Mike Liebner’s Positive Think Tank

OK… so I am going to write about my new juicer.

If you knew me, you’d know a juice machine plays a big part in my day to day existence. I’d go so far as to say juicing has improved my health about as much as anything. Changed my life in a big way.

The Jack Lallanne Power Juicer Pro box had been sitting on my living room floor for more than 6o days and last night was the night I finally took it out of the box. I intentionally left it on my living room floor because I thought it would nudge me to get it out and put it into action. 60 days or so later I finally did it!

It’s a Jack Lalane Professional Deluxe model. I’m not going to do a full review – this is just a slice of life (or fruit if you prefer!) with my first impressions.

OK… so I must have had that Jucieman Jr. juicer for at least 10 years.
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We all know the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, but can you honestly say that you are doing all that you can with this marvelous and healthful fruit??? Are you getting your share of Apple Pectin???

I’ve always liked apples, same as the person next to me, but I must say that I went through a great part of my early life only eating a fresh apple once in a great while. Usually with caramel taffy on the outside… As a kid growing up my idea of enjoying the taste of apple was more likely in a sour hard candy wrapped in plastic, more so than the ripe fruit which I should have had more often than sweets.

There is nothing quite like eating a fresh apple or juicing it!

It wasn’t really till my late twenties and I was in a personal health crisis from over-indulgance and a fast food lifestyle, that I even considered making a conscious effort to add apples to my daily food regimen.

A day rarely passes that I don’t include an apple in my daily juicing routine, as well as sprinkle in some apple pectin.

I’ll spare the long detailed story about that health crisis, but let’s just say that I was in a state of constant haze and fog and I just wasn’t feeling very well.

After going to a doctor for the white carpet on my tongue (thrush) fatigue and not getting any satisfactory help, I found a life changing book called:

Juicing for Life: A Guide to the Benefits of Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Juicing

by Cherie Calbom

The book goes for 10 bucks at amazon. You can also read part of it at Google Books.

This book “Juicing for Life” truly changed my life. In fact, I believe the “big change” happened as I was  standing there in Barnes and Noble reading the forward/introduction by Cherie that I had an epiphony and discovered WHY I was feeling like crap.

Cherie too had what sounded exactly like what I did and she explained her history which also had a high sugar load and a diet of mostly over cooked food, just like mine.

Vegetables were always over cooked or from a can.

I’ll skip the lengthy discussion on what I diagnosed myself with, but I will say I bought the “Juicing For Life” book, ran out and immediately got a juicer and the rest is history! It truly changed my life!
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I’m goint to analyze my hair for toxins (and my dog’s hair too!)

OK, some of you must think this is a scam. After looking up hair analysis toxins on Google the first result was from a quackery watch site saying hair analysis was inconclusive.

Why is it that someone always wants to rain on my parade?

OK, sure I do realize that hair analysis may not be as thorough as blood analysis, but from what I hear it actiually has many benefits over blood, especially for looking at toxins that may be in the body. Also, I want to make sure that any blatant viatamin deficiency problems are pointed out so I can do the supplement thang.
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My weight has stabilized and I believe it is because of my modified behavior.

It’s been 46 days since my “13 day nutritional event” began on August 7th, 2007. That great starting point to cleanse my body ended on August 20, 2007.

I was fortunate to have lost 8 pounds in those 13 days and I have since lost 2 more for a total of 10 pounds lost since 46 days ago.

The plan itself was pretty easy to follow and those 13 days were not torturous in any way. Even better is that I have adopted many of the tactics of the nitritional plan and have kept them as a part of my life…

For example – I have not had any soda in the past 46 days. I have had lemonade out at restaurants but at home I no longer drink soda. Only water!

I guess that has been the toughest thing for me. I love to have a “sweet” drink with my meals and in the evening I had been accustomed to having a glass of Ginger Ale. I miss that!

Also, I pretty much try to eat throughout the day like a bird… al ittle here and there as opposed to larger meals. The exception of course is when I go out to eat.

At first I was pretty good about sticking with raw whole foods only, but have since reintroduced many of my favorite cooked foods. I even have an occasional candy treat, but in moderation compared to days of past.
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Day 15… It’s Wednesday, August 22nd and I thought I better give an update on my 13 day detoxification/cleansing/nutritional plan while all is fresh on my mind.

It’s over! My 13 day nutritional event ended 2 days ago on Monday morning.

When I weighed in I was at 194 lbs. That means in the 13 days I lost 8 pounds.

Oddly enough I woke up with sniffles. Gradually by night time it had blown up into a cold. A “summer cold” and was more an annoyance than a full blown cold. But I did have occasional sneezing attacks and a runny nose.

A friend suggested the “cold” may a part of the detox cleansing process… a way to blow out that excess muscous crap… hey, that may be true.

Since Monday morning when the “event” was officially over, I have still pretty much stayed on a sound and healthy diet with mostly whole foods – raw – uncooked and unprocessed with few exceptions.

The only exceptions or changes were that I had actual meals for dinner the past 2 evenings. Plus I resumed taking vitamins and juicing in the morning (it was water only before that).

I still had some lunch meat in my refrigerator from before the 13 day event and figured I may as well polish that off. So I bought some low carb tortillas and made wraps with some lettuce mix.

I used Vegenaise which is an incredible replacement for mayonaise and it tastes as good or better. Look for it in the refrigerated section of your grocery store. I found it at Ralphs by the lunchmeat. Great stuff if you like Mayo. Better than the light crap they sell which still is loaded with junk.

Other than that I did buy some Havea Tortilla chips and made home made guacamole and ate it along with my sandwich.
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Well, here it is Saturday, August 18, 2007. This morning when I weighed myself it was the 11th time in the 13 day nutritional program.

I have 2 more days and it ends on Monday the 2oth.

So far in the 11 days of eating only whole food and uncooked food I have lost 7 pounds. Oddly enough – this morning when I weighed myself I actually went up a pound.

It’s strange watching my weight fluctuate each day and sometimes it seems there is no rhyme or reason.

Some days it goes down a lot… a little… not at all and even go up.

Is it because of the avocado or the raw nuts??? But when I skip them it goes up??? No reason…

I weigh myself the same time each morning immediately after I wake up. That way it should be relative to each time I weigh myself.

I never did drop coffee 100% as I planned, however I am drinking a watered down 1/2 cup each day with nothing added. So if nothing else I have eliminated the non-dairy fake creamer I had been using (Hazelnut…hmmmm).

I’m not sure exactly how much I will keep eliminated after this Tuesday.

My basic thoughts are that I will basically keep on the same “non-processed foods” diet with the exception that I will eat out a few days each week for dinner.

Of course I’ll try to eat healthy foods, but I am already planning on a burger and Persian food so I know I’ll be eating cooked meat at least occasionally.

Most likely I will get back on this program within a week, as I’d like to drop 10 or more pounds.

While it’s only been 7 pounds so far I have had a few people ask if I lost weight, so it’s good to know my appearance is changing.

My goal is 20 to 30 pounds total so I still have 13 to 23 pounds to go before I am at the target weight of 172.

When I hit that I’ll be able to take a nice break and not worry so much about whether I am gaining or losing.
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Well, here I am on Friday morning, August 10th, 2007. It’s the beginning of my 4th day since starting the “13 day whole food nutritional event” on Tuesday.

I lost my first pound yesterday morning ( I weigh my self each morning after I get up) and another this morning. So I am down from my starting weight of 202 to 200. That’s 2 pounds in 3 days (technically the 3rd day was this morning and I am now in my 4th day).

My personal goal for the 13 days is 10 – 20 pounds. 10 would be nice – 20 would be great!

Plus I’ll keep on a modified whole food plan and hopefully continue to lose a few pounds after the 13 days!

I have been strictly following the program and have not had any cooked, processed food since Monday the day before I began.

The only exception is coffee which I have reduced drastically. So much in fact that yesterday afternoon I developed a slight headache that came and went sporadically. By night time it was pretty intense. I was very tempted to take an asiprin but resisted.
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Yesterday on August 7th, I began a whole new nutritional program. A “13 Day Nutritional Event”.

I’ve been studying raw food – whole food and have been meaning to get more committed to avoiding eating some of the junk I have regularly been putting in my body.

Raw Food – aka – Whole Food aka Live Food… it’s very misunderstood. At least when I talk to people about it, it is.

Maybe I have not found the proper approach. First off – “RAW” in itself makes most people take a step back and go ooouuuuwww. That’s why maybe it’s more appropriate to call it Whole Food. Whole Food Nutrition.

The general idea is to avoid food that are overly processed and/or filled with artificial ingredients…. taking it a step further the food we eat should ideally be LIVE in the sense that it contains the maximum amount of the nutritional benefits the food provides.

When food is cooked – it kills the good stuff. Enzymes among other things.

I’ll spare the long explanation as that deserves a full article on it’s own, but if you are interested in learning more about getting the most from the food you eat I suggest a great book by Carol Alt called “Eating in the Raw – a beginner’s guide to getting slimmer, feeling healthier, and looking younger the raw-food way”.

The book has an introduction by Nicholas J. Gonzales M.D. that explains it better than Ihave ever heard it explained before.

In a nutshell the good doctor goes on to provide proof and evidence that enzymes are perhaps among the most important factors in keeping us healthy. You really should get this book if nothing else just for the foreward as it will no doubt have a great impact on how you think about cooked processed foods.

The doctor states that at around 106-107 degrees enzymes in food begin deteriorating and that above 116 degrees they become “completely inactive”. As the doc points out so succinctly “that’s why fevers above 107 degrees F are generally deadly”.

 Hmmm… that kind of puts things in perspective, but as I said I’ll spare the long story.

Let’s just say I have been doing a lot of research myself on nutrition and numerous books and studies make a great case that cooked foods and processed and refined foods are what is causing the upsurge in obesity and illness in the U.S.A. and around the world.
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