Well, I've started something new. I discovered that fruits and vegetables have very few calories! What a wonderful find! I am making a juice drink that tastes great, (I'll include the recipe at the end) in an effort to lose weight. My highest weight was 323 lbs. After 10 days of juicing, I'm at 300! I feel so much better than I did. I'm diabetic and have been having trouble with some chest pain.  I don't take insulin during the day, only at night now when I have my one sensible meal.

I've noticed so many things that are different. Best of all, I can say that I no longer have any chest pains! I can get behind the steering wheel of my 4 Runner and have room between my body and the wheel now. I don't have to swing my foot down so I can sit up out of bed. I am breathing better and most of my depression has lifted. I can go up and down a flight of stairs and not be out of breath. I still have bad days, but they don't make up my entire life anymore.

Some days I get up and all I want to do is eat. But, I promise myself if I'm still hungry I'll eat something small after I drink my juice. I don't have an expensive juicer or anything for this. Instead, I have a Black and Decker two-speed blender. It has a "smoothie" setting which is what I use for my juice drink. Here's the recipe.

Fill your blender half full of water.

Add:

3 cups of spinach
3-4 leaves of romaine lettuce
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup fresh-frozen blueberries
1/2 cup fresh-frozen strawberries
4-5 pieces of frozen banana slices
1/2-1 apple, sliced & cored
Add enough water to make 1/2 gallon of juice drink

Drink = 354 calories

You can change up the veggies and fruits that you use so that you're using fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables in season. You can freeze your fresh fruit in baggies and they'll keep for quite a while in your freezer, so stock up.

You can track how many calories are in your drink here:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/nutrition.asp

Blend fruit and veggies on Smoothie, (or equivalent), setting. It takes a good 5-7 minutes to puree your veggies. Once your drink is smoothly blended, put in a sealed container and refrigerate. Any time you are hungry, pour some into a glass and drink slowly. If you drink it too fast, it will upset your blood sugar balance. You don't really taste the vegetables, rather you taste the fruit. So, make sure you use fruit that you like. Due to the high fat content in bananas, I use them sparingly. The reason I use frozen fruit is because you can purchase it ripe and place it in Ziploc baggies, freeze and use for a long time. Also, it thickens your drink, (especially bananas), and makes it cold right away.

I hope you enjoy! Please let me know how your own experiences compare! I look forward to hearing from you.