Goats and Grapes

Why, hello! It has been months since I wrote a post for Lucy is Losing It, but since I've definitely lost it (and not the pounds, mind you), I'll tell you what I've been doing. Now, various post ideas have resided in my head, but we all know what happens to intentions, hell, roads, and whatnot. I crafted drafts involving the harvest season, wishbones, and fruitcakes as extended metaphors, but alas. If you are anticipating an obligatory "Let's get motivated with our resolutions!" early January post, you will need to look on Pinterest or elsewhere!

We put our house on the market in October. Deep cleaning a home with two small children while working full time and forgetting to eat three meals a day got me down to 19.6 pounds! Woohoo! Lots of exercise goes into scrubbing, hauling, dumping, lifting, reaching, scraping, and other various gerunds. Since I let my gym membership run out, the "-ings" kept me the sveltest I've been post-children.

Then The Crazy hit this house.

Everyone got sick. Work got nuttier than a port-o-potty at a peanut festival. Some evening showings kept us away from home at dinner. While we did sell our house in five weeks, I had gained back some pounds. I wanted to be sad that I was so close to a 20-lb. weight loss, but I just didn't have the energy to care!

Why is this post called "Goats and Grapes?" I'm writing while enjoying a glass of wine and eating goat cheese with a knife straight out of the 4-oz. package. I am doing so with gleeful relish and no shame.

To all you people out there on the New Year's resolution bandwagon ready to run yourselves to death, eat clean, and really change your life around, that's great! I support you. To all you people out there checking out Fitspiration boards on Pinterest but chastising yourself for not actually doing anything about it, hey, join me on the couch right now. There's a small bit of goat cheese left, so you had better act fast. I do have plans to blog about meal planning with Aldi purchases on a budget and whatnot, but for now, I'll just try to avoid slicing my tongue while I eat goat cheese off this knife. I'm sure I will be back with really sincere motivational posts, but that time is not now.

In a mere two weeks, the Crazy will begin again as we prepare and move our whole household. Perhaps I could at least make the resolution to explore my new neighborhood on foot, but I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself until I settle into the new house!

This is all I have to say about resolutions at this point:

Post your resolutions below, especially if you've already broken them! Tee hee!

Welcome to Juicy Lucy's Juice and Smoothie Shop

I've never made a green smoothie before with vegetables. I'm not feeling so hot today, so I figured I'd focus on meal planning and trying out new things on the Calories In aspect of weight loss. Out came the food processor! If you are looking for exact measurements or nutritional value information, you're going to have to look elsewhere. Confession: I did try to mess with the color values just a bit so the smoothie would look more green instead of the brownish-sandy-faded green color in reality. Yum? Indeed.

Lucy is Losing It Green Smoothie Recipe

Materials and Ingredients: 
Food processor
Handfuls of fresh spinach
one banana that is destined to become banana bread soon if it gets more spots
blueberries with stems pulled off
raspberries that have not molded yet (oops!)
a splash of milk
cups

Directions: Dump stuff, put on lid, push the button, and pour.

Inevitably, the littles will want to try. I was informed it is "Find All Swim Suits and Try Them On Day." I will be attempting to turn it into "Retrieve Swim Suits and Put them Back Where They Belong Day."

I think we have a winner. She ate her sister's leftovers, too. I thought the smoothie was absolutely delicious, and I will definitely be scouring Pinterest for more recipes. If I can shove in who knows what veggies, I can certainly get down with this weight loss business if I could drink these daily.

Last month, I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead on Netflix. It's about a man who drinks nothing but juiced fruits and veggies for 60 days. The results were amazing! Other people in the documentary also had inspirational results. I am hoping by incorporating these smoothies into my diet that my mental health will directly benefit. If I feed my brain with vitamins and minerals, maybe I'll diminish the Rage that comes from nowhere. Nutrients that Enhance Mental Health and Wellness is an article I found with a great list of what does what. (As with anything on the intertronz, do your own research about author credibility, etc.)

Please post links or recipes involving your favorite smoothies! I'd love to try them. I'd also love to hear about how drinking these green smoothies helped with mental health.