I Challenge You: Be Clean for 1 Week

Okay, so an obscene amount of you have been asking me what my diet consists of, how I lost all this weight, and how you too can get into better shape. I've become your very own personal nutritionist!!! "SHOW ME THE MOOONEY!!!" Kidding.

Nah, but seriously, it's a good thing because this allows me to get back to blogging, more importantly to get back to what I loved most about blogging: sharing health tips that have helped me turn that junk in my trunk around. Wow. Totally off topic.. i think i'm gonna share this tune with you right NOW:

Random, I know. Okay, back to the challenge.

With that being said, I've created a week's worth of our favorite smoothie recipe's for you to try during breakfast. Combine those with the following YES/NO foods and you'll feel a world of a difference. If you don't have time to make smoothies, you don't have to. Just eat fresh fruits in the AM (jump to bottom of page to see why).

YES Foods:

1. ALL legumes and green veggies: the greener, the better
2. Grains and starches: Amaranth, Quinoa, Buckwheat/kasha, Millet, Beans (all), Black-eyed peas, Brown or wild rice, Chickpeas; Gluten-free crackers and pastas, and other foods, Lentils, sweet potato, yams, squash (all)
   

NO Foods:

1. Dairy
2. Wheat, and wheat products
3. Processed and refined sugars and starches; white rice, barley and rye. 

*Eat more plant-based foods then animal protein. Keep animal protein lean (fish, chicken) and to a minimum (3x week max).


Smoothie Recipe Ideas:
(you can make your own fruit smoothies, this is just for the lazy folk)

Kale, Pineapple, and Chia

½ cup pinappele chunks

2 leaves kale

2 tsp soaked chia seeds

1 cup pure water

1-2tsp agave syrup

1.     Blend until smooth

Mango and Coconut Milk Smoothie

1 cup mango chunks

½ cup pinapple chunks

1 ½ cups coconut milk (can be replaced with coco water and ¼ avocado)

1.     Blend until smooth

Berries, Carob, and Almond Milk

1 cup berries

1 ½ cups almond milk

1-2 tsp agave

2 tsp raw cacao powder, carob powder, or cocoa*

1.     Blend together until smooth

·      Cacao is same as cocoa, but the raw form is usually called cacao and is packed with nutrients and antioxidants!!

Energy Smoothie with Almond Butter and Cardamom

¼ cup almond butter

2 cardamom pods or 1 tsp ground cardamom (not a full tsp, careful, very strong)

1 ½ cups pure water

1 cup frozen peaches

1-2 tsp agave

1.     Blend together until smooth

Berry Smoothie with Coco milk and cinnamon

2 cups mixed berries

2 cups coco milk with coco meat or ¼ avocado added to 1 ½ cups coco milk

1 tsp cinnamon

1-2 tsp agave

1. Blend together until smooth

I ask that you try this for ONE week, and I guarantee you'll see a difference. You're cravings, if any, will diminish throughout the days, and you'll feel more energetic. Plus, you'll get rid of some water weight, making you feel loads lighter.

I feel it is important to note that fruit should be consumed first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, and not during the day.

The reason for this is that all the nutrients get immediately absorbed in the morning because your intestines are free from any 'clutter'. As your body absorbs these minerals the fiber will make it's way down your intestines and out the bum-bum. You'll not only regulate your washroom visits, you'll also maximize the amount of nutrients your body absorbs throughout the day.

It's also important to eat all your veggies first during any meal. Again, this is for absorption and digestion reasons. If you're body digests veggies first, chances are you'll feel fuller after your meals.

So good luck, and keep me posted on your progress!

xoxo
j.

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Truth Revealed: Digestion and PH

Hey there best friend, my reader!

This weekend, I bought two new books I felt followed the same CLEAN principles, with some minor differences. They both offer great recipe's and provide lifestyle changing advice on nutrition based on solid facts, and I'm going to share them with you. (If you want to see which books these are, scroll to the bottom or keep reading to find out.)

Remember when I spoke about the alkaline vs. acidic levels in our bodies, and what foods cause these levels to rise? Well, I'm about to get into that detail right here, right now. 

Premièrement, I feel it's imperative that I explain our digestive system prior to getting into the nitty gritty.

Basic Digestive Anatomy 101 

See the pretty picture? 

It even talks about what I'm saying now.

Digestion, is obviously the way our system breaks down our food so that it is much easier absorbed into our bloodstream.

The broken down food interacts with chemicals and eventually turns into a thick liquid called chyme. Chyme then travels down the small intestine, where 95% of the nutrients get absorbed by tiny hairlike villi along the walls. It then passes the large intestine, and gets eliminated through the back door. Buh-bye!


Got it? Good, now pay attention to what I'm about to say next.

If waste foods (processed, microwaved, canned foods, refined sugars, cow's milk and dairy, excess animal protein and white flour based foods) clog the villi on the small intestinal wall -where all the nutrients get absorbed- then guess what happens? We don't get the nutrients!

Wanna know what else happens when we don't get the nutrients our body was supposed to receive? We wind up overeating.

Let me explain.

When the tiny villi get clogged by wasteful food (see above if you already forgot) that it can't metabolize and utilize efficiently, then our bodies don't feel nourished, no matter how much food we stuff ourselves with. Hold on, there's more.

If our bodies can't utilize the foods we eat then that also promotes the production of excessive mucus or yeast (that's candida, ladies). Of course, yeast further prevents the small intestine from absorbing nutrients leaving you starving for vitamins, minerals, and especially protein, regardless of what you eat.

So where does the overeating come in, Jen? 
Would you hold your horses, I'm getting to that.

It's simple. When we aren't absorbing these nutrients, our bodies keep telling us were hungry, even though you just stuffed your face. Le result: weight gain.

There. We covered digestion, and now we can move on to PH levels. Alright, back to chemistry class we go.

The Alkaline-Acid Principle

Based on my research (see below for list of books), you're PH levels are the key to proper nutrition. Apparently, it is the key to fighting aging and weight gain.

Basics
PH scale ranges from totally acidic 0.0 to totally alkaline at 14.0, making 7.0 neutral.

What's important for our health and beauty is the way foods are broken down and the residue they leave. We should strive to eat the 80-20 ratio: 80 percent alkaline-forming foods, and 20 percent acidic-forming foods. What are alkaline forming foods? Good question:

Very Alkaline Foods (in a nutshell):
Ripe fruits (very important to eat when ripe)
Sprouts
Greens
Other Veggies (excluding starchy varieties)

Very Acidic Foods (in a nutshell):
Alcohol
Animal protein
Artificial sweetners
Caffeine
Dairy products
Drugs (antibiotics/steroids)
Nicotine
Processed foods
Refined sugar
Sodas

The most acidic food is animal protein. 

A few quick facts
High-acid environment is prone to fatigue and premature aging.
It's also a stressor, which increases cortisol levels*, and impairs sleep as a result.

*Cortisol primary functions are to increase sugar levels and suppress immune system.

When the body has too much acid, alkaline calcium compounds (stuff found in Tums) are extracted from our bones in order to reduce acidity. It's our body's survival mechanism. The long-term effects of that can lead to osteoporosis. That's why it's important to balance your PH levels.

Here's something else I bet you didn't know:
Cancer is impossible to develop in alkaline environments!

How do you like them apples!?

Note: Alkaline also comes from maintaining a positive attitude. In other words, being stress-free. So DO deep breathing exercises, DO yoga, DO light stretching, DO meditate, DO activities that make you happy.

I hope you enjoyed this mini chemistry lesson, and I hope that it gears you towards a happier, healthier you.

Don't forget to check out my list of books below, if you're interested in learning more.

Stay tuned for my next blog where I'll cover how to pair certain foods for optimal PH balanced results.

See you next time
xx

1. The first book is called the The Thrive Diet by Brendan Brazier who is a professional ironman triathlete and formulator of Vega (his own product line for athletes and health enthusiasts).
   
   What I like about this book are the recipes he has for pre and post exercise routines for building energy and assisting recovery. Great for before and after my jogs.
   
2. The second book is called The Beauty Detox Solution by Kimberly Snyder is also a very informative read -much more illustrative with graphics and charts, and broken down in very simple terms so that even if you don't understand the first thing about nutrition you'll get what she's saying. I, personally, need to be taught like I'm a four year old, otherwise I get confused. It's true.

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And in this corner, weighing in at....

Hello dear readers. Yes, you!

I see you come less frequently and I would like to apologize for that as it is my fault. I've been paying less attention to you, I know. I haven't been communicating as often as I used to while I was on the detox. Sometimes a girl just needs to break free from all communication, you know? A cyber detox, if you will ;)

So I'll spare you the boring details of what I've been eating because I'm sure by now you're tired of hearing me say; veggies, fruits, and gluten-free. I will, however, tell you that my friends have really been commenting on my weight lately. From co-workers, to family members, everyone seems to feel that I have lost in the face, stomach, and everywhere else. Since I had never really weighed myself properly during this detox, I figured now was a good time.

First thing Saturday morning, before eating anything, I woke up at my parents house (yes, I'm back-boo), and weighed in. I squinted at the numbers trying to make out what they said, but because I normally wear contacts I couldn't see a darn thing. I ask my dad to read the scale for me and I couldn't believe what he said; I have lost a total of 8lbs (3.2kg's or something -for my Euro readers). I was shocked to find out how much I lost. I guess I hadn't realized it while I was staying at my brother's place over the last month.

Primo, he doesn't have a scale, so I couldn't monitor the weight loss -mind you, that was a good thing otherwise I would have been obsessed with checking. And secondo, you'd think my clothes would have been a good benchmark, but with today's fashion everything fits loose or stretches, i.e. flowy tops or jeggings.

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. From weighing in at 118lbs, I am now 110lbs! I haven't been 110lbs since I was 22? Maybe 24? I feel amazing, but I still have some work to do though. I need to tone up. That's where my Tracy Anderson workout video and marathon training comes in.

Speaking of which, I jogged today with my Mickey (my brother). What a beautiful day it was too; 12 degrees and sunny. We went in the morning around 9:30-10AM, right after we did some 'dynamic stretches'. What? Yah, that's what I said. They're a series of stretches that are supposed to strengthen your muscles while you stretch, so: walking lunges or jumping knee bends.

I wish I could say I jogged more then I did on Tuesday, but I didn't. I pretty much covered the same distance, 3.5KM at 28 minutes. At least I'm consistent, right? Then I did interval jogs until I reached 4KM where I officially gave up. My brother, on the other hand, jogged to timbuck-effen-too and came back around 12:30. I watched him jog up Wilderton without stopping. I don't know how he does it, but I'm impressed. I also hate him at the same time. How the hell am I supposed to run the half???

I'm so f*****.

Anyway, zats eet for now.

I'm back home now, hopefully I'll be able to maintain my nutrition and fitness while I'm here. I did buy a book though that seems quite interesting and is similar to the CLEAN philosophy; eating raw.

Stay tuned, kids. And thanks for stopping by.

xx

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