I’m not the expert juicer, nor do I ever plan on becoming one. I’m too weak minded to actually stick to it longer than a day. I’m the type of person that likes to wake up, juice first thing in the morning and then eat a regular meal by mid morning. I get my morning nutrients that way. A lot of people can juice all day, all week, all year and be just fine with it! I need my hot meals, my sugar fix, and a better source of carbohydrates for my workouts. Though, there are benefits to juicing and cons to juicing.
Last night, my mom and I watched “Fat Sick & Nearly Dead on Netflix. I’m sure half of the world has seen this documentary and got inspired by it. After the film, my mom was so inspired! She couldn’t stop talking about juicing and still talking about it! She’s currently in the living room reading juicing websites out loud…I’m just sitting here eating my trail mix nodding my head up and down.
I did promise her I’d let her use my juicer and show her a couple of great juicing recipes.
This morning, we went to the store to pick up everything she needed. She’s determined to start this juice cleanse and even thought I know I can’t do it, I’ll support her. We picked up kale, peaches, cucumber, peppers, pineapple, blueberries, strawberries, celery, tomatoes, carrots, apples, ginger, oranges, lemons, spinach, and I think I named them all!
One of my go-to recipes for juicing has one medium orange (with peel), one peach, one lemon (with peel), celery, carrots, strawberries, cucumber, and kale (not listed on photo) a small amount of ginger!
The first time ever using ginger in my juice turned into a frightful situation. I didn’t know how powerful it could be and put the entire root (size of my fist) into the juice…whoops! I felt that sip burn all the way down into my stomach. Now…I know to only use a small chunk. I love using orange and ginger together. The flavors really compliment each other and cover up the nasty vegetable juice. Ginger has some awesome health benefits which you can read here!
Don’t forget to clean your vegetables before you insert them into your juicer.
After juicing everything up, give it a quick stir and drink those nutrients up!
Rebecca says
I did the same thing with the ginger! It was impossible to drink. I also tried making juice with some raw broccoli… If you like juice that smells like dog pee, then have at it, but I learned my lesson haha!
You actually inspired me to start juicing last year, and I thank you for that!! There’s northing quite better than some fresh strawberry juice or green juice!
Taralynn McNitt says
Pineapple and strawberry are my favorites! Broccoli sounds kind of off!
Anja says
Dear Taralynn,
thank you so much for sharing your story. I´ve been there ten years ago and I know how it feels and how hard it is to overcome it. I know you´re having a realy hard time by now but don´t let life get you down. You are exactly where you ment to be and there are amazing things still to come.
Lots of love from Germany,
Anja
Leisha Tompkins says
I also watched the movie and have been juicing for lunch and afternoon snack for one week now. I mostly drink the Mean Greens recipe. My immune system problems have disappeared, I have a lot more energy, and I don’t crave junk food anymore. It has been life changing!
Sara says
That’s really cool! I seriously need to watch that movie. I’m sure it will convince me to do the juicing thing and be healthier. I’m already skinny but I need to quit eating junk food. Have a great day.
Christina @ Just miss c says
I love juicing! it is so much easier for me to get my nutrients from juice. It can be expensive especially if you are buying all organic produce. I do not like eating my fruits and vegetables so I basically get my greens from juicing and eating kale chips LOL. I agree with you on the just juicing. The short term is okay but in the long term I don’t think it is healthy. You will lose weight faster then your body can handle and that can cause health issues.
Cindy says
Have your mom go over and check out Kris Carr’s website at kriscarr.com. Her juicing knowledge is beyond amazing and you can get an e-book juicing guide from her.
mookie says
I don’t have a juicer but I do use a nutribullet. It will make a juice but keeps the fiber in (the pulp). I love it and make myself a juice every morning. I throw in a spoonfull of chia seeds or flax seed and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar with the fruits n veggies. I am glad it is summer because I love to use cherries and peaches!
LizLemon says
My Mom made me try a juice she made once, she put no fruit in it so it was basically just purred cucumber, kale, broccoli and carrots in an attempt to sweeten it. SO NASTY and so chunky she told me I should pretend it was alcohol and “puke and rally” lol. It’s really smart to juice first thing in the morning! I have a hard time digesting anything that isn’t coffee prior to 10 AM but I am a coteacher so need to be on my game early. A juice first then followed by a mid morning meal seems like the perfect way to get energy and important nutrients! Biggest issue I’ve found with juicing even when I add the MUCH needed fruit is the pulp I HAAAAATTTTTEEEE pulp but it seems like unless you wanna buy a 500 dollar blender it’s something you have to put up with. Also don’t think you’re weak at all! Juice fasts are stupid IMO you’re better off eating real meals!
Taralynn McNitt says
Ew! I could never do a full out VEGETABLE juice. Yuck! I don’t know how some people do it. When I watched that documentary last night, they made the juices sound so good! I got my hopes up after trying juice. I know the all fruit juices aren’t ideal, but they taste much better! I don’t mind juicing in the morning, but I need my food by 10am or I’m cranky!!
Sara says
Awesome post Taralynn!!! You inspire me! I’m afraid to watch that movie because I don’t want to sickened lol. I’m like you, I treasure a hot meal with mashed potatoes (my weakness). I also need actual food. I’m a salty sweet girl. Salted caramel and I are best buds lol. Just wanted to tell you that you do an awesome job with this blog. I look forward to reading it every day. Hope your move is coming along great for you, you deserve such happiness. You have me convinced to move to South Carolina. Lol. Who knows? Maybe in a year after I’m done with nursing school. Have a safe and fabulous trip. Keep up the good work. Love ya. Sara
beka says
Hi Taralynn! I’ve read your new “about” section. First, I want to congratulate you because I know it’s not easy to share it with the world. Also, I feel identified with you, I was overweight and then I turned out to be scary skinny, I know it is not easy… in my case I started to realize I was very skinny and I wanted it to stop, but I didn’t know how to, I just kept eating too little (I’m ashamed about my calorie intake at that time) and exercising because for me it was the right thing to do, because I thought that if I didn’t do that, I’d get fat again, and that scared me a lot. Then, I started to binge and I gained weight, that made me so sad… so I started a fasting-binging cycle. Then I was searching on the internet and I found your blog, and it motivated me to adopt a healthy life style. By then, thanks to the binging, I was overweight again (not that much as when my journey started, but I managed to drop about 25 pounds by eating healthy and doing some exercise. It’s difficult though… after one year of healthy living I got back to binging due to some family problems (I have to admit that I’m an emotional eater) and now I’m 10 pounds up (It may seem not too much, but I’m short and you can notice haha, for me it is a dress size), now I’m trying to drop those 10 pounds to have a healthy weight, but bad habits keep coming and it’s difficult for me. Can you share me some advice to keep a positive mentality about this problem and not to get back to those unhealthy habits? I’ll be really pleased if you can share something about it with me and all the people who are struggling with these kinds of dissorders 🙂 Thank you Taralynn and keep being the way you are! I love to read you :)! (PS. Sorry, I know my English is not the best! :P)
Emily says
I’m sitting here now reading this thinking, I could use a good juice cleanse about now… I made sweets for Father’s Day festivities and although semi-healthy, I went a little overboard and my body is HATING me right now. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to only drink my food… any tips? Also, what’s the best juicer you have found? I like the kind that you can just stick the whole fruit in (peel and all) and it pulverizes it. Thank you!
Kelsey says
Hi Taralynn!
I have been following your blog for quite a while, and I real enjoy everything that you post. You are such an inspiration. I was so excited that you have decided to start a new chapter in Charlotte, because that is where I live too! It is so central to a lot of exciting things!
If you ever want to meet new people in the area around your age, I would love to meet up for a cup of coffee and chat about fitness and health. I am an attorney in the area, and was always thin, until I went to law school. So, you truly keep me motivated to do better. I appreciate all your posts so much.
Congrats on starting a new journey in life!
-Kelsey
Sarah says
I haven’t seen that movie but I’m thinking I just might have to since I have netflix. The juice you made sounds so yummy. I made the most refreshing juice with orange, cucumber, ginger and lime and it was so refreshing and delicious.
xx Sarah | Loser Girl Wins
Beks says
I’ve seen that documentary twice, and was definitely inspired by it. My mom watched it with me the second time, and she was fascinated, too. I think we’d juice more, except it’s so time consuming. My dad recently talked to me about juicing (he only ever drank fresh apple juice from my juicer), and I’m more than happy to help him, but knowing him and his relationship to fruits and veggies, it won’t stick. 🙁
kate says
I LOVED that documentary! I, like you Tara couldn’t juice for very long… I could probably last a day and that’s it lol But the documentary was VERY interesting and helpful and definitely gave me a different perspective on juicing and how to better incorporate it into my diet!
Livi @ Eat, Pray, Work It Out says
Ginger is SO delicious juiced! Adds an amazing kick!
gig says
looks great
wple says
Do you lose weight?
lara says
Is juicing pricey?
William says
Great recipe! I love juicing! it is so much easier for me to get my nutrients from the juice.It helps to make the body fit and slim.Thanks for sharing such a wonderful post.