Month: May 2012

Hurdles, Juicing, Raw, Recipes, Vegan

Juice Challenge: Broken

I wanted to start off by saying happy motivation monday, and thank you to all of my new and “old” readers! I have no idea what happened last night, but my website went viral and I got THOUSANDS of views and a rush of emails in my inbox in a matter of minutes! I’m so happy that people like my blog enough to share it with others, it means so much to me!

I went to my friend Behnaz’s house yesterday for craft day and in her refrigerator among piles of healthy fruits & vegetables, was a carrot cake that she had made from scratch the night before. It was just sitting there staring at me with it’s cute decorative frosting carrots perfectly drawn on top. I just couldn’t resist a slice of her amazing cake. After all, it is a vegetable, right? After 5 days of my Juice Challenge, the fast was broken! Never fear, the juicing will continue with “A Juice A Day In May!”

I have a weakness for Behnaz’s cooking. She makes amazing Persian dishes from her family’s recipes and occasionally the most intricate and perfectly decorated cakes. I was worried about how my body would react to solid food after a 5 day liquid diet, but my tummy loved that little slice of heaven, and I’m glad I was able to enjoy it without the guilt of ending my juice challenge.

Later that evening, I sat down with my new Gingergrass & Lemon candle, From A to P juice, and new book Intuitive Eating, by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD and Elyse Resch, MS, RD, FADA. I have had a few readers suggest this book to me, and have read countless reviews by other bloggers, so I thought it was about time to buy it.

This reminds me so much of my dear family friend Karen. If anyone had a problem or was searching for an answer for anything, she would have the perfect book for it! If Karen could see this blog, I’m sure she would have dropped this book off on my doorstep by now! Intuitive Eating offers a new eating approach to free yourself from food prison to help yourself become at peace with food to reach the weight you were meant to be. I’m not much of a reader, but I have become passionate about healthy living and how food can change our body & health, so this book looks very intriguing to me. I will be reading this book in my free time, and I’ll keep you guys posted on new things that I learn!

Question: Has anyone read Intuitive Eating before?

When my usual snack time came around, I experimented with a new juice to curb my cravings. Not to toot my own horn, but TOOT TOOT! This juice was AMAZING! New favorite for sure, and the color was absolutely gorgeous!


Rainbow Sherbet
serves 1

2 fuji apples
½ lime
¼ pineapple
¼ large cucumber

Extract your fresh juice over ice and enjoy cold.

I have noticed a huge change in my mood since starting my juice challenge, which is a big change from where I was last Monday after returning from San Francisco. I actually feel really happy today, and feel a lot healthier overall. Although I still get cravings for coffee, I feel like I have tons of energy from the micronutrient rich juices. I am thinking about sticking with a few juices throughout the day but want to start incorporating smoothies for a little while since the outcome has been pretty positive!

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Juicing, Raw, Recipes, Vegan

Juice Challenge: Day 5

Hola Conejitos!
Feliz Shrinko de Mayo!
 I hope everyone is celebrating with tons of raw heart healthy avos!

Now onto the Juicinggggg! Day 5 flew by!
I had so much fun playing with my new Breville juicer last night that I made a Shrinko de Mayo fiesta of rainbow juices! I loved ALL of my juices today! WOOOO!

Emotions & Hunger: Drinking only juice is getting progressively easier. Maybe because I jut got a new juicer and am so pumped to use it? I’ve been feeling great physically, and love not having to drink 2 cups of coffee to get through the day. I will definitely be incorporating juice in my regular diet because it makes me feel healthy and refreshed. I have also noticed that my skin has been more dewy and fresh than usual. All of these micronutrients I’ve been taking in seem to be helping!


For The Love Of Kale
makes 1 serving

5 carrots
2 small red apples
6 kale leafs

Spring Beet
makes 1 serving

6 carrots
1 fui apple
6 sprigs of parsley
1 small beet

From A to P
serves 1

1 apple
8 carrots
6 parsley sprigs

Sherbet Lemonade
makes 1 serving

2 golden delicious apples
1/2 lemon

Mean Green
makes 2 servings

6 Kale Leaves
1 Cucumber
4 Celery Stalks
2 Green Apples
1/2 Lemon
1 small piece of ginger

Juice Critique:
For The Love Of Kale: I had an overload of green juice in the past couple of days, so I wanted to make some sweeter juices that still incorporate veggies. I love the combination of apple & carrots. It was so sweet that I could’t even taste the kale!

Spring Beet: Ok you guys, I am trying so hard to use up the rest of the beets left in the fridge and well… I did it. The first beet drink that I actually liked! I started with my favorite new base of apples and carrots, and then added in some beet and parsley. It was sweet and fresh and I actually loved it! So glad I didn’t give up on the beets!

From A to P: Apples, carrots, & parsley oh my! my favorite sweet combo and some parsley, yummmm!

Sherbet Lemonade: DELICIOUS! I was so happy with the outcome of this one. It tasted like rainbow sherbet! This would make such a yummy summer cocktail over ice! R&R: Refreshing & Raw. Mmmm!

Mean Green: This is Joe Cross’ original juice from the film “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead.” I had the same reaction that most taste testers had in the film: “This isn’t too bad!” Considering all of the greenery that is incorporated in this juice, I was worried, but the lemon, apple, and ginger added a great balance to the veggie taste. I’m not sure if I could drink this juice 6 times a day for 60 days like Joe, but I did like it!

Loved these juices so much, I cannot wait to make more!

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Beauty, Obsessions

Funny Bunny

This is too perfect not to share:
I got an awesome new OPI nail polish yesterday and you will never guess what the name of the color is.

Wait for it…
FUNNY BUNNY
…of course!

I even chose the color before seeing the name!

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Juicing, Raw, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Juice Challenge: Day 4

4 Days of Juice Down!
I got my new juicer today and it is AMAZING! I ordered the Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain from Amazon and it came overnight!
It has so much power it can juice whole apples and citrus! I even did a test and ran the pulp through again and no juice came out because the pulp was dry! This is the real deal! I am so glad I invested in a nice juicer, because I am definitely getting my money’s worth, and I will save so much on fruits & veggies now!

Emotions: I was really busy responding to emails and phone calls all day today, and spent a lot of time working on my DIY Fashion Friday project for you guys. I did just fine with all of my juices, and didn’t have time to think about wanting food to chew on. The juices were actually quite convenient for my busy day while I worked. I have to say that juice is getting kind of boring though. I miss cooking my rabbit food! Plus tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo and I’m going to miss out on all of the yummy tacos and guac! Wahhh! To break the cleanse or not to break the cleanse?

Hunger: Kept busy and made it through the day just fine. I started to get intense cravings for something sweet after dinner, so I brewed a hot cup of tea and started reading my new book to distract myself.

Green Machine:
makes 3 servings

3 green apples
15 carrots
15 leafs dinosaur kale
3 cup spinach (packed)
1 cucumber
23 stalk celery
15 sprigs Italian parsley

Lean ‘N’ Green
makes 3 servings

1 head romaine
2 green apples
8 dinosaur kale leaves
6 stalks celery
1 large cucumber
8 carrots
1 lemon

Juice Critique:
Green Machine: This is one of the original juices I made on my first day of juicing and I have come back to it a few times.

Lean ‘N’ Green: I really enjoyed this juice yesterday, but thought it could use some apple to sweeten it up a but, so I added 2 apples today.

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DIY, Fashion, Fashion Friday

DIY Multi-Strand Scarf

 


I am a huge fan on no-sew projects from recycled clothing. If you were a fan of my no-sew DIY Workout Shirt, you will enjoy this one as well. Plus they will look très chic when worn together! Behold, a scarf that is perfectly lightweight and easy-to-wear to your Yoga or Bar Method class and stylish enough for running errands around town!
Oh, and did I mention there is no sewing required?!

DIY Multi-Strand Scarf
Makes one stylish scarf

Ingredients:
1 old T-shirt (the bigger the better)
1 pair of scissors
1 ruler
10 minutes


1. Start with a large T-shirt. Any old shirt will do! Seamless is a plus!

2. Cut off the bottom hem of the shirt. Then cut 1in – 2in wide strips horizontally across the shirt from bottom to armpit. You can cut as many strips as you would like (I liked my thick strips the most). The more strips, the more strands your scarf will have. You can use a ruler to guide a straight line across the shirt, but don’t worry if they aren’t perfect.

3. Set the bottom hem aside. Stretch all of the remaining strips until they become long, and the raw edges start to roll inwards.

4. Cut one end of the bottom hemline so it becomes a string.

5. Using the strip of bottom hemline, knot it around the strands to secure them in place.

6. Wrap the strip a few inches around the center of the scarf, and back over to meet the other ends. Knot the ends together tightly.

7.  Trim the loose ends and tuck the knot underneath the wrapped fabric.

Viola, a stylish scarf to wear to yoga! Wear it long or bundle it up, it’s super fun and easy-to-wear!
Post or email your photos if you make a scarf! I can’t wait to see your creations!

 

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