February 9, 2009 by Dave Rider Leave a Comment

Bye Bye Toxins! My Juice Cleanse

I am 4 days into my juice cleanse. So far so good, but I have to admit, it’s been really hard. I do crave solid food, but I know it’s temporary and I just have to get through a few more days. I make fresh juice myself with my juicer 3 times a day, organic apple, Carrot, beet and ginger. Just a liitle beet and ginger. Then I add my UltraInfamx by Metagenics, which is a medical food designed to help give nutritional support to inflammatory conditions like Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis. I also drink different fresh juices throughout the day, like Bolthouse Veggie juice. I also take a shot of udos oil and have been adding liquid vitamins to the Udos Oil. I have been going to Jamba Juice and getting a double shot of Wheatgrass every day as well. On Friday the 2nd day of my cleanse I went and did a colonic treatment. I have 2 more treatments scheduled next week. I have also been going to the gym and sitting in the steam room and sauna to help sweat out the toxins. Four more days and I can eat solid foods again.

I am sharing my experience and thoughts but by no means am offering any expert advice – just my experience. You should consult your doctor before starting any type of juice cleanse or nutritional regimen.

February 5, 2009 by Dave Rider Leave a Comment

Taking my health to the next level!

I am back in Las Vegas for a month, drove down and brought my bike. I biked alot last summer in Washington, both Seattle area and Lake Chelan. I participated in an Olympic distance Triathlon in July and accomplished 2 Century Bike Rides (100 miles in one day) in Sept. The Centiry rides were really, really hard. It took alot of determination and training to do it. But I did do it! Not bad for a 45 year old guy with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis!

I do like to walk, (I am doing the 3 Day Breast Cancer Walk to benefit the Susan G Komen Foundation in Sept. which is 60 miles over 3 days. I lost my little sister 3 years ago to breast cancer so it is a cause near and dear to my heart. I walked 8 miles on Saturday when I got back to Las Vegas, the sun was out and it was 65 degrees and beautiful. On Sunday I rode my bike for the first time in 4 months, I rode up the Red Rock Canyon West of Las Vegas. I went 25 miles and was really exhausted when I finished. Here’s a couple pics of the scenery from my bike ride.

I haven’t been eating very well lately. Eating more meat than I should be. I still eat alot of veggies, salads, take my udos oil, vitamins, greens and Wheatgrass Juice. But I’ve not been eating as much veggies and I’ve been eating things like pizza and cheeseburgers every few days, more than normal. I know it’s not good for me, but I really crave fatty foods. Which is double hard because I have a slow metabolism and gain weight really fast. I have gained 17 pounds since Sept. when I was doing all the biking. I have been working out, walking, swimming etc.. 2-3 days a week but it’s not enough for me.

I was on the road for work in Lake Havasu City the past couple days, and I didn’t that well so today I got frustrated and decided it time to get my act together again. I’d been planning on doing a juice cleanse, so I committed to starting tomorrow for 9 days. I will make my juice: carrot, apple, beet ginger (all organic) and mix with my UltraInflamX Mix 3 times a day. I will also have a smoothie once a day. I put Organic Soy Milk, a banana, some fresh pineapple, frozen blueberries, antioxident juice (Noni, Mangosteen Acai) and an apple (all organic) in my Vita Mix and it makes a great healty smoothie loaded with nutrition. I will continue with Wheatgras Juice, Udos Oil (Essential Oils), green drink and vitamins. I got some new liquid vitamins to try, supposedly has better absorption. I got multi-vitamin, mineral supplement and glucosamine / chondroitin/ MSM. They are liquid so I poured a tablespoon of each into a shot glass with my 1 oz. of Udos oil, the vitamins actually made the udos oil taste better.

I really stepped things up at the gym today, I hired a personal trainer to help with some core training for the next month, to teach me some core exercises and light weightlifting to tone and get in better shape. I am lookin forward to learning.

With the cleanse, personal traininer, and committment to exercise (either bike, walk, swim or train) every day for the next month, I look forward to seeing where I am at with my health in a month. Oh yeah, I will also do colonics next week with the cleanse to help eliminate toxins out of my system. Of course I will be drinking my 100 ounces of water a day as well.

After the cleanse I will eat primarily veggies, and continue juicing and smoothies as well, with some fish for protein.

Wish me luck… I’ll keep ya posted on my progress!

January 23, 2009 by Dave Rider Leave a Comment

Supplements and Vitamins

I try to get my nutrition through natural, organic foods and fresh vegetables. I also take a few supplements daily. In addition to my Udo’s Oil and Wheatgrass, I take a multi Vitamin, Glucosamine Chondroitin, vitamin B12, Vitamin D and MSM. As with all supplements I believe you have to take them consistently for a long period of time to truly benefit from them. Consistency is key.

January 16, 2009 by Dave Rider Leave a Comment

Juice for Health – Anti-Inflammatory juicing

Fresh juice has many health benefits. Fresh juice provides vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fresh enzymes and more. I have been juicing since about a year after my Connective Tissue / Autoimmune diagnosis. I try to juice every day. My favorite is apple, carrot, beet ginger, parsley, celery, cucumber and kale. I only include 1 apple and 2 carrots as they are loaded with natural sugar, but they do make the juice taste better. It tastes great and is very good for you. I believe juicing is one of the many things that have contributed to my optimum health and combating the inflammation from Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis autoimmune and connective tissue disease.

I use a Breville Elite Juicer. It is awesome – juices greens like kale and spinach well.

There is always clean up with a juicer, but it only takes a few minutes. Well worth it. When I am traveling as I am right now I definitely miss my juicer. I usually try and find a health food store or juice bar where I can get fresh organic juice.

We are travelling to Maui for a couple weeks and I am packing my vita mix blender in an extra suitcase so I can make my organic green smoothies on the road.Now that’s commitment to healthy ant-inflammatory nutrition! Have a great day – happy juicing!