DAY 10!!

Hey Ya'll! I made it to Day 10!! As discussed in much rambling detail, I was super hesitant to start this cleanse and I am so happy that I did! I have a lot more energy and I am not eating as much either which are two big pluses for me. An other big deal is that my snacking is well under control now. 

So now you're thinking- what's next? Well, I do still crave fast food so it's going to still be struggle but I do crave smoothies in the morning so that is a good thing. Tomorrow we are going out to eat,because the husband couldn't have his dinner with our friends and family for his birthday last week due to my cleanse (awesome hubby didn't make me suffer through that!). That sounds like temptation out the wazoo, I know!

So here's the plan I am going to make every effort to drink 2 smoothies a day with a small protein, sauteed or baked veggies with a salad for dinner (or lunch). And as for days that I am only able to drink one smoothie? Then I will have a salad as a meal and then the protein/veggie/salad combo for the other meal. Of course snacking will be in there here and there but only healthy snacks. I am going to steer myself away from breads/pastas as best I can and when I do want them I will eat small portions. At the end of this month I will revisit this idea and tell ya'll how it's going and anything new :) 

This has been an awesome journey and I am glad ya'll stopped by to read it. Continue to follow for much more and not just stuff about the green smoothie cleanse- I will be crafting, pinterest testing and so much more! 

Thank you all! 

Strawberry Apple Mango Smoothie

As you all know, I am on my smoothie cleanse right now and I figured I'd share the recipe that I had today on Day 9. I will say out of all the smoothies so far, I've enjoyed this one the most- or maybe I am just getting used to the smoothies who knows but after Day 10 I am definitely going to keep this one in rotation!

So in order to make this smoothie you need- spinach (or any greens will work but spinach's taste is easily masked than others), strawberries, mangoes, an apple, and water. The stevia and flax meal/seed are completely optional. 

I would also like to point out you don't have to have a Ninja or a high horse-powered blender to make smoothies- they just make the task easier and they hold a lot more ingredients. 

Above is three "handfuls" of spinach- I don't really like measuring that way because I have big man hands (seriously!) so people with tiny hands their spinach will vary, to me I kinda just do the three and make sure it looks "right"- not that that will be helpful to you. I would say 2-3 cups of spinach. 

While it's blending you can get your ingredients ready. I weighed mine versus using a measuring cup because the fruits aren't going to be able to fit into measuring cups easily. I believe my bag of strawberries said 100g of strawberries was equal to 3/4 cup. So I just used the bags serving sizes in grams and multiplied to get the right amount of fruit I needed. 

As you can see all the ingredients take up the entire 72 oz. capacity blender- which if your blender is smaller don't worry- just half the recipe as the recipe makes 3- 12oz-16oz. smoothies. Also, take note of the already blended spinach and water see how it's really smooth- that's the key to really smooth smoothie :) 

Now, don't be alarmed while it's blending- it will look weird and maybe even not so appetizing however, just let it do it's thing and blend, blend, blend.

Tada! See the awesomely smooth Strawberry Apple Mango Smoothie! This one came out a little thicker than I normally like mine but it turned out to taste really really good! 

If you're wondering why I used frozen fruit vs. fresh fruit, I really like my smoothies to be cold and I don't want them watered down with too much ice plus many times I can get some fruits cheaper frozen. 

Hope ya'll enjoy and share  in the comments below if you try this smoothie or if you have one you'd like me to try :) 





Strawberry Apple Mango Smoothie Recipe 
adapted from JJ Smith's 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse: Lose Up to 15 Pounds in 10 Days

3 Handfuls of Spinach
2 Cups of Water
1 Apple (any kind works, I used janagold) 
1 1/2 Cups Frozen Mangoes
2 Cups frozen strawberries
2 TB ground flax seeds
Stevia to taste (optional)
3-8 Ice Cubes

Directions:

Blend Spinach and Water until completely smooth. 
While that's blending you need to core and quarter your apple. 

Add rest of ingredients and blend until desired consistency 

(I blend mine in my ninja blender for roughly 3-4 minutes)

Then Enjoy (simple see!)

Day 9!

Look at that ya'll, I made it through day 9! Only one day left until I am done with the full cleanse! I will tell ya'll right now, this cleanse was not nearly as tough as I thought it would be. I have had good and bad days (as you can read), but overall I think anyone can do this cleanse. I just stuck to what the book said to eat and went from there. 

Today, I've been feeling great! No headaches but the cravings are still there a little bit in the back of my mind. I think the overall need for the cleanse for me was to help get my portions under control. I think by eating healthy the last 9 days, it promotes me to eat that way in the future. 

That's all for day 9 ya'll- I will be posting all about the day 9 smoothie on a separate post.

Day 8- Realizations

Hi ya'll! It's day 8 and I even went to the gym tonight and did 50 (yes 50!) minutes on the arc trainer. 

Real quick before you get to reading all the other info (like you actually read that far down but let's pretend ya'll do). This is the Arc trainer I keep raving about: 

And the image below is showing the estimated calories burned in a hour over 800 (which I took yesterday)!

Finally today's showing at just under 40 minutes I burned over 530 calories- I was moving quickly and I was trying to take an inconspicuous picture for ya'll so excuse the blurriness. But my point the 800 calories in a hour is extremely close because even at the rate I was going in an hour it would be 795 :) 

Okay done with that now on to the real reason ya'll are here- 

This cleanse has been trying but beneficial in that I have come to realize a few things:

1. I am an emotional eater.

I don't have the greatest relationship (not for the lack of trying) with my dad.. long story,short-I'm upset and no apologies are in sight. So after the emotional phone call all I could think about is cake, donuts, candy, heck even chicken strips and french fries. Why? Because I needed it to console me :( This just makes me even more sad because other than stopping myself now I don't know how to cure it. 

2. I am stronger mentally than I realized.

Due to the treacherous phone call above I ALMOST went into the fridge and grabbed a chocolate truffle then I was like screw that I'm going to run to McDonald's. But I just calmed my self down and made the husband and kiddo some dinner. Then I told myself I will not let that man ruin my life (my dad, not Ronald McDonald) or rather put a step back in my cleanse- that I have been doing so well on! 

3. People are sometimes selfish

Everyone is selfish at one point in their lives or another whether they want to admit it or not. I know there have been plenty instances in my life where I was completely selfish. However, for the most part I am the sweetest, kindest, most sarcastic person. I am only sarcastic and "mean" as my friends call it, towards the people I care about. I grew up being very much a "yes" person- no matter how the person treated me- good or bad- I always did stuff for them (and get your mind out the gutter!) like they didn't have time to celebrate my birthday but oh yours is next week? I'll be there. That type of deal. When I met The Husband, he said you can't let people do that to you. So I eventually evolved into my wonderful self that everyone loves :)

My point? Sometimes people who are extremely selfish and you are getting nothing but hurt from the relationship just aren't worth your selflessness. BUT little girls always want attention from their daddy's so that leaves me with one big daddy complex unfortunately. But I do recognize that he is a selfish person and distancing myself from him is probably best to not allow him to continue breaking my heart. Yeah, I for some reason thought parents weren't allowed to do that but silly me :( And yes even after all this you will see me standing there smiling like a patronized doting little daughter next to him :( 

4. My mom is the best mom 

See a pattern here? Still on the soapbox of "the phone call". My mom and dad have been divorced for over 20 years. My mom listens to me every single time I cry about him and every time I am angry at him. She listens and sometimes she joins in on the ranting but most of the time she just says she's sorry-he's a jerk and tells me she loves me. Yes at almost 30, I still need my mommy ;)

5. Working out is easier now

Thought I'd stay on the topic of "the phone call" huh? Nope. So over the last few days working out has been getting easier and I am more motivated to go and do it too. I normally do 30-40 minutes on the arc trainer but today I did 51 minutes. I could've pushed for the whole hour but I wanna go to the gym in the morning and ya know that 9 minutes might have convinced myself that I could skip :) Plus I wanted to tan... yes I tan and yes I know it's bad for my skin. I can hear my mother (who doesn't wear sunscreen 90% of the time because she forgets) saying, "Your going to get skin cancer from all that tanning!" To be honest that's one of the selling points for me joining Planet Fitness, because at $22 a month with a unlimited tanning and massage chairs it was already worth it ;) 

6. Sweating

This cleanse makes me sweat a ton or maybe it's just loosing the weight in general that's doing that? I've read different articles and sites saying when your overweight your body doesn't sweat properly. On the other hand the support group on Facebook says, sweating is the process of getting the toxins out too so it's probably a combination of both. But I  always remember that quote I read once:

Now, I would credit this photo but stupid pinterest allowing people to upload pins and images doesn't give me credit but just a link created by pinterest for the image so if you deserve credit email and I will be sure and credit you :) 

7. Photos and Instructions on this Blog

The biggest fault with my blog? Not enough photos and instructions! I was thinking while working out, how can I get more people on my blog to hear me?!? (cause I'm starved for attention ya'll!) For tomorrow's smoothie I will be listing the recipe and the instructions all for you guys- but I do recommend buying the book because JJ Smith has a lot of useful information in there that has helped me tons! Plus it will be the day 9 smoothie, so you can't do anything with that if you're really going to do the cleanse since the smoothies are all different from day 1-10- but if you wanna try it out to see if it's going to be something you like- that's the real motivation for me doing it :) So it's kinda like a catch 22 you see, I'm like see how easy and awesome this looks ya'll?!? But wait to actually do it you need to get the darn book! 

Okay I am done with my philosophical rants thoughts- see clearer mind- it even detoxes my mind! Tomorrow I will tell ya'll what my plans are for after the cleanse, from day 11 and forward. 

Day 7...

Hey ya'll- and don't give me that look either! I know, I know, I know I'm posting this late cause it is already day 8. I realized late last night as I was dozing off that I hadn't posted yesterday (Day 7) :(  

But luckily I had already typed it out before then-just hadn't logged into post so- quick recap of yesterday and then when I get back from the gym tonight (hopefully) I will post all about today (Day 8). 

Day 7

Today I felt the best I've felt out of all the days so far. I went to this gym this morning at 4 am! Yes- even though I stayed up reading a book until almost midnight the night before. Anyway, the cravings weren't there as much and overall just have had a lot of energy that I haven't before. 

I am realizing how much evenings are the worst part of all this- for me anyway. My husband is at work all day so I don't have temptations right in my face and although my son is here he's a sandwich type little guy (5 yrs. old) so he doesn't request anything too tempting other than the ice cream, which thanks to my smoothie kick he now requests smoothies like mommy :) By the time dinner rolls around and I am making dinner for them, I get more tempted to taste stuff. I am a chef (we will talk about that later) and I was always taught to taste everything as you are making it to ensure it has enough seasoning, I have to catch myself every time I try to lick my finger or test a sauce. So I have to ask the husband for help with that which annoys him because it's his "video game" time before dinner. Anyway that is why the nights are so hard for me, so I keep myself busy and let them eat then go get my smoothie after they leave the table. 

So I've made it to this point with only 3 days left in front of my of the full cleanse. I am tired from the lack of sleep last night and the early gym call so I will see ya'll tomorrow!

Day 6!

Holy crap! I've made it to Day 6! I only have 4 days left ya'll! Today's smoothie according to the 10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse support group on Facebook (which can be found here), is one of the most raved about smoothies. I was extremely excited as it had fresh pineapple, peaches, bananas, and spinach- I mean what could go wrong there?! 

It was good however, I am realizing I am just not a big fan of blended up banana. This might be because I tend to like to eat bananas when they aren't really even ripe-which could be why I am have smoothie issues when blending them. Seriously ya'll, I eat bananas when they are barely turning yellow. Which any true banana connoisseur would know bananas really aren't truly ripe until they have big 'ole dark brown splotches on the skin- not my thing either- but I totally use brown bananas for banana bread because they are sweeter- true story ya'll! 

Okay.. off my soapbox :) Today has been harder on me for some reason, maybe because I didn't feel like snacking on any of the foods- I only ate a boiled egg, a tsp. of natural peanut butter and a smoothie Popsicle. I seriously felt like throwing in the towel today, I was about to tell my husband screw this, let's go to Olive Garden (totally been craving their pasta and breadsticks!). But I didn't I just sat my feisty little butt down and said don't do this to yourself- you've made it this far you're already on the downhill slope! 

Anyway I am gonna get ready for bed cause I am exhausted from all this today- I just keep my eye on the prize which is technically me getting a healthier lifestyle but I also have to tell myself Friday is the last day of no "real" food :) 

If anyone is thinking of doing the cleanse or has info they wanna share feel free to comment below or email me! 

Thanks for reading- see ya'll tomorrow! 

Day 4 and well Day 5

So (again) I skipped a day of blogging. I am currently on Day 5 of the Green Smoothie Cleanse- which means I am halfway there! But, let me back up a little and touch base on Day 4, I took some notes yesterday :)

Day 4 thoughts:

Day four was tough because it was my husband's birthday. Normally we go out to eat and get yummy drinks like the Renaissance Margarita (from Cheddar's) or a Texas Martini (Hula Hut and Chuy's). Anyway he opted for us to stay home so I wouldn't be too tempted and probably because I would be like a creepy stalker watching people eat food that I can't refuse to eat at this point :) I didn't have headaches anymore and not really withdrawals but more of a craving for junk food. Even on my calorie counting diets I always make sure to workout enough or save up enough calories to squeeze in some yummy junk food- which is exactly why I wanted to do this cleanse. I wanted to prove to myself I didn't need these things. Will I ever eat a brownie smothered with caramel sauce, ice cream and real whipped cream? Yes- 'cause that sounds freakin' delicious! But will I eat them everyday? No.

Day 5 so far has been okay. I have been wanting Subway sandwiches which is completely weird. My friends will tell you, I am totally against paying for lunch meat style sandwiches (and a lot of other types of sandwiches in general) and salads at restaurants/while eating out. Why? Because I can go buy really good  delicatessen meats and cheeses to make sandwiches that taste way better and at a fraction of the cost. I also was a culinary arts major so I have some education background here- what are the two most profitable items on menus? Salads and Pasta dishes. These things cost less than a dollar to make per serving. Anyway I rarely eat at sandwich style places like Subway, so I just find it odd I wanted that. The last time I paid for a sandwich like that? Over a year and a half ago at Which Which- and it was horrible! On the other hand, I also wanted Popeye's- which I totally understand why I'd want that :)  

I might blog again tonight when everything is said and done- but Sunday's are hard to find blogging time since I attend a university online and assignments are due on Sunday. And I procrastinate a lot- I know shocking right ;) 

Day 3 of the Green Smoothie Cleanse

Hello!

So I skipped yesterday's blog because I have been getting up at 4 A.M. to go workout and I ended up going to an early screening of The Fault in Our Stars (I will blog about that later!) so I was exhausted when I got home.

 Yesterday, was a little irritating sitting at the movie theater waiting to go see the movie (you have to arrive 1-2 hours prior to the movie showing time to have the best possibility of getting a seat!). I wanted popcorn drenched in yummy  fake butter, Reeses Pieces, a coke Icee and a pickle. I however just kept snacking on my cherub tomatoes.

Anyway here we are today- I have made it to day three on the full cleanse and have yet to "cheat"! Today has probably been the worst of the days. I forgot to freeze my blueberries so I did day 4's smoothie. I was not impressed. I believe it's the raspberries that give it that awful weird taste- but I powered through it. I have snacked more today eating 1/2 banana, a few teaspoons of organic natural (sugar and salt free) peanut butter, a boiled egg, carrots, cherub tomatoes, and cucumbers with apple cider vinegar. Oh and I had a "Popsicle" that I had made with leftover smoothie from day 1. 

I am tired but I don't know if that has to do with the calorie deficiency, the smoothies or just plain detox. 

I weighed today and I have lost 7 pounds so far- which I am sure is mostly water weight but I'll take what I can get :)

See ya'll tomorrow!

Day One on the 10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse

So day one of the green smoothie cleanse.. and I am okay. I did have a minor headache and I feel pretty tired and it's barely 7 in the evening but overall I am feeling okay. I posted an image of the green smoothie to which one of my friends replied on Facebook that I should just drink a whole container of laxatives, which I just laughed off because most people were supportive of green smoothies or they were curious :) 

You probably don't care about that you just wanna know how the first day went- 

Positives: 
I woke up at 4 am, okay my alarm went off at 4 am and I actually got out of bed at 4:30, I got dressed and went to the gym! 
I did 40 minutes on the ARC trainer (this machine is amazing and burns lots of calories- plus works my glutes!)
I haven't "cheated" once (and I am so exhausted that I will go to bed here shortly- so no room to cheat!). 
I don't have the normal "diet" pains or rather lack of sugar pains that I normally go through when I start counting calories
I drank well over 80 oz of water today! 

Negatives:
The headache I got just after noon
The texture of my smoothie at first was driving me insane and I almost threw up while drinking it.
The detox tea is not my thing 
I am craving "real" food however, I ended up eating my allowed two boiled eggs around dinner time (since I finished my smoothies) for substance so that is more of a positive I guess. 

Now that being all said it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. I even made my family pork chops for dinner and didn't even try and taste test ANYTHING! 

Since I don't own a fancy blender, I realized after having nasty apple skin chunks getting between my teeth (told you it was gross!) that I just gotta let the stuff blend for awhile. Let it blend and keep on blending until it is super smooth- then I added ice because I was using fresh fruits. 

If you are going to use fresh fruit I would freeze them so it's not such a watery consistency. 

*Disclaimer: I bought the book on my own and you should always check with your doctor before starting any cleanse program*

10 Day Smoothie Cleanse.. Attempt

Ah so I am horrible at posting blogs and actually follow through with these ideas I have apparently. The last time I posted was back in September 2013.. well hopefully my posts will be more up to date and more frequently. This might be a disappointment to those who thought I'd finally give up on blogging like *cough* my husband *cough*. Then again probably no one reads this thing anyway but it is great way to get my thoughts out there and a semi-decent way to do some writing.

So the point of this post other than to say oh yeah I forgot about my blog like always? Is to say, I am starting the 10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse by JJ Smith. I have been trying for well over a year to eat healthier and to loose weight. I was successful over a year ago in loosing 60+ pounds however, over time I slowly have gained back horrible eating habits and gained back just under 20 pounds (eek!) so over the last month or so I keep trying to get back to eating better (and counting calories) but I keep messing it up. So I am going to try and jump start my system with the smoothie cleanse. 

Now before someone gets their panties in a twist- I know I will loose water weight considering this cleanse is a lot of water and not a whole lot of solid foods other than snacks of boiled eggs, crunchy fruits/veggies, raw nuts and natural unsweetened peanut butter. But trust me I could probably eat tons of peanut butter and completely sabotage this. However, I am trying to cut out processed foods and sweets in hopes of craving them less. Will I eat bacon and cupcakes still? Yes but not for a while and hopefully when I do it will be in complete moderation. 

Back to why I'm telling you about this, I am going to record daily how I am feeling and just vent or praise the whole processes and of course post my final results :)