Jack LaLanne's Power Juicer

If you know me at all (and many of you do), you know that I consider fruit to be Mother Nature's candy. Equal parts delicious and nutritious, it really goes above and beyond the call of duty in the fit life. (The same could be said about vegetables, although we don't always consider them to be a sweet treat.) When we got to Spring Lake (Jason's hometown) on Thursday, Lory (Jason's mom) almost immediately directed me to an enormous basket of fresh fruit that they had received as a gift. Of course I was more than willing to help them eat some of it, and I did indulge in a banana and apple or two over the weekend. But it wasn't until Sunday morning that I really, truly experienced the fruit basket.

Gary (Jason's dad) has a Jack LaLanne Power Juicer. Have you seen the infomercial?



Honestly, the infomercial doesn't lie! It really, truly does work that easily. And it certainly creates a delicious juice filled with vitamins, minerals, etc...etc. Minus all the high fructose corn syrup and other unnatural additives, which makes any glass of juice from this thing a great post-workout snack. Since I was post-workout, you can imagine how excited I was to get started. Our first combination:

Yep, carrots!
I wasn't sure what to think of this combination, but they assured me it was a winner so I rolled with it.

And I'm glad I did because it was absolutely, positively delicious. I never knew fruit juice could taste this good. And the carrots—I'm now wondering if my mixer would be able to chop them up into a smoothie-like consistency. Or maybe I should just get a juicer and start throwing the juice into a blender with some yogurt and a banana.

After I downed this small taste of juice, we moved on to other combinations. Orange, apple and pineapple. Orange and grapefruit. Pineapple, grapefruit and orange. They all tasted so good! And the few sips here and there filled me up quite nicely. Best part? Minimal cleanup. This is the only goop left of an apple, orange and that small handful of baby carrots:

It probably measures out to about a cup, take a little. And if you're a smart baker, you know that this stuff can sometimes make an otherwise unhealthy recipe that much healthier. Juicer bonus!

Today's lesson? Juice is good...when it's good. Be careful of your post-workout juice choices as those found in the store can be far from fresh, far from natural and far from sugar-free. Fruit is already filled with natural sugar, so there isn't really ever a need to add more. That's how juice manufacturers stray far from the fit life. Always choose as naturally as you can. When in doubt, just eat the fruit. Or juice your own like we did.

Thanks Jack...er, I mean...Gary for the delicious juice! I look forward to juicing with you again next time we head on up. I'm thinking we need to try some papaya. Maybe something crazy like a starfruit. And we should definitely use more veggies.

Oh, and in case all of you readers are wondering who Jack LaLanne is, I did some research and found out that he is apparently the "Godfather of Fitness." Also a chiropractor and bodybuilder. We can thank him for the leg extension machine, cable machines and weight selectors. All of which he was the first to create.  Bonus fact: He was 61 in 1975, and at that age he was able to swim the entire length of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransisco, California. Doesn't seem that cool? Did I fail to mention that he was handcuffed, shackled AND towing a 1,000-pound boat? Yeah, I know. If you don't believe me, you can click here for an entire list of his accomplishments. No wonder he's got the best juicer your money can buy. Well, at least in my opinion.

Question: Do you have a juicer? What's your best combination? If you don't have a juicer, what would be your first combination if you bought one? And finally, how do you incorporate fruit into your fit life?