Journey through juicing

Most peoples posts about their "juice cleanses" and such, and they all go somewhere along the lines of "I just feel sluggish" "I want more energy" "I feel depleted" "I don't even care about the weight loss".

While I do feel sluggish, depleted, and in want of more energy, the primary reason for this cleanse is weight loss. I won't lie. Swimsuit season is coming, and I plan on spending a bit of time at the beach. And at the moment, the last thing I wanna put on is a swimsuit(Thank you, Thunder Thighs!).

My mother started juicing again a few weeks ago. She had about a cup of juice(like, 1 measuring cup) with her breakfast each morning for about a week. That's it. And she lost 3 pounds. 

I know that's not a lot, but a cup of juice isn't very much. You want more drastic results? You need more drastic actions. 

I decided to ease myself into a juice cleanse. Replace breakfast a few days, then replace a second meal, and then get up to where I'm just juicing for 3 days. 

Here we go...

Day 1: 

A full glass of juice. This was plenty enough to fill me up. I drank it at about 8:00 am, and I wasn't hungry until about noon. The taste wasn't phenomenal by any means, I was pretty sick of it by the end of the glass. I think it was the chard. 

Recipe: 

1 cucumber 

1 red pepper

2 leaves of green chard

Day 2: 

For some reason, my veggies must have been less juicy today, because it made significantly less(to be fair, my mama made me save a cup for her). I drank it at about 7:30, and wasn't feeling hungry until about noon. Right after finishing it, I took my preworkout and I was in the gym shortly after 8. That's a lot of liquids slushing around. I took it slow at first, though, and it was fine. 

Recipe: 

1 cucumber 

1 red pepper 

1 small head of fresh broccoli 

3 carrots 

Day 2(juice 2):

This one tastes very "green". My mama wasn't a huge fan. 

1 head of celery

1 cucumber

1/2 green pepper 

2 kiwis 

2 handfuls of spinach. 

I drank this along with a small plate of salad(with a vinegar/olive oil dressing) and I didn't eat again until my very solid dinner that night. 

Day 3: 

This one was incredibly bitter. I drank my mom's portion as well, because I didn't want to force her to drink it. 

1 head of celery 

1/2 cucumber 

2 kiwis 

1/4 apple 

I drank this juice for lunch, rather than for breakfast. 

Day 4: 

In an attempt to steer away from the last two juices that were very bitter, and also upon my mothers request, I made this one mainly with carrots. It was sweet and delicious and I was kinda sad when I reached the end of the glass. 

This was breakfast, along with a quarter of a gluten free waffle.. 

1 head of celery 

1 red pepper

3 carrots 

1/4 apple 

Day 4(juice 2):

1/2 cucumber

1 red pepper 

1 apple 

This one was my lunch. I are breakfast so late that by the time my family was eating lunch, I was still stuffed. So I had lunch a few hours after them, with this juice. It wasn't bad, but definitely a little more sweet than I had wanted. 

Day 5:

This was probably one of the best ones I've had so far. I drank myself beyond full on this one cuz I liked it so much. 

1 head of celery 

3 carrots 

5+ handfuls of spinach 

Spinach is kinda a struggle to juice. You just have to patiently feed it into the juicer. You don't get a ton of juice from it, so you have to use a substantial amount. 

And thus ended my juice cleanse. I had planned on making one last one the next day, but I ended up not having enough time.

So, I ended up not doing any complete days of juicing, although that was my original plan. None the less, simply drinking 1-2 juices a day, I lost 5 pounds. Which was crazy. And, I did have more energy, had that "glow", yaddiya, all the stuff everyone else claims.

I think I would've had a different experience if I was doing a strict juice cleanse, and the results probably would've been more drastic. However, I was also eating relatively clean throughout this cleanse.

Let me know if you have any questions :)

Blackened salmon

Growing up, my parents cooked all fish the same way: with orange juice concentrate, until it was rubbery.

So I always thought I hated fish. 

A few months ago, back when I worked at the Market Street Grill, I had some of their blackened salmon one night, in an attempt to be gluten free. I figured I would soldier through the nasty fish. Plus, that served it with snap peas, so at least I could enjoy that. 

And it was so good. 

Turns out, fish tastes really great cooked(I'm a big fan of sushi), and my parents were just murdering it every time they made it when I was growing up. 

So when my mom bought a big salmon fillet earlier this week, I begged her to let me cook it, because I hated to see that beautiful fish go to waste. 

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder 

1 tablespoon oregano 

1 teaspoon sea salt 

1/2 teaspoon black pepper 

Dash of cayenne(to taste)

1 salmon fillet 

4(ish) cups of snap peas 

2 tablespoons of butter 

I scaled my fillet, and then patted it down with a paper towel, to soak up some of the extra moisture. You don't want it to be entirely dry, but you wanna draw some of the moisture out. 

Put a cast iron skillet on medium heat and warm up a few tablespoons of oil(I use coconut). 

Mix up the spices, and then gently rub into either side of the fish. 

When the pan is hot, plop the fish into the pan, and then DON'T TOUCH IT. Seriously. Leave it until it's cooked about 2/3 of the way up the fish, and then flip it, cooking the second side. 

While that's cooking, heat up 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet. Once it's melted, add about 4 cups of snap peas(I just eyeballed it, I'm not sure how many cups it was...).  The peas are done cooking when they're tender, but not soggy. 

My little brother, who is an INCREDIBLY picky eater, sheepishly asked for seconds. I gave my mom my recipe so (hopefully) no one ever has to eat the rubbery orange fish ever again. 

I apologize for the crappy pictures. It was a spur of the moment meal, so I didn't have time to grab my camera(I thought I was cooking tomorrow night...) so these were all from my iPhone. 

Happy cooking! 

Pre-workout

I follow this girl on Instagram that recently decided to take control of her fitness, and she's always posting things about her journey. So, a few months ago, she posts a picture of C4(which is a brand of pre-workout) and it piqued my interest. 

I started seeing posts and ads for pre-workout everywhere. I have a good friend who I consider to be my fitness guru, so I came to him with my questions. 

His view on pre-workout was as such: caffeine isn't necessarily bad for your body(this is a contriversial topic...depends on who you ask...), it's low calorie, and generally sugar free/low sugar. It gives you a boost of energy, and he said that, on days that he was lacking motivation, he would take a few scoops. 

I've been looking around for some to try, and I recently found myself in the vitamin shoppe, and I grabbed some that was on sale. 

I have to say, it did not disappoint. 

I took two scoops about 20 minutes before my workout. I felt energized the whole time, my endurance was higher than normal, and I was more motivated/willing to workout harder than I normally would. 

Here's the problem. 

I did my workout that first day at about 7 pm. So, taking caffeine a few hours before I was planning on going to bed? Yeesh. Not a good plan. I tossed and turned all night, so confused as to why I was still awake. I was tired, but my brain wouldn't shut off. At about 12:30 am, I realized what the problem was, and I took 5 mg of melatonin so I could sleep. It kicked in after about half an hour and I was asleep by 1:30 am. 

It made my morning kinda rough, but I stuck through it. I took my pre-workout about 20 minutes prior to my warm-up run. This time, I was working out in the morning though. But, just to be safe, i only took 1 1/2 scoops. I still had the energy I wanted, but it wore off quicker. So by the time I went to bed that night, the caffeine had worn off, and I was able to sleep normally, without needing melatonin. 

So. My verdict on pre-workout? Yes. As long as you're smart about when to take it, you'll be golden. Highly recommend it, just use it wisely. 

You Are Beautiful

A few years ago I attended a seminar called “Time Out for Women”. This seminar had an hour set aside for a new seminar they were testing out called “Time Out for Girls”. As the name suggests, this session was for the younger generation.

What I want to share with you is one of the many things we talked about; Body image, self-esteem, and positive reinforcement.
The lady teaching gave us a challenge. Every day when you wake up in the morning head down to the bathroom mirror, look yourself in the eye, smile, and tell yourself that you are a beautiful daughter of God. She told us to do it every day, but not to let the meaning of what we were doing slide from our mind.

We went on to talk about how words are powerful and how you talk to yourself is extremely important. Not just out loud, but in your head, because that’s where most negative thoughts reside. Can you say “I’m ugly” in your head while also saying “I am beautiful”? Go on, try it. I’ll wait.

You can’t! It’s impossible!

So when you are getting down on yourself and feel terrible; stop, take a look in the mirror, and think again. I am beautiful. Say it. Say it as often as possible. It’s not vain, it’s confident. You are beautiful. Do not let anyone say otherwise. That includes you.

Embrace your beauty instead of trying to fit into the mold of someone else. After all, there's only one you, and the world would be lost without you. Trust me. 

~La vie est belle, Bri~

Bacon, anyone?

If you pack your breakfast full of sugar, your whole day is gonna go downhill. I promise. 

Protein for breakfast? Now we're talkin. 

If I'm going to punish myself with scrambled eggs(sorry, not sorry), I'm gonna do them right. 

Ingredients: 

3 eggs 

1/2 red bell pepper

2 strips of nitrite free bacon 

Olive oil(if needed) 

Salt and pepper to taste 

Dice the bacon. My pops home cures his bacon, so it's actually healthy. Best of both worlds. Just make sure there's no nitrite. 

Dice up the pepper, and then cook that and the bacon in a hot pan. 

While it cooks, mix up your eggs. Once the bacon is almost done, add the eggs. 

I usually top mine with Hatch Green Chile, which adds an extra 3 calories, I believe? 

Ta da. The end.

Caloric content: 343 calories. 

That may sound like a bit, but really, it's way less than you'd get eating pancakes, and the protein from the eggs and bacon will keep you going way longer. :) 

Roasted Asparagus and Chicken

Okay. This sounds like the most boring food alive. It probably is.

I used to hate asparagus. Until about two months ago, when I went to sprouts and saw that Asparagus was crazy on sale and I figured I could do something to it to make it taste good.

I fed this to my roommate's fiancée and he asked me to teach her how to cook. So, I'm guessing that's a victory.

Roasted Asparagus and Chicken

So. Cook that Chicken up however you like. Sometimes I stick this on a cookie sheet with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and onions, and bake it at 350. Or sometimes I pull out a skillet and do it that way.

In all honesty, my favorite part of this meal is the asparagus.

1 bunch of Asparagus
Olive Oil
2 cloves of garlic
Salt
Pepper
Balsamic Vinegar

Preheat the oven to 400. Snap the ends off the asparagus and lay it out on a baking sheet. Drizzle it with the olive oil, and then season with salt and pepper.

Mince the garlic, and then sprinkle that on top of the asparagus.

Drizzle the vinegar overtop(Usually about 3 Tbs.). Bake until tender and a bit crispy on the tip, about 7 minutes. 

Serves: 1

Calories: chicken- about 55. Asparagus-about 30. 

Bring me back for round two

I have been highly hesitant to actually write this post, seeing as the last time we all did fitness goals, they didn't last all that long (minus Bri) and this blog just kinda...failed...

About two weeks ago, Bri sent a group text to Elle and myself, asking for some fitness ideas. We spent a good hour or so exchanging ideas, before we decided that we would try out the whole "keeping each other accountable" thing again. This time, we've texted each other at the end of the day with a report of everything we ate, and all the exercise we did.

I honestly can't tell you how nice it is to feel accountable to someone. There are some days where I'm ashamed to text Bri and tell her what I ate and how little I worked out. But there are other days that I just feel like a proud mama bird, with all of my accomplishments of the day, paying off.

Living on my own, I have a lot of control over what I eat. However, I also get tempted easily to just eat junk. I work a lot, so fast food is such an easy option. Way too easy.

Another reason keeping myself accountable to Bri is that it keeps me from indulging in my old ways.

For the past 9 months or so, I have struggled with anorexia. Every time I (think I) beat it, I relapse. It has been a real struggle. And one question that would be posed is, "well...if you're anorexic...how come you're not skinnier?" which is a totally valid question. The problem arises when I don't eat for a day or so, and then I binge eat. It's so easy to feel justified in eating a ton of junk when you haven't eaten for 24+ hours. But then you feel bad all over again and it starts over. It's a vicious cycle.

When you're putting your body into starvation mode every day, your body stores fat more easily. So, you may lose a few pounds if you don't eat for a day or so, but then as soon as you eat, you'll gain that back, because your body doesn't know when it will get a chance to eat again.

So. As I do my very best to beat this, it is so nice to be accountable to someone. I feel guilty every time I update Bri on the daily eatings and I leave out a meal or two.

The easiest way that I have found to beat this, is to count calories. Normally, I would be against this. But it's so nice to see a visual representation, so I can see when I'm feeding my body well enough, and so I can see how good I'm being and how far I've come from where I was 9 months ago.

And so, (on good days) I will be posting recipes, per Bri's request, complete with caloric content.

And trust me. I'm a poor college student. All the recipes will be way easy and way affordable.

Challenge Yourself

Am I the only one who's terrified and extremely intimidated by the thought of going to the gym to work out? I have no idea how to use the equipment they have! Can't I just stay home and workout in private where I can't be made fun of by avid gym goers who think (and are right) that I have no idea what I'm doing?

Okay, that's not the point of this post. Yes, I am terrified of the gym, but I will face that fear when I get off the road in July to go to college. Meanwhile, I promised a new fitness challenge, so here goes.

I surfed Pinterest for some workout plans and then YouTubed  researched some of the exercises that I didn't recognize for proper form. 

I am doing an "at home" workout that requires no equipment or optional weights/something heavy for the russian twists and squats. I'll be doing these workouts every day around 4pm to create consistency, taking pictures of my progress every Thursday. At the end of a month I'll post the side by side pictures to see the improvement, and then switch up the exercises and add more in to challenge myself and continue making progress. Baby steps, right?

Here are the two workouts I plan on alternating throughout the week. The "Extreme Body Weight" workout almost killed me, can't believe I've gotten so out of shape! Of course, it's not a workout I am used to, so maybe after a couple more times I'll be able to do every rep (I had to take some stuff down a bit). The early morning workout is meant to be a sort of rest day without resting, it's easier but not slacking. You feel me?

Yoga anybody? People say yoga improves your strength, mental health, agility, flexibility, over all well being, endurance, focus, etc. Seems like something I should look into, right? I found a simple yoga sequence I felt would help with my hamstring flexibility and hopefully reap some other benefits, and will do it every other day. I'm no expert when it comes to yoga, any tips would be greatly appreciated! Maybe we can entreat a post from Aurora about it?

This challenge is about getting in shape and challenging myself.

Wish me luck!


***Important Update***
Due to a knee injury resurfacing, I had to stop seriously exercising, but I will be starting up again and posting my progress soon!

~La vie est belle, Bri~

Fitness Update

Hey all!

It’s time for some real commitment fitness posting. We all posted our goals awhile back, and for the most part I did a lot of “working out” in the form of several different dance classes that incorporated various forms of exercise. Here’s a rundown of what I would do in a week:

Monday
Intermediate/Advanced ballet for an hour and a half. 

This class works as an all-over body workout focused mainly on core, butt, and legs, but also works your back, shoulders, and arms in a less extreme way. The class included a combination of cardio and strength exercises in the form of barre and center work.
Barre consisted of plies, tendues/degages, ronde jambs, fondu/developes, frappe, and turns designed to warm up, strengthen, and stretch calf, thigh, ankle, feet and core muscles. Center work is comprised of petit and grand allegro made up of turns, leaps, jumps, tendue, and adagio.

Tuesday
Intermediate ballet/pointe for an hour and a half

This class is the same as Monday’s class excepting less strenuous forms of barre and center work. It also included pointe work in the last ten minutes of class where we did small variations of the barre and center work en pointe, adding extra stress to ankle, legs, and core.

Modern for an hour 

Modern begins with an exercise to warm up the feet; a combination of popping your heel, plies, tendues/degages, and small developes and envelopes (de-vell-up-ays and en-vell-up-ays) facing forward, feet in parallel and then turned out. After that we move to a series of plies in first-fifth ballet positions, facing a different direction with every new position. Following these exercises we’ll do a variation of turns, rolls, and other modern movements and then learn our dance.

Wednesday
 Rest day 

Thursday
Jazz for an hour 

Warming up we would jog, skip, or chasse for a minute, high knees for thirty seconds, kick butts for thirty seconds, and jumping jacks for thirty seconds and repeat it three times. Then we would move into a series of stretches, followed by a differing arm or leg work out that we would change every couple of weeks and often a series of squats. Sometimes we would finish this off with butt/hip isolations and a coordination exercise.
After the workout we did complicated combinations of turns, leaps, kicks, and whatever else she decided to throw at us that day, and then our dance.

Lyrical for an hour 
Intense cardio, arm, and leg work out that we started with various forms of crunches, pull backs, and “c-tuck” hovers. We would go on to do kicks, plies, and stretches, and finished with inner thigh leg press exercises, lying toe touches, butt exercise, plank into push-ups, and lower back strengthening/stretching. After the initial work out we would do combinations of turns and leaps and then our dance.

 Friday
Ballroom for two or three hours, depending on the week. 

This depended entirely on the willingness of the participants to focus that day on whether or not we accomplished much dancing. I’d usually end up doing several intense swing dances and waltzing before I left though.

Saturday and Sunday are designated rest days cuz I usually didn’t end up doing anything those days towards actual “working out”.

I feel like that took more effort mentally to write up than it did to actually do it. Anyway, I had pretty dang good abs, firm thighs, butt, and arms from doing those exercises consistently. Stay tuned for a post about my fitness challenge I've come up with that will list specific exercises with reps and everything listed!

~La vie est belle, Bri~

Beauty on the Go

Hey ya'll.

I'm in Texas right now, so that's a fitting greeting, right? Right. Basically, I'm traveling in a van towing a trailer across the United States for over six months. We hop from place to place every two weeks, often driving several hours a day a couple days a week to get to our next destination.

Up sides: I am traveling the U.S. and making new friends and seeing what there is to see.
Down sides: If I'm not careful I go around looking like a hobo.

With my short curly hair and pale as snow skin I've had crazy trouble looking presentable while on this trip. My hair seems prone to oiling up super fast no matter when I've washed it. It drives me nuts! As if that's not annoying enough, my skin does the same thing. It feels a little like they're conspiring against me.

So here's a couple tips for beauty on the go.

1) Invest in a spider clip, bobby pins, and simple beauty techniques
No matter long or short hair, bobby pins and a spider clip work wonders. Pull it up all messy like into the clip and pin down some fly aways and you've got yourself an instant classy laid back look. Learn some braiding and twisting techniques as well, it'll add dimension and intrigue to an otherwise drab look. If all else fails, slick it back into a tight ballerina bun or French twist. Chic and easy.

2) When you have the chance to shower, DO IT. 
Do not say no to a shower. When you have the chance, take it. 

3) Get some baby wipes
Use these to wash your face. Baby wipes are designed to be gentle on your skin, so these shouldn't make you break out and they'll help make it harder for dirt and oil to build up in your pores and create mass breakouts.

4) Take advantage of rest stops 
As unsavory as it sounds, go into that gas station bathroom and rinse your face with some real water. Make sure they have paper towels to dry your face off before you do otherwise that could end up really awkward. Also, bring a small bottle of mouth wash in with you. It'll make you feel so much better about the stinky snacks you're eating while on the road.

5) Wear comfy clothes on the drive. 
I have a pair of yoga sweats, leggings, and jeans that I love. You're going to be cramped in a small space for a large period of time, and you might be tired. You don't want tight material pinching your legs uncomfortably or bunching funny when you try to maneuver your way into a semi comfortable position to catch a nap. Wear a t-shirt you feel good in even after it's stretched a bit, and grab a jacket to throw on top or a scarf to make it an outfit when you stop to get out and stretch. Play around with what you have. Don't forget a pair of comfy shoes. I suggest a pair of easy slip on shoes. Seriously, take them off while in the car and then easily slip them right back on when you have to get out.

6) Get a good brand of dry shampoo that works for you. 
Dry shampoo absorbs oil and gives your roots a blast of volume. You can put it in the night before or let it sit in your hair for ten minutes the next morning, whatever works best for you.

7) Minimal make up 
I go without make up most traveling days. With how much I touch my face, or press my face against the window/pillow/seat, it rubs into my pores and causes nasty breakouts. If I want to look more than a ghost of myself I'll splash on some blush and a little brown eye shadow as eyeliner. Other than that, I go bare faced. If you're in a sunny area, spend some time tanning your face. It'll help bring out rosy tones in your skin and give you a more healthy glowing look.

8) Wash and moisturize your face 
Always wash your face at the end of the day. If you don't have running water, use a water bottle to wet a rag or something. GET IT DONE. You'll thank me later. Then, use a moisturizer of your choice.  Hydrate that skin.

9) Drink as much water as your bladder will allow 
Don't dehydrate yourself while you're on a road trip. It's worth the extra bathroom breaks to keep yourself hydrated. It's good for your skin, it's good for your body, and you'll feel good. Okay? Okay.

10) Exercise a little. 
Did you know exercise can actually help even out your skin tone? If that's not enough of an incentive, remember that sitting in the car all day hurts your back and can leave you feeling a little pudgy by the end of the trip. Avoid the worst of it! You might feel stupid, but when you're out of the car do some jumping jacks. Do some sit ups. Get out your wiggles. Stretch. Exercise!

11) Prepare to not care 
No matter what you do, you'll probably end up a little bedraggled. That's okay, own it! Look confident and nobody will question you (too much). Think of it this way: They're going about their average lives and you're on vacation. HA!

~La vie est belle, Bri~