My Juice Fast: Day Eleven

Woke up on Day 11 and it was raining....ok, not just raining, it was pouring outside and I felt super tired so instead of working out in the garage, I laid back down and slept in an extra hour.  My body definitely needed a little extra rest. Got up around 5am and headed to work for the day.

Here's what I wore:

Oversized Hipp Tank- $2 at Rue 21
White Tanktop- (underneath) $2 at Rue 21
Maroonish/purple Cardigan- 50cents at Thrift World
Navy Blue Skinnies- Gifted from TJ Maxx
Nude Flats- $12 from NY&Company
Long Chain Necklace- $1.99 at Cato
Bracelets- The gold one came in a set for $5 and the silver one was about $3 both from Charming Charlie
Gold Earrings- Came in a set of 4, 6 sets for $5 at Miz Outlet

At work I was thinking about food and how in just 11 short days my fridge is filled with such different things than it was before....and how I don't want to go back to the old way of eating too much processed food and driving through the drive-through several times a week.  Nope, I LOVE having so many fruits and veggies in my fridge....makes me really proud of myself and what I'm doing for my health.  

I've also now got a solid plan of how I am going to eat for the first few weeks post-cleanse and I think it will work great.  I still plan to juice every day and slowly work back up to eating 2 meals a day and juicing for breakfast.  I can't wait to share my meal plan with y'all soon, plus I've found TONS of great vegan & vegetarian food resources online.  Now, I don't know if I'll go full out vegetarian, but since only having fruits & veggies, I have never felt better so we'll just see how it goes. 

I stayed on track with my all my juices and even tried a new flavor of coconut water yesterday....wasn't as good as the lemonade flavor, but it was pretty good! I like the Naked brand, because it's inexpensive and fewer calories.  Win, win!  

Have you considered adding juicing into your daily routine or doing a juice cleanse/reboot?  Why or why not?  Share in the comments below :-)

My Juice Fast: Day Ten

Well, I've made it to the double digits and have now DOUBLED what I originally planned to do on my very FIRST reboot/juice cleanse.  I planned to do just 5 days to see how it goes, but I was so encouraged that I just kept going.  I can already tell that even after the cleanse is over juicing will be a part of my normal routine.  I'm thinking juicing for breakfast every day and maybe for one of my snacks sometimes too.  It's just sooo yummy and I haven't felt this good in a long time!!  

If you haven't checked it out yet, be sure to go watch the documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead so you can see what inspired me to get started on this little journey in the first place.  Now let's get on to the review of Day Ten:

As usual, I started my day with a workout....still doing Hip Hop Abs, but I only have about a week and 1/2 left till I'm done with ANOTHER Beachbody Program.  If you saw my Goals Post from a while back, then you'd know one of my big goals was to finish all the Beachbody programs I own and I am making great strides toward that...Yay!!

Plus, having cute workout clothes always helps!!  I got both the Thug Life tank for $5 at the cute sports bra for just $3 at Rue 21 over the holiday weekend.  Soooo many good sales y'all!  And my sweet hubby took me on a fun shopping spree.  

After my workout, I got ready for workout and headed out the door.  Here's what I wore to work yesterday:

Floral Top- $6.50 at Rue 21
Black Tanktop- (underneath) gifted from Jessica Ericksen
Black Skinny Pants- $9 from Sears
Black Sandals- $12 at WalMart
Earrings- Came in a set for about $4 at Charming Charlie
Bracelets- Charming Charlie & Cato

Those pants were so loose around the waist that my fitted tank top I wore under the floral top was helping to hold them up. hahaha #JuiceCleanseProblems

I stayed on track with my juices as used up some of the beets that are NOT my fav, but hey....I wasn't gonna let any veggies go to waste!!  I probably won't be using them in my juices post-cleanse....just not a taste I prefer, although they are good for yah.

Overall, it was a successful cleanse day!  Had all my juices and some coconut water, stuck to my workout and took a hot bubble bath to end the day. 

Have you ever tried a juice cleanse or the reboot?  If not, would you want to?

My Juice Fast: Day 6-9

Hope y'all had a great long weekend!!  Our little family (The hubs, me and our two furbabies) headed out to see his MeMe and spend a little time in his hometown.  It's always nice to spend a weekend there, because the drive isn't too far and it's a lot of simply relaxing....sleeping in, good conversation and catching up with family.  LOVE times like that! 

Here's a recap of Friday, Day 6:

On Friday I stayed on track with juicing & my workout routine....even when the hubs & I both got off early and went on an unexpected day date and shopped a bit.  I had packed all my juices for the day in a cooler, so I simply snuck a juice into the movie theater and had that instead of my regular candy or popcorn with Sprite Zero.

Here's a recap of Saturday, Day 7:

On Saturday, I woke up and worked out.....then we headed out of town to spend a little time with my hubby's MeMe.  She cooks an amazing breakfast spread and goulash that is ahhhmazing, but I said no to all the food and honestly it wasn't hard.  

I brought a cooler on our trip stocked with a few juices, fruits and veggies.  Then the hubs took me to the store to stock up on spinach and coconut water for the weekend.  So thankful that he's fully supportive of me trying this!!

During lunch, while they ate I went thrift shopping and snagged a few things for MeMe and some awesome stuff for me too!! Plus, they were having a sale where all red tags were 99cents so of course, I only got stuff with a red tag!! 

Now that I have stuck with this for a whole week and really thought about what I ate before and how putting healthy foods into my body has made such a positive difference....I honestly don't think I want to go back to eating out more than eating dinner at home.....to eating tons of processed food that was semi-healthy....to having too many treats.  Nope, this little journey is inspiring me to make BIG changes and continue them for the long haul.  

Here's a recap of Sunday, Day 8:

  On Sunday, we had a fun day with MeMe......I started my day off with some tv shows and then a hot bath, chocolate coconut water and a little Ellie & Jared.  (If you haven't seen their Youtube channel, check it out....they're adorable!!)

Around lunch time, some more family came over to visit.  Poor Noah is terrified of new people....he barks, he hides, he needs me to hold him while keeping an eye on the invaders the whole time. haha  He was NOT a fan!!  But we had a great time catching up with everyone...I got to share a bit about juicing, my Breville and how my journeys been so far which was fun.

After they left, we packed up our stuff and the pups and headed back home.  When we got home I rested a bit and then headed to the grocery store to stock up on juicing supplies and coconut water for the week.  The grocery trip made me a little late for my last juice of the day so I was HUNGRY!  Had my last juice and fell asleep on the couch watching Netflix with the hubs.  We love our Netflix ok?  Don't judge....hahaha

Here's a recap of Monday, Day 9:

On Labor Day, I woke and got a quick 30 min Hip Hop Abs workout in and once the hubs woke up I made us both juice for breakfast.  After breakfast, we relaxed on the couch in our PJs till about lunch time.  We both had another juice and then finally got dressed for the day.  Hey, days off are supposed to be lazy, right?!

After we got ready, we headed out to hit up a little shopping center that has a book store & Charming Charlie right next to each other.  I shopped for jewelry and a few clothing items while the hubs got the 1st season of Big Bang Theory & a new book.  

After that we headed to Freebirds, because he was hungry.  I sipped on my 2pm juice while he ate.  I love that I haven't let juicing slow me down from going out on dates with him or hanging out with people.  Some people say they feel less social on a juice cleanse...NOT me!!  I think if you push outside your comfort zone and just plan well, you can make it work. 

After lunch we went to the mall for a little more shopping and then finished off our day date with a trip to the store to get a few more things we needed for the week like paper towels....my goodness, juicing has made me go through paper towels so much faster! haha  

Now I want to share my results so far (Gosh, I can't even imagine the changes at the end):

First, the stats:
As of the day of this post, I've lost about 13pounds and over 8inches.

Thanks for following me on my juicing journey....and I hope everyone had a fabulous long weekend!!

How To Be Stylish During An Injury

Hey....don't knock it.  To some of us girls it matters!  That big unsightly knee brace, a large cast or a splint can really cramp your style, BUT it doesn't have to.

Here are a few ways I've rocked my knee brace recently:

Wear it over pants....try going with fun patterns or dark colors.  It sort of blends in and doesn't become the main focus of your outfit.

Also, bright colors and bold prints on your top half will instantly draw people's attention up to your pretty little face and away from your not-so-fashionable brace. 

If you're feeling more on the girlie side, pair it with a cut dress that hits above the knee.  Wearing a calf length dress would make your legs look bulkier, but the shorter dressed help elongate your gams and make that non-braced leg look ON-POINT.  I mean, it instantly looks smaller...haha  #EmBraceTheBenefits

Are you currently dealing with an injury?  How are you making it work with your style?

Share in the comments.

My Juice Fast: Day FIVE

Good morning everyone! I am loving this juice cleanse....I needed a reboot, a fresh start to my healthy lifestyle and this has been just the thing.  Today's supposed to be my last day, but I've decided to extend it a bit....no exact end date, but def not over 30 days.  I'll probably end it when I go for a girls weekend with my mom in over a week, but no worries.  5 days was my goal so no matter how much more I do, I'm happy. :-)

Started out my day at 4:15am with my usual backyard workout...I've been doing Hip Hop Abs, but I changed it up and did a little Rockin' Body....still Shaun T just a different background and different music.  Still the fun dancing, cardio I have been loving lately.

After my workout followed my normal routine, got ready for work, fed the pups, ironed the hubby's pants, packed our food for the day and headed to work.  I curled my hair and was in a rush so had to take my outfit pic in the office restrooms instead of our usual morning photo shoot. 

NOTE: I'm really excited to be wearing this combo.....pre-cleanse the shirt was too tight and make my stomach look chub-city plus the skirt kind of dug in to my waist, but not any more....Woohoo!!! Almost back down to my normal weight range, which again isn't the goal, but it sure is nice to see numbers I'm more comfortable with on the scale.  I'll probably share all the numbers: weight, inches lost, etc when I'm done. 

When I got to work I worked for about an hour before my first juice and I've really noticed that water just tastes and satisfies me so much more than it did pre-cleanse...it feels so refreshing and like I'm actually hydrated.  My mouth never gets that cotton feeling anymore.   

Made a different juice today and my taste buds were rocking....1 beet, 4 carrots and an orange.  Odd combo, but I was really surprised I didn't hate it.  It took a few sips to get used to, but it was pretty good. Plus, it's just such a pretty color!! ((Like that matters, but hey....cuteness totally matters, right?!))

After my first juice time flew by and I didn't even realize it was past 10am, which is when I'm supposed to have coconut water, but I haven't been back to the store yet to stock up so I tried all natural black tea with the teeniest bit of raw sugar....Yuck!  I only drank 1/2 to fill me up a bit, but I will not be having that again.  Another store run needs to happen asap!!

Had lunch with a friend again....she had beef, green beans and mashed potatoes.  I couldn't remember what flavor of juice I made for lunch, but it was a super dark redish-purple. Once I took a sip it came back to me....30 green grapes, 1 carton of blueberries, a peach and 2 handfuls of spinach leaves. 

It was really good...wasn't as fruity as I thought it would be.....more like a soft fruityness if that makes sense.  Anyways, it was good and left my teeth a lovely pink color...thankful I always have a mirror on hand (AKA My iPhone in selfie mode...lol).

After lunch, I was working away while also mentally planning post-cleanse life...I don't want to go back to eating out a ton for dinner...I want to truly clean up my diet and stick with it.  I'm working on making a plan now so I don't fall on my face post-cleanse and destroy all the hard work.

Anyone have any tips of sticking to a clean diet....mostly vegan.  I have just felt so good without processed foods....it's awesome!!! :-)  

Around 2pm, I had my afternoon snack:

Got off work at 3:30pm and headed to pick up my hubby. We work for the same company, but in different buildings....LOVE the we can car pool!! :-)  More time together and saving gas- Win, Win!!  He was running a little late so I had time to drink my 4pm juice before he finished up.  

Then we drove home and I made him pepporoni pizza (my pre-cleanse fav!) and I made my juices for Day 6.  Then we sat down to eat and watch Drop Dead Diva on Netflix.  Have y'all watched that show?  We're watching the whole thing for the 3rd time....the mix of court drama and girlyness is perfect!!

After that I worked on creating Style Tip sheets for all my September I.M.E. styling clients and started sorting out clothing for them.  Still have a little more work to do on that before I ship them out this weekend. 

Ended the night with one more episode of Drop Dead Diva and went to bed around 9:45pm. 

My Juice Fast: Day Four

Down 7lbs so far....WHAT??!!  I've been weighing about 10lbs above my normal weight range lately so this is so exciting to see.  Now, weight loss isn't why I'm doing this, but it's nice to see.  I also know that once you're back to eating normally it can come back, but I'm going to work hard to keep it off....and changing my eating habits to a new normal- Waaaaaay less processed foods and eating out!

Check out the difference between the pic from last week taken on August 25th and the picture this morning:

Started my day off with Hip Hop Abs again....I'm over 1/2 way through it already.  Crazyness!!  I have really loved this program....dancing and working my abs has been a blast. I think I'm going to do Turbo Fire next, but I'm not 100% sure yet. 

After my workout, I got ready for work while drinking water, because I was thirsty and acctually craved water....what?!  It's so cool to watch the changes in my body as they happen.  Ussually I'd crave not so natural peach mango green tea in the morning....I would drink waaaaay to much of that and not nearly enough water.  

After I got ready, I packed my juices for the day, did a mini photo shoot thanks to my photog hubby and headed out the door:

I got to work 20mins early thanks to super light traffic so I still had about an hour and 1/2 till my 1st juice of the day.  I filled up my water jug and got to work until juice time. :-)  Then I had this...the only thing I've found that I'm not a big fan of so far is Ginger Root.  It's spicy and I don't like spicey stuff....yuck!  BUT I read the benefits of eating/drinking it, which include it being an anti-inflammatory so I'm drinking it anyways in hope it will help my knee. Fingers crossed!!

When my 10am 'snack' time was approaching I realized I was out of coconut water....and I was actually sad about.  That lemonade flavor was legit! haha  ((Ok, so I never say legit....but it was yummy for sure!))

Luckily I packed a packet of all natural green tea so I had that instead.  I need some more flavor of all natural tea, because plan green tea is soooo bland compared to the flavorful juices.  

Around noon, I had lunch with a co-worker again and we had a blast taking about our goals, partnering for charity work and plans to propel or organizations forward....it was really fun and I wasn't even thinking out the yummy food she was eating.  No cravings yet :-)  BUT I sure did smell someone eating Pizza from like a mile away....my sense of smell is def on overdrive at the moment.  

Had this green smoothie for lunch while we chatted:

Around 2pm I had my next juice and still felt good.  Seriously feel like I'm over the initial tough part, but I don't want to jinx.  Luckily the 'tough' part just meant a light headache and going to bed early.  Oh plus, I don't think I've mentioned that my tongue has been coated.  The 1st day it was fully coated and now it's just like 3/4 coated.  I read on another blog that your in full cleansing mode when your tongue is back to normal.  We shall see how it goes. :-)

After that I had a meeting to attend in another building, so I headed off to that.  It went a little longer than planned so I didn't get to have my next juice till 4:15pm.  Since I was about to head home I poured the juice into a coffee mug and that made it much easier to drive with. Less spilling possibility! haha No pics of that or my last juice of the day, but they were both yummy!!!

I took a hot bubble bath, which felt great, relaxed, watched a little Netflix and prepped my 5 juices for the next day and then went to bed around 9:30pm. Yay!!  Back to my normal bedtime....since I wake up at 4:15am.

My Juice Fast: Day Three

It's DAY THREE....Woohoo!  Last night the hubs and I had a chat about my goals for this juice fast and it became clear that it's bigger than 5 days.  It's about really healing my body, regaining energy and just resetting overall.  So I'm not setting an end date for it....I'm going to go until it just feels time to stop. (At least 5 days, but up to 30 max)  We'll see how it goes.  

I started my morning the usual way....with a 4:15am workout on our patio in the backyard with Noah running around chasing frogs and bugs.  (Zoey always goes back inside to sleep. haha)

Still zooming through Hip Hop Abs and still loving it too.  I am discovering muscles in my tummy that I never knew existed....crazyness!  Makes me feel like having abs one day is acctually possible....AHH!

After my workout, I got ready for the day, ironed clothes, made breakfast for the hubs (Pancakes and a ham and cheese omolet with OJ), fed the pups and had my hubby snap a few outfit photos for me, because I am loving this little combo:

Then I headed out the door to work with some hot lemon water for the road.  I HATE lemon in cold water, but hot lemon water's recommended on the cleanse, so I tried it and surprisingly it was good. 

Once I got settled into work, answered some emails and hit the ground running...I had my 1st juice of the day at about 8am.  This juice is my FAV!!!  It's 4 carrots, 2 apples and a lemon....perfect way to start the day!

10AM....Time for some coconut water.  This time I'm drinking Vita Coco's Lemonade flavor and let me just say....it has changed my distaste for all things coconut.  This tastes REALLY good.  Like I would actually want this as a treat instead of having it simple because it's part of the plan. MMM!!

At noon I went to the cafe in the office building I work in to have lunch with a friend...I thought it would be tough, but honestly I wasn't even jealous of the Mexican food she was eating.  ((Mexican foods one of my favs too!))  Yay for small victories! 

After lunch I chugged more water (I really think keeping your water intake high is really a big part of feeling better on the cleanse!) until time for my 2pm snack....I made a big batch of green juice so it was the same I had for lunch.  Luckily it's a super yummy combo. ;-)

After work I went to pick up my hubby....we like to car pool. While waiting for him to finish up at work I chatted with my dad on the phone and drank my next juice.  

After that we headed home and this is where it gets a little ugly....I had felt great all day: perky, energized and just good.  Then it hit me....I was super emotional out of nowhere....one semi negative thing said and it's like my emotions went into a tail spin. I cried, I whined and I didn't even know why I was so upset.  ((During all that I had my last juice, but forgot to take a pic to share....I was the same juice flavor I'd had for breakfast....yum!))

Now to be fair, I am a sensitive girl, but I have worked really hard to get my emotions in check over the years.  My hubby was like "I don't know what's going on?!"  haha I was a hot mess.  My drama lasted for about 2hrs and then I was all better.  He hugged & comforted me and I calmed down.....thank goodness!!  And after....it was weird....I felt oddly at peace.

I've heard a lot of people say they feel something spiritual happen on a cleanse and I definitely felt an awesome peace after my drama fest....we'll see how my emotions go here on out.  Hopefully my emotions are all cleansed! hahaha

Stay tuned for Day Four coming tomorrow.