Juice Fast/Cleanse/Detox

Whatever you want to call it.. I've been juicing about 95% of my food intake for the past seven days, with a few salads thrown in when I need to chew something, and a few slips here and there, like one small piece of birthday cake.

I'm feeling very good. The first few days were hard. I had a wicked headache; all I wanted to do was sleep; and I was super-cranky. But after about three days, I started to feel much better. I have more energy. I feel lighter, particularly in the digestive region. It's amazing how well your body can function on just liquid vegetables and fruits.

Although I didn't really do this to lose weight, I have lost about 10 pounds, which is a nice side effect. I really wanted to reset my body, break my cravings for sweets, carbs, and junk, and get on a healthier track when it comes to eating, and I feel like this cleanse does a good job of that. I haven't really be thinking about sweets or bread, my two big weaknesses. The juice fills me up, so I'm not hungry for anything else. The one thing I notice is that I miss chewing things, so I've had a salad about half the days. We did go out to dinner on Saturday and I had an omelette with spinach and tomatoes, so that was probably a big no-no. Oh well.

I think I will continue on this for the rest of the week, maybe a little longer, depending on how I'm feeling and how it's going. I have a big order of organic produce coming from our food co-op tomorrow, 25 lbs of carrots, some beets, cabbage, and greens. I also still have a lot of greens in the fridge, so I will definitely finish all that up, then see where we are.

I bought a juicer for this, because I plan to continue with the juicing, at least once a day, after the cleanse. It seems like an easy way to get those veg servings up, no matter how your day is going. I scored a used Omega 8003 on Craigslist for $100! A great deal, since these go for over $200 new. I really like it. It also makes nut butters and fruit "ice cream". Oh, and nut milks. I'll be trying that when the cleanse is over.

I think tomorrow I'm going to start a morning exercise plan. I have all this energy when I wake up. I should put it to good use.

Time for some dietary changes?

I'm sitting her watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, contemplating diet improvements. We were at Costco this weekend and the Vitamix rep was there demo-ing the latest. As happens everytime I see the demos, I got motivated to use my Vitamix more, so we've been making more smoothies and some yummy vegan chocolate ice cream. It's just cashews, cocoa powder, agave and avocado, and it was delicious!

So I've been feeling my age a little more lately. I'm in my mid-40s and sometimes it seems like it's all downhill from here. My knees hurt sometimes. My back has been bothering me. I'm tired. I think I can only feel better if I lose some weight. Time to get back to some healthier eating.

I might try a juice fast, or maybe some other kind of detox with most fruits and vegetables. I just need to get back to being healthier. It's time.

tests

A fire argues?

Homeschool High School

Conner is approximately a sophomore, but of course, when you're homeschooling, grades are somewhat irrelevant. We've never paid a whole lot of attention to grades and requirements, instead preferring a more natural, holistic approach to learning. We follow the kids' interests and explore the things they are interested in, rather than forcing a certain level of math because that's what their agemates are doing in school.

But now I find myself with a highschool-aged son who wants to go to college in the future. So we are working on some math and biology, so that he will be up to speed when he starts taking college classes.

I bought the high school algebra program from Thinkwell Homeschool and he is working his way through it. He'll probably be finished by the holidays and then he can do Geometry in the spring.

I really like Thinkwell. We have used Teaching Textbooks in the past, but their high school math leaves something to be desired. It doesn't seem to stick after they're finished with it and I don't like the way the tests are on separate discs from the lessons. Too time consuming and too much to lose. Thinkwell is all video lessons and online tests, so no discs to keep track of. It's also easy for me to check his progress and grades as he goes.

A new place for my ramblings

I've really enjoyed blogging about our family travels on The Five Hobos. Now that we're home, for the time being at least, I thought a more general blog would be a good plan. So this will be a general, day-to-day kind of place. Homeschooling, trip planning, local adventures, job hunting, creative financing, etc. 

Since we've been home, everyone is asking what we are doing next. The truth is we don't know. So much is up in the air with hubby's job hunt, the mortgage on the house, where we want to go from here. I'm not sure what to even wish for or work towards at this point. 

One thing Jim and I agree on is we want to travel more. Waking up in the same place every morning is boring. The scenery doesn't change and one day kind of just leads to the next. Some of the choices we are considering are:

1. Keep the house. Jim finds a great-paying job and we continue on like before, with a few more vacations thrown in.
2. Jim finds a great-paying job. We move somewhere cheaper, save as much money as we can, and when we have a good-sized sum saved up, we hit the road again. Maybe work 6-8 months at a time, then travel for 4-6 months, and repeat. 
3. Jim finds a remote work-from-home job and we travel full time.
4. Jim finds a remote job and we spend half the year in Maryland and half the year traveling. 
5. We developed some money-making businesses that we can operate from the road.

For now, we're here. The kids are getting back into the swing of homeschooling, co-ops, socializing with their friends and just being kids. Jim is job hunting and I'm trying to find some inspiration and ideas for working, writing, art journaling or whatever.