Along with the lifestyle change of low carb and low sugar eating, this household has also been experimenting with juicing. Now I’ve mentioned before how much we love drinks around here but I’ve never been too into smoothies, nor am I particularly into fruit juices.
As for smoothies, they seem to always taste too sweet and fruit juice has never tasted like fruit to me. The juices I’ve actually enjoyed are Aguas Frescas. Aguas Frescas is Fresh Waters in espaÑol. I grew up with Agua de Sandia (watermelon), Agua de Fresa (strawberry) and Agua de Jamaica (Hibiscus). There’s more than that, but these are my faves. Basically, these aguas frescas are fresh fruit juice mixed in with sugar, water, seeds, and sometimes soda water. I don’t know that they are the healthiest, but at least they taste fresh.
My mom and dad had a juicer growing up, so we always had fresh orange juice, apple juice, carrot juice and I’m sure other green stuff I didn’t drink back then. I don’t know why I never thought of getting a juicer before my Mother suggested it. She got to thinking about getting a new one after a woman told her how much weight she lost just juicing.
The juicer we have is a Breville BJE200XL Compact Juice Fountain 700 Watt Juice Extractor for just $100 bucks. Check it out here on Amazon. This is it here.
Life has gotten so sweet since our introduction to this juicer. It’s compact which I love. It’s pretty quiet. The price point is right on. And the juice is sooooo yummy! I make easy fresh fruit and veggie drinks that taste out of this world and go straight to the blood stream. All I have to do is cut up the fruits and veggies and in the shoot they go. I give the pulp that’s left over in the juicer carrousel thingy to my pups, mixed in with their hard food.
Honestly, the juice is addicting. Who knew! Drinking veggies like kale, celery, spinach, carrots, beets, ginger or whatever greens I want is really delish. It’s filling and can even replace a meal if I wanted. I actually miss drinking the juice when I don’t drink any for a few days. Crazy!
I don’t claim to know the health science behind juicing, but I do know how much better I feel since making fresh juice and veggie drinks. It’s also pretty neat to see my husband enjoying them, too, especially since he’s been a grocery packaged fruit juice drinker since he was a kid. He’s actually making and enjoying the fresh fruits juices now. I haven’t gotten him to drink the veggie drinks though … well, not yet. Even if he only drinks fresh fruit juices, it’s still a healthier move than drinking a packaged fruit juice.
Juices can be very simple or more elaborate. Because I’m a simple gal, I either mix fruits and veggies based on colors or I just make a simple 2-3 ingredient juice, like apples, oranges and lemon.
And just to put it out there, if you are on a low carb low sugar lifestyle, you might think fresh juices or juicing is like a contraindication. Not necessarily. I am a firm firm believer in Balance. It is so important to monitor yourself whenever making changes to your diet or lifestyle. Introducing new things should be viewed as an experimental process. When I drink a veggie juice at night, I often don’t feel the need to eat a full on meal, but I do know that the next morning it’s going to be important for me to eat something with lots of protein and probably fiber to ensure I get good long lasting energy. If I have a fresh fruit juice, I watch what other sugars I’m eating through out the day. I check in with myself to see how I’m feeling.
Lots of life is made up of wee compromises. Those small decisions for this or that are actually moving us towards balance. The changes that we’ve been making in our home are beginning to show just that.
