Juicey Juice Time Once Again.....

The last time I did a juice fast was at the beginning of the year.   I did more of a juice feast for six weeks.  At that time, my diet consisted of fresh homemade juice for breakfast and lunch followed by a dinner composed of vegetables.  This time around, I decided to go right into a fast.  However, my plans changed after three days of fasting. I won Red Sox tickets to Fenway and was not about to turn them down!  I was bringing my niece with me to the game so I decided to lay off the juice for the weekend.  Upon my return back to NYC, I decided I will do a juice feast for the rest of the week and then kick into the fast on the weekend.  My diet this week will consist of juicing for breakfast and lunch followed by veggies for dinner.

So far I've been doing variations of the Mean Green recipe, made famous by Joe Cross of "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" fame.  If you haven't watched that documentary, I suggest you stop reading and start watching that film right now.  It will change your life, and if it doesn't, hopefully it will begin to change your perspective of what is healthy.

Why am I doing this fast, you ask?  Well, I'm headed to Mexico for vacation with one of my girlfriends in September and am hoping to take a few pounds off before hitting the beach, and the pool, and of course, the pool bar.  The fantastic thing is, I saw her this past weekend and explained to her how I was taking a reprieve from fasting for a few days.  She was interested and wanted to know more.  Now she is prepping herself to start fasting next week!! I AM SO PROUD!!  I will be fasting alongside her every step of the way to ensure she is a success over the next few weeks.

The healthy lifestyle takes education, but before education, one has to be exposed to the potential dangers of what the typical American lifestyle will lead to.  Knowledge has to start somewhere.  I love the snowball effect just my juicing has on those around me and love it when people ask questions and decide to make a change for the better.

As for my fast, I plan to go for the remainder of August...all the way up until vacation.  Then once I come back from Mexico, I am pretty sure I will need to detox myself once again.  Aaahhh....vacation how I love thee!

How Now Brown Cow

It has been a few months since my last post.  I created this site to blog every week at a minimum.  However, an opportunity to write for a publication in Brooklyn (for the Food and Drink section I might add) was presented.  That opportunity fell through though, and the publication is being shelved for now.  So here I am back on the blog. 

Quite a few personal changes have occured since the beginning of the year.  I did a juice fast for about six weeks and in that time did a ton of research on nutrition and how it affects the human body.  You really are what you eat.  Towards the end of the fast, I realized that processed foods and meats affected me in a way I never took the time to notice before.  Having eaten a vegetarian diet while on the juice fast (I would eat vegetarian for one meal at night), I started to notice that I slept better, my mood was better, and that my body wasn't sick at all.  I even lost the sniffles that would never go away during the winter.  With these noticeable changes, I began to research.  EVERYTHING!  I poured over articles, watched documentaries, scanned recipes, etc.  I learned that I could easily change to a vegan diet pretty effortlessly, and so now, my journey towards veganism has begun. 

I'm excited about the new lifestyle.  It's a fun challenge to create meals with foods I've never used before, such as seitan, nutritional yeast, tofu, just to name a few.  By the way, Tofurkey cream cheese is waaaaay more delicious than any cream cheese I've ever had.  I'm addicted to the stuff!  However, I've learned that eating out can be more of a challenge.

Thank God I live in a city where vegan restaurants are plentiful.  including right here in my lovely Brooklyn.  I discovered a brand new vegan bakery right in my neighborhood, Clementine Bakery.  Can you say, "thank you sir may I have another?"  It's a small shop with a few tables and chairs that serves vegan deliciousness and coffee.  I tried a peanut butter cookie as a start, since I didn't know if I would want to spit it out from blandness or chomp it down and beg for more.  I chomped it down, and yes, I'm begging for more.  This is the place to go if you are vegan and need to bring sweets to a party where all your carnivore friends will be, since they won't be able to tell the difference from the dairy filled stuff. 

Another delicious sweet treat made in Brooklyn is Raw Ice Cream.  YOWZA! This stuff is so damn good that even some of my friends prefer it over the "real" thing.  It's super creamy and is loaded with flavor.  I don't know how they make it, but I'm already on the hunt for pints in the city.  I was introduced to this creative genius of a treat at the NYC Vegetarian Festival a few weeks back.  They had a booth set up and once I tried the tiny spoonful, I just had to fork over a $1 for a few scoops.  If you can't eat normal ice cream without feeling like poop, then you absolutely must try this stuff.  Again, it's totally vegan so there will be no side effects if you crave dairy and can't have any.  Trust me, it is the shizzle!!  Go here for info if you are in the NYC area:  Raw Ice Cream Company.

As always, I will continue on the hunt for deliciousness and will be blogging much more frequently.  Any requests?  Please let me know.  Until then, happy eating!