Day 59

I can't believe tomorrow is day 60!! Where did the time go?

I've been taking a hot yoga class each day this week. Last night and tonight was a hot yin yoga class. It is SO good. I'm sore, but my body feels great. That, combined with walking and brief little weight-bearing workouts during the day (1 minute every 2 hours) makes me feel so good.

I will be taking after photos and final weigh-in for this part of my weight loss journey on Day 61. I'm not sure I have the balls to post them, but at least I will know and see the difference.

I've now got 3 ladies at work who have either bought a juicer and started or have ordered a juicer and it should arrive soon. I think that is so many shades of awesome! Super excited to help support them on their journey.

This moment of excitement was brought to you by the letter J and the number 1.

Day 57

Today was day 57. I started the day with a hot yoga class at 6:30am. Turns out, that is a bad idea after having done a water fast the day before. Thought I was going to pass out multiple times. Spent a lot of time in child's pose. Lesson learned.

This morning was also weigh-in day. I'm now down 55.4lbs/25.18kgs. Super stoked about that. I had hoped to reach 30kgs, but odds are that isn't going to happen by the time my 60 days are up. That said, I'm so chuffed about the loss!

Here are the 10 things that come to mind regarding what I love about my new self:

1. It's awesome to have a jaw line again.
2. Having great energy throughout the day without that mid-afternoon slump.
3. Starting to get prominent cheekbones
4. Liking what I see when I look in the mirror
5. Super soft skin
6. Having confidence when I go out
7. Far less pain in my joints
8. Sleeping through the night
9. Old clothes that were too small, now being too big
10. How proud I feel of myself, my commitment and my success

Don't think I mentioned this little gem of a story before. Last week sometime I had a bunch of veggies all over the counter. I typically wash everything when I bring it home from the store except the spinach/bok choy/wong bok. I made all my juices and then started to clean up. That's when I noticed it - the slug. It was hanging out on my countertop, slowly moving along, leaving its little slime trail behind. After doing my little girl freak out dance, I ended up putting him in a tissue and taking him out to my balcony. I walked back inside and then realised I had already made my juices. Sure hoping he didn't have any friends that made their way into that juice. This will forever more be known as the slug incident.

I'm really looking forward to eating again. Have been reading the book TurboCharged and can't wait to start following their eating program and continuing to juice once I am back on solid food. Soon, so very soon!

This moment of joy is brought to you by the letter J and the number 57.

Day 53

Today was Day 53. It's crazy to think that at this time next week, I will have completed my juice fast and be preparing to ween myself back onto food.

I haven't lost any additional weight in the past few days. However, I've been getting out and exercising which makes me feel great. I've also had loads of people this week telling me how good I look - friends, people at work, people on the street.

Yesterday I had the "skirt incident" as it shall now be known. I wore a skirt I haven't worn in ages. I was walking across town between meetings and it turns out that said skirt is now so big that it literally falls off. Oops! Was glad I was wearing a long jacket. Stopped by home, grabbed a safety pin and did a quick repair.

Today at work a couple of the Aussies were over. Several came up to me and said how I was shrinking before their eyes. They've been impressed with my commitment to the process and now that they've been away a few days, how obvious it is how much weight I've lost. I think it probably helped I came in wearing a smaller pair of trousers that didn't used to fit, but do now. Helped provide great motivation (not that I needed any) to go out for a run/walk at lunch around the harbour in the sunshine. Simply gorgeous!

Tonight at work a woman I don't know came up to me and said, "Sorry to interrupt. I've been wanting to tell you how amazing you look. You just look awesome. What is that magic you have in your jam jars?" It turned into a 10 minute conversation with her and one of her friends. Both are larger ladies. I told them all about it and that if they were keen, I'm happy as to help them. I hope they decide to do it! That was AWESOME!

I'm loving all the positive reenforcement. Most of all, I'm loving how I feel. Sure, I feel lighter which is great. But I also feel happy when I look in the mirror. I feel happier all the time. I just feel...better? awesome? amazing? It's a nice change.

This moment of joy was brought to you by the letter J and the number 53.

Day 50

Today is day 50. Holy cow! How did that happen?! Crazy to think it's gone as quickly as it has.

As of first thing this morning, after 49 days, I am down 50.6lbs/23kgs. I finally hit over 50lbs! I can't tell you how ridiculously happy that makes me. I am so chuffed that happened. I literally stood looking in the mirror today and told myself that *I* have done this. Only me. No one else. This has been all my doing and I have every right to be proud. It just feels...good...amazing...phenomenal. Next goal - 60lbs! :-)

This weekend was awesome. Beervana was on. I worked the Brewers' Guild Awards Dinner Thursday night. It was great to see all my favourite brewers again and invoke my "Hug a Brewer Day" rule. :-) It turned into a late night (midnight when I got home) and had to work the next day. One of my favourite brewers told me how fantastic I look and that I have a really healthy glow about me. It was awesome to hear. Then I worked the evening session of Beervana from 6-10. It was great to be home by 11pm and in a hot bath and then into bed.

Saturday I worked Beervana both sessions - afternoon and evening. I got to see a bunch of friends I haven't seen in ages. All of them kept talking about how skinny I am. Some even said I totally look like I'm in my element when working these events. Whilst that's true, I think it was more that I just have this glow going and they can't put their finger on what the actual change is. I'm happy, not just because I love working these events, but because I feel good.

I was even up until 5am Saturday night (something I thought I was too old for) and up at 9am to go to the markets. Had great energy the whole time.

I've noticed recently how badly others smell to me all of a sudden. It seems to be more than bad breath now. I particularly noticed this weekend with folks who had been drinking. It was beyond the usual "day after a night out on the piss" smell. It was far, far worse. I suppose that's one of the down sides of having your sense of smell return. I've also noticed even when I workout, I don't stink the way I used to. We all know our own scent and I know how I always used to smell after working out. I guess when we get rid of all those toxins we start smelling better and then notice all the toxins in everyone else.

I am so thrilled by this entire journey. I will definitely keep juicing 1-2 times per day for the rest of my life. I still can't wait to eat food again, but I'm really excited for my new, healthy future.

This moment of joy was brought to you by the letter J and the number 50.

Day 45

Today was day 45. I'm not going to lie, I am struggling today.

I thought this would all be over by now. Last night was lovely. Didn't leave work until 8pm, but was then out with friends who asked what I was doing and were fine with me standing on my soapbox pontificating about the benefits of juicing. I felt really good.

Last night I didn't sleep well. I was freezing. Normally I run hot so it's really strange for me. Keep in mind most apartments in New Zealand don't have any insulation, double glazing and certainly no central heating. I was in bed under a light blanket, duvet and wearing my big warm bathrobe and still freezing. Put on some fleece trousers and wrapped myself in a cocoon of another duvet under all the blankets. Then I couldn't fall asleep! It was horrendous.

I woke up not feeling well. Wee cough and congestion. Plus feeling cranky. Couldn't find a ring a dear friend had given me (finally found tonight - whew!). Back to back meetings all day long. Caught up with a dear friend only to find he's moving away back to London in a few weeks. Meetings all afternoon as well. Finally called it a day at 6pm and went to the organic market. They didn't have any celery or any kale. Had my hands full of bags and dropped my book in the one part of the pavement that was still wet from the rain earlier. Just one of those days.

I'm also really craving proteins. The past few weeks I've been spending my time figuring out all the great healthy veggie recipes I'm going to be making once I can eat again. I do want to eat and can't wait to again, but it hasn't been a biggie. Today though, today I'm craving meat or fish or eggs or some form of protein.

I'm guessing this is the latest round of detoxing as well. Probably doesn't help anything. I'm not going to stop and I am thrilled about how all this is going. Today is just a tough day and it is unexpected at this late stage.

This too shall pass.

This moment of frustration was brought to you by the letter F and the number 45.

Day 43

Today is day 43. Hard to believe I am that far along in this journey! It is also weigh-in day. After 42 days I'm now down 45.4lbs/20.6kgs. I did think it would be more after exercising and doing a water fast, but I'm still happy. Just really want to break 50lbs this next week at least.

Saturday was another stunning winter day. I started my day with a hot cup of water and lemon. Then I went for a long walk along the waterfront. It was great to get out and work up a sweat in the sunshine.

I was walking to my mate who has done this juice fast before. When I was saying I wanted to lose more weight, he suggested I could do a water fast one day per week. At first I thought he was nuts and that sounds awful. However, I figure if I have the will power to only juice for 40+ days, what's one day of water only? So I did it. Saturday, despite my long walk, I did a water fast. And you know what? It wasn't that bad. It wasn't that hard. Sure, my tummy rumbled a few times, but I just kept pumping in the water and I felt fine.

Saturday afternoon I was meeting up with a friend to enjoy the sunshine. I realised my jeans really are stupidly too big to wear. I pulled out a pair I didn't fit in before. I'm not going to lie, I was really nervous putting them on. However, those jeans are now 2" too big in the waist! Still a wee bit snug in the upper thighs, but totally comfortable to wear. SO excited by that!!

Made lemon cookies for my coworkers on Sunday. I'm still amazed how I have to stop myself from licking my fingers. The weird thing is it's not out of desire, but purely habit to do so. I find that with a lot of things right now. When I crave something bad (not very often), I realise it's because something else is going on (mentally, emotionally, etc) that I would normally react to by eating. It's nice it isn't out of any true desire to eat that stuff. However, it does make me wonder if I ever really had that desire at all or if I was just kidding myself that I did. Something to ponder I suppose.

This moment of determination was brought to you by the letter J and the number 17.

Day 40

Today a friend back home who just started her juicing journey asked where I was on the weight loss. It's not my normal day to weigh myself. However, I did so for her. After 39 days I am down 42.4lbs/19.27kgs. Finally broke the 40lb mark! Seems appropriate since today is Day 40. So utterly thrilled with that number.

I've started walking almost every day whilst at work. It makes such a difference in my mental health to get out of the office during the day. Unfortunately, that included being out in the pissing rain and cold twice this week. Still, it feels good to move.

Yesterday I only had four juices. I've pretty much been having 5 since I started. I just wasn't in the mood for a 5th yesterday which was extra surprising considering I've been working out. I've also eliminated my morning fruit drink except once or twice per week. Maybe my body is telling me it just doesn't need all those calories anymore.

Everyone around me at work is sick at the moment. I always had a weak immune system and usually by now I would have caught a cold or the flu. I think since I have all these minerals and vitamins in the my system and since I'm doing healthy things for my body it just isn't going to cave this time. I love it!

Had another massage again today. Once again my massage therapist is amazed and thrilled at the changes in my body. She just can't get over how great it is. I love all the positive reinforcement. :-) It was pretty weird today - she was doing some serious work on my neck and tops of shoulders. When I went to turn over I totally had the taste of my mom's chili in my mouth. She died over 12 years ago so it's been a long time since I've had that flavour. Strange how we store certain things in our bodies!

Someone recommended oil pulling to me. You're probably like me and saying "What the heck?" You can read about it here: http://www.oilpulling.com/ Decided to try it with some coconut oil this morning. It was fine. Weird, but fine. The odd thing is I have moments throughout the day where I can "taste" the oil on the sides of my tongue. I'm wondering if this is part of the detoxing it supposedly does. Will have to try it for a week to see what happens.

I can't believe there are fewer than 3 weeks left in this journey! I know that juicing will be a part of my life from now on. I can't say enough about the benefits.

This moment of joy was brought to you by the letter J and the number 40.

Day 37

Today was day 37. I've learned several things about myself recently:

1. Apparently I am a baking goddess. I have now made chocolate chip cookies and brownies for coworkers and they begged for more. Will be making more tonight. Kind of ironic since I can't even lick my fingers (and don't want to even if I could!)

2. Getting out of the office during the day makes a massive difference in my mental health. The past two days I have gone for hour-long walks in the afternoon. Nice to get some fresh air and to work up a bit of a sweat.

3. Lots of people are noticing and commenting on the difference in my face and body. Positive reenforcement is a beautiful thing.

4. I no longer have any excuse to eat in an unhealthy fashion. If I have the willpower to do this for 60 days, that excuse goes out the window.

5. I've already been planning healthy recipes for when I can start eating again. I'm so excited to eat vegetables soon!

6. Celery isn't as disgusting as it used to be. Today was the first day I used celery in my Mean Green and it was okay. Not my favourite, but didn't want to make me vomit like it used to.

7. Getting my body moving again is awesome. It feels better when it moves. Probably explains why I played sport all my life. The knees are starting to feel better as the weight is coming off as well.

8. Expectations are foolish. Every time I think I know what to expect from this process and what is going to happen next, I'm proven wrong. Time to stop wondering and just enjoy the ride.

9. I want to take mid-way photos. Though I'm over that middle point now, it'd be nice to be able to compare before, middle and after. Don't expect me to post them though!

10. My brain is working overtime right now. I think it's just because now that I'm starting to like what I see in the mirror, it brings up all the issues that caused me to not like what I saw in the mirror for so long. More battles to be fought, but for the first time ever, I'm feeling confident on that front. Fingers crossed!

I can't believe there are only 23 days left!

This moment of randomness was brought to you by the letter R and the number 37.

Day 36 Morning Weigh-in

As of first thing this morning, I am down 38.7lbs or 17.6kg. Starting to add in exercise to keep the weight loss up as it has clearly slowed. Still thrilled with the overall number though!

Day 35

This weekend was absolutely stunning! I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to get outside in the middle of winter and walk along the waterfront. Went for an hour and half walk yesterday. Then went out that night and danced my booty off at 24 Hour Party People for a couple hours. Think all that helped speed the current detox process along. It just felt so good to move. My knees are feeling better with the weight coming off as well.

Today was another cracking day. Woke up relatively early and went to the markets to stock up on veggies for the week...well, a few days anyway. Went to a farewell picnic in the sun for a friend who is moving up to Auckland. I was surrounded by amazing, healthy food which looked really good, but I had my juice and was quite happy sitting in the sun. Went to one of the NZ Film Festival films with some friends. After, they went out for a pint and I had a giant bowl of chips (fries) staring at me. Whilst they smelled good, I didn't want any.

I've been thinking ahead about coming off this after 60 days. I'm really hoping I can be back on solid food completely within a week. I just bought tickets to go to Australia a week after as I have a friend from university who will be over there on holiday and I get to see a dear friend who lives in Sydney as well. My friend I'm staying with said she'd get the juicer going for me so that will be awesome. A friend of mine who has done this before said the last 5 days of your 60 is preparing yourself to get back on food. Will follow up with him in a couple weeks to understand what that entails.

I've also got a weekend away (the last weekend of this) coming up in August. My friends have a juicer so I will just be taking all my veggies with me for that weekend.

I noticed last night my jeans are officially way too big to wear. Even with my belt there's just too much extra fabric there. I love it! Seems silly to go buy a new pair now though. Want to wait until the end of this as I figure there will be more weight coming off. Maybe that's what I'll do when I'm in Australia - treat myself to a new pair of jeans. :-)

My weight loss has slowed recently and I've decided to do something about it. Planning on taking my workout clothes to work this week so I can get out of the office during the day and walk. It will not only be good physically, but good for my mental health as well. I don't leave the building during the day since I have all my juice with me. Time to change that.

This moment of excitement and planning was brought to you by the letter J and the number 35.

Day 33

Today was day 33. There's something really beautiful about being on the latter half of this journey. Sure, there's still a month to go, but it is only one month, not two now.

I forgot to report that last week I got conned into doing some baking for coworkers. I made chocolate chip cookies on Sunday. Not only did I not eat one, or even a crumb, I didn't even lick my fingers! I think that's pretty darn impressive for me.

I'm in the next round of detox now. I occasionally get "hot flashes". Since I'm not old enough for them to be the regular hot flashes, it's just part of the detox. Always interesting though to suddenly be really warm and sweating a bit.

Just when I thought that coating on my tongue was going away, it's back now with this latest round. Oh well, eventually there won't be anything else to clean out!

Yesterday I had over 10 people tell my my skin is glowing. When I walked up to a couple people at work one said, "Here's the one that's wasting away before our very eyes." Last night I went out to my local as there was a book release and one of the brewers was releasing a beer in conjunction. I saw a bunch of friends I haven't seen in close to a month. Everyone kept commenting on how good I look and how great my skin feels and how much weight I've lost. It was also the first time I've been in a situation where I'm out and people have food on the table in front of me - bowl of fries, a pizza, some pizza bread, etc. While it all looked and smelled good, I really didn't find myself with any desire to have any of it. I had a moment of fighting the habit of having a bit, but I didn't break which is nice.

Strangely, I did have a dream last night where I was putting out some cheese (my biggest weakness!!). Without even thinking I popped some in my mouth. However, as soon as I did I caught myself and spit it out. Too funny that even my dreams are about not breaking the fast!

Anyway, glad to be on the back half of this. Looking forward to eating solid, healthy food again in less than a month.

This moment of celebration was brought to you by the letter J and the number 33.