Juice Cleanse - The Terrible 4's and Amazing Mexican Inspired Food

Well day five of juice cleanse complete and boy am I happy to be half way done! Days 1-3 were good, I felt pretty normal throughout the day, only feeling tired around 11am and when I got home from work. Day 4, on the other hand, was the worst day I have experienced on a juice cleanse. I feel sorry for anyone who might have experienced my evilness on Thursday, if you are one of them I apologize, it was the detoxing not me. It honestly felt like I was PMSing but on a grander scale. Ladies you understand!

So, I got to work Thursday morning and by the first customer I was already annoyed by everything and everyone, to the point of me venting a lot to my co workers David, Jessica and Janelle. I think they might have been concerned for my members that day, but I held it together and put on a smile and got through the day. What I didn’t know was, that night I would be tested way beyond I could ever imagine!

My super awesome sister Ashley was featuring healthy Cinco De Mayo recipes on Global Regina Friday morning and she wasn’t ready. So in order to alleviate some stress, I offered my help. When I got to my moms house where Ash was preparing the food I was hit by the sudden urge to quit my juice cleanse. I was already having such a frustrating and trying day that when the smell of Ashley’s delicious smelling food hit my face I was like “F this I want to eat everything!”

All I wanted to do was eat, not drink, eat. I wasn’t hungry or starving, I just wanted to chew something and what a better thing to quit your juice fast on then Spicy Black Bean Brownies. Okay definitely not the best thing to eat right after four days of not eating solids, but I REALLY wanted one. Then she started making her zesty lettuce tacos with fresh avocados and tomatoes. It was absolute torture, standing there knowing that I could eat everything if I wanted too because it was all vegan and healthy. But in the back of my head there was that voice that told me to stay strong and keep going on my juice cleanse. So when she went down stairs I snagged some tomatoes and sucked the juice out of them! Yup I did, and I know that sounds so weird, but I just had to have something!

I am so happy I didn't give up on day four, because Ashley was right, day four is the hardest to get through. But once you do it becomes easier again - like days 1-3. I am already on day six with only four more days to go and I really hope I can stay strong and get through them. If I happen to fall off the wagon and eat solid food again, no worries because getting to day six is an accomplishment for me and it is something I am proud of!

Ashley did an amazing job on Live TV, she is an absolute natural and her recipes were a big hit at Global. So I thought I would share her recipes with you so you are able to see what she made, just in case you didn’t get a chance to see her.

She made:

Homemade Tortilla Chips

Zucchini Guacamole

Zesty Lettuce Tacos with mushrooms

Spicy Black Bean Brownies

All of the recipes, found here, are gluten free, dairy free, egg free, meat free and 100% pure heaven. I really, really suggest you try the tacos, they smelt AMAZING and I know they would taste AMAZING too!

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo -N

Organize Your Juice Cleanse in 4 Easy Steps

Juice cleanse! Yup I am going there again! I had plans on doing another one after Mexico but that kind of fell by the wayside. Technically though, this IS after Mexico so I wasn’t totally lying to myself, I am just a procrastinator, no surprise there.

I had tried starting one about a month ago but I just wasn’t motivated enough and ended up just eating all of the produce I had bought for it instead of juicing it. At least it didn’t go rotten in my fridge! There is nothing I hate more than the forgotten brussle sprouts in the back corner that go rotten, I can literally see money being tossed away and a good meal being wasted.

I found the last time I did a juice cleanse it was kind of hard to get my proportions right and figure out if I had enough food in my fridge to last the rest of the cleanse. I found myself running to the grocery store more times than needed, which can be a bit of a hassle. So this time I thought I would plan out what juices I wanted to drink and make out a list of what I will need. Sounds good right? That should alleviate things a bit and make it easier to get back on the juicing train. BUT! What if I take it to the next organizational level?!
Below I have outlined four simple steps to help guide you in starting your juice cleanse, which is always the hardest part. So here are my tips and tricks to start a successful juice cleanse:

1)    Make a list Do some research and figure out which juices you would love to drink and make out a grocery list of everything you will need.  If you are doing a longer cleanse like 10 days, you can break it up into 2 grocery trips to avoid not having enough room in your fridge. I have listed below some of the juices I am drinking, which are great basic ones that are sweet and delicious.

2)    Wash your produce

This may seem like a no brainer, but it really helps you out in the long run. Fill your sink up with cold water and a cup of vinegar and throw in all of your fruit, veggies and leafy greens. Let them sit for 10 mins giving them a scrub to get off all of the dirt. Aslo you should de stem any fruit or veggies that need to be broken down (not the fruit!). Now when you go and juice its all ready to just throw in.

3)    Pre Package your meals

I don’t know about you but I buy all of my leafy greens from Super Store and they always come in these plastic containers that are a bitch to deal with. So why not use them to pre portion out all of my juices in the fridge so all I have to do is grab a container and bam! Its already washed, chopped and portioned for me to just throw in and juice away!? AND I know that I have enough produce to do my whole cleanse (or half of it) without having to go to the grocery store. Don’t forget to label which one is which, or you can leave them unlabeled and live dangerously! Ooo the possibilities!

4)    Cut down on cleaning

Take a bag – I use the thin vegetable bags you get at the grocery store - and line the container that the pulp goes into. You can then dump out the pulp and reuse the bag for the next meal and save you time cleaning it out. And always, always clean out your juicer right after you are done, if not she will be hard to clean out and you will get frustrated!

 

These are some of the juices that I am going to be drinking throughout the 10 days:

2 apples

4 stalks celery

2 big handfuls spinach

1 cucumber

1 lemon

2 pears

3 stalks kale, de stemmed

3 stalks celery

1 cucumber

1 lemon

10 oranges

2 grapefruit

12 oranges

I am already on day four and I feel great. Other than feeling a little tired during the day and having food cravings (not hunger pains) I feel pretty normal. I am trying to do 10 days but I am not putting any pressure on myself if I don't feel like finishing. I hope my tips and tricks help you out on your journey because I know they helped me!

After Thoughts of Juice Journey

I am done and not only did I survive, I thrived. Go me!! A slight round of applause will do... 

Something that I kept track of for these past few days was my weight. I didn't want to post it until after I was done because I wasn't sure there was going to be any change. But fortunately it did:
Day one - 131
Day two - 129
Day three - 128
Day four - 127
Hello 120's, it has been FOREVER since I saw you last. I probably lost around an inch of bloating around my stomach which resulted in a almost flat stomach, something that I have never had. I know this is something that will not last because I am now eating solid foods but I am going to try and reduce my bloating as much as possible. How? By eating mainly fruit and leafy greens, and reducing cooked foods and fats from my diet. This wont be too hard in Mexico, except for the guacamole, I love that stuff! Also by food combinations, such as only eating melons together, not mixing fruits and fats and not eating bananas and acidic fruits together. My time here at 127 might not last, but it was good to see her again!

This morning I woke up feeling good, except when I looked outside and noticed that I had to shovel myself out of my house. But health wise I felt good. For breakfast I had orange juice with coconut water, risking that stomach pain I encountered a couple days ago. But luckily it didn't because it was hard looking at all of those oranges knowing that I might not be able to eat them before I go.  For lunch I made my first 'soild' food meal, a banana, cherry and coconut water smoothie. Seriously, the best thing I have ever tasted (smoothie wise) and I was so amped to eat it for lunch it was hard not to eat it for breakfast. I did however make way too much of it, I probably only needed 2 bananas but my eyes are bigger than my stomach and  made it with 4! Yummy!



The things I learned from my juice cleanse:

1)    First and foremost, I CAN DO IT. I was so scared at the start of this, thinking that I wouldn’t be able to concentrate at work, that I would have bad stomach aches, or just not being able to handle not eating solid foods and having massive cravings (the ladies at work have been talking about OJ’s recently and I am now craving their quinoa salad). But Ashley was right, juice cleanses are easy and I can do it!

2)    My skin is so fricken soft. My skin on my face is usually really dry and I need to exfoliate everyday. But now its super soft and clear and I don’t want it to go back.

3)    To take things slowly. Before the cleanse I was over anxious for our trip and by doing this juice cleanse I really slowed down my pace, especially by going to bed early. I really focused on my health instead of the minutes until our flight left and it took my mind off of my nervousness/anxiety that I was feeling over our trip.  

4)  That I do not need to eat after my workout because drinking a liter and a half of water is sufficient enough to get me to 9:00am. That way when I get home I can eat a full meal on an empty stomach, hydrated system.

5)  That if I didn't have Ashley there to help me I wouldn't have been as successful in my cleanse. She helped me with juice combinations, when to drink, how much, ect. She was a great help and I thank her for it. 

6)  That going to bed at 9pm is wonderful because I feel so great in the mornings. Yes that could have something to do with the cleanse, but I know that it helped me get through my days.

7)  I smell. Yup I stink. The toxins that were in my body escaped through my sweat glands during my cleanse and boy could I smell them. It actually makes me feel good knowing that they are leaving my body, hopefully to never return.

8)  If I felt this good after three days then what would I feel like after 10?

9)  That I should probably do another one after Mexico too!

10) I love having a flat stomach!

Thank you to all who followed me and Ashley on this juice journey. We really appreciate all of the supportive comments and likes and if you have any questions please feel free to ask!

xoxo - N

Juice Cleanse Day 3.... What? Day 3?

...what it’s already day three? Holy that went by really fast! I actually catch myself thinking about the next couple days and what I will be juicing and I have to stop myself because tomorrow I am introducing solids back into my diet. I would really love to continue on this juice cleanse but because I am traveling I wont be able to juice, so I need to introduce solids back in to make it easier on my digestive system.

Day three is like day one and two, I have energy, I feel good, yet a little tired. I woke up this morning and felt the better than normal, still hitting my snooze button 5 times, but still really well. I was super thirsty this morning and ended up drinking over a liter of water, plus my hot lemon water. I walked on the treadmill for half an hour and danced around the gym by myself for a couple songs. So a really great start to my day! 

For breakfast I made my apple juice but instead of kale I used spinach and for lunch I made my pear-ific. I decided not to go with orange juice again because of what happened yesterday, but I think I will try it for breakfast on Saturday morning!

I slept really well last night, going to bed at 9:00 and falling asleep by 9:45, which felt great. I think the sauna helped with that, it relaxed me and helped me wind down from my day. So I planned on going for a sauna again tonight, but it was so snowy out today that indoors seemed like a better idea!

For supper I did a mango, cucumber and coconut water juice, I was not worried about this one because anything with coconut water in it will be delicious. I also drank another liter of water before I went to bed because I was feeling a little dehydrated and tired, which means its time for bed soon. By the looks of the last three days I am thinking day four should go well, but I am excited to introduce some solids back in. Ashley suggested making a juice and blending an apple into it, so maybe I will make my Green Apple juice for breakfast again and just not juice the apple. I only have two more sleeps until Mexico so the next couple days will be a whirl win of getting things together, luckily this juice diet hasn't slowed me down. 

Thanks for reading!

xoxo - N

Day Two of Juice Cleanse - Pear and Sweet Potato Juices!

*** Update on Day One***

Last night I started to get ready for bed at 8:30, my stomach started to rumble so that’s when I knew that it was time to go to sleep and I was in bed around 9:00.. The truth about hunger pains at night is that you aren’t actually hungry, you are tired. So next time you think you want that popcorn at 9:00 at night, grab for your toothbrush instead and go to bed early!

I unfortunately tossed and turned for about an hour, partially because my stomach hurt and partially because I am not used to going to bed that early. If I would have actually gone to bed at 8:30 I don’t think I would have had that bad of stomach pain because I would be asleep. So to remedy the pain I drank some water which really helped!

Day Two!

This day was a lot easier that I imagined! I had such a terrible time with day two of my mono fruit cleanse that I thought it was going to be the same experience and to my surprise it wasn't. I had energy, I was alert, my skin feels a lot smoother and not once did I think that I was going to die. As of right now I don't think I would do another mono fruit cleanse again, I think I will stick with the juicing instead! 

So, I woke up this morning like any other morning… hitting snooze on my three alarms 2 times each and finally getting up at 5:30am (Devon really loves that, especially since two of my alarms are the Harry Potter theme song). I got up and felt really good except I really, really had to pee. I took my liter of water to work along with my Contigo mug full of hot water and lemon. I feel that the lemon water really helps calm my stomach in the morning since I am used to eating fruit at work. And since its kept cold in there it helps me warm up :)

For breakfast I made 1 liter the most delicious juice, I call it Pear-ific and so far its my favourite one!  

For lunch I did 1.5 liters of orange juice again, but after drinking about a cup I got really bad stomach pains, possibly because I drank it too fast. So I called Ashley and she suggested that I stop drinking it and just drink water until the pain goes away. Thankfully it did, but after the pain went away I tried to drink it again and it still was not agreeing with me, so I guess no Oj for me. But when I got home I was craving something so I opened up a delicious coconut water, which luckily didn't  hurt my stomach. 

As for how I felt this afternoon, other than feeling a little unfocused at work, I felt great. However towards 4:00 I was feeling really tired. When Devon got home he said that I was not looking so good, but I assured him that I was only tired and other than that I felt normal. For supper I made a sweet potato cocktail, that I threw together on a whim. I was a little apprehensive of how it was going to turn out because I have never used a sweet potato before, but I was pleasantly surprised.  

Tonight I also went and did a far-infrared sauna session at the gym I work at (Ladies Workout Express) and one of the perks of working there is I get free sauna's anytime I want. So while talking to Ashley tonight she suggested that I go for a session to help rid my body of toxins, what a brilliant idea Ashley! I went in for 45 mins and at 145 F. and boy did it feel amazing! I was pouring sweat out of my body like a waterfall. Okay, so think of the most you have ever sweated, say after a run, or a basketball game, now dump a bucket of water over your head and thats how soaked I was.... I know really sexy image. While in there I laid down and just tried to relax and shut off my brain. But of course, that didn't work out to well, I have a lot on my mind right now because our Mexico trip is coming up and I still have a lot to do. I even started singing the Chumbawamba song, Drip Drip Drip goes the water... there is a slight chance I have ADD. I feel more relaxed and calm after that and I am now thinking I should do one again tomorrow!

As I type this I realize its 8:40 and I should really start getting ready for bed.  I am trying to drink about 1/2 liter of water (for a total of 3 liters of water today) before I go to bed because of all of the sweating I did and I hope to avoid those stomach pains that I encountered last night. I am crossing my fingers that tomorrow will be as easy as today, but I am not getting my hopes up! I will keep you posted!

Thanks for reading,

xoxo Nikki

Juice Cleanse Day One!

I think it might have been me telling my sister I was feeling sick that prompted her to ask me to do a juice cleanse, not that it matters because I said yes. Why, you might ask? Because I am crazy. Just kidding, I am trying to reset my digestive system before I head to Cancun on Saturday, and Ashley thought that this would be a great way to do it. I was so nervous going into this that I really didn't think I would make it past day one, even though Ashley insisted that I could. Well here I am drinking my supper juice thinking, holy shit she was right, I can do this. 

THEN I think about my fruit fast and how day one was SO EASY! I was shocked that it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Then day two hit and I was all like, ohhhh this is how it's supposed to feel. Like I am detoxing, so basically tired, sluggish, with bits of energy through the day. 

Today I felt normal with no real differences in my day to day routine. I had lots of energy, felt great and at 6:30pm I just started to feel tired. I plan on finishing my juice and this post then winding down to go to bed early. Devon isn't juice cleansing but he is fast asleep beside me, maybe he is secretly doing it too....?!?!

So, this is how my day one went:

I started out my day with a liter of water and 1/2 liter of hot lemon water. I also did 50 mins of walking on the treadmill followed by stretching.

All of my juices were made by my Magic Bullet Juicer.

Breakfast juice - 9am

4 stalks of kale

3 stalks of celery

2 apples

1 lemon

½ cucumber

1 cup of water

Lunch Juice - 12:00 pm

12 oranges 

Snack - 3:00 pm

1/2 liter of coconut water

Supper Juice - 6:00 pm

2 tomatoes

2 carrots

2 stalks of celery

1 red pepper

1 lemon

1/2 cucumber

Handful of cilantro

1 cup of water

I am, again, a little nervous for what tomorrow has in store for me but I just have to keep reminding myself that its only two more days. Also, without Ashley here to help me I know I wouldn't have done this on my own, so thanks Ash for pushing me to do this! To be honest, day one went by quite fast and I like the fact that I only had one appliance to clean! 
I will keep you posted on how day two goes so stay tuned!

Thanks for Reading!
Xoxo, Nikki