Cleanse Recap, and the beginning of the Whole30

Morning everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was insanely productive, in case you were wondering. I was on call this weekend for work (I’m in logistics), working every 6 hours for one of my clients. Crazy huh? In between work, I got in 2 great workouts Saturday and Sunday (thanks to my awesome and creative trainer Ami), ate some delicious food (which I will go over shortly), washed all 3 of our cars,  and made some highly anticipated purchases for my home: BBQ, rug for my dining room, dining room table & chairs, walk way lights for my front yard, and a full length mirror for our bedroom. Like I  said, highly productive.

Ok so let’s get back to the Cleanse. I’m done! =) Saturday was my last day and it was full of delicious goods (I just spelled delicious, delishishous… first blonde moment of the day). Sasha prepared paleo banana waffles and mango/strawberry compote for my breakfast saturday. I ended up eating one waffle before my workout and the other after. Lunch was 3 tuna cakes and roasted kale (I ended up only eating 2 and saving the third for dinner). Dinner was a huge ass salad, 1 tuna cake, and avocado. Really good.

I weighed myself Sunday morning, and lost about 3.4lbs total. Not my biggest weight loss, but definitely a start on my weight loss journey. All of the other benefits completely trump the weight loss anyway. My acne is gone, and what I had before the cleanse is healing. My sugar cravings are virtually gone (the emotional ones I’m still dealing with as they come), I am energized/awake/alert, happier!, my hair is thick and manageable. My outlook on food is slowly changing. I’m seeing more of what I eat as fuel and nourishment instead of just stuffing my face. I’m trying to deal with my emotions as they come, instead of turning to food for comfort. My quality of sleep has improved (this weekend doesn’t count with the whole being on call thing). All and all good changes.

I decided that I would follow the Whole30 plan once I finished this cleanse to continue the reset and see how my body would do on a mostly protein/veggie/fruit/healthy fat diet. I started promptly Sunday morning with an egg, pork sausage and broccoli scramble. (one egg, 2 small links, about 1 cup broccoli). This was my pre-workout fuel and breakfast and it worked great. No bloating, didn’t feel like I was going to puke during my workout, and gave me the energy I needed. For lunch we stopped at the Whole Foods and grabbed some goods. I had steamed and sautéed veggies and some pork verde (all natural whole30 approved). I ended up only eating half of my portion, and ate the other half about 3 hours later. For dinner, I wanted to make something delicious out of Well Fed (my staple for the next month). So Steven and I had grilled Salmon (mine in coconut oil), sautéed green beans, and I added cauliflower mash because it’s just so comforting and good. We were both totally satisfied. Of course we sat there reminiscing about Reeses for about 5 minutes, trying to convince ourselves that in fact they are good for us. Peanut butter? Gooood. Dark Chocolate? Goooood. LoL. Only in our dreams…

Tonight were off to the Gigantes game to watch them pummel the D-backs. I just realized that every time I do a cleanse, I go to a Giants game lol. I’m not on my cleanse, but I am bringing my own food again. Leftover cauliflower mash, green beans, and grilled salmon. Plus were taking the train… and usually Coors Lite accompanies us on our journey. It’s gonna be a test, but the end game is totally worth it.

Hope you all have a great rest of your day, enjoy this heat and GO GIANTS!!!

Thank god for day 5

Well hi 🙂 It’s day five of this wonderful cleanse. Clearly, as you can tell by my chipper mood, I woke up much happier today. Today for the first time in a long time, I woke up with some energy. Mentally and physically I was ready to get up when my alarm went off. And it felt good.Real good. Just to get the day going, pack up my food for the day, take my time getting ready, and spending a few extra minutes with the pups. The mornings are always fun with Harley and Kodi. We have a routine that they seem to enjoy: Let them out of their crates, eat, go to the bathroom outside, run around outside (if they’re feeling spunky), and chillin on their perches. They’ve become the official guard dogs of the neighborhood. As you can see here:

Today is my last day of all liquids, which makes for a total of three liquid only days. Considering I’ve been dreaming of steak, take out chinese food, and shredded chicken, I’m ready to start noshing on some goods. On today’s menu, I have another amazing chia/banana/coconut milk smoothie for breakfast, carrot/pineapple smoothie that I ate earlier, pear/parsley/cucumber juice for snack, green soup w/ avocado for dinner, a green juice concoction, and a vege broth that I’m having a really hard time not chugging. Plus remember I take the digestive stimulator packs with apple juice or grapefruit juice 5 times a day. It’s a lot of liquid, I’m peeing all the time. But I feel good today. I’m really looking forward to my workout, and to get my sweat on. I haven’t worked out since Monday so it’s on tonight.

More updates to come tomorrow!

It’s so good, I just had to call it…

Welp, today is day three of the cleanse and I woke up feeling very tired today. Like a whole body and mind exhaustion. My bed was more comfortable than it’s ever been, and cuddling with Steven seemed way better than going to work. So after an extra hour of cuddle time (with the pups as well I might add) I got up and got ready for the day.

This morning I woke up pretty hungry, so I made my grapefruit juice/apple cider vinegar blend and mixed it with my Blessed Herbs “digestive stimulator” packet. With this cleanse, I’m adding to the cleaning of the colon with the Blessed Herbs Colon Cleansing kit. I’ve done this one before, and although it works great, it tastes like butt. The powder pretty much makes me gag every time I do it (5 times a day). But this time around Sasha came up with some good mixers that fit in with the cleanse, but make the digestive stilumator a wee bit tolerable. One of which is the grapefruit/apple cider vinegar blend. You may have seen this on pinterest floating around. It’s being referred to as a metabolism booster, recommended by Dr. Oz. And from what I can tell, Dr Oz. is like Oprah- people do what he says. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to my parents house and my mom has a little note pad of Dr. Oz tips that she wants to make sure she shares with me.  Anywho- the second mix in is organic apple juice. I’m not a huge apple juice fan, but this does cut the awful taste of the powder, so I’m down.  I actually took a picture this morning of what I pack when I go to work. So here are my little jars of apple juice and the metabolism booster:

Apple juice on the left, grapefruit on the right.

And now todays feast! (Minus my dinner)

Yes you are reading that correctly: Morning Sex Smoothie (breakfast) and Silky Smooth Curry Cauliflower Soup (my favorite).  When I went to pick up my goods for today, Sasha goes, “the breakfast smoothie I made you… ohmygod, its so good. It’s so good, this was the only appropriate name for it” LoL. Yes indeed. It is delicious and filling! Thank god because I’m hungry today. Lunch is the cauliflower soup, which is seriously one of my favorite foods Sasha makes. I can’t seem to make it as good, so this is really a treat.

With the cleanse, day three is usually one of the hardest days physically and emotionally. I am 100% feeling the physical strain right now as I sit here typing this and trying to keep my eyes open. The emotional stuff may come out later tonight, or tomorrow. And usually with that comes crying, irritability, possibly some tantrums, and then a nice warm bath to make it all better.

A few of my friends have asked me about my caloric intake and my workout schedule. I’ve done two cleanses before while keeping up with my workout routine, and it was tough. This time around we’re incorporating bone broths into the soups and separate for me to sip on during the day. Although I’m not eating protein right now, I’m getting so many of the nutrients that my body is craving in order to sustain my workouts. Last night’s workout was tough, and I could feel my stamina dwindling near the end. But tonight will be the ultimate test. I’ve planned our my meals so that I have my soup (made with chicken broth) around 4:00, and 1/2 of a jar of chicken broth while on my way to boot camp. Then the rest of the chicken broth after boot camp, and another soup for dinner. Then a relaxing bath and early to bed for me.

I hope you’re all having an awesome day. Quick shout out to my cousin Tina- Happy birthday!!!!! And to all my friends who’ve gotten engaged in the last week (seriously like 6 of you), congratulations 🙂

oh hi, remember me? :)

**Prayers and thoughts for everyone in Boston, and those that were at the Boston Marathon during the explosions**

Well hi 🙂 Its been a stupidly long time since I last posted. I realized that my last post was about me finishing up a cleanse, and starting to eat a more paleo type diet. I’m pretty sure I didn’t post because I didn’t follow through with that. It probably lasted a few days, and then I had a bite of Safeway cake, and then possibly a piece of Safeway cake, and then all bets were off. So fast forward 5 months, and 8 pounds later, here I am again trying to gain control of my eating habits. And its sooooo hard. It’s the one thing in my life that I struggle with the most. And I know why. It’s sad to admit, but food has been the one steady good in my life. Food is always good. Cake is good. Wine is good. My moms chocolate carmel cake is pretty much the best thing ever. And it makes me feel good…. for a little while. And then comes the guilt, and the voices telling me I’m fat, etc which usually causes me to eat more.

So how do I break that cycle? Obviously the first part is recognizing it and having the balls to admit it. So now that that’s out-of-the-way, I’m looking at things that have worked for me in the past. What has worked (even temporarily) to help me have a healthier relationship with food? support from my friends and family, a diet “coach”, someone preparing the foods for me, cleansing, writing down what I eat…

And that brings me to where I am now. Day 2 of another detox cleanse, the beginning of a six-week weight loss challenge, and the start of a lasting change. This cleanse is not like the other cleanses I’ve done in the past, where I eat all raw/vegan foods. This is more like a prerequisite to a lifestyle I’d like to live out of eating mostly protein, veggies, fruits, and healthy fats. So I’m eating big salads with avocado, chia pudding for breakfast, jicima snacks, roasted vegetable soup. Its delicious.  With that, I’m eliminating sugars, grains, dairy, alcohol, and  legumes. Sounds intense, but there is a science behind it. It’s called the Whole30 plan, and you should check it out. The book It Starts with Food gets all sciency on you about why these foods actually hurt your body. Especially for those that workout regularly. It’s interesting and worth a read. You may even want to try it out after you read it. Its profound stuff.

Now back to my cleanse. If you’ve read past posts, you know that I have an amazing friend Sasha that creates and guides me through my cleanses. I asked her last week if we could do another one, to jumpstart the detoxing from sugar and all the crap I’ve been eating lately. And so, I’ve been eating delicious and beautiful foods that she’s been creating. Big salads with avocado, jicima, and arugula; roasted vegetable soups, and lots and lots of water. I’ll post some pictures as we go forward so you can all see the beauty, but for now you should check out her blog. Sasha is documenting how she creates these cleanses, the pricing (because most people think its super expensive), and her delicious creations.

So I also mentioned a 6 week weight loss challenge…. my trainer Ami decided  (after a lot of us were complaining about our weights) to create a weight loss challenge. Theres about 20 of us participating, a huge grand prize at the end ($500 to be exact) plus other prizes. Ami created workouts for us, workout schedules, meal plans, nutrition tips. It’s really awesome and so much fun to participate with everyone. Although it’s a competition, were all on the same team, rooting each other on. It’s gonna be fun. Oh and the Stevenator is participating too.

So I’m all weighed in, on day 2 of the cleanse, looking forward to my workout tonight. Check out Sasha’s blog to see what really goes in to creating a cleanse. It’s so interesting and she makes it do-able for everyone.

Until then, peace out home skillets.

Cleansing for Reals

Welp, done and done. Today is the first day after the cleanse and I feel gooooood. I’m down 4 1/2 lbs, my skin has mostly cleared up, bloating has disappeared, my hair feels strong, and I over all feel good.

I mentioned before that I had a plan for after the cleanse was finished. My plan is to follow the Whole30 lifestyle, which is basically a very healthy version of the paleo diet: protein, veggies, fruit, and healthy fats.  Before the cleanse this didn’t seem doable. But now that I’ve got about 8 days under my belt without any wheat, gluten, dairy, sugar, legumes,  or alcohol, I know I can do this.

A lot of you might be thinking what about the holidays? And you’re right. This time of the year is full of all of the things I’m trying to avoid. So, instead of forcing myself to stay away from the things that I love, I’m going into it with the mindset that I absolutely CAN have any food I want, but I’m going to make the decision of whether or not I actually want them in the moment. So no pressure, no restrictions, I can do what I want.

So join me on this new journey of living a mostly paleo lifestyle. I look forward to sharing recipes, workout routines, and updates along the way!

A Much Needed Cleanse Update

-Well hi! Today is officially day 6 of this beast of a cleanse and I’m finally out of my rut and ready to write a blog post. Here’s the latest happs:

-On the last two cleanses I did, days 3 and 4 were the hardest emotionally and physically. On this cleanse it was days 4 and 5. Pure and total exhaustion, limitless hunger, and just all around irritability. Blah

– I’ve prepared and made more food in the last 6 days than I have in the last 6 weeks. Ok that might be an exaggeration, but I’ve been cooking a lot. Well not really cooking, besides some soups and mashed cauliflower. More like “putting together” a bunch of raw food recipes that I’ve absolutely loved, tweaked, and made my own. I of course didn’t take pictures of anything I made (mostly because my brain was on overload from cooking and in a state of mush from cleansing) but here’s a list of some of the goods ive been enjoying:

– Raw Mango chutney (so good and spicy!)

– Raw Mock Tuna Salad (really good but WAY too much garlic, gotta adjust this one next time)

– Steamed Cauliflower mash (basically like mashed potatoes but with cauliflower and a little ghee)

– Tomato Basil Soup

– Steamed Broccoli

– Pureed Celery Soup

– Green smoothies up the wazoo

-Watermelon and Mint chia Cooler

-Lemon and Parsley tonic: add a little turmeric and cayenne, awesome liver cleanse.

Things of that nature.

Sleep has been a huge factor in this cleanse as well. I’ve been very tired, needing at least 8 hours every night. I adjusted my workout routine as well to not over-exhaust myself, but I’m feeling totally back up to working out again, so boot camp here I come!

Also- another side note: I am straight up in love with Duck Dynasty. If you haven’t seen this show, you must check it out now. Wednesdays at 10pm on A&E. seriously. Its life changing. (in a redneck sort of way)

That is all for now… as tomorrow is the last day of the cleanse, I am planning to post the plan for after the cleanse, because this time I actually have one.

Hope you’re all having a great Tuesday, its beautiful out here in the Bay Area 🙂

Creating my Cleanse

So lately I haven’t been living a life that I’m the most proud of. I’ve had nights full of binging, eating instead of working out, staying up way later than I should, etc. Putting work, family, friends, my dogs before my health. Making up every excuse in the world to not eat healthy, to not workout, and to not take care of myself. And of course, as all things do, its reached a pivotal point… where I can continue on this road and ignore the feelings in my gut and heart, or make a drastic change to re-align with my true self.

I know this may all sound trite and easy to fix. But for some people (like myself) its been a lifelong battle. Going through stages of keeping up a schedule for workouts, eating clean, fighting the temptations and cravings. And then fall off that bandwagon and have complete disregard for my diet, give in to most cravings, make other things a priority over my workouts. Its two opposite lifestyles that I’ve been living my whole life. And I’m tired of it. Really tired of it.

I read fitness and health blogs on a daily basis. I read about people who live paleo, raw, vegan, who’ve once struggled with their weight and now live a healthy lifestyle. And every day I think how the hell do they do it? I’ve done it, for a short period of time. I’ve even had long term success. But how do these people actually make this their lifestyle? Dedication? Determination? Sheer power of will?

Whatever it is, it all beings with the first step. My first step is a plan. I know I’ve done this before and talked about it before, but I love cleanses. They’re mentally tough, physically challenging, and they work. I’ve had success in the past on a cleanse. What I didn’t succeed with was the 8th day. The day after the cleanse. How do I eat? How do I go forward and keep up with these amazing changes?

What I’ve realized is that it takes longer than seven days to break a habit and longer than seven days to change hard wired behaviors. And it’s not something to beat myself up over. It just is. So this time around, since I’m a planner, I’m planning this cleanse out for the next 30 days. I figure, 30 days is a good amount of time to cleanse my body, my mind, break some old habits, create some new habits, and make it a lifestyle. Obviously the goal is to continue this after the end of the 30 days, but my hope is that by then I would have to plan out the next 30 days. Maybe a week by week plan? Something that keeps me on track but not obsessive.

This blog helped me stay accountable during my last two cleanses. So I will continue blogging through this process as well. My plan for this week is to get my research done today and tomorrow on what I’m going to eat during the 7 day raw/vegan cleanse. Today and tomorrow I will be grocery shopping and prepping what I can so that I can start on Thursday. I will also be using the Arise and Shine Cleanse 7 products during the first 7 days. Once this cleanse is over I will be following the Whole 30 program, which will add in protein and cooked foods. There will be an easing in process that I have yet to determine, but this is the general idea.

I appreciate you all who have continued to read this blog and support me through every journey I go on. Stay tuned for more updates!

Lets get back on track, shall we?

Hiiiiiiiii
So in the midst of my non blogging, I’ve been dealing with a slight injury and bad diet. Last week I was pushing through my stadium workout and slipped on a stair. I managed to jam my leg up into my pelvic wall, pulling my groin and twisting my knee. The frustration from the injury has propelled me to fall back into my emotional eating binges of chocolate chips and ice cream, and I feel like crap.  So, I called Sasha. Time for another cleanse.

This “cleanse” were doing is different from the previous one just a few weeks ago. I’m calling it more of a detox, more of a diet overhaul, and a “can i get my shit together please” type of diet. I felt so good after completing the last cleanse. The raw food fueled my body, cleansed my system. I wasn’t bloated, my hair was shiny, and I was sleeping like a baby every night. So why and how did I fall off the wagon? Its pretty simple actually: birthday cake, pasta, wine, and ice cream. My body wasn’t ready for me to reintroduce these things back to it. It’s like an addiction really, just one taste and I wanted the whole pint of ice cream.

So here’s the new plan. This time around Sasha and I agreed to incorporate more solid foods as well as 3 juice days instead of one.  For example, this morning’s breakfast consisted of a delicious red quinoa “cereal” with fig and walnut spread. It was so good and super filling.  Lunch is her infamous carrot and ginger soup, mineral broth to drink throughout the day, and home made nori rolls that she put together. Those I will have to take pictures of and send to you all. Cause its insane. She’s amazing.

The herbs and supplements are also different this time. Last cleanse I incorporated the Arise and Shine Cleanse 7 pack to assist with the detoxing and cleansing. This time around I’m using Blessed Herbs Colon Cleanse. Sasha heard amazing things about the Blessed Herb’s program, so we thought I’d give it a try.  I’ll take pictures of that as well when it comes in. (Just a side note, I paid for 2 day AIR on UPS for these things to get here yesterday… yesterday they were in South Carolina. I’M IN SHIPPING. I know how 2 day air works, and UPS- YOU FAILED. Idiots)

Like last time I weighed myself this morning and took a good look at myself in the mirror. I’m hoping for a little bit of weight loss, clearer skin, and less bloating. That would be ideal. Oh and also to get rid of my constant craving for frozen dark chocolate chips.

So I will keep you all informed, document this journey, and see where we end up next week. Next Saturday I will be on a plane, with my love, on our way to Hawaii. Not a bad thing to look forward to huh? 🙂

Deja Vu

So,  I don’t have a juicer. I barely have a blender (Sorry Ninja you are not as good as a Vitamix…or a Blendtec. But thanks for trying). So, when I’m craving a fresh organic juice, I either call up Sasha, or I head to this place. Deja Vu. An adorable little cafe in the heart of Burlingame, serving organic juices, coffee’s, smoothies, and sandwiches.  I haven’t yet tried anything outside of their juices, so this post is only related to their Juice menu, which you can see here:

( I made this extra big so you guys could see the awesome blends!)

Usually I get the Morning Glory- an incredible blend of carrot, beet, lemon, apples, organges. Its sweet and tart at the same time, and oh so good. This morning I was feeling like I needed a little green in my diet.  It might be caused from the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cheesecake I had at the Cheesecake Factory last night….maybe….

So I decided to give the Dr. Oz a whirl- Apple, Kale (green!), cucumber (green and hydrating!), lemon (good for cleansing), lime, ginger (yum!), spinach (hello iron!) and parsley (SO GOOD FOR CLEANSING!!!!).  And because I was feeling rather sluggish, I got the 24oz, instead of the 16 oz.

(figured I’d stick with the large pictures for today… I apologize for the close up of my thumb…which is in need of a serious manicure…)

And it was good. Real good. Plus I got a neato orange straw.
So if you’re in the Burlingame area and want a little pick me up, try Deja Vu out. You’ll love how fast and easy it is to get a super fresh organic juice. PLUS!! Groupon is having a MAJOR deal right now… $17 for Five Organic-Juice Drinks (Up to a $34.95 Value), basically 5 drinks, half off. Its incredible. I bought it, and so should you. In fact you can buy it HERE!