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Juice Cleanse (Round 2)

Hello Love Bugs.

A few days ago, I finished my second ever juice cleanse.

I did my flagship cleanse (read the original blog post with tips included here) in April of 2014 and I can’t say it was enjoyable… this one wasn’t much different, though I think it may have been more tolerable. I think I have gotten even healthier in the past year (go me!). But I mean, it was three days with minimal food = not my idea of a party.

It did the trick, however. I feel fantastic and I dropped 8 pounds in 3 days, which is even better than last year. I figured I would give you a play-by-play of my three days in case you were feeling brave. I made everything myself – including the pudding and soup – so if you desire any recipes, let this lady know! Maybe I’ll post them at some point on my own in the future.

DAY ONE
09:00 – two hard boiled eggs, hot earl grey tea with 1/2 lemon
09:30 – water with chia seeds
11:00 – 8 oz juice (dandelion, lemon, ginger, turmeric, celery, green apple)
13:20 – 16 oz juice (celery, cucumber, cilantro, parsley, ginger, lemon, cayenne)
14:30 – one medium red apple with 2 T peanut butter
17:45 – 16 oz juice (cayenne, lemon, lime, beet greens, ginger, cucumber, grapefruit)
19:30 – pint of detox soup
20:45 – 16 oz juice (beet, kale, cayenne, lemon, ginger)

DAY TWO
09:00 – one hard boiled egg
09:15 – 16 oz juice (grapefruit)
13:00 – 16 oz juice (kale, cucumber, parsley, lime, cayenne, red apple)
14:30 – 4 oz sprouted seeds and nuts
17:45 – 16 oz juice (cabbage, celery, ginger, jicama, carrot greens)
19:30 – pint of detox soup
21:30 – 2 oz juice (lemon, ginger, kale, cayenne, carrot, garlic)

DAY THREE
08:30 – 1/2 cup quinoa, plain
09:30 – 16 oz juice (tomato, dandelion, cayenne, parsley, basil, celery, lime)
11:45 – 4 oz chia pudding
13:00 – small coffee with coconut oil
16:00 –  3 0z wheat grass shot with ginger
16:30 – 16 oz juice (lemon, ginger, kale, cayenne, garlic, carrot, jalapeno)
21:00 – pint of detox soup

Notice that I didn’t only drink juices for three days straight; I added some healthy foods and snacks in there as well. Of course, you can totally only drink juices during a cleanse, but it would just be too torturous for me. Plus, my juices are intense enough a little food is probably a saving grace.

That’s it for me tonight! My sister and mom expressed interest in cleansing in the near future, too, so I’ll let you know how they wind up doing. Stay awesome my friends.

Application Creation & Acid Reflux Aid

How’s it hanging, my turtle doves?
Looks like my last few posts have been enjoyable 😀 Here’s to hoping I keep the joy a-flowin’!

So listen. I have this great idea I need to capitalize on – now, maybe I say this almost everyday about something twirling around in my head, but I consider it a good day when I drum up an idea/creation! Hell, sometimes I count making a diesel sandwich a victory; the little things count, too.
Anyway, now I’m making it my newest mission to create an app. Hopefully my dad (or even brother) can be a help with this, BUT if any of you darlings reading this have any special knowledge on app creating – like smart phone applications – reach out to me! Let’s create something together!

That’s pretty much all I have the energy for at the moment; I worked both days this weekend, ew. I also just really wanted to make sure you all know that I was thinking about you! And for being so awesome, here’s some information you may find useful for yourself or a loved one today or sometime in the future:

Some of you may have heard of a thing called Acid Reflux Disease. If you haven’t…

At the entrance to your stomach is a valve, which is a ring of muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). Normally, the LES closes as soon as food passes through it. If the LES doesn’t close all the way or if it opens too often, acid produced by your stomach can move up into your esophagus. This can cause symptoms such as a burning chest pain called heartburn. If acid reflux symptoms happen more than twice a week, you have acid reflux disease, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Source.

Basically, acid reflux (aka heartburn) really seems to stink, and it’s more common than one would think. There is a customer of mine at the juice bar who suffers from said evil heartburn, so he asked me to look into what foods would sort of ease his suffering.
Ecstatic that someone at work actually wanted to use me for knowledge that I’m so chock full of and eager to share, I got right to it! Here’s what I came up with.

Foods To Ease Acid Reflux Disease:

– Oatmeal
– Ginger
– Aloe Vera
– Salad *
– Banana **
– Melon (honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon)
– Fennel
– Chicken & Turkey, NOT fried, no skin
– Wild Fish & Seafood, NOT fried
– All Roots & Greens (green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, etc)
– Celery
– Parsley
– Couscous & Rice, Bulgur Wheat

*no tomatoes, onion, cheese or high fat dressings!
**99% react well with bananas, though for some it has the opposite effect.

And there you have it!! Hopefully this was of some help or interest to you. Now, because I’m smoothie and juice obsessed and aim to please, I have plans tomorrow at work to concoct a drink that utilizes some of the above mentioned ingredients. Therefore, stay tuned for an acid reflux aid shake! The name could use some work, though…

Kisses and hugs. Time for bed!

Healthy Tip: Food Journaling

Do you have any personal health goals in mind that you want to turn into a reality? Maybe it’s to become more fit, lose weight or to just starting living a more healthy and beneficial lifestyle. Regardless of your goal, you should try food journaling.

Several studies have shown that people who keep food journals – and use them frequently – are more likely to successfully lose weight as well as actually keep it off. It has been shown that people who keep a food diary 6 days a week lost about twice as much weight as someone who only keep food records for 1 day (or less) a week.

I don’t want to preach and not practice, so looks like I’m going to start food journaling, too! Actually, I’ve already started. Realistically, mine will be food blogging since I’ll be posting my daily eating and exercise habits. I figure it can give you guys some insight on not only what I put in my body and do to stay active, but hopefully it will inspire you to get out and move, eat and cook yummy things as well!

I’ve add it as a separate page on my blog, dubbed “Food Journal” so it won’t be mixed in with my regular posts. I have broken it down by month to make things easier as well. Let me know if that works or doesn’t; I love all of your input!

My goal is to trim down my total body fat percentage from 21.2% to 20%, so that’s what I will be working towards!

Enjoy your Saturday my dears! xoxo