Coming clean

Last week, the kids and I were at the pool for home school swim. I spent most of my time chasing the toddler in the zero depth pool, but got a moment to sit down with all of the moms right when they were in the middle of a conversation.

One of the moms leaned over in an attempt to draw me in. "We're talking about eating unprocessed foods. Where are you on the whole spectrum?"

I attempted to quietly answer. 

"I'm not really ON the spectrum."

I had been under a ton of pressure the past few weeks. Home schooling. Toddler gone wild. Big deadlines for my job. Other family issues. I tried to explain that I'm just trying to get through the day, and I consider it a major success that I'm able to put a hot meal on the table nearly every evening.

All of the ladies turned my way to hear what I was saying. I suddenly grew very insecure over my inability to think about buying organic food or juice fresh fruits and vegetables or complete even the most minimal amount of exercise in a week.

I do think it's awesome that women are being so proactive about their health and trying to live healthier lifestyles to benefit their families. I had even been thinking about buying a juicer because I know so many people who swear by it. But at that moment, I couldn't really engage in a conversation about it.

I guess I've been making a conscious effort to tune out all of the awesome things people around me seem to be doing because I find myself falling in the comparison trap. On that particular day I was beating myself up because someone had offered to pay for me to have my house cleaned, and I had to decline because I was too overwhelmed by the thought of getting my house clean enough for the house cleaner to come over.

So, anyway... all of that long explanation was to say that I had to completely crack up a few days later when my husband came home from Costco with an industrial strength juicer. We had talked about buying one over the summer, but never did because of the cost. When he saw one at Costco for about a third of the price of all the others we had seen, he bought it along with a cart full of fresh fruit.

I asked him and the kids to watch the DVD explaining how to use it. I was too overwhelmed to even do that!

"Please just tell me what I need to know," I begged.

Within a few minutes, they had the machine put together and it started to hum. I sat nearby with my eyes half glazed, still unsure about this piece of machinery that had taken up residence on my counter. I braced myself to choke down a cup full of spinach and kale.

Then, they handed me a glass of fresh juice. They started with apple-pear-orange juice. I couldn't believe how good it was! Plus it was totally free of pulp. I loved it!

Well, that glass of juice must have restored some major missing vitamins and minerals because I perked up and started shoving fruit down the chute. I begged the kids not to tell all their friends their mom was now officially "A Juicer." But they were so excited, it only took about 12 hours before they broke the silence.

So, I'm coming clean. I have been consuming a steady stream of juiced fruits and veggies for six days now. And I'm loving it! I've made fruit juice, veggie juice, soups and smoothies. If it grows in a garden or on a tree, chances are high that I have sucked the juice out of it.

I was surprised to find out that the fresh fruit juice would be so sweet! It's almost even too sweet for Sweet Mama. My favorites are really the veggie juices. Today for lunch, I had a "Daily Detox" (asparagus, cucumber and lemon) followed by "Lunch in a Glass" tomato, celery, cabbage and carrot.

I'm not really ready for an all juice "cleanse" yet, but I'm enjoying adding lots of juice to my diet.



Watch out! Who knows what's next. I might just start baking my own bread and drying my own fresh pasta. Or at least cleaning my house. :)