Fall down seven times- get up eight.

It's been one month since I last posted.  What has happened you ask?  I hurt my back and couldn't work out for part of the month.  Instead of dealing with it sensibly, I did what anyone would do.  I couldn't work out so instead, I ate. And ate.  I was depressed and in pain so I ate. And ate.  


You know the ole saying, you eat like crap, you feel like crap?  Uh huh, I feel like crap, which only makes me more depressed and want to eat more!!  Huh?!  Why do we do this to ourselves?  


I get REALLY nervous when I am injured.  It's hard because I NEED my ENTIRE body to be functional in order to do my day to day classes.  I have a lot of women depending on me to be open so they can get their workout in.  In a perfect world, I would have another certified instructor to teach my classes and extra money to pay them!  NO worries right?!  Of course, all the "what if's" start running through my mind.  What if I have to cancel my classes and my customers started canceling?!  What if I let my clients down?  What if they are disappointed?  What if I go back to teaching too soon and re- injure myself?  We can play the "what if" game all day and get more depressed right?!  


I started making excuses for not "having time" to head to the grocery store, started eating out more and thus my journey began.  No I REALLY DIDN'T HAVE TIME- because I was watching Lie to Me reruns on Netflix.  True story.


I was TOO busy feeling sorry for myself to care about what I ate!  But I am here to tell you, I have fallen but I am getting back up.  I went to the grocery (because I watched all the seasons of Lie to Me and there are no more to see- true story) and I got a ton of VEGGIES!!!  Yahoo!!  Yippee!!!  I made delicious salads and some juices too!  I miss my juices!! 


So I am letting you all know-  I am only human.  I crave sugar. I eat sugar.  When I eat sugar, I crave sugar.  I hate myself for it.  I eat crap, I feel like crap.  


Enough of this pity party.   I'm declaring war against this funk I'm in!  




I.  Will.  Win.


Peace and Love,
j


    

Fresh Dressings.

Tis the season for fresh veggies and crispy salads.  I recently made some delicious dressings that I wanted to share!

Sundried Tomato Dressing

serves 4

1/2 cup Sundried Tomatoes

1 Clove Garlic

1 Bunch of Basil

1 Tbsp Lemon juice (I always use real lemons)

1/4 cup olive oil

sea salt and fresh pepper to taste

In blender, combine first four ingredients.  With the blender running, slowly add the olive oil.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

This is DELICIOUS!!!!  This recipe is more like a pesto than a dressing but it works for SO many things.  I have used it as a salad dressing, as a pizza sauce, in pasta and mixed in cottage cheese.  It is simply amazing!!!

Here is another of my favorites-

Mustard Vinaigrette

serves 8

1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1 1/2 TBSP Grain mustard

2/3 Cup Cold Pressed Olive Oil

Sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Puree the vinegar and mustard in blender.  With the blender running, slowly pour in the olive oil.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  If you would like you can add 3/4 TBSP of Raw Honey to make it Honey Mustard Vinaigrette.  Both of these dressing run about 150 calories per serving.  A little goes a long way!

Both of these dressing keep up to a week in the refrigerator. 

Have you looked at the ingredients of your bottled salad dressing lately?  Salad dressings can take your salad from a healthy nutritious meal to a fat and calorie laden heart attack!  Be cautious of portion sizing. 

Your taste buds will thank you when you try these clean dressings!  **Both of these recipes were taken from jointhereboot.com website. 

With Love,

j

Potato Crust Pizza!

Clean Eating Potato-Crust Pizza!!   Now tell me that doesn't look YUMMMMYYYYYY!!!!!  Oh my gosh, this was the BEST pizza ever!  I recently went out to eat at a local pizza place.  I can't remember the last time I had eaten there and they have the BEST cheese rolls.  I'm sure they surpass my calorie count for three or four days but THEY ARE WORTH IT once in a while.  I should have however, stopped at the cheese rolls.  The pizza left little to be desired.  I have decided I am done eating take out pizza.  While I may not eat it often, I still can't remember the last time I actually enjoyed eating take out pizza.  


This recipe is from a Clean Eating email I received recently.  I did however, change the recipe slightly.  It called for eggplant which I had purchased but by the time I got to cook it, the eggplant was bad.  So I did what anyone would do, I used every other veggie in my fridge.  


Potato-Crust Pizza with roasted veggies


2 lbs white potatoes, scrubbed well
Whatever veggies you have on hand (or your choice of toppings)
8 ounces mozzarella cheese
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried oregano


Place veggies in oven at 475 degrees.  Brush veggies with olive oil and bake 20 minutes or until veggies are tender.  (There is something about roasting veggies that brings the best taste out of each vegetable.)  While veggies are cooking, fill a large mixing bowl halfway with cold water- grate potatoes, immediately placing potatoes in water to prevent browning.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly mist with olive oil spray.  Working with one handful at a time, squeeze excess water from potatoes and place on a clean kitchen towel or paper towel.  Roll up towel, bend and wring any remaining moisture from potatoes.  Spread potatoes on baking sheet, creating about 1/8 layer thick.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Once potato crust is baked, top with your choice of toppings- add mozzarella then rosemary and oregano.  bake for 20 more minutes, until golden brown. 


I had to force myself to stop eating after two slices.  This recipe didn't call for any sauce and to be honest, I didn't miss it.  I ended up using, red, yellow and green pepper, avocado, onion and tomatoes.  I will try this recipe again using sweet potatoes, basil pesto sauce and goat cheese instead of mozzarella.  


I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!


Blessings,
j

Update on juice fast....

I survived my 15 day juice fast.  Sorry it took me so long to get on here and share with you.  Sometimes life just gets in the way. 


All in all, I really enjoyed the juice fast.  I love how it made me feel.  I felt energized and empowered by taking control of my health.  I loved having all the new veggies to try.  As time went on, the juice started to taste better.  I started to crave it.  I haven't had a juice now since last Friday and I am craving it now.  I have decided to continue juicing and having one juice a day.


Juicing helps the body get the maximum nutrition with the least effort on the body.  The body gets to rest during an all juice fast.  Juicing helps to detox the body and rid it of heavy metals, caffeine and toxins that hang around inside of us.  We get mucho vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and lots of water!  (Did I mention I had to pee A LOT?!)  Juicing also helps the body to heal and resets the immune system.  It is recommended to do an all juice fast every 3 months, 6 months or at least yearly.


I was very lucky that did not experience any detox symptoms except for a slight headache on day 1.  I lost 7 pounds but have regained 1 since I started chewing my food again.  The things I missed most were my morning coffee and my home made popcorn.  I haven't had any popcorn yet.  I'm afraid my digestive system is not ready.  It is important not to start eating like crazy when finishing a juice fast.  You must reintroduce food slowly or you will have major stomach upset.  I really like how I felt during the plant based diet and never lost my energy like I thought I might.  I am a vegetarian and have often entertained the idea of becoming vegan.  This 15 day fast made me realize it is doable.  I've often wondered how I could "live" without cheese.  Cheese never entered my mind during this time.  


My new favorite veggie is Kale.  I always heard a lot about it and "meant" to try it....but it never happened til I used it during my fast.  My new favorite way to have Kale is Kale Chips.  If you  have never tried it, I am insisting that you do.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Wash and dry Kale. Pat dry or spin in salad spinner.  It is important that it is dry.  Cut the spine out of the Kale and cut leaves into bit size pieces.  I have a olive oil spritzer or you can put in bowl or gallon size bag.  Spritz kale pieces and toss so that all kale is covered.  Sprinkle with salt.  Bake for 10-15 minutes.  Watch them closely so they don't get burned.  I made two of these pans and ate them ALL!!!!!  Ditch the potato chips friends and try the Kale Chips!!!  Full  of nutrition and yummy goodness!!!!!

Cheers,

j

I survived!

I haven't chewed food for 5 days!  This is my breakfast today!  I get to chew again!!!  I did 5 days of juice and fruits and veggies and 5 days of only juice.  No FOOD!!  Now I am on to 5 days of food and juice again.

The juicing was hard over the weekend.  I have not been hungry at all!  It is the emotional hunger I talked about before.  I drank 5 juices each day with hot tea and coconut water.  I have not been doing the best with the coconut water so today I decided to add it in my juice!

Can you see what is wrong with this picture?  Look very closely at the top shelf.

Maybe this will help!  My daughter decided to make peanut butter balls yesterday.  Can you imagine not being able to eat anything for 5 days straight and walk in to fresh peanut butter balls?  Oh my will power was truly tested.  I did not however, eat one!!   I'm sure they will be gone by Friday, my last day of my reboot fast.  

A few other things I have learned while doing the fast-

• I have so far lost 7 pounds
• I am cold ALL the time!!!!!
• One might need to get a fix by smelling best friends breath after they drink coffee. 
• Garbage must be taken out DAILY!
• Fresh beets don't look very good but one must not judge another by their looks.
• Sometimes the best part of the juice is the bendy straw.
• Just because you are drinking the juice doesn't mean food doesn't get stuck in your teeth.  Check a mirror.
• The drinks have gotten better tasting and easier to drink since the first day.
• Krogers carries Fennel but they call it Anise.
• Mason jars are perfect for storing juices for the next day.
• When on day 5 of juices only, one might find Cheetos in daughters room.  It is amazing how much of your face you can stick in a Cheetos bag to get a BIG sniff.

My friend B and Tommy started the juice fast with me.  B got VERY sick on day 1.  She had to detox the diet coke from her system.  She decided she could not drink the juices and decided to just eat clean now that she was detoxed.  Tommy is not only doing the juice fast with me but decided to quit smoking.  I am proud to say he has made it 10 days juicing and smoke free.  He also went through detox last weekend, day 1, 2 and 3.  He had flu like symptoms and a little crankiness too!  He has lost about 10 pounds and looks so  much healthier!  He has been very hungry during the last 5 days.  He has been such a trooper though.  We sure to laugh a lot and BOTH of us had our head stuck in that Cheetos bag taking a huge sniff!!! 

We have made it this far.  The next five days will be a breeze.

In light and love,

j

Things I have learned during my juice fast.

Starting day 3 with only juice.  This is todays menu.  Starting to look all the same isn't it?  I can be pretty sure that I will be drinking red or green juice!  Yesterday was a good juice day.  I liked all of them.  I am not a huge fan of green lemonade but made it through.  I didn't find myself physically hungry but I started to get emotionally hungry.  Do you know the difference?  

• Physical hunger is hunger that happens below the neck.  Your belly growls and is ready for nourishment.
• Emotional hunger is hunger that happens above the neck.  (craving for certain foods)
• Physical hunger comes on gradually while Emotional hunger comes on suddenly.
• Emotional hunger leaves guilt in it's wake while physical hunger does not.

I bought some sweet and salty cliff bars for my daughter's tennis teams lunches.  I accidently bought one too many and it is sitting on my kitchen table.  It is full of peanutty goodness.  It looks like dreamy goodness!  I stare at it.  It stares at me.  I walk away and it calls my name.  Stupid cliff bar!  How did it know my name?!

I didn't eat it!  I didn't.  I am hoping my daughter took it to school today.  Have you ever thrown good food away just so you won't eat it.  Yeah, me too.

Just in case you are thinking of doing a juice fast, here are some things I learned so far.

• I have to go to the grocery store every two days.
• I only walk over to the produce section and then to the registers.  I never visit any other part of the store.
• Meijers has the best selection of the produce and fresh herbs that are not available anywhere else.
• Aldies has the cheapest produce available but they don't carry everything I need.
• I eat A LOT of spinach and kale.
• Fennel bulbs smell and taste like licorice.
• Coconut water is expensive and hard to find.  Mejer or Health food store.  
• The "Mean Green Juice" taste just like fresh cut grass.
• Pears do not last.  Juice them within a day of buying them.
• If it goes in one color- it might come out the same color.
• Who knew you could juice four cups of parsley.
• Hot tea does help my coffee craving.
• I LOVE coconut!  I heart it  on everything, in everything and around everything but I do NOT love coconut water.  It reminds me of snot.
• Best to cut the fruit or veggie to fit through the juicer rather than thinking "it will fit".
• A little ginger goes a loooooonnnnnnnnng way!!!!!!!!
• I don't drink nearly as much water as I normally do.
• I pee A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Better to keep the "pusher" in place because fruits and veggies do jump out and try to escape.
• Cleaning the juicer isn't hard but it is time consuming.
• My side by side fridge is not nearly big enough to store two days worth of produce.
• Produce that does not fit in fridge go in a cooler.
• My energy level has NOT fallen!!!!
• Celery wilts fast if not used.
• Regular carrots taste better than baby carrots.
• Juicing costs about 20 dollars a day.
• I feel empowered with all the fresh produce around.
• Who knew you could juice a sweet potato.
• My tummy feels flat!!  
• When rushing to pee, one must make sure toilet lid is all the way up.
• Kale does not like to be juiced.
• It is time consuming to make shop, clean,  cut, dice, juice everything.
• It is worth it.

I am headed into the weekend of only drinking juice.  I will be headed to Fort Wayne tomorrow.  Someone told me, "There are a lot of great restaurants in Fort Wayne!"  Yeah well, I won't be able to discover that.  It's ok though.  I can do this!

Have a beautiful, blessed, positive day friends!

Love j

On to day 2 of only juice

I did it.  I only drank juice for all my meals yesterday.  This was my day-  


Breakfast-  Purple power juice!  This was horrible because it contained too much ginger.  Note to self.  Less ginger in all juices.  
This included 6 cups red grapes, 1 apple, SMALL piece of ginger, 1/2 c blackberries.  




Mid Morning Juice- Green Lemonade. This wasn't horrible but not my favorite.  1 apple, 2 cups spinach, 2 cups Kale, half cucumber, 4 celery stalks, half lemon.


Lunch- ABCs- This was good.  2 pears, 2 apples, 2 beets, 2 carrots, 1 c cabbage, 6 handfuls of chard.


Afternoon drink- 16oz coconut water


Dinner- 16 oz coconut water and V28.  This was by far my favorite of the day.  3 beets, 2 carrots, 2 celery, 4 plum tomatoes, 4 c parsley, 1 jalapeno, 12 red radishes.  




I did not feel hungry at all but....I had to make 20 sack lunches for my daughters tennis team.  I made 20 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and let me tell you, it was not easy NOT to lick the peanut butter off the knife!!!  Then the fed ex man brought me some coffee that I had ordered.  Coconut Island coffee.  I stared and stared at that coffee....I thought maybe I will just make it so I can smell it.  I was obsessed with it and had to get it out of my vision.  I didn't drink any!!


My energy level has not plummeted either!!  Yay!!!


On to day two.


Blessings,
j