so juicy!

our daily juice: carrots, celery, beets, apple, goji berries

A huge contributor to me feeling so balanced lately is juicing. I've wanted to get into juicing for a long time but remembered when I was in high school and my mom and sister got into it and what a pain in the arse it was to clean up. I knew myself well enough to know that this would eventually annoy me and I'd stop doing it. Although, I never forgot how much energy my mother had and how she couldn't say enough about it at the time. That stuck with me.

Over the last few months, there have been a few elements that reintroduced me to world of juicing. First doing the master cleanse, then trying the raw food diet and last but not least attending that juicing and raw food cooking class in downtown Los Angeles with Schmoopy. I saw that the juice machines today are a lot easier to clean and less complicated. Our instructor actually made us juice ourselves to get over any fears we might have of the contraption. Believe it or not, her making me stuff down spinach, seaweed, tomatoes and all this stuff I wouldn't think would be used for juicing opened my eyes and truly inspired me. Especially when she pressed how beneficial it is to drink veggie or fruit juice directly from the juicer because the enzymes, vitamins and minerals are most ALIVE and kicking, making your body oh so happy.

Someone in class asked if it was okay if you made a large amount of juice and kept it in the fridge. Her response to that was that it is best to drink it fresh because some of the vitamins, minerals and enzymes will die off but it is much better to drink it from the fridge than not at all. So, I made the decision go all the way baby!!

I came home on a contagious high and my husband started getting excited too. So, we decided to invest in a quality juicer that would be easy to work with.

Since then we've done it every morning and sometimes for a late afternoon boost. We've tried all sorts of veggies and the cocktail I like best is carrots, celery, green apples, red beets and soaked dried goji berries. I didn't realize how much I LOVE the color of beets. Perhaps that also inspired me to dye my hair red!

I know its important for your body to mix up your juice concoctions and I plan to do this more and more. The other day I tried a recipe from our class for a Bloody Mary with tomatoes, celery, red onions, garlic cloves, oranges, goji berries...YUM.

The shifts I've noticed in my body/soul/mind are my skin feels more clear and supple, I have a balanced energy throughout the day, my mind feels more sharp, my moods consistently calm and I crave more healthy foods. My husband feels the same way.

I want this to be a consisten part of our home and when we have children. I'll make pretty little drinks for them in the morning and perhaps they'll crave carrot sticks rather than chocolate bars. Right! ; )