By Takiya Smith
In my columns, I strive to present topics that discuss and broaden the outlook on beauty as a whole — encompassing mind, body and spirit.
This week’s journey leads us down the path to being body beautiful, internally, which ultimately leads to external beauty. Let’s talk health for a moment regarding fruit and vegetables. This past week, I decided to start and stick with a workout routine of walking the treadmill two times a day for a total of 30 minutes per cycle. So far, so good as I enter my second week, day nine.
Normally, I listen to music but during my routine this past Sunday, I decided to watch a documentary by Joe Cross. “Fat, Sick &amp; Nearly Dead” tells the amazing story of the author’s recovery from sickness, fatigue, and obesity as he made a life-saving decision to commit to juicing. For those of you, like me, who are not so familiar with the term or process, juicing basically is taking whole, natural fruit and vegetables, placing them in a juicer, or extractor, and drinking the pure, unprocessed juice. In doing so, you receive all the nutrients, vitamins, protein and energy that your body needs to mend, repair and continue to sustain itself.
As I watched the documentary, my interest was spiked not only in Cross’s drastic weight loss — more than 91 pounds in 60 days — but how amazed his physician was as he watched his patient’s cholesterol, blood pressure and a disease, Auto Immune Syndrome, that had plagued him for years, totally dissipate.  In two months time, fruit and vegetables did what years of medicine could only cover up.
Needless to say, I have decided to give juicing. I will document my results and hope that this article is helpful to any who wish to jump-start a healthier way of life or stabilize and maintain any unhealthy, excess weight. For more, visit my blog at www.blb-boutique.com.