Smooth Juice and the Written Word

Hello, interwebs. It's been awhile since I've posted, I apologize. A lot of awesome and crazy things are happening in my life right now, and I'm lovin' it. :)

I'm about three quarters of the way done editing VIVID 2, and I'm starting to get extremely excited. My wonderful and lovely editor is dying for a copy, and I'll be super proud to give it to her. I've been working really hard on it, and while it's taking a lot longer than I thought it would, it's a really fun process and I'm feeling good about the polishing that I'm doing. It's amazing how things fall into place when you just let them simmer and reread them.

I've been doing some side notes, as inspiration strikes, and even though I'm incredibly stoked to be starting VIVID 3 in March, I may take a week long side gander into some short stories. Thanks to Jenny Trout I stumbled upon a racy little web site that is looking for some submissions into their sexy short story category. As some of you close to me know, I've written some erotica (such a nicer word than porn!) in my time, and I'm tempted to give it a try. Just as a side gander though, I promise. The third instalment in Moxie's story is calling very very loudly, so I won't stay away from it terribly long.

So, a juicing update!

In short, I feel fucking awesome. But as you know, I can never talk about anything the short way. ;) I've been incredibly diligent about making vegetable juice twice a day, and ingesting it a half hour before eating solid food so that I absorb all of the nutrients. And let me tell you, it's working.

When I started, it was just a way for me to add some extra nutrients into my daily routine, because I like to eat a lot of crap. I love good-for-you food too, but also so much crap. So I figured I'd be chugging juice in between crap to make sure that I'm not dying of over-chocolating.

But I just realized, a few days ago, that I have stopped over-chocolating. Scientifically (or so I've researched), eating too much crap never makes you feel full, because you're getting enough calories but not enough nutrients. According to that theory, you're loading up on calories but starving your body of nutrients, therefore you're constantly hungry. So, apparently, if you ingest the proper nutrients, you won't be craving food constantly. Of course I thought this was a load of shit. I love food!

I was proven wrong. Not that I don't eat chocolate or chips or bad-for-you stuff anymore, but I don't crave it anymore. I'll be satisfied after two peanut butter cups instead of twenty. And I was the kind of person that can't eat just one Oreo. It was the whole box or nothing. But since I've been having two juices a day, I haven't felt the need to gorge an entire bag of chips or a whole box of cookies. It's odd, but probably a good thing.

I've also been craving a lot of good stuff. In the last little while, we've been experimenting with different healthy foods, like ground flax and quinoa (which kicks the shit out of rice any day!). And the awesome chick that I work with in Elora now, she's a vegan and all into smoothies and stuff. She's introduced me to some intense recipes and teas, all that are super anti-cancer and really healthy for you. I don't even have to think about it any more, my body craves the good stuff now, which is awesome.

I've noticed a serious increase in energy. I've never been a morning person, and I'm still not exactly thrilled about being awake early. But I don't feel like a bag of shit anymore. I had my first 5:30 am shift yesterday, and I got out of bed on the first snooze because I wanted to have time to make a smoothie before work. I walk the dog while I drink the goodness, and I'm not dragging my ass in the morning. It gives me a spring in my step throughout the day, and I don't crash like I would from coffee.

Don't get me wrong, I still love my coffee. :) I'm drinking one right now. But let me tell you, green ass vegetables beat caffeine for energy.

I've started making smoothies, too. I felt like I wasn't getting enough of the leafy greens in the juice, because I'd get barely any juice from them, so I thought if I made smoothies with frozen fruit and the leafy greens, I'd get everything all in one glass. I also don't eat/drink a lot of dairy, so I figured that having yogurt and milk would be good for me too. I discovered that you can mix ground seeds with smoothies too, and it'll give you a massive dose of protein. Apparently flax gels when it gets wet and it's really good for your colon. ^_^' The more you know!

So I've been doing two juices and two smoothies a day, and I feel fucking amazing. My skin is clearer, I have more energy, I'm craving healthy stuff, I'm in great spirits (although that might have something to do with my recent job change, too), and I'm pretty sure my boobs are perkier. I'm not 100% positive, but my girls just seem happier lately. I've read that copious amounts of veggies build muscle and tighten the skin, so it's possible that I've given my titties a little lift. Which is another awesome side effect.

So all in all, I recommend this. Even if a juicer isn't in your budget, if you have some kind of blender or processor you can make smoothies with just about anything. I like to use the juicer for my veggie stuff, like tomatoes, carrots, celery, and beets. Then I use the blender with frozen fruit, yogurt, milk, greens (spinach or kale) and grains. If you're lactose intolerant or don't like milk you can use orange or apple juice to make smoothies too. My vegan friend makes these super intense kale/ginger/lemon/orange smoothies with a VitaMix blender, which basically liquefies everything into super-goodness. It's some serious sinus-clearing flavour, but it's fucking delicious. And you feel like you can lift a car afterwards.

Anyways, that's an update into my health-kick adventure, in case anyone was interested. If you have any questions, or if you do anything like this to help your nutrition, let me know in the comments! I'm always looking for new recipes or ideas to continue boosting my health. (I know, I should quit smoking, blah friggedy blah.)

On a totally different note, I was directed to this blogring which is the hub on information and discussion about why 50 Shades of Grey is about abuse. I highly recommend checking it out, even if you've never read the series or don't care about it, it's a really interesting look into social culture and what people really believe in society. It blows my mind the amount of people that romanticize abusive relationships, and how completely blind they are to the fact that they're a slap in the face to people that have been through it.

I hadn't realized that people have stepped forward and tried to contact E.L. James about these issues, people that have been through controlling and horrible relationships. And she sluffed them off, because she's 50 Shades of Horrible Insensitive Stupid Bitch.

Anyway, I'm gonna eat some awesome dinner and get back to editing. Thanks for the little break!