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Health & Fitness

It's About to Get Real People!

It's high time that I put an end to my snack food addiction, and begin shedding a little light on the benefits that fruits and vegetables can bring into my life.


I'm getting ready to turn 49-years-old in a little over a week, friends. I know what you all are thinking because one of my friends has already voiced it.

I can't believe you're going to be 49-years-old, Terry, you don't look a day over 48 and a half!

I know, right? It's clean living, baby. Pure and simple.

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Hmmm...but when I started thinking about it, did clean living really include chips, cookies, candy bars, or frequent visits to the Wendy's drive-thru where all of the workers know me by name?  I doubt it. Every time I go to the grocery store, I think, hmmm...okay, just one snack food will go in this cart today. Of course, over the years I have termed snack food as anything that makes a crunchy noise while I'm eating it. That means at least one trip down the chip aisle.  I'm addicted to chips. However, I'm also addicted to ice cream...candy bars...soft drinks...the whole nine yards. Whenever I get to the check out, the little check-out guy always asks...

What's for dinner tonight, Miss Terry?

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Well, from the looks of it...chips, a Three Musketeers Bar, and some Cheez-its. Hold on a minute...I forgot to get a Coke Zero! I'll be right back.

Okay, but it looks like you've got some baby carrots and some broccoli in your cart, too. That's good for you.

Oh, those. I only put those in the cart to impress that hot guy that I ran into over in the produce aisle. I wanted to make sure that he thought I was some kind of health nut. Guys seem to dig health nuts, ya know. Anyway, he didn't know that a few aisles over I would be adding some French Onion dip to go along with those nasty things.  I've got to have something to wash the taste down. Plus, the color looks pretty in my cart...and besides, why do you care what I'm having for dinner?

Well, yesterday, you had a Snickers Bar, a box of Pop-Tarts, and a bottle of wine. At least you try to shake things up a bit.

Yeah, that's me...always tryin' to shake things up. Just wait and see what I plan to have next time. Maybe I'll surprise you.

Good for you! But just so you know...ice cream will be on sale tomorrow...buy one, get one free. I know how you like your chocolate ice cream. See you soon!

So I got home from the grocery store and I started to think about what I was taking out of the bags. My brain was saying 'yummy', but my heart was saying 'sister, we need to have a serious talk.' I opened the fridge and hid the carrots and broccoli behind the lettuce, cantaloupe, strawberries, and oranges. It appeared that I had tried to impress many hot guys at the store over the last week. My fridge could attest to that. Did I plan to eat these things? Not as long as there was a bag of chips or a candy bar in the house, I didn't. I'm almost 49-years-old, people, and I eat like I'm a teenager! What's wrong with this picture?!

That night, I was online and I came across an article about the Benefits of Juicing.  My daughter and I had a brief conversation about juicing the night before, so I decided to read what it was all about. Lo and behold it pertained to all of those 'things' I had been accumulating in my fridge; all of those 'things' I had been pretending to like just so that I could flirt with a hot guy in the produce section.  Dang those hot guys. Anyway, the more I read, the more I got into the article...so I began to do an all out search on juicing. Every article I found, I read....all the while, digging my hand deeper and deeper into the chip bag. 

Before the night was over, I had ordered a Juicer off of Amazon.com and I had finished my last bag of chips. 

I looked at my daughter and said...

Things are getting ready to get real, baby, I just bought a juicer. No more junk food for me. If I plan to live til I'm 100, then I better get my act in gear.

Does this mean you're giving up caffeine, too? I mean, the last time you gave up caffeine, I thought your world had come to an end.

I have to give it up, but this time, I'm not going to go cold turkey with it...but I will be going cold turkey with all of the junk food in my life.

Does this mean that you're going to be flailing around on the floor acting like you won't make it another day? You deserve an Oscar for those little performances, ya know.

Well, if you see me on the floor crying out in misery, then just step over me...and if I start begging you to go out and buy me snack food...don't do it! No matter what, don't do it.

So when does this show begin?

My new juicer arrived this past Monday. Did I mention how hot my UPS guy is?  Anyway, the juicer was more than I made it out to be in my mind. It's remarkable! I set it on the counter next to my coffee maker, so that they could get to know each other...if only for a little while. I could tell that the coffee maker felt small in comparison, and I think that it could see that its days were coming to an end. All of the articles I read said that you don't need caffeine, the juice is going to give you all of the energy and vitality that you need first thing in the morning! Sounds like a plan, but I know well enough to wean myself from caffeine...slowly...so I guess you could say that I'm going to be cheating for a little while when I start this program.

All of the articles also said that I would definitely lose weight. Score! I'm in, baby! They said that you could lose up to 30 lbs. in one month. Yikes! I don't want to lose that much weight. I like my curves, and men dig curves...so why risk losing them? I read that you could lose about 7 lbs. in the first week. Hmmm...okay, that's a little more doable. That will put me back into those cute little jeans I have with the holes in them. Men dig jeans with holes in them. Now I have a goal.

Yesterday and today, I did a practice run with all of the fruits and vegetables that I had in my fridge. When did I buy arugula? When did I buy that bag of spinach? At any rate, they were getting ready to be juiced. In the past two days, I have had more fun throwing things in that juicer than you could possibly imagine. I've tried different mixtures of things, but all in all, I've juiced grapefruit, oranges, kiwi, strawberries, arugula, spinach, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, mint, lemons, cucumber, squash...dang...there must have been a lot of hot men in the produce department at the grocery store last week! 

My brain has been begging for some junk food since I started trying this out, but my heart has been leading my veins and arteries in a loud chorus of 'Alleluia.' I'm kinda digging the music, so this might be easier than I thought.

This afternoon, I went to the store to prepare my fridge for this new venture. It's hard to say how long the amount of vegetables and fruits that I bought will last me, but I'm sure I'll be back on Monday. The check-out guy had a look of amazement on his face.

Ummm...Miss Terry, do you realize that all you have in your cart are fruits and vegetables? Oh, and one little light bulb? How many hot guys were over in the produce department today? Sure you don't want a candy bar...they're right behind you, ya know?

I told you I was going to surprise you the next time I saw you, and I did...didn't I? As far as the candy bar goes, I just had to smack my brain on the hand because it keeps begging me to turn around and grab something chocolate for the ride home. I'm tired of letting my brain tell me what to do.

Then why all the vegetables and fruits, if you don't mind me asking?

Well, starting tomorrow, I'm going to be juicing all of those things you see in my cart...and boy, you wouldn't believe it, but the concoctions you can make are amazing!

You're going to be juicing these brussel sprouts? And these sweet potatoes?

Oh yeah, baby! Everything you see in front of you is going in my juicer...everything except the light bulb, of course. That is to remind me that I'm getting ready to let my little light shine. I'll see you on Monday!

Tomorrow is the big day, people! I'm ready, willing, and able to get on track to healthier living. A couple of articles that I read about juicing said that actors and actresses tend to juice heavily before they are getting ready to play a big part.  Well, the way I look at it is this...I'm so very lucky to have gotten the main role in this little thing I call my life, and I'm not about to give it up just for a candy bar or a bag of chips. I've got lots of shows ahead of me, so I better get on the ball if I want to give the best performance ever. I'm all about getting a standing ovation, but I prefer not to get one for another 49 years...if you know what I mean.

So here's to fruits and vegetables, and the benefits that juicing is getting ready to bring into my life. May this new venture of mine turn into a new long-term relationship with my health and well-being.  Cheers!

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