Juicing For Health Thinks It's Time To Talk Turkey!

Thanksgiving weekend is officially over. So now, after the 2500 + calorie turkey/ham/stuffing/sweet potato pie/pumpkin pie (e.t.c...) feast, comes the inevitable bloated stomach, the guilty feelings, the shame, the unavoidable trips for cognitive therapy, and the months of tears and self loathing. I'm kidding of course, if you feel that bad about some extra calories, the Thanksgiving feast has nothing to do with it. At any rate, make sure that no matter how guilty you may feel after pigging out, you jump right back into your favorite juicing recipes and get juicing for health again.

The truth is that Thanksgiving is the 1 time of the year when it's OK to scoff and throw down at the dinner table. The more you stuff in your tummy, the cooler you are. That's a rule. Really, it is. I think it's actually an International Bylaw, and written in the constitution. I've even heard that you can actually lose your facebook account if you don't eat like a pig on Thanksgiving. Could be mistaken, of course, but my point is simple; don't feel too guilty about the scoff you've just participated in, but DO keep something very close in your minds people, cuz there's a few bumpy roads coming right up.

THE BAD NEWS?
Sorry folks, but if I don't point this out not many others will, at least from now until New Years + 1. Thing is, it only get's worse from here - and deep down we all know it. Yep, unless you're a Martian, you know the Xmas holidays are less than a hop, skip, and a jump away. So get ready for the most tempting high fat foods, the best tasting cookies and pies, the largest amount of distractions from working out, and the glasses upon mugs of egg nog and beer. So there you go, read it, know it, learn it, and get depressed about it.

FACTOID: Did you know that statistically the holidays are the worse time of the year for alcohol related mishaps? Be careful out there oh fair and gentle reader!

THE GOOD NEWS?
... is that I'm here in cyberspace (and hopefully your inbox!), patiently prodding at your deepest desires to be healthy. You see a while back me and your higher self came together and made a pact. We agreed that occasionally it's smart to remind you of the various pitfalls that come with a combination of unhealthy food choices and no exercise. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the holiday excess, just make sure you also take the time to juice your brains out and do your exercises regularly, in any way possible. Which brings me to why I wrote this...

As most of you already know, personal training is kinda my day job, and my juicing lifestyle is a very important supplemental nutrition requirement to that job. So because I happen to be quite "in the know" (so to speak) on matters of exercise and nutrition (i.e. what works and doesn't work), I thought I would pester you guys to grab a fitness program and a diet solution if you haven't already committed to such helpful health blueprints. What follows are 2 of the secrets I've used throughout the years with a great deal of success, both of which can be utilized fully without costly gym memberships and all those arrogant personal trainers that look like Jersey Shore cast offs. (speaking of which, God I hate that show!)

DISCLAIMER 1: If you already subscribe to a fitness program or have a personal trainer working you blind, then you won't need these programs, all-be-it they can be great supplemental workouts and contain excellent nutritional/diet advice.

DISCLAIMER 2: I will always preface any product recommendation by saying this: I don't speak about anything to my readers that I don't fully believe in, nor have fully tested and seen results from the use. Anyone who's read this site for a while knows that outside of juicing advice, there are only a few programs I consistently stand by. There's a reason for that folks. These programs really. do. work. :)

Diet Solutions:
Hands down, the level best and most comprehensive program on the web right now for PROPER advice on dieting SMART. It utilizes multiple fat loss strategies focusing on nutrition not quick fix pills and the like. Essentially, you're not simply stuck to one way of doing things, so you don't have to punish yourself into eating crap that you don't enjoy for excruciatingly long periods. Really there is a solution within this program for anyone who has an honest desire to shed the excess pounds in a healthy manner.

Get the Diet Solutions Program by clicking the links I'm throwing at you. Or click here, here, or here, ;) or simply click on the pictures I've added in this post. Believe me, it's cheaper than a month's worth of Lattes and some have even said it's the best investment in health they've made in years.

Get Ripped Abs:
What else can I say about this program, really? OK, have you heard of John Alvino? World famous fitness expert and adviser to Men's Fitness magazine? OK, maybe not. Have you watched ESPN or the UFC lately(?), because this program has been featured on both networks numerous times. OK maybe not, but I can tell you that 1. John is a personal friend of mine and knows his stuff in a major way, and 2. I've incorporated his program in my own training for a year now. I have seen NO other health minded program out there that comes close to producing the results you will get from Get Ripped Abs.

The program has no quick fixes or shortcuts (I can hear you sighing... stop it!) but then nothing that works does so by means of a shortcut. And btw, liposuction is not a shortcut. Really John's stuff is nothing short of genius, and it has already fixed thousands of people -some of which I have personally helped through the program to see amazing body transformations. And it's so bloody cheap you could grab this program and still afford those Lattes I mentioned before. (Even though Lattes are fattening, rotten, disgusting purveyors of doom on your health ;)) Just sayin'.

So, again, grab Get Ripped Abs by clicking the links I've thrown your way. Or click here, here, or here (;)) Oh hell, just click on the pictures I've added already. (When in doubt, always click the pix :))

So folks, you are now prepared to enter the fray. Tread fearless and prepared into Ye' oncoming, ominous Holiday Battle of Waistline Doom. The 2 weapons outlined above will keep you strong and committed to a healthy lifestyle , come Xmas and beyond. As I've already eluded, if you're already on a good program you can ignore most of the post above, unless you like to supplement your own workouts and diet advice, that is.

At any rate, do or don't, it's your call, I'm just here trying to get you moving in the right direction with the right plan. Meanwhile, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, below are some calorie busting juicing recipes I found to jump start you back on the healthy bandwagon. Cheers!!!

Good Morning Sunshine:

• 1 medium grapefruit, halved
• 2 medium apples, cored
• Fresh Italian Parsley, several sprigs
• 1/2 handful of grapes, seedless

Hunger Pain Be Gone:

• 4 medium carrots
• 2 stalks of celery, leaves and all
• 1 handful of parsley
• 4 leaves of baby spinach
• 1 dash of tabasco

Stomach Filler:

• 1 small cucumber, skin and all
• 3 celery stalks, including the leaves
• 1 medium apple, cored
• 2 tablespoons of flavorless protein powder

Smile It's Morning Smoothie:

• 2 large oranges, skin removed
• 1 medium grapefruit without the flesh
• 6 strawberries
• 1/2 banana
• 2 tablespoons flavorless protein powder
• 1/4 cup ice

Watermelon Beach Quencher:

• 2 cups watermelon, cubed
• 2 cups honey dew, cubed
• 2 cups cantaloupe, cubed
• 1-inch of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

Strawberry Refresher:

• 1/2 cup strawberries, frozen (not in juice!)
• 1 cup orange juice (fresh squeezed, not concentrate)
• 1/2 lemon, squeezed

Carrot Juice Dream:

• 4 large carrots
• 2 stalks of celery (including leaves)
• 1 medium green apple
• Handful of baby spinach
• Several sprigs of parsley
• Lemon and lime juice to taste

Waist Line Buster:

• 5 carrots
• 1 red apple
• 1 small cucumber
• 1 beet (washed well, peeled and sliced)
• 1 celery stalk
• Ginger optional (for more bite)

Hunger Buster:

• 4 carrots
• 3 sprigs of parsley
• 1 small cucumber
• 2 granny smith apples

recipes available courtesy lovetoknow.com

I Traded My Juicer In For A Flat Screen... Almost

The following is a guest post from a subscriber and regular reader Peter Gibson. You'll find his Interior Living Room site here. He has been juicing for 2 years now, and with my advice has grabbed a few fitness and cleansing products (this one's his favorite ;)) and adopted some juicing techniques that have - to date - helped him lose over 25 kg.

Since this is my first guest post on Juicing Recipes I really felt I should share my first and biggest influence, the one thing that really turned me into a juicing fanatic. (Aside from this site that is :)) That one thing was The Juicing Bible (by Pat Crocker and Susan Eagles). No I'm not affiliated with the authors (as Phineas is prone to say) however you can grab your own copy via Amazon through any of the links provided on Juicing Recipes (or by clicking here, here, or here).

Now you may be wondering why I would waste my introductory article here to rant about someone else's books and advice, so please keep reading and I'll try my best to explain.

You see, not terribly long ago (in dog years) I bought The Juicing Bible book because I was wondering just how best to use a new, fancy juicer I received as a Xmas gift. There's a picture of my juicer somewhere within this post (again, all nicely linked to Amazon should you wish to purchase one for yourself).

When I first opened up the juicer I thought it was a partially assembled Death Star, complete with some sort of quasi nuclear reactor. It was expensive according to my brother (who always finds it necessary to mention his financial commitment to gifts). I immediately thought to myself "wow, here's something I can secretly refund and put the money towards a new flat screen!!". Once my brother shared the fact that this juicer could juice super-foods like wheat grass and goji berries, well I was thoroughly convinced that my larger screen TV dreams were about to come true.

I need to qualify that back then I had become a lazy slob, and my brother knew it. That might not be such a big deal for some, except for the fact that for most of my adult life I've been involved heavily in physical activity. However, at or around my 35th year on planet Earth I had lost my energy and interest in so many things as my work in interior design overtook my entire life. I stopped playing racquetball with my mates, I'd lay around watching bad TV all day, I had Zero energy and couldn't for the life of me figure out why. I wish I could avoid mentioning that I also gained a spare tire that made me look oddly similar to Mr. Magoo. But I can't. My belly looked horrible and my skin became loose and just a big pile of whale blubber.

It was at or around this point that my niece and nephew started calling me "Grandpa", and by adding insult to injury, that very same Xmas my wife put Geritol vitamins in my stocking - as a joke. Now I do love my wife a great deal, but deep down that just wasn't funny to me. Oh sure I laughed and hugged her, but secretly I fully realized I'd become listless and in poor spirits without ever knowing why. Heck, just walking upstairs to lay down in bed was a chore.

Of course I went to the doctor in the new year to find out just exactly what in blue hell was wrong with me. As Doctors do, they offered me prescription after prescription in order to boost my energy level. Their various Diagnoses went from the sublime to the ridiculous. According to one GP I potentially had low blood sugar, another mentioned a possible thyroid condition, and yet another called it depression, or sleep apnea. Most of these conditions involved semi-extensive and invasive tests and expensive treatments, and I really didn't feel like being poked and prodded at that point.

So, instead of taking back my Star Wars Juicer and filling up the medicine chest, I set out to try juicing on the advice of my brother in law. In his words "It'll fix you right up".

Of course I had no idea how to juice oranges, let alone try an elaborate juicing regimen. Off I went to the Amazon site, where I grabbed The Juicing Bible. The book is exactly as the title represents. It is the bible on juicing. It makes for an excellent nutritional reference and espouses the many benefits of adding juice (in many a weird and great tasting combination) to you daily life - for a boost of energy and to improve the quality of life.

So back to the question, why did I waste my first guest post promoting this book? It's simple. That book forced me, through the vast quality of information presented, to plug in my juicer and have at it. As such, it became my body's owners manual for 6 months. Without that book I would have been lost, even with the best of intentions. Like I said previously, when you get a juicer - either by choice or as a gift - it can be a tad intimidating - learning how to use properly and clean the parts when finished. If you don't know a smoothie from a rum and coke, figuring out what to juice can be slightly less difficult than quantum physics. With some things, trial and error is not the best way to go, and where juicing recipes is concerned, knowing what to juice is just about the biggest issue. With the advice listed in The Juicing Bible and other similar juicing manuals I was able to do it right the first time - all while keeping me from becoming bored with the process.

The end result was that my energy level not only returned, it increased, and I haven't been a lazy slob since. It took roughly 2 weeks to feel the positive effects from daily juicing, but when it happened it was brilliant, shocking, and a total surprise One morning I simply woke up feeling as if I could run a marathon. Now, 2 years later I am 26kg lighter, my niece and nephew have to strain to keep up with me again, and the only spare tire I own is located in the trunk of my car.

So if you're feeling like a half-sucked orange, before you start taking anti depressants and blowing a pay check on elaborate multivitamins, go and grab yourself a quality juicer and The Juicing Bible. It may just be the one thing you need to pick yourself up from that middle age slump. Worked for me.