastic. Lots to be proud of. I'd have a cheeseburger in my hands like a madwoman by now lol. That sense of pride and empowerment when grocery shopping is seriously addictive. It's also become my 'calming' place...haha. Kombucha...I can see acquiring a taste for it. But at first it was just like...vinegar haha. Also, the curry wrap recipe is on its way! I hope you eventually get to have the quinoa burger...sooo good. I cannot wait to make more!

Today was...well. Stressful. Nor surprise there.

Juiced in the morning which was great, then wanted to eat bad food at lunch. I literally contemplated going to get a sub full of processed meat, mayo, cheese...everything. I fought that craving and instead had my quinoa wrap.

I was feeling really stressed out after work and just wanted to binge. I wanted pizza, cheeseburgers, anything. I had planned on having salmon...that did not appeal to me. I walked around sort of panicking for a few minutes (lol) before I said, "Fine, if you want to splurge, you are going to pay for it. Literally. And it won't be a splurge."

So, I went to my local natural foods store and got a rather small margherita pizza for $9.00. The pizza itself is low sodium, gluten-free, vegan, and made with mostly organic ingredients. I could eat the entire pizza and not go over my daily calories. And it is sooo good. It completely satisfies my pizza craving and I don't have to kick myself for it later.

So I feel okay about that. As for the salmon...I've decided to make it to throw in a salad for lunch tomorrow.

But seriously...what is with the cravings?? I literally have not had a problem with cravings since I started this journey. Why now? It is so frustrating. Probably because I let myself cheat a lot this weekend. Grr. I must get back on track. I really feel it will take me awhile.

Scale was down from the other day to 152. If I can stay even at 151 for Saturday weigh-in, I will be more than pleased.

I guess this is my first rut haha. But I will not give up, seriously. I have to keep doing this, even if it takes a month to get below 150. How have you guys dealt with ruts yourselves? I know I'm not the only one to ever experience this. Any help, insight, or tips would be appreciated. ;)

Food
Morning: Juice (kale, celery, apple, lemon, carrot)
Lunch: Quinoa wrap
Dinner: Healthy-ish pizza? :)

Exercise
Going to try a new class tonight. Not sure what yet but it is on the list!

Water
Getting there!


~Camila~
 
I hope your cravings get better. I haven't had any that were too bad yet, but I expect it'll happen sooner or later. I think your solution with that ass-expensive pizza was great. A reasonably healthy way to satisfy your craving, but not completely derail you.
 
Great idea with the pizza--think I will try that. If I want something that badly I have to drag my ass to the shop and hopefully by the time I get there I've thought it through. I usually get cravings like that when a) my food for dinner that I've planned isn't exciting b) when I've not eaten enough between lunch and dinner so I'm staaaarving by the time I get home from work.

Well done on getting the low-cal stuff lovely! Hope the class is good xx :auto:
 
Hey Camila! I'm just starting to read through your diary.... I've got some catching up to do, but I have to say that pizza sounds great. I'll admit that I always have an "emergency pizza" in my freezer, and I always feel so terrible about myself after I resort to that. Your pizza, on the other hand, sounds great. I'm going to have to search out some better options now. Thanks for the inspiration!
 
Oh wow that pizza was expensive!! Good for you to buy a healthy one. We ocassionally buy organic pizza from kroger - it under $5 - & it's a decent size too.
We all get cravings sometimes. Besides you balanced it well with juicing in the morning! You did well!! Ocassional "healthy" treat is not bad.
Besides - i know it's not the same, but hear me out. I was in Italy for six weeks eating pizza, pasta, gelato. :p & lost 9lbs!!!!
OK i must say in Rome - i mostly walked everywhere!!! & I guess ingredients were more natural there. But you bought organic too. Good for you. :)
 
Cory - Yes the pizza was sad expensive but so worth it. I thought I'd end up hating it but it was so good!

Sunflower - Thanks! I really have to try and be more in tune with what causes these cravings!

Laura - Thanks! The brand of this pizza was Amy's. Seriously yummy!

Justina - So you're saying I need to convince the BF that we need to go to Rome to keep up my health? ;) haha! It is amazing what walking can do!

Sooo....Justina has inspired me to do a juicing reboot!! She has done amazing so far and I've thought about it for a Long time...seeing her determination has been incredibly motivating! I originally planned on starting tomorrow night, but I woke up this morning feeling like I needed to start today! I plan to do 3-4 days maybe depending on how I feel. I'm not doing it so much for weight loss...I think I need this mentally right now.

This morning I woke up, had hot water with lemon and made an orange "breakfast" juice as the Reboot plan prescribes: 4 carrots, 2 apples, 1 lemon. It was really pretty but holy sweet!! I'm not used to having sweet juices anymore but after a few sips I got used to it. I felt really almost jittery after, but now I just feel awake.

Now I am sipping between regular water and coconut water. I got a bottle of Zico coconut water just to try since the Reboot plan suggests it. Ehhhh. The taste is really a bit odd. I actually prefer the aftertaste. Ha!

Anyways, I will be back to update later on. Mentally I feel strong right now...hopefully it lasts.


Camila
 
Hey wow!! You are doing it! That's awesome!! I am a bit worried since you are doing it at work - and I know how hectic it can get for you ! First day was the hardest for me. You have my support!!
Which plan are you using by the way? I was just randomly selecting recipes from the "Recipes" section of the website! I try to add more veggies in the second part of the day..
Right now I m having pineapple, ginger & orange - sooo yummy!!

Coconut water is good - i don't really like the taste - I just mix it with water - tastes better!

Keep us posted!! Good luck!!

oh, and yeah - you should definitely convince your boyfriend to take you to Rome - lol :)
 
Justina - work is actually pretty easy for me in terms of food. I have many times gone with just fresh juices and tea until dinner. I'm so busy at work that I barely have time toget hungry. Sounds worse than it is haha...I do eat! I'm actually hoping the Reboot helps me reset and makes eating lunch easier.

As for my plan, I am just using the Reboot w/ Joe outline from the site. He lays out when the drink what kinds of juice. Morning - Orange, midday/lunch/dinner - green, dessert - purple etc...and then the PDF lists juices for each colors. It's not in front of me at the moment but if you go to the Plans section on his site it is all in there.

I hope I can make it the entire time... Haha. You may see me back here in 24 hrs complaining.
 
Hey yes, I checked it out. The 15 day plan, right? the middle section! That's the one I originally picked too. Just way too many things are not available right now - e.g. cherries! they soon be in season - can't wait!!
You can totally make it!! You are disciplined enough!!
 
Justina - I stuck with the 5 day plan, haha. I did not even consider looking at the others...oops! I am feeling pretty good so far, so we will see! Thanks for the inspiration and encouragement!

Day 1 is almost over! I actually decided to start the juice reboot right after I ate the pizza last night (lol) so it has been about 24 hours since I've eaten food! And honestly things are going really well.

To recap:

Breakfast:
Carrot/Apple/Lemon Juice
4 carrots, 2 apples, 1 lemon.

Lunch:
Garden Variety
2 apples, 2 cucumbers, 6-8 kale leaves, 1 handful parsley

Snack/Dinner
Green Lemonade
6-8 kale leaves, 3 handfuls spinach, 1 green apple, 1 cucumber, 2 celery stalks, 1 lemon

Dessert
Un-beet-able
1 apple, 1 beet, 3 carrots, small piece of ginger, 3 cups leafy greens


I combined the snack and dinner because...the plan suggests that each juice will make at least 12 ounces of juice. However, I got 22 ounces from each juice! Sweet :) I also tried something new...I had read of other juicers re-juicing their pulp to get more juice. I didn't think I would get much, but I got 2 extra ounces of each juice when I re-juiced the pulp. So that was pretty awesome.

Oh yeah, and the scale was down .5lbs today to 150.5. It is torturous how close I am to being out of the 150s! I think earlier this week I was retaining water from eating foods with high sodium content. I realized how sensitive my body is to salty stuff!

My day was overall pretty good. Got a tiny bit hungry around 10:30, but that subsided with drinking water. The only thing I really noticed was feeling extra jittery...like I'd had tons of coffee, haha!

Anyways, hope you are all having a fantastic week so far!
 
Go you girl! Good job with the pizza yesterday!
You are adding tons of variety! Perfect!
What I meant by 15 day plan is the plan on the website - it contains only 5 days of juicing - all the other plans (5,10) are both eating and juicing. I got some great salad/broth ideas from there for the days after :D
I guarantee you are going to be in the 140s by Saturday!!
Try this: apple , mint & lime!!! for snack - my fave!
 
Justina - The pizza was sooo good. Even tasted better because I did not feel terribly guilty! Apple, mint, and lime...sounds delicious. I think I actually tried something similar awhile back...my memory is fogging haha but either way I want to make it! As for the 140s...Agh I think I might cry when the scale first settles on the 140s. Not even exaggerating!

Just wanted to write another entry real quick. If you ever wonder why I am so long-winded and detailed, it is because I like to leave a chronicle for myself to look back when a. times get tough! b. I have a vague memory of something I liked/disliked or c. When I reach my goal to have a detailed account of how I managed!

Anyways. I never before had much of a problem juicing daily. Meaning the actual labor that goes into juicing. After I first started, I settled into an easy 1 a day routine, drinking juice every morning. But now that I have to consumer nothing but juice, I realize how time consuming the preparation is! So tonight I made a few juices for tomorrow ahead of time. I made:

Breakfast
Sunrise
4 carrots, 2 oranges, 1 beet

Lunch
Garden Variety
2 apples, 2 cucumbers, 6-8 kale leaves, 1 handful parsley

My morning will be much for convenient now...not having to schedule 20 mins for juice preparation and juicer cleaning. I definitely think I am going to adopt this practice full time! So convenient.

Anyways, have a great night everyone!

~Camila~
 
Good luck with the juicing honey--I'm interested to see how you get on. It's not something I've considered but bet you'll get great results :D You were probably jittery from all the sugar (even if it's natural sugar!) in the fruit, maybe? x
 
Sunflower - I definitely considered it was from the sugar! Hopefully it isn't as bad today! Do you juice at all right now? I had always been curious about it, and fasting. Then I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead and eased myself into the juicing 'culture' haha! It's a good way to get into it if you are curious.

So. 1.5 days in....I hopped on the scale this morning....

149!!!!!!!!

It's official, I weigh less now than when I met my boyfriend nearly 2 years ago! :) I also weighed about 5 times out of disbelief...haha! /i have breeched the psychological barrier of the 150s and it feels great!
 
I TOLD YOU!!!! :) Well done!!! :hurray::cheers2::hurray:

I am on Day 5 - will update my diary after visiting everyone's.

Have a good day!
 
Justina - You did! :)...So proud of you for making it all the way through!

Sunflower - Thank you!

Today has been realllllly interesting. Juice fasting. Hmmm. Being now 2 full days into it I have some thoughts and things to report.

On Hunger
So...the hunger issue has been interested. I kind of wavered up and down all day from not being hungry at all to being super hungry. I could not wait to get home and get my hands on some juice. But overall, it did not effect my work negatively. In fact, I had one of the most productive, smooth days I've had in awhile. I drank water and tea between my juices. The second I started drinking the juice, the pangs went away. So it is do-able for now!

On Weight
Obviously, this has been an enjoyable aspect, though who knows if it will stay off. Similar to what Justina said to be in her diary, if I gain a pound or two of this weight back I won't really fret. I'm doing this for a multitude of reasons. But oddly, I feel super bloated this afternoon. Even though I've been hydrating all day with water, juice, and tea, I still feel a bit bloated. I dunno. Maybe this will subside tomorrow!

On Overall Health
This has been the most interesting part. I'm not sure if anything is related to anything but I am sure some of you may remember a few weeks back when I was suffering from a really awful sinus infection. Well, it went away eventually and I figured all was well. Then, this morning I am sitting at my desk doing work, when all of a sudden I feel a bit of a headache coming on. Soon enough it was a full blown sinus headache over my eye/eyebrow, in the exact place I had experienced a few weeks ago. "That's so odd," I thought. "I feel fine otherwise."

Then, the person sitting in the office beside me asked me to explain something. This was the first time I had bothered speaking all morning. I started talking and immediately was caught off guard at how congested I sounded when I was speaking. Thankfully, I'm not actually congested but my voice definitely seems like it. So weird. The symptoms are still hanging around so I suppose I will wait and see! I've head things like that can happen during a fast, where old illnesses or wounds that haven't been healed resurface...I just didn't expect that to happen so early on.

Anyways, yay juicing! Onto day 3. Hope I survive!

(So craving vegetable broth!)

~Camila~
 
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