Wednesday, February 1, 2012

A little break..

Ok, so, this weekend my hubbs and I are going on a much needed mini vacation to the coast.  Because of this, I've decided to take a break from my fast.  I'm going to start back up again for 15 days on February 15th.  Ive been going strong for 10 days and I feel fantastic!  I'm gonna continue to drink at least one green juice a day till I begin again.  I'm also gonna continue doing my Netflix Pilates workouts everyday. (except for this weekend though, who know maybe me and the hubbs will go for a run on the beach)

Feel free to still ask me questions, or if you just need encouragement I'm here for you!  See you all again February 15th....vacation here I come!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Day 10 is here!!


Day 10 is here!  I never thought I would make it.  What a journey these past ten days have been.  Ive gone through hunger, headaches, and stomach pains.  But, I've also gotten energy, a clear mind, and lost 13 pounds!  That's all worth it to me! 

As I said in my previous posts, on day 6 I transitioned my diet to juicing in the mornings and afternoon, and eating a raw/healthy dinner.  This has seemed to work extremely well for me.  It seems to give me enough substance in the evening that I need. Last nights dinner was delicious!  I had gotten the idea from one of my favorite sites, Pinterest!  I made Baked Cauliflower Poppers....soooo good!


For the recipe, click here. Your welcome. ;)

So for the past five days, I've been doing a Pilates workout I've found on Netflix.  Today, I took it up a notch and added some cardio to it.  After dropping my girls off at school, I came home, put my jogging clothes on and headed out the door.  I jogged around my neighborhood for about a mile. Boy, was it hard.  In the first few minutes my heart was beating out of my chest and I wanted to quit, but I kept pressing on.  I knew I would be mad at myself if I did.  At one point I did slow down to a brisk walk.  Come on, lets be realistic here.  I HATE RUNNING.  Ever since I was a kid, I've never liked it.  It took everything I had to pass P.E. in high school, cause I hated it that much.  Lol.  But, I am determined to lose this remaining fat, and tone up all this cellulite!  My goal is to be able to wear shorts this summer!  I haven't done that in 10+ years.  I'm ready to be a fit, healthy Mom.  I want to be active with my kids, not just sending them outside to play, but go play with them!  If your reading this, know you can do it too!!  Believe me, I was the least motivate person I knew.  I never wanted to do anything, or eat anything healthy.  But now, its slowly coming easier for me.  I find myself craving healthy things now, and get excited to workout!  We can do this!!!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Progress...

I cant believe I am already at the end of day 7.  It seems like this week has just flown by.  The first two days were rough, I'm not gonna lie, but after that it just seemed to come easier.  On day 6 I decided since I did five days juice only, I wanted to transition my fast to juice for breakfast, lunch and snack, and then eating a raw/healthy meal for dinner.  I know, I know, your thinking I'm just making excuses to eat again.  Really, I love eating, but this isn't an excuse.  I've already lost half of the weight I'm looking to lose in this fast, plus I just feel fantastic.  I think its about what you eat, not when you eat.  The dinners I will be eating for the next 23 days will only be raw or healthy foods.  No processed.  No fast food.  No sugars.  Just the healthy stuff, which believe it or not is what I want to eat.  All that other stuff, minus the sugar ;), doesn't sound good.  At all.  Plus on a great note....Ive lost 12 lbs!!!  So excited!!

Ok, so for dinner tonight I made a Creamed Avocado and Lime Chilled Veggie Pasta.  It was DELICIOUS! 


Now, I know your all dying for the recipe....so here it is!

Creamed Avocado and Lime Chilled Veggie Pasta

Ingredients
  • 1 1/2cup dry shell organic whole wheat pasta or short pasta of your choice (I used a vegetable pasta)
  • 1 ripe avocado
  • handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
  • 1 1/2Tbsp lime juice
  • 3Tbsp fat free mayonnaise (I only used 1 because the avocado is creamy enough)
  • 1tsp garlic paste
  •  sea salt & pepper
  • chopped cilantro and/or jalapeno for garnish
Instructions
  1. Cook pasta according to the package instructions. Drain well, set aside to cool.
  2. Peel avocado and remove the pit. Put it in a food processor together with chopped cilantro, lime juice, mayonnaise and garlic paste. Blend it until it’s creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Cover it with plastic wrap and keep it in a refrigerator if you have time.)
  3. Transfer the avocado sauce to a medium sized bowl. Add cooked pasta and toss them well. Sprinkle chopped cilantro and/or jalapeno on top.
Notes
You can use chopped jalapeno on top for garnish but you can also put jalapeno in a food processor to blend in the sauce for spiciness.

I hope what I'm typing reaches you and motivates you in some way.  Even if its just one person, its worth it.....as I sign out, Cheers to being healthy!!!

Day 7...time is flyin' by..

I'm sorry, but I didn't realize I hadn't posted in 3 days!  Time seems to be flying by lately.  Which is good for me.  Confessional time....last night I cheated.  I went to my longtime friends baby shower, and silly me didn't juice before I went so I went hungry. Bad choice.  I gave in to my selfish indulgences and had a few chips and some dip.  Strangely enough it didn't make me sick like I though it would.  Just really full after only a little bit.  But, back on the bandwagon this morning sipping my morning juice as I type this.  We all make mistakes right?  Its about making the choice to get back on it and stick with it.  Not beating yourself up about it.

On brighter news, so far I have inspired two people to begin a juice fast!  I am so excited, that like me people are taking their health into their own hands and are saying enough is enough!  I'll make this one short, but come back later on tonight to recap my day! Have an amazing day, and remember, YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Day 4 and feelin' fine..

Sorry folks, I completely lost track last night and didn't post a new blog.  Well I made it past day 3 and am now on day 4!!  Last night was rough, I'll admit it.  I almost caved in and ate dinner.  The aromas became to much so, no joke, I went in my room, pulled my sweater over my nose, put my headphones one and concentrated on the music I was listening too.  The craving passed in about 10 minutes and I went in to kitchen, amongst all of the good smelling food, and made myself a green drink!  It tasted delicious and filled me up!  I am so proud that I didn't cave in. Plus, all of the support from my friends and family and my hubby. :) 

This morning I woke up, made my fruit juice, and had a glass of water.  I felt great!  Had a ridiculous amount of energy, and still do!  I'm so glad I've decided to make these life changes.  My body is thanking me big time....and I'm only on day 4!!! 

Monday, January 23, 2012

Day 2...glad its over..

Well day 2 is finally over.  Thank goodness.  I felt more tired today and even more hungry for food, but I didn't cheat once.  Every time I felt hungry I just drank a juice. I also have developed a little bit of a sore throat.  I'm not used to drinking all this liquid.  It should go away though in a day or two. :) I'm feeling tired right now, but I've made it a goal to blog everyday so I could keep track of my progress.  Also, so you out there who might be reading this could somehow be inspired.  I know the first week is the hardest but I can do it!!  If I got through today, I can get through tomorrow!  I'm pretty sure I found my Green drink today.  I just got in the kitchen and made my own.  The Reboot's Mean Green drink was way to "mean" and celery like for me so I had to make my own...




This drink consisted of..

Bunch of Spinach
Handful of Parsley
Celery Stalk (add more or less to your liking)
One Green Apple
One Asian Pear
One Tomato

After drinking it I realized my 80/20 ratio was off and was more like 50/50, for my dinner juice I took out the Asian Pear and added more Spinach.  It was delicious...tasted just like a V8.

Day 2 down and now on to day 3....I think I can, I think I can...

Time Saver!

Being a Mom of three and a Wife of one makes it to where I have very little time. Seeing as how I am in the beginning stages of my Reboot Juice Cleanse, I need to do whatever I can to stay motivated and not  be bogged down with spending 30 minutes 4 times a day to wash, prepare, and juice my vegetables, no to mention clean my juicer.  So going across my favorite site, Pinterest, I came across a great idea.  On Sunday, or which ever day you prefer, get together all of your vegetables and fruit and wash them.  Separate them according to your different juice meals per day and bag them in a large Ziploc bag.  Mark on the outside of the bag the recipe and then there you have it,  juices for the week that you can conveniently just pull out of the fridge and put straight into your juicer.


  Also, in order not to waste money on Ziploc bags, just wash and turn inside out and let air dry, then you can reuse them as often as you like! Thank goodness for time savers...I need all the time I can get with my precious babies...and hubby too. ;)

-In case you are wondering the recipe in the bag it is....

Handful of Parsley
Bunch of Spinach
One Celery stalk (you can add more depending on how you like it)
One Green Apple
One Tomato
Half of an Asian Pear

Delicious...tastes just like a V8!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Day 1 down!

Well, here it is folks, day 1.  Let me just tell you it hasn't been easy, but it wasn't as hard as I was expecting.  I know its only the first day, but I'm being optimistic. :)  I thought I would post pictures and let you know what I drank today...

Breakfast consisted of beets, carrots, kale, ginger, and a golden apple...




It wasn't that bad really.  The only thing I didn't like about it was the beets.  I've never like beets in my life, so I don't know why I thought juicing would make it taste different. Lol.  But got it down no problem. 

Lunch consisted of kale, celery, ginger, green apples, asian pears, and half a lemon...


This one I had a little harder time drinking.  I'm pretty sure it was the celery.  Next time wont use as much. (You'll see later in my dinner juice)  The good thing about juicing is that you can tweak the recipes to your own liking.  So this is a learn as you go process. :)

Dinner consisted of spinach, green apple, asian pear, cucumber...


 I drank a little before I took the picture because I forgot about it.  I also juiced everything before I remembered to take a picture of that.  Ugh.  Oh well. You get the gist from the picture. :)  This one was tons better than the first green juice I made.  No celery made all of the difference.  I was hesitant on using the cucumber because eating it raw makes me burp. Alot.  But strangely enough drinking it in juice form hasn't made me burp at all.  Plus love the cucumber taste! Woohoo!

I thought I would be more tired than what I have been.  Reading testimonials from other people who have taken the juice fast have said they took multiple naps in the beginning.  I actually laid down and tried to sleep earlier but my body was too "awake" and I couldn't fall asleep.  So I just got up and read and listened to worship music.  That has really got me through today.  Listening to The Loft Sessions from Bethel Music.  Especially Jeremy Riddle's song Walk In The Promise.  It is hauntingly wonderful.  It just goes straight to my soul.  Beautiful. 

I am thankful day 1 is over.  I am ready to start seeing results, but I know that takes time.  I have taken pictures of myself to show you progress, but am not going to show that till I see some changes. :)  Till then I will keep truckin on and remain strong....29 more days to go. :)

Friday, January 20, 2012

Am I ready for this?

The other day I watched a documentary on Netflix called, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  Lets just say it was an eye opener.  It, basically, is about a man who goes on a 60 day juicing cleanse to help heal his body from all of the damage he had done to it.  I recommend you watch the video to find out further info on it.  But, needless to say it inspired me...

Just to give a little history, I pretty much my whole childhood life never had to worry about weight.  I could eat whatever I want, whenever I want and never gain an ounce.  It was fantastic!  I LOVE FOOD!!  Cooking it, the smell of it, I love trying new things.  In fact, it wasnt until I got pregnant with my first child at age 20 when my body started changing.  I gained a total of 35 lbs that pregnancy, which was fine, but I never lost it all.  I dropped down to about 10 lbs over my pre pregnancy weight, which at the time seemed great.  No need to lose weight, plus my hubby liked the extra curves going on. ;)  But, after a month or so I noticed I started to gain weight.  Not mass amounts but 5 lbs here or there.  I was more tired.  It probably could have been because I had a one month old, but I just couldnt seem to get enough energy no matter what I did.  Then I began to drink coffee to help.  Thus, began my Starbucks addiction. ;)  Two kids later, my body really took a toll.  I now weigh more than I ever have being non pregnant.  It is depressing at times.  I have rolls where I never used to.  Dimples where I dont want them to be.  My skin just looks dull.  Man, who would be happy with this body?  You know you've let yourself go when you dont even want your hubby to touch you cause it grossed you out, not because of him, but because of your own body.  The past month or so I've been experiencing stomach problems.  Nausea, cramping, irritability.  I have been under extra stress, but it seems to be everything I eat makes me sick. (and no I'm not pregnant)  After watching the documentary, it was like a light bulb went off.  Duh!  Maybe, I am having all of these problems due to my diet?  I only eat twice a day, never breakfast.  Actually a cup of coffee is my breakfast.  I've just let myself go...

Its time for a change!  Its a new year, and I need a new me!  Not just for my kids or my husband, but for me.  I want to feel good about myself again, even sexy again.  I lost that years ago and I'm ready to get it back!  After a lot of praying, this Sunday will kick off my 30 day (possibly 60 depending on how I feel after the 30 days) Reboot Juicing cleanse.  I am ready, I am motivated! I know its going to be hard.  I know I will face challenges, but with the support from my family and friends, and my faith I know I can do it!  Its about time...