Cleansing...Why am I doing this again?

This might be one of the worst ideas I ever had. No, seriously. Day 1 I tried to prep all my stuff. I was so good. I ate only vegetables. I developed a terrible headache. The worst one I've ever had. Then I made it 3/4 through the day on Wednesday only to completely lose my shit at dinner. I fell off the wagon HARD. Let's be realistic, I threw myself from that wagon. I decided to get back on, so I modified the cleanse. I added hummus and beans and more chicken than I was supposed to be allowed to eat. That was much easier to adhere to. Then last night and this morning I've been wondering why I'm torturing myself like this because it feels like torture. All these delicious foods SO CLOSE to me and yet, I can't consume them. Then I got on the scale this morning and I'm down 2.7 pounds. My heart palpitations from too much caffeine have stopped. I'm not sure if I feel more energized because all I think about is food. I guess SOMETHING good is happening. It's supposed to be 7 days, but I think I can stick it out until dinner on Sunday night. My job is having an early holiday dinner thingey. I really don't want to be doing this into next week anyway. Ok, off to drink my warm lemon water, my fiber, and my aloe. Yeccchhhh. Really questioning my sanity here. 

It's The Cleanse! Day 1!!!

Why hello.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would be doing a cleanse and the day has arrived. The cleanse lasts 7 days. I'm aiming for 7, but we'll see how long I make it. I purchased a nutriclean 7 day cleanse detox and balance kit. It comes with various tablets and the most foul tasting fiber supplement I ever drank. I also drank warm water with half a lemon in it. I also drank some aloe. All these things were completely unpalatable. Not going to lie. Super gross. Coffee is out of the question, so I treated myself to some fancy green tea, which tastes pretty good. I have cut back on the coffee consumption recently and realized that the heart palpitations I was having were directly related to my massive caffeine consumption. Whoops. It just....it's so tasty. For me, coffee isn't only a delicious tasty beverage, it's also a psychological crutch I need to use less often. I then made up a veggie and egg white scramble with green peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, red onions, tomatoes, garlic, dill, celtic sea salt and egg whites. It isn't bacon, eggs, and toast, but it is tasty.

I have to prep vegan chili, cauliflower soup, beet chips, banana chips and zucchini fritters today, so I have something to eat over the next bunch of days. Fortunately, I don't have class today, so I can laze about this morning and work on it later.

I think this is going to be mostly psychological. The wholesome, healthy side of me really wants to make it. The naughty foodie wants to go bonkers and eat whatever. However, I did just spend too much money on a shitload of produce, so I'm going to eat it.

Here's the link to my Pinterest board that has all my cleanse recipes on it. They're pretty delicious looking.

Cleanse Recipes!!!

Ugh. I already miss dairy. Dairy is my life. I don't know how I'm going to survive 7 days without milk and cheese. Send me your good juju interweb people. I need all the positive thinking I can get,

A post about health and not shopping.

Hello there people in blog reading land.

Recently, I have been too often eating my feelings and feeling garbage-y and tired and like I need 8 gallons of coffee to survive. Working full time and taking 10 credits worth of classes is no dang joke. So, what's a girl to do? Well, through a friend I know on The Book of Face, I am embarking on a 7 day cleanse next month. I've taken cleansing products before, but now I am combining it with an appropriate diet. What's this mean for me?

For 7 days:
~ ALL THE VEGETABLES
~ No dairy
~ No gluten or starches
~ No alcohol whatsoever (gulp)
~ Severely reduced coffee consumption (double gulp)
~ Severely upticked green tea and herbal tea consumption
~ ALL THE WATER
~ Hot water with lemon every morning
~ No red meat
~ enough protein to survive my day, so chicken, tofu, egg whites, fishes
~ No artificial sugars
~ no more than 3 fruits per day
~ Serious meal planning
~ extreme organization
~ Making yoga an every day thing. Akin to eating.


I hope that after 7 days I will

~ Feel lighter inside
~ Have more energy (My biggest hope)
~ Have better skin
~ Crave less garbage food
~ Crave less sugar
~ Have fewer GI issues
~ Kickstart a healthier lifestyle
~ Do yoga every damn day forever and ever
~ Have less anxiety


The good news is that I have the support of a coach whom I like and who has done this before. There are also other people in the group who will be doing this at the same time as I will and we will be commiserating and sharing recipes and such and generally supporting each other through the 7 days. Weight loss is a secondary concern to me. Energy levels, skin issues and GI issues are my number one concern. If I should drop a few pounds, that's extra credit. I also want to shock my system off artificial sugars and artificial chemically flavoring badness in general. If I understand things correctly, the less you consume this garbage, the less your brain wants to eat it. This will be VERY hard for me as I love dairy, coffee, booze, and carbs. I mean, an unhealthy, all-consuming, bodice-ripping love of these things. My coach is already kicking ass and telling me that she did not fully quit coffee when she cleansed and that I shouldn't beat myself up if I can't do it. There are a bunch of recipes and tips already up on the FB group from previous cleansers. I'm *kind of* looking forward to it. I feel like it's been a long time coming and that it will only be good for me in the end.

Imma need your encouragement. I'll try to find time to chronicle my experiences here. I'm sure it'll be interesting.

In which I try to get my shit together so I can be healthy and organized all week. :-)

So, I did absolutely nothing yesterday. It was glorious. I had this plan that I should not wear pants all day because pants are evil and should not be worn! I made it until about 7pm and then I had to put on pants and go out because I promised some people I'd see a show with them. So. Close.

Today I have a goal of making lunch for the week like I did two weeks ago. It was great. I may just make the same thing. I had delicious lunch every day that I didn't have to think about and that I actually wanted to eat. It was healthy and clean and gluten and dairy free, even! My tummy was very thankful. I've already made some lemon blueberry muffins. I yoinked the recipe from Gimme Some Oven. I like this lady a lot. You should check her out. She also has a blog about being single over 30. Since I am, I'm really into it. If that kind of thing interests you, you should check her out. Here's the recipe. I omitted the streusel topping. The lunches I made the other week were a mexican bowl with rice, black beans, ground turkey, roasted tomatoes, onions, and spices. They were REALLY good. I didn't really follow a recipe or anything, I just cooked it all up, layered it in a bowl and brought them for lunch.

I have another goal of reading a bunch of The Mist-Filled Path by Frank MacEowen. I keep meaning to develop my spiritual self and getting distracted by the day to day mundane things. I feel as though I'd be able to handle the garbage that gets thrown at me daily at work if I had a little bit more going on at my core. I need to work on my zen. As I've mentioned before, I feel a calling to Earth religions, specifically Paganism. This particular book has been tugging at the back of my brain for awhile and I think it will be really useful in putting me back in touch with the earth.

And yet a third goal of REALLY working out on a regular basis. The fitness center at work is doing a promotion for the month of May in which for a one time added fee of $40 you can get a once weekly appointment with a trainer and a plan for the month on really getting yourself into shape. I feel like the only way I'll stick to a work out plan is if someone is waiting for me. So...I made an appointment with a fellow for Wednesday of next week. Hopefully I'll get somewhere with that and can update y'all on my progress instead of making one or two posts about it and then ditching the routine as I so often have done in the past. I have floppy chicken wing arms and I hate them.

I have this dream that one day I'll be "Together" Jill. I'll work out regularly, I'll eat only healthy foods, I'll have an immaculate home, I'll bake regularly, get A's in all my classes and be a super star at work. Does anyone actually ever do all these things? I mean, without adderall?

I've also quit all the subscription boxes (except for Julep because they allow me to skip), so do not expect any more of those posts. I have gotten some GREAT deals on things, but that shit is totally addicting and all my extra cash was getting absorbed by boxes. I think you also get to a point where you just don't need anymore beauty products for awhile. I have enough serums and lotions now to last me a few years. I WILL post product reviews if I really like or hate something, though. I have tried a lot of them out, so if you also wanted to ask me what I thought of any of them I'd be happy to elaborate on that as well.

Alrighty, I have to go. I need to make a trip to Target and my bed is soooo comfortable I know that if I don't yoink myself out of it, I'll be here all day.

I hope everyone has an amazing week!

XOXO
~J

Bulu Box Review

Hello all. Happy Friday. I'm happy to be writing to you a glass and a half of wine into my evening. I have tons of awesome plans this weekend that include going dancing with my fabulous friend Rebecca, and going to my favorite maple sugar house with friends. If you've never been to a sugar house for breakfast, you're missing out. I HIGHLY recommend. I digress...
This week I have received 4 boxes. Yep. 4. The first of which was my Bulu Weight Loss box. I used a coupon code and got 6 months for $30. I probably would NOT have gotten this Sub for the full price $10 a month. However, $5 was quite a good deal, IMHO.

Here lieth my first box:

• Smarty pants weight loss vitamin chews. Multivitamin, source of dietary fiber and omega-3. (1 days worth = 6 chews) $1.60
• Mestrength drink powder. Boosts metabolism, provides electrolytes. $1.16
• Body Glove Energy Surge Gel $2.09
• Tapaz 2 Go $2.99
• Helps R&R tea $0.27
• Barleans Omega Swirl oil Mango Peach flavor $0.59
• Yes! Change is Easy notecard $0.90

Total Value of the box is $9.60

I liked the variety in the box, but I was a bit disappointed by the size of some of the samples. One days worth of vitamins is not nearly enough to be able to determine if I'd like to buy the whole bottle. They do have a points system, similar to Birchbox and you can earn dollars off full price items in the shop, however their points expire after 90 days. I definitely like things intended to increase energy level, so I hope they include more of those in future boxes. 

Vegan Protein Smoothie of Deliciousness

Hey there!

It occurs to me that some of you out there might be interested in my kick ass vegan protein smoothie recipe. I have issues with breakfasts at work. I work 7-3:30. Breakfast is usually around 7:30 and lunch isn't until 12. I needed something to tide me over because in the hospital it's not always possible to have a midmorning snack. Especially in the Cancer Center. When my bloodsugar tanks, my hands start to shake. That's bad when you're making IVs. So, I wanted something that would last without being an enormous amount of food and would also be good for me. This is what I came up with after relentlessly searching Pinterest for smoothie recipes. It's seriously delicious, filling and is basically like having a milkshake for breakfast, but full of whole food, unprocessed goodness. I don't measure a damn thing except the protein powder itself. I kind of eyeball the amounts.

I use this protein powder:

I order it from Amazon and it's $17 and change. It lasts a loooong time. It's vegan and it tastes great in the smoothie. I have Amazon prime and this ships free and usually arrives within 48 hours. It's MUCH cheaper than ANYTHING I found to purchase locally of similar quality.

The smoothie:

2 heaping tablespoons of protein powder

1 Tbs almond butter

local bee pollen

1 Tbs flax oil or milled flax seed

mixed frozen berries

vanilla almond milk (I prefer the sweetened Blue Diamond brand)

I dump it all in a bowl and blend it with my immersion blender. I LOVE my immersion blender. It's sweet, but not too sweet and has a great nutty quality from the almond stuff. I use the local bee pollen as an additive to get extra vitamins (LOTS of B vitamins) and help with my allergies. When I drink this for breakfast I can hold out until lunch. I also find that drinking enough water helps too. Lots of times we think we're hungry, when really, we're dehydrated. 

Anyway, if you do try it, let me know what you think! I love it and any protein powder will do, this just happens to be the one I like. 

Happy New Year! Commitments and Changes Abound.

Hello all!
With the hubbub of the holidays behind me and an all too sad return to work, I figured I'd share what I've been up to, including a few recipes I yoinked from other bloggers that turned out GREAT.

I have joined a workout program (movement) called Tone it up. Tone it up was created by two awesome, goofy, and motivated ladies who wanted to inspire other women to be healthy and be proud of their bodies. Right now they're doing the 6 week #loveyourbody program, which promises to get you super sexy in time for Valentine's Day. I have been mostly following the plan since January 1, which is a lot better than the nothing I was doing before. I like that the workouts require hand weights or nothing to complete them and that there are thousands of other ladies following it and lending their support to each other. It's sort of lovely to see so many women supporting each other instead of dragging each other down. If you're interested, it's totally free. You just sign up and get started. There are recipes and nutrition advice too.

In that vein I made no bake energy balls and granola the other day. They both turned out AMAZING.  The energy balls can be found over at Gimme Some Oven. I used maple syrup and milled flaxseed. They taste just like oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough! Except you don't have to worry about potentially getting salmonella from the uncooked egg! Yay! My only complaint is that the flaxseed sticks to the roof of my mouth. Totally worth it. The granola recipe is over at Bless This Mess Please. I did heat up the honey a little so that it mixed in better. I added slivered almonds and dried superfruits! OH! Also, I used gluten free flour. The beany mix from Bob's Red Mill that doesn't taste beany at all in this granola. Others who tried it said it tasted just like store bought, which I take as a compliment.

And now for something COMPLETELY different:

Finally, I've been actively working on becoming a more spiritual person in my religion of choice. I feel called to Paganism. I feel very strongly about reverence for the earth and it's creatures. I feel a very female spiritual presence and I don't relate to the notion that there is one male God, somewhere far far away, watching us and judging our deeds.  My Gods(esses) are much closer to me. Through the little research I've done so far, I feel an initial call from Druantia. She's the Goddess associated with Beltane and trees. She influences fertility, knowledge, creativity, passion and sex. She is also referred to as The Queen of the Druids, which you probably gathered from her name. I know this kind of thing may seem strange to some, but I've been searching for a spiritual path for a long time. I was raised Catholic, which I rejected as a teenager because my particular church was not.....friendly to people of different backgrounds. I sought out other denominations of Christianity for awhile, but nothing ever felt like it fit. Not that I don't like Jesus, I very much agree with his teachings and his philosophies, but many of the tenets of the Christian church do not jive with what I believe is morally correct. I don't believe one person is better than another for any reason. I don't believe the Bible is the Word of God. Men wrote the Bible and I find it hard to believe that they weren't at all influenced by their own prejudices while they were writing it. I don't presume that any human can interpret to ANY degree of certainty what God wants or desires. I'm also not keen on the idea that there is, in fact, one God. I feel like people, in many cases, have turned religion into a vehicle to oppress people who are different from them. I'm not down with judgment, or shaming, or tearing people down. I'm not down with forcing people to agree with me. And I'm not down with hate. Up until recently, I hadn't found any kind of spirituality that made me feel closer to the divine. I just felt lost and discouraged. I felt like I was potentially missing out on lifting myself up out of the muck, but I didn't know how to get there. I'd always been a bit interested in Paganism, due to my Irish heritage, but, like others, I had a skewed perception on what it meant to be Pagan. Many people think it means you sit at home in a robe and cast spells and sacrifice goats in your backyard or something. None of which I do, by the way. Nor do any other Pagans I know. Initially I was reluctant to come to Paganism because of the stereotypes. I'm a little sad about that because I missed out on feeling better about my heart, soul and environment for quite some time. It's about time I finally sat down at the table and owned what I believe. So, I continue to read and learn and feel better about the state of my heart and mind. Isn't that what religion is supposed to be for anyway? I don't expect (or care if) others agree with what I've said or believe, but I wanted to put myself out there. I think I'm done now.

What has everyone else been up to? Any resolutions? Changes? Thoughts? Respectful/witty banter is always welcome.