Where it all began..

Honestly I have no idea where to start because there is so much to tell!!  For starters, whether you know me or not..I LOVE FOOD. I love trying new dishes, love cooking, pretty much anything that has to do with food, I'm all about it. But at the same time, I love all the greasy, sugar laden foods that you can find right around the corner from the apartment or exit off of the highway. And with that, its taken a toll on how I look. Now, don't get me wrong. This isn't a blog about how I need to lose weight. So many people would slap me for even mentioning the idea, so I'm not. The "look" that I am talking about is my face. Ever since I hit the dreaded teenage years when puberty reared its ugly head, I've have acne problems. People might say, "Ohhh, but it could be genetics or maybe you just sleep on your face too much (yes I've had someone tell me that before)."  I had tried all the acne medicine, face washes and creams, pills, pretty much any remedy you can think of. But in reality, it was the foods that I ate and that needed to change.

The only reason I would say that is because in the documentary  Hungry for Change, nutritionists mention that your skin is the LAST place to get nutrients from the foods that we eat. Kris Carr, the director of Crazy Sexy Cancer, talks about how her faced and skin glowed after 10 days of the juice fast. The physicians, food experts, and nutritionists in this film ALL talked about how your skin will react positively to the nutrients that you are bombarding it with. Jason Vale, author of the bestseller "7lbs in 7 days" probably made the best comment about nutrients to the body/skin... "What do you think your body is gonna do? Its not going to reject it at all. Its gonna look and say 'Now I'm on board. Now you're good to me, let me shine for you'."

And the thing was, the food that I was eating, really didn't have any nutrients in them. Shipley's donuts for breakfast on the weekends, a caramel macchiato before work, and the occasional burger or fried chicken for lunch were the things I was putting into my body. The one of the first things mentioned in the Hungry for Change trailer link (above), is that "we are not eating real food anymore. We are eating food-like products. They are adorned or made to look better and smell better so that people are attracted to them."  Which, by the way, is totally true and I'm such a sucker for it all.

The documentary Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead was the one that got me started on the juicing. I was impressed that an overweight, middle aged man could just start drinking juice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and lose an incredible amount of weight but also gain a ton of energy without having to rely on coffee or energy drinks, which a lot of us tend to crave when the day starts to slow down. He looked great and his face was flawless without a hint of "tired in his eyes." In a way, I wanted to be like that. I wanted to have a face that was blemish free and glowed with a natural look. Pretty much I'm tired of wasting unnecessary amounts of money on make-up to cover up all the red and bumps just so I can have somewhat of a normal looking face. A lot of you that have seen me might think or have said," What are you talking about? You look fine. There is nothing wrong with your face." Well, um, have you seen me without make-up on? This is what your face will look like, I promise you....(because I do this every morning I wake up).

So yes, the reasoning behind my juicing is so that I can work towards getting the natural glow and smooth skin so that I don't have to hide behind all the expensive make up. One might say, "Well, why does it matter? Just don't wear make-up and be natural anyways." Half the time its someone with perfect skin telling me this so they really don't have any idea what it means to have the constant red and bumps all over the face. It really is a self-esteem thing and the face is the first thing someone looks at. If what they see is this

 

instead of this

 

then yeah, I'm gonna feel a little self conscious. (And no, I don't think I look like Kate Beckinsale).