God I hate getting old but the alternative is even worse. The good news is in Sun City, age is immaterial. The bad news is, even though we still feel young at heart, our bodies just don't do what they did when we were younger. I've always had weight issues, but in the old days I could gain or lose 30 lbs in a month (one of the problems of being an addictive compulsive personality type). Now days, weight loss is almost impossible. I find myself hanging around the computer rather than the gym. In fact, I would argue the computer is the single worst factor to my physical health, but that's neither here or there. The point is as we age ( I turn 65 on Saturday) stuff happens. Of course if got my big old butt from behind the monitor and unto the elliptical, i'd be far better off. But the point of this article is I/we are trying to eat better. Of late I began experimenting with juicers. My first go around was with the NutriBullet...nice little machine (bought on sale at Kohls for around $75). It did a great job for simple smoothies, but that was pretty much its limitation. Then I saw an infomercial for the Fusion Juicer. I should now better, but I ordered it and while it is pretty, I used it once and quickly realized it sucked out a little juice but left most of the good stuff in the back of the machine to be thrown out (they don't show you that in the promos). Way over priced and it comes with a 60 day guarantee but no info on how to return it. Finally, as we were wandering the aisles at COSTCO, we found a demo for the Vitamix. I was sucked in by the difference in a machine where all the nutrients became part of the drink. We bought it on the spot, and am absolutely loving it. One of the features is making hot soups in it and am looking forward to some hot cheese/broccoli homemade soup. For my money, while the cost of the Vitamix was substantial, it was a great investment. Awesome warranty and better yet, a product that lives up to its billing. When it comes to eating healthier, this heavy duty blender does the trick.
I bought a juicer 6 years ago because I have an orange tree. It was waaay too much work for the little juice it provided. It now sits in the cupboard - unused. I like smoothies but my blender was a pain to clean. Then I bought a handheld blender and a very sturdy glass with a handle. I just put what I want in the glass (banana, yogurt, juice, etc) push the blender down into the glass, and voila' withing 30 seconds I have a smoothie. The blender is a snap to clean. Just run it under the water. When I want to make Margaritas, I have my friend bring a blender.
I also spend a lot of time on the computer. So far I have made about 100 webpages. I was running out of ideas and when TOSC came along I was/am hooked. I do go to a pool exercise class 3 times a week and the fitness room other days. I'm thinking about buying a chopper. I'd like to make gazpacho in the summer & hot soups in the winter.
I am also a Vitamix owner and love it. I had all sorts of juicers but could never keep up with the amt of pulp produced and that was back when I used to do almost daily baking. Also did a lot of reading and I now believe it is greatly beneficial to ingest all that pulp for fiber. Some nutritionists also say the amt of cellular breakdown that occurs with the extreme liquidification in a high power blender like Vitamix makes the nutrients more usable by our bodies. I'm just glad to not be throwing out pulp anymore. I know it makes good compost or muffin filler and soup stock, but it's easier to just swig it down and know it is doing good. Do you have a favorite shake or are you just working your way through the recipe book that came with it?
Hate to admit it scj, but I just throw whatever fruits that are in the fridge into it. We've started buying lots of fresh fruit and it just doesn't matter what we mix up; it's all tasty. The fresh pineapple has been wonderful. And of course spinach, tomato, celery and other veggies are quite good for lunch. I am a bit jaundiced because I throw a can of V8 juice in with it. Exceptional. I finally chased down a phone number for the Fusion juicer. The guy from India was quite nice and kept offering me money back if I just kept it. I have zero interest in throwing out all the pulp (nutrients) and getting this small amount of juice. They gave me a mailing address to send it back, we'll see. I plan on contacting my Visa card before hand in case there is a problem on the other end.
I have never done juicing... I must try it... Also, if anyone wants to workout and be on this site at the same time... Get a stationary bike and they have shelves for lap tops!! pretty cool.. here is one site that sells something special for this... Just a thought... http://www.surfshelf.com
BP--Yep, I pretty much do the same, but "cheat" a bit like you with V-8 or OJ as part of it. One of my easy favs is OJ, carrots, some fresh ginger for some zip. I think the fruit/veggie combo is esp. healthy and if you add in some protein powder, flax seed or wheat germ, so much the better. Hope you get the bucks back for Fusion. bmac--yeah, think you'll like juicing pegmih--I know what you meant about all the work for OJ with the squeezer. Now I just quarter any citrus, peel back the skin, and throw it in the Vitamix--gets frothy and is rich, almost like a concentrate, so you can water it down, but it's lots easier and the pulp is good for us.
