The Big Juice Spring Clean Day 5

The end is here! Well, maybe not here, but near. Today one cleansing plan ends and tomorrow I will start on a new one--right after I reward myself with the Detoxinista's Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshake! I use almond butter instead of Peanut Butter and add a huge handful or two of spinach. This has become one of our favorite smoothies. 

Today I felt really good. I had energy, I was happy, and I was very peaceful. I can't say that I just wanted to go go go, but I had enough energy to be awake all day and really get my work done. I guess I would call it peaceful energy. I really like this feeling. Today we had one of the best juices on the plan. It was a combination of pear, apple, lime, and wait for it...parsnip...amazing!!! (The recipe also called for mint, but I didn't put it in, because I didn't have any.) One way to stay on a juicing cleanse is to drink juices you really enjoy, that helps ALOT! I did get hungrier tonight than I have been so I made some canela tea and that is effectively curing my hunger as I write. 

If you have never had canela tea before you have to try it...it is just cinnamon tea. Start a small pot of water simmering, break up a stick or two of cinnamon or canela (the best cinnamon sticks for this tea can be found at any Mexican or Hispanic Market) and throw it into the pot, let the water simmer until the pot is half full then fill it up with cold water and wait for it to get warm. Once the water is hot/warm pour some into a cup and add sweetener (and nut milk, if you want). Traditional canela is served with lots of sugar and sometimes milk. 

In other non-juicy news...Tahini anyone?

Today I went to the store to stock up on my fruits and veggies and was going to buy some tahini so my husband could make hummus for this coming week since I am still not cooking. But all the tahini I could find was so expensive and most of it was roasted. I thought, I make almond and coconut butter why not tahini? So instead of buying a $7 jar of tahini I bought a $3.30 pound bag of organic sesame seeds. When I got home I poured about half of the bag in my food processor and...boom...

in a few minutes I had smooth, creamy, warm inexpensive, tahini. I think the half pound made about half of what is in a regular jar of tahini that you would buy at the store, but I didn't measure. 

Happy Juicing!!!

The Big Juice Spring Clean Day 4

Is it already day four? Wow this has gone by so fast. I have been going back and forth in my mind whether I want to continue and finally decided that I did want to continue juicing for another eight days. I really just want to kick my addiction to food and although I know it will take more than just these juice cleanses I can already see a huge improvement. For one thing I am not craving the foods that I used to crave like pizza and burgers and other things which is nice. I do have a nagging feeling that I just want to eat ANYTHING. But I know I really don't want to--so meal plan and shopping list made the cleanse continues.

Today I didn't feel exactly "high on juice" I did feel much more calm and relaxed at work which is nice. I believe I just don't get enough sleep during the week or the time to work out so I don't know if I will exactly get that "high" we will see I guess. I did learn why I gain weight and just want to eat when I am at work. STRESS! Today four of my boys were being extremely inappropriate with each other and I had to put them on red (discipline rainbow) which means I had to talk to all of their parents. Out of anything I have to do I dislike talking to parents about their child's misbehavior the most. I feel so bad because their kids are really good kids and I feel like they are not going to have as nice of an evening because I had to talk to them. But the students make choices and I have to be consistent and follow through with my promises (or threats, however you want to look at it). So at the end of the day I just wanted to leave, I was super stressed, and I wanted to EAT. I was very surprised and pleased that the sweet carrot-orange juice took care of my "need" to eat.

Today I realized two things I extremely enjoy about juicing:
     1. There is very little clean-up compared to a regular meal
     2. I don't really have to think about making my meals--just throw in the juicer and go!

Very nice for a busy person like me :)

Happy Juicing!!!

The Big Juice Spring Clean Day 3

Well today was not as nice as yesterday. I did not get up and work out at all, which tends to happen more often than I would like. So my day started at 5 a.m. again. I am hoping to do a short yoga class later tonight, but I still have homework to finish. 

Today I felt tired all day. The kids (I am a preschool teacher for anyone who is curious) were wound up today after their snow day and it was too cold to go outside. I ended up eating three pieces of fruit around 11 right before my first juices. I gave myself the excuse that it was my hunger SOS, but realized in about 5 min (when I drank my first juice) that I didn't need it. I was just so frazzled getting the kids settled and I was pretty hungry that I didn't think straight. I am sure tomorrow will be better. 

Oh I forgot to mention yesterday that I ended my wonderful day with a nice conversation with Kibby from Kibbysblendedlife.com. We talked about cleansing and I am so thankful that she took the time to answer some of my questions. She is so sweet and I love her blog, especially the Thoughtful Thursdays which always have loads of wonderful information and interesting articles. If you get a chance check out her blog! I have really learned a lot from her. 

The Big Juice Spring Clean Day 2

SNOW DAY!!! 
Really? There was barely any snow. But that's ok I enjoyed it anyway! 

I was able to do 20 min of Chalene Johnson's HIIT workout (I call her the crazy lady since I normally do her workouts at 4:30 in the morning and she is way to happy for that early) and 20 min of Turbo Jam Abs. Then I took a loooooooooong bath which felt amazing. I did homework most of the day and I confess I was bored and restless all day long. So in conclusion day 2 was great!

My husband has been doing this with me and has been much more hungry than I have been. He has also been craving lots of crazy foods. But he is doing amazing. 

My favorite thing about Jason Vale's juice events is that he posts videos to watch every day and there are so many people from so many countries doing the same thing. Its just nice to know that 25,000 people from 50 countries are struggling just as much as I am. The tips and videos are really helping my husband get through and continue to be energized about the program! 

If you started The Big Juice Spring Clean, how are you doing at the end of day 2 or the beginning of day 3? 

The Big Juice Spring Clean Day 1

Today is my first day of Jason Vale's Big Juice Spring Clean. Its not the beginning of Juice Cleansing for me though. I started Friday on Jason Vale's 3 Day Detox. I did eat food on Saturday, but it was mostly raw and I incorporated the juices too. Then I juiced all day Sunday. Today I felt awful! I woke up with a horrid headache and it didn't go away all day long. Later I thought I was going to be sick, but I stuck with it and now I feel very good but very tired. The juices are amazing and I am enjoying every bit of it! I think after these five days I will do another eight with more pure juices and no smoothies.  

Creamy Tropical Green Smoothie

Tropical Green Smoothie

1 young coconut (meat and water) or 1 can coconut milk 

    (I only had the canned coconut milk, but I think the coconut meat and water would have been amazing.)

5 key limes

2 frozen bananas

1/4 pineapple

1 cup green lettuce (or any other green, spinach would be nice)

1 tsp maca powder (optional)

goji berries for topping (optional)

Blend all ingredients until smooth and enjoy!

Spring Break

     Wow! It has been a looooong time since I have written in the blog. It feels really good being back, although I can't promise I will be writing much until the summer. In fact I can probably promise not to be back much before summer. Before I dive into what wonderful things I have been doing on my week off I want to give you an update on the last couple of months.
   
     Last semester was an extremely stressful 4 months; I started a new job, started a master's degree (online classes right now, thank goodness!), and I had a very bad relationship with one of my assistant teachers. All of that equals little sleep, little exercise, food cravings, and lots of stress. Needless to say I gained about 7 pounds back last semester, which made me even more stressed and depressed. Finally Christmas break came and we got to house sit for one of my colleagues who has a beautiful house in the mountains surrounded by beautiful trees, a herd of deer, and a little dog that slept by our feet. We both got sick so I ended up doing a whole lot of nothing and I started to feel much better! During the break I did finish reading Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Diet and thoroughly enjoyed the book. 

     I decided I needed to take my health into my hands so I did Dr. Oz's Three Day Detox Cleanse which I enjoyed, mostly because I was FORCED to take a bath EVERY night :) Then I jumped into Jason Vale's The World's Biggest Juice Detox which uses the 7 lbs in 7 days plan. Two things happened, I found that I LOVE Jason's juices and I became BALANCED! I hadn't felt at peace in so long and now that I did I didn't want to give up the feeling. So I made a plan; I wanted to try different diet or detoxing plans so I started with Juice Yourself Slim--like, then went on to 14 lbs in 14 Days, which is an app inside the 7lbs app, then I did the plans in the Hungry for Change book. During the 14lbs and the Hungry for Change plans I learned that my body does not like meat products; I ate salmon and eggs more than I have in... probably a year, and I think I gained about 5lbs from that (which have since come off, but the cellulite hasn't). And now I am almost finished with Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Detox. Kris promotes veganism, and so I tried really hard to be vegan and didn't buy any cheese (I am excited to have a little next week) I didn't pretty good too. 

     So now I feel GOOD. I like the Crazy Sexy Detox because she has something to read every morning, which really helps to stick to the diet. Monday I am starting Natalia Rose's Detox Diet and I am excited about that. I really have been enjoying eating more and more raw--I have been learning that this is a journey and I have been trying to stay away from my scale :) I will try to keep you posted on how things go, but I am excited to see where this journey takes me. 

     Ok, Spring Break! Well I have been doing what you all wish you could do during your spring break... a whole lot of NOTHING!!! I have just been relaxing and resting from all my beautiful angelic students. I have really enjoyed my time, I did clean our monster bird cage (my mom calls it the Taj Mahal). I have also been cooking! I made raw oreos, coconut butter cups--my new favorite raw snack, and almond pulp cookies. That was Monday. 

     Tuesday I did homework all day long--nothing too exciting. I did do Cardo X from P90X and I think I did Chalene Johnson's (aka 'Crazy Lady' she is just too happy for 4:30 a.m.) Ab Jam. Wednesday I went shopping (for food), looked up a new discipline plan for my classroom, and had a date night with my loving husband. I also did about half of P90X's Legs and Back, without the back, and I am soo sore right now. For lunch I threw together what ended up being Chocolate Pie Soup, which I don't know if I will share just yet. But it was yummy! 

Today I went for a wonderful run, see what is outside my apartment?

That's right a trail, aren't you jealous ;)
I then cleaned out our fire place and finished cleaning my pots and porch. I am hoping to grow greens this year and save some money on groceries. 

Can anyone tell me what this plant is?

     I planted some seeds one year--peach, raspberry, apple, and one more, apparently, which I can't remember. So I have this beautiful vine that has been growing for about 4 years now, but I don't know what it is.  

I had a little helper (menace) in this project. 


Oscar walked outside, following me like a little dog before I knew he was there, then look what he did to my screen!

I ended my day doing guess what! Yup, cooking... Lunch was butternut squash, apple juice blended with cinnamon and a frozen banana. 

Then I made Vanilla Macaroons, Chewy Oatmeal Crunch Bars, Chickpea Poppers, veggie chips, cacao butter (I will post a recipe when I perfect it), and veggie fajitas (poblano pepper, mushrooms, onion, zucchini, tofu, sweet potatoes) with raw salsa, and a wonderful all-purpose cheese sauce made with cauliflower, I will also be posting this recipe when I perfect it (and get a picture)! 

 And tomorrow I will be cleaning my apartment, not too exciting. 

I have also been reading Ani Phyo's Ani's Raw Food Essentials. During the summer I will be learning how to eat more and more raw. So I will be happy for you to join my in that adventure. Also Jason Vale is doing a Spring Clean Detox in April that I will be joining. I will keep you posted. I might even blog during the Detox!

Happy Juicing!!!

What have been your best or worst times in your journey towards health and what have you learned?

What are your favorite comfort foods?  (Healthy or not)

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