A pain in the ass (warning - another rant)

big tall glass of "pain in the ass" comin' right up

The other day I was talking about my new found love for juicing with an acquaintance. I'm not a fanatical juicer, I don't exist only on juice but I like to juice as much as I can - I'd say 5 times a week or so.

From everything I've been learning lately, nothing is better for you than a plethora of fruits and vegetables and while I strive to get many in during my day, juicing ensures I get a super-charged amount in that day… and I genuinely like how it tastes!

Anyhoo. So back to my discussion. My friend just kept saying, "Ugh. But what a pain in the ass. It's a pain in the ass to prep the vegetables and clean the thing and why bother… a pain in the ass." "Oh and all that running. I don't have the time (OK get off Facebook for ten minutes, maybe?) and that's just a pain in the ass."

Everything healthy was a big fat pain in the ass.

It annoyed the shit out of me and I've been thinking about it ever since. And not because it isn't a pain in the ass. It is a little bit of a pain in the ass when it comes to scrubbing the (more expensive organic) veggies and cleaning the thing -- but then again, isn't everything kind of a pain in the ass?

I mean, I have a crazy 4 year old. Truthfully, raising kids is a pain in the ass. Life was easier when I had 0 people depending on me. Yeah. Think I'm gonna stop raising that kid. He's a pain in the ass.

And my job. You know what. My job(s) they are a pain in the ass. I'd really rather sleep until 10 AM and then watch the Hoda and Kathy Lee hour and then eat something. So yeah. My job is a pain in the ass, so I'm giving that up. 

Doing the laundry, cleaning the house, putting stuff in the dishwasher, going grocery shopping. Say it with me: Pain. In. The. Ass.

Oh and running. Forget. About. It. What a HUGE pain in the ass that can be ( and sometimes that's quite literal!!)

Come on. This is life, we can embrace stuff or roll our eyes and be bothered by everything. Taking care of our health and protecting it is a privilege we have a duty to ourselves and our family to safeguard it. It's bad enough when people cite legitimate excuses that stand in the way of health like 14 hour work-days, or something but now we are openly admitting that it's just,  "too big of a pain in ass" to wash a vegetable to take care of ourselves? Puhhhleeeeze. 

It's not like you won't have to pay the "pain in the ass toll" somewhere along the way.

You know what really is a pain in the ass? Diabetes. And heart disease and stroke. Injecting insulin shots, losing limbs, getting out of breath crossing a room, needing help to bathe and help to go to the bathroom. These are things that happen when we neglect our health. 

How about saying goodbye to kids, spouse or grand-kids prematurely because it was "too big a pain in the ass" to take care of yourself by cleaning a juicer? Or picking up a pair of sneakers and moving that big pain in the ass, ass of yours.

Sorry to get fired up. I'm just surrounded by excuse makers. AND I'm a guilty excuse maker myself sometimes. I've uttered those words more than a million times in my life. I'm probably most fired up at myself. For all those years that everything was, "too big of a pain in the ass" for me to take healthier steps. Oy. I fight that person everyday and it's a real pain in the ass. ;) 

Oh God. I hope I still have friends after all these rants! First it was the Biggest Loser gang, now I'm on a rant over a juicer comment. I swear I'm pretty cheery usual. I guess I just get it all out here. ;)

So… 

Have you ever wanted to slap an excuse maker in your life?

Do you juice?

What's the biggest pain in the ass for you? Mine is definitely cleaning the house!

I think there might be a new drinking game if you start this blog over and drink to every time the P.I.T.A phrase is mentioned. That's a lot of shots.

XO

Jen

PS: I will continue to lovingly raise my not that big of a pain in the ass son who is lucky he's so damned cute and charming.

A new way of eating

Well after watching the documentary "Hungry For Change" I really did decide to work on changing my ways.

You can read the blog entry about Hungry For Change, here, in case you missed it.

Today was day one (well day 1 1/2 - I kind of started mid-day yesterday) of my newer/cleaner way of eating.

I had been eating relatively clean up until seeing the movie, so it hasn't been that big of a leap. Went to the store and replaced a lot of our stuff with organic versions. Stocked up on produce and organic eggs, hormone free chicken, etc. It was hard for me. I am a coupon queen and a budget shopper. So I had to 'suck up' the fact that the normal eggs were $2 less and the hormone/natural, grass-fed beef was $3 more for the package. (We are worth it, we are worth it, we are worth it.)  I threw out my yellow-packet sweetener, got rid of the 'spray' fake butter, and decided that I'll be aiming to put only good things with identifiable words into my body most of the time.

I also decided to do a little experiment and cut out most gluten the last few days (I'm not being over-the-top with that but got rid of the biggest gluten offenders.)

Last week I went to the doctors for tests because I have a stomach ache every day of my life. Hmmm, no gluten the last 3 days, no stomach ache. Wouldn't be surprised to learn that I do have a little intolerance.

So here's my day. I have to say that I got in triple the vegetable I usually do and I feel pretty awesome.

Breakfast:

1 egg over easy, 1 small sweet potato, left-over fresh green beans, 1tsp. of EVOO, cup of coffee with splash of almond/coconut milk (I know that this is a weird breakfast but I needed a carb-y thing and have cut out my whole grain toast because of the gluten thing.) The green beans? eh, why not?

food photography not my forte

Snack:
1/2 cup of 0% fat greek yogurt / frozen blueberries

6 raw, unsalted almonds (more than six pictured because six looked so lonely on the plate.)

Lunch:
Spring salad mix/sliced strawberries/a few grapes/fresh cilantro/fresh parsley/half cucumber and a few raw/unsalted sunflower seeds. balsamic vinegar + 1 tsp. of EVOO and a small piece of skinless chicken.

juice ingredients

Snack:
Green juice: 2 carrots/2 celery stalks/a few grapes/handful of spinach/cilantro/parsley/cucumber/little piece of ginger

Dinner:
Laura's lean beef hamburger patty, (another) sweet potato, broccoli 1tsp. of EVOO, tomatoes

Snack:
Grapefruit

Lots of food, a few tsps. of healthy olive oil, a few almonds for some more healthy fats and tons of produce. My beverage of choice is always water.

It's not that hard, you just have to have all the stuff around. I am hoping to keep it up!

Have you made any dietary changes lately?

XO
Jen

Jack LaLanne Power Juicer GIVEAWAY and review

I actually really like juicing - I have never personally owned my very own juicer up until now but when ever I'm someplace that juices, I'm all over it.  So I was thrilled when I got a shot to check out the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer!

Jack LaLanne juicer looking good

In full disclosure I do freelance work for the company that makes the Jack LaLanne juicer. I do a little television production type stuff but have never worked on the juicer itself. 

When I mentioned to someone in the offices that I would love to try the juicer they were quick to let me try it!  Let me tell you, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. 

When my energy is sinking mid-afternoon and I'm starting to look for stuff to snack on - this has taken the place. Instead of trying to get a boost from another cup of coffee or something sweet - I turn to juicing. I love that now I'm getting fired up with all kinds of yummy vitamins and nutrients.

My favorite recipe is a carrot-apple-ginger juice. I find it to be super tasty.

It's so easy - you just turn the machine on and add the veggies and fruits you want to and voila - the juice comes out.  If you're using organic veggies you don't even have to peel the carrots or anything. I cut up the apple for my recipe because I only use a half an apple for a little sweetness and eat the other half later on.

After checking out my own Jack LaLanne juicer for the last few weeks, I went back to the company and told them about my blog. 

Cheers!
PS: Check out the cool
t-shirt from
CookTrainRaceEat

They agreed to give one away to one of my readers! YIPPEE!!

The juicer retails for about $135 before shipping and taxes but can be yours absolutely free!

Here's what you need to do to enter the contest:

1. Mandatory - Follow my blog and leave a comment

2. Bonus - Follow me on twitter and leave a comment

3. Bonus - Tweet or link this contest on your blog - leave a comment

4. Bonus - Like me on my Facebook page and say hi over there

5. Bonus - Visit this power juicer page and tell me what kind of juice recipe you would try

Thank you for swinging by and good luck!

Winners will be picked and announced on or about December 7, 2011.

XO

Jen

While I do occasional freelance work with the company that makes this thing I am not being paid or compensated in any way for my review or giveaway and the views in this blog are entirely my own.