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. 

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.

Rora's Weekly Update

What up, my peeps? It's been a week. Well...a little over a week...but still. It's roughly a week. So, here's my update:

Monday 3/25:
41 Pull-ups
50 Calf Raises

Tuesday 3/26:
42 Pull-ups
1/2 Mile Walk

Wednesday 3/27:
43 Pull-ups
100 Calf Raises
25 30" Box Jumps

Thursday 3/28:
Rest Day

Friday 3/29:
44 Pull-ups
50 Calf Raises
1 1/2 Mile Run

Saturday 3/30:
45 Pull-ups
1 1/2 Mile Run

Sunday 3/31:
Rest Day



Normally, my rest days are Saturday and Sunday. HOWEVER, I woke up Thursday with a really bad muscle cramp in my neck. I'm talking like, I couldn't turn my head to either side. And when I had my dad(who is a Chiropractor..) adjust me, I couldn't lift myself off the table. I had to slide down... SO, I didn't feel like I could do pull-ups, and I took Thursday off.

Now, you may've noticed that Pull-ups are the ONLY thing that I did consistently, and that it moved up in number each day. Usually, I will run every day as well. BUT my dog recently got neutered, and since he is my running buddy, we didn't start running again until Friday. Also, my dad and are doing a 100-day Pull-up Challenge. We started sometime in January, and we basically add an extra Pull-up every day. So...that's where that comes from.

That's basically all I can think of for ya'll...so, peace out.

No Poo to you too!

I'm here to preach.

Just kidding. Sort of.

Most women have one small thing that they have control over, that they obsess with. I mean things like, the well being of your toenails, or they take pride in their tan, or their eyes. You get the picture. Me? It's my hair. My hair is my baby, and I take care of it better than anything else.

There are a lot of things I've done to take care of my hair over the past few years. My hair is(was) really damaged, because I went through this crazy hair dyeing phase a few years ago where I dyed the bottom layer of my hair cherry red. It was really cool, and I'd still be doing it if I wasn't 18. Oh, and if it hadn't completely destroyed my hair. ;) This required bleaching it often, and then depositing a highly pigmented dye onto my hair every few weeks. I didn't do it as often as I was supposed to, because I was concerned for my poor hair...when I stopped dyeing my hair, I went it to defensive mode with my hair, trying to repair the damage. I'm proud to report that my hair is pretty dang healthy now. That's due to a LOT of things that I do for my hair, but I'm gonna talk about only one of these things. One fairly new thing.

No Poo.

If you frequent the Beauty and Health boards on Pinterest, you probably know to what I'm referring. to clarify, it's no SHAMpoo.

The main reason I tried it is just because I wanted to try it. I'd heard a LOT of good reviews, and I thought, why not?

Here's MY results, take them for what you wish:

-My hair is considerably less frizzy/dry.

-My hair doesn't get as oily as quickly.

-My hair feels AMAZING.

-My hair doesn't get a post-shampoo funky smell.


Okay, dissection time. Pretend you're in highschool biology for a minute...

-My hair is considerably less frizzy/dry. Let me give you two thousand words or so on this.

I'm using this first picture as a "before" picture. This is the best representation of my frizzy hair. It wasn't always this frizzy, depending on the month, but this is a general idea of how frizzy my hair usually was. My older sister likes to call me Hermione, for this exact reason. My hair gets big. The biggest problem is cuz I like to let my hair air dry.

Noooow for my after pictures. *drumroll* This one is one I took on Saturday. Please notice how, not only is it significantly less frizzy, but my curls are a lot nicer.

And dis one I took like, 5 minutes ago, just for you. Funny lighting, my hair looks a different color. Forgive meh.

The basic idea is that my hair is a LOT nicer. I've been doing No Poo for about a month, and it's the only thing I've changed in my hair care, because I wanted to properly gauge it's effect. I'm still using the same hair toner, I take the same amount of Biotin, and I still use the same amount of heat on my hair. NOTHING else has changed. My hair has just decided to de-frizz.


-My hair doesn't get as oily as quickly. You'd think this contradicts the last one, since my hair isn't as dry anymore. The magic in No Poo is that it doesn't strip your natural oils, so they don't reproduce as quickly, therefore leaving you with less oily hair. My second day hair doesn't required ANY dry shampoo any more. Not even my bangs.


-My hair feels AMAZING. You'd have to come to New Mexico to attest to this one. Just take my word for it. It feels super soft. Even my ends, which are generally the driest part of my hair.


-My hair doesn't get a post-shampoo funky smell. I don't know if anyone else gets this smell. Maybe it depends on the shampoo, or the person. But occasionally, by the end of the day(rarely) or on second day hair, my hair would smell...funky. Like, not like it would STINK, but if you smelled it, it wouldn't be pleasant. I wouldn't let people touch my hair unless I'd washed it like, 10 minutes prior. Usually. My second day hair doesn't even smell. At all.


The only downfall I see to this, is that my hair doesn't have any nice fragrances from the shampoo, like strawberries or cucumber or Koala food. BUT I've heard you can put a few drops of essential oil on your hair brush, which will make your hair smell nice. Never tried this, but YOU could.

Last thing, my friends. My older sister is a cosmetologist and worked at a high end salon for two years before college. I called her to verify the idea behind No Poo, just to make sure it wouldn't be damaging at all. And she said that not only was it not harmful, that the science behind it made perfect sense and that it would be GOOD for my hair.

I was sold.

http://coderedhat.com/no-poo-method/

That's the article I learned from.

It's simple. You shampoo with baking soda and water, and then condition with vinegar and water.

It's amazing. You can thank me later.

Ready to kick some MAJOR Booty

There are a lot of things in this world that are outside of your influence. I am a strong believer that you should grasp those things that you DO have control over and control the crap out of them.

My name is Aurora, and I'm not happy with my body.

I'm not fat, by any terms. I'm often told that I'm thin. I'm aware of this. But I'm not concerned with how the WORLD sees me, I'm concerned with how ME sees me.

I want to look in the mirror and be PROUD, not just satisfied, with my appearance. I don't want to be afraid of wearing a dress or swimsuit. I'm 18 and I have cellulite, and I am not okay with that.

I know that if I don't take care of my body NOW, I won't be taking care of it later in my life.

My biggest obstacle is food. I. Love. Food. My idea of a good breakfast is a stack of pancakes with bacon. I mean, I LOVE food, okay? And I don't believe in diets. Diets leave you wishing for more and feeling like you can't eat happily. And most of them don't even work. I eat pretty healthy, considering most of the world. I eat gluten free, and mostly dairy free. I also eat a LOT, even though it isn't exactly unhealthy. What I'll be focusing on it exercise. My problem is my lack of exercise. I've never been in any sort of sport. I've never been a runner, and I can never make myself go to the gym consistently. I want to change that. I want to like exercise. Once you get to that point, you won't LET yourself get into a fat shlump.

Now, goals. I'm big on goals. Thanks to Elle and this blog, I'll be somewhat accountable to my goals, and hopefully I won't fall short.

Goal 1: I want nice abs. I don't mean just flat, I mean NICE. My sister is getting married in about 3 months, and the dress she picked for me is tight around my abdomen, which means that the whole world will be able to see my little belly pooch. Not the whole world, but you get the point.

I have fat ankles. It's genetic, everyone in my family does. as a result of this, my legs kinda blend into my feet, like they don't stop.Which leads me to Goal 2: I want ankles. I want to distinguish my ankles from my feet and legs. This requires some major calf work.

Goal 3: I want to be fit enough to win the Williamsburger. My school has a race of sorts every semester. I've always been afraid to do it. I am not only going to do it this semester, but I'm going to win. I have just over a month until the race. It consists of over a mile run, a swim(I wouldn't be able to tell you how far...), a rock climb, and an ascension up a rope. And I am gonna kick butt.

I am by far the largest of the three of us. But that's okay with me, because that's still not very big.

I'll be posting my workouts weekly. So you'll hear from me next Monday, probably.

Here is my before picture. It ain't great, and my legs look funny. That's cuz they are. There are funny lines on mah belly, that's cuz I was sitting down right before I took this.

The end.

"stop writing on yourself!" they say...

I have nothing to say to you, except that my purse looks awkward, and ignore the writing on my legs. I got bored.

Yellow skirt: Target
White top: Stolen from sister
Denim jacket: Stolen from sister
Belt: Aeropostale

PANTS!

So, these are all old. Duh. I'm playing catch up, but when am I not?

This is from the first day of seminary, hence the incredibly tired look on my face.

Blue tie dye pants: Wetseal(with Helen, incidentally)
Lace top: Forever 21, stolen from sister
Earrings: Walmart

This is a non-creative title

 I super love this shirt. No, I don't care that it's not mine.

I have nothing else to say to you.

Blue top: Wetseal(stolen from Rachel)
Pink tank top: Target
Feather earrings: Walmart
shorts: Kohls

Catch

 This ain't the most flattering outfit of me. Whatever. I like it.

(Yup. I'm caught up. As of...now)

Effing. Love. These. Shoes.

Grey Cardy: Kohls
Butterfly t-shirt: Stolen from sister
Black tank top: Target
Pink maxi skirt: Target
Belt: stolen from sister
Heels: Platos Closet

Flashback

 These are actually really old...from June...but hey.

White top: Stolen from Sister
Blue striped cardy: Kohls
Purple pants: Target
Black Van knock offs: Target
Necklace: Gift

Remember when I said "only on Sundays..."?

 Yeah, I mostly only make an effort on Sundays. Sorry. You'll have to just deal with it.

Pink tank top: Target
Green Cardy: Ross
Skirt: Stolen from Sister
Belt: Stolen from Sister
Shoes(Not pictured heh heh): Ross

Lipstick? The bomb.

 There are a few things that I hate: Packing, unpacking, and doing laundry.
Well, I also hate other things, like coconut, nutella knock-offs, and tattletales. BUT that's not the point.

The reason I tell you these things that I hate is simply because my room is a mess. AND that is because about a month ago, I went camping. I freaking can't believe it's been a month..but anyway. I never fully unpacked. AND there are baskets of clean laundry cuz I refuse to fold it.
Hence, the mess I call my bedroom.

You either want my lips, or want to kiss them. I understand.

They're sexy. ;)

I hate feet. Pictures of my feet are no exception. However, these pictures were so awesome that I consented to this picture. That's how awesome these shoes are.

Black tank top: Target
Green dress: Stolen from sister
Freakin awesome shoes: Platos closet

A la bum

 Ohhh my gosh. That's right! I'm not in church clothes in this one!!

Red and white striped tee: Hand-me-down
Sweats: aeropostale

You want my shoes. I know.

 Another Sunday outfit! Woot...
My room is still a mess. Please excuse that.

White top: Stolen from sister
Black shrug: Ross
Skirt: Handmade. WHAT NOW?!
Shoes: Platos Closet
Flower necklace: Gift from a friend, also handmade
Snake skin belt: Stolen from sister
Owl earrings: Gift from friend, Forever 21

Sometimes I look nice

 This is very much a few weeks late. But I've been finding that I only have the energy to look cute on Sundays, when church is in order. Soo...yup. This would be sundays outfit a few weeks ago. I'll get to the other eventually. Bear with me.

White top: Hand-me-down
Pink tank top: Target
Snake skin belt: Stolen from Sister
Polka dot skirt: Stolen from sister
Silver heels: (not picture) Platos Closet