Healthy Living is a Relative Concept

My Breville Juice Fountain.  I'm going to upgrade soon

to a low RPM two stage juicer with a separate press soon.

I have debated about making this post; however, it impacts my daily life so it is hard not to talk about the ways I incorporate healthy living into my routine. I am an intermittent faster and an occasional juicer.

The minute I hit fifteen years old, my sinewy frame that previously thrived on pizza rolls, Keebler cookies and Kraft macaroni and cheese was no longer easily maintained. When I discovered beer years later? Forget about it. I was always an athlete so I maintained my health by practically obsessing about minutes logged on the trail or in the gym. I counted calories daily for years on various apps/websites. I weighed myself weekly. I felt guilty for occasionally falling off the "healthy train". I was exhausted.

Some typical green juice ingredients.

Enter my career as a public auditor, bringing with it hours of sitting in front of a computer and, during busy season, extra hours and takeout. My workouts dropped and I was absolutely miserable. It took the entire off season to get back on track, which meant constantly thinking about what I was and wasn't doing right. Again, it was exhausting.

My second busy season, I declared I wouldn't let myself slip again. I call this the "try any trend" period of my life. I attempted a paleo diet, the four hour body diet, excessive cardio, excessive weight training, excessive yoga, no bread, no flour... On and on and on. All that I accomplished was driving myself insane and "maintaining" during the winter months. For all the work it took, maintaining seemed extremely anticlimactic.

Brad Pilon's E-Book

Then I discovered Brad Pilon's Eat Stop Eat (eatstopeat.com) e-book as well as a few documentaries on Netflix about how the juicing of vegetables can aid the American "nutritionally starved" diet.  I had found my golden ticket. I won't go into the details of either, because I'm petrified of sounding preachy (I figure I will put my favorite resources out there and people can take them or leave them!). Essentially, I abstain for one or two 24 hour periods (spread over two days, thus incorporating the hours spent sleeping) during a week and then return to normal eating patterns. It's very flexible with no set days and no hard coded rules. Sometimes, if I don't feel like fasting, I will just skip lunch a couple days a week. Also, I attempt to enjoy homemade green juices (kale, spinach, celery, cucumber, apples/oranges, lemons, etcetera). They energize me and make me feel fantastic.

Stella thinks my juicing thing is weird.

Over the past year, my weight has slowly been on a downward trend but I'm eating what I want and am able to use working out as a muscle building tool versus a punishment only 2-4 times a week. I don't count calories or log my food. I don't beat myself up about eating extravagant meals. I didn't stress over the holidays. I feel like I gave up a second job.

Will this work for everyone? Nope. Will some people think I'm crazy? You bet. This is why I titled the post what I did- healthy living is relative. Each individual needs to find what works for them. It's like the old saying goes: do what you love and never work a day in your life. Find the way of living that you love and never live in a diet frame of mind again.

What makes you feel fantastic?