The Reboot Begins With Ayr

About a year ago I heard about a documentary called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" by Joe Cross.  The documentary is about the power of juicing and follows the journey of Joe Cross as he gives up all food and instead decides to juice his way across America for thirty days.  A year ago I could see that I had become exactly what the name of the documentary was but decided that I couldn't do anything about it.  Juicing was too hard or too expensive and certainly something I couldn't do.  So for the last year I have had health scares and have worked out here and there but I haven't changed my eating habits so I have done nothing but gain weight.

About a month ago my friends Ann, Jonathan and his partner Karl started juicing and now I have a support network to guide me through my change. I have come to the realization that unless I make a drastic change I will no longer be able to survive.  I won't find the man I am looking for if I don't love myself and when I look in the mirror I see someone that has given up on life and has lost their way.  I weigh in at about 335 pounds and this is the largest I have ever been in my life.  I went to the water park today and got winded just walking up the tower with the tube.  I can't live this way anymore, I won't live this way anymore.  So today I start juicing.

I ordered a Hamilton Beach Juicer from Amazon and it arrived on Friday.  Last night I went to Walmart with my best friend and housemate, Gail and stocked up on Kale, Cucumbers, Apples, Celery, Lemons, Oranges, and Carrots.  When I was loading up my cart with the Kale a customer asked me what Kale was used for and I told him I was juicing it.  When I was in the checkout lane the cashier asked me what I was doing with all of this stuff and I told her about the documentary and she mentioned that she in school and needs to write a documentary about something and I suggested the juicing journey to wellness.  The two customers behind me in line asked about the juicing as well and the husband said he had recently watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and had thought about the process.  I gave them both my blog address and so I already have followers on my journey.  I bought Ball 16 ounce canning jars and juiced my first drinks tonight.  Ann told me that juicing was like a part time job--she wasn't kidding as it took me ninety minutes to juice 6 Joe's Mean Green Juice drinks and 1 Sunkissed Fruit drink.  Karl tells me that I must stick to an 80% Vegetable Juice and 20% Fruit Juice rule to be successful.  I look forward to my first drink later this morning.

A Cart Full of Juicing Ingredients at Walmart 

A Very Messy Process

 The Recipes to Bring Me to Wellness

The Version of Me You Will Never See Again

I will update this blog periodically with my progress and if you would like to contact me please do so by email at freshayr@me.com.

My Guidebook for This Journey: Reboot with Joe
My Inspiration for This Journey: Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

Memorial Day 2008

Today is the day we United States of America folks call Memorial Day. It is the day that we honor all of our brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers who died while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States of America. It is a day to reflect on the freedoms that we have every day because of their selfless service and duty to our Country and to be thankful that they exist.

Today is also a day that brings to many people's minds the conflicts we are engaged in throughout the World whether it be one of a peacekeeping nature or war as it is in Iraq and Afghanistan. Everyone has an opinion on whether or not we should be in Iraq but what is most important is that you support our Service Members. They have chosen to fight for their Country and although far too many have died recently in the line of service we will always honor them for their sacrifice.

To find out more about the origins and traditions of Memorial Day you can go to sites like www.usmemorialday.org and www.thememorialdaytribute.com .

How you celebrate Memorial Day is unimportant just as long as you honor those that have given their lives for our Country.

My 1st Post

Ok, so first of all I'd like to say welcome to my blog. The title of my blog is "fresh Ayr" which is to say that it is anything new and fresh and has touched my life somehow. Wait a sec...isn't your name Andrew? Well, yes it is, however one day it will be Ayr Andrew Richard Poucher. But Andrew is a great name, it means strong or princely or something like that, why would you want to change it? My parents once gave me a framed quotation by George Bernard Shaw which said simply, "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." So, to take a literal translation of this quotation would mean that I would need to not only create the person that i am but also to re-name myself. I wasn't given a choice of a name when I was born (I was smart enough at the time, I just couldn't speak yet!) so now it is time for me to do the creating part.

Ayr? Why choose Ayr and not Jason or Joshua or something? Well my brother is named Joshua so that would never work and I am not that fond of Jason. Have you ever met someone named Ayr? Nope, didn't think so. Ayr actually stands for Are You Ready. It symbolizes the attitude I have about life in general; to be ready for anything and everything that is thrown at me. Also to share that love of life with everyone I come in contact with.

If you look on wikipedia it states:
Ayr (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Àir Mouth of the River Ayr) is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde, in south-west Scotland. It was a royal burgh from 1205 until 1975 and the county town of the former county of Ayrshire. Ayr is the administrative centre for South Ayrshire Council. The town's population registered in the 2001 Census was 46,431. In 2002, it was one of four Scottish towns competing for city status to mark Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee, but it lost to Stirling.

If the name Ayr is good enough for royalty it is good enough for me. To pay tribute to my parents, both of whom I love and respect deeply I will now have two middle names Andrew Richard. Of course Richard is my father's name and although he is not physically still with us on this planetary island home we call Earth he is and always will be at the core of who I am and who I will become. He was a great man who loved me through and through and accepted me without reserve.

I plan on not only writing about my current exploits but also desire to reminisce about my past. I am an open book so if you have a question you would like me to answer please feel free to ask it and I will do my best to provide you with a response. It is now almost 2am and I am off to bed so I will talk with you tomorrow. Be good and safe and rest well knowing that someone, somewhere loves you just as you are.

-Ayr =)