The 40-Day Health Dare: Days 4-7

Now that the first week is done, I see where my weaknesses are (they mostly come in the form of chocolate) and what I need to push myself with.

Wins:

Green Tea Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of green tea
1 cup of lacinato kale
1 cup of spinach
1 cup of frozen blueberries
1 tbsp of coconut oil
1 tbsp of bee pollen
1 tbsp of raw, local honey

Mixed well in a blender and sipped throughout the morning. This is a super energizing smoothie!

Watermelon Juice

Ingredients:

half of a watermelon (rind included)
5 apples
1 grapefruit
4 leaves of lacinato kale

Juiced. Sweet with a hint of tartness and super refreshing!

Diet wins:

• chicken marsala
• grilled chicken with red and orange peppers
• grilled chicken salad (with kale, hardboiled eggs, carrots, tomatoes, avocados)
• restocked fridge and cabinets with colorful fruits and veggies, whey powder mix, and green superfood mix.

Exercise wins:

• long evening walk on Day 5

Fails:

• I reached for some (and by some I mean a dozen) leftover Cadbury Mini Eggs from Easter. 
• I keep forgetting to drink water throughout the day until I realize I'm dehydrated.
• I keep pushing exercise for the evening, but by then I'm too tired to get out there.

Resolutions:

• exercise in the morning/walk in the evening
• drink at least 7 glasses of water throughout the day
• make more smoothies/juices in the afternoon
• resist the chocolate, for now

The 40-Day Health Dare: Goals and Day 1 & 2

My friend, Martin, started a 40-day Health Dare inspired by Joe Cross, unhealthy-workaholic turned juicing health machine, who filmed his journey in the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Martin invited me to join him on his 40-Day Dare, and I am using my blog to document my progress.

My goals in kickstarting this Health Dare include:

• increase energy/stamp out the fatigue I have been feeling
• lose the recent 10 pounds I have gained
• detox and replenish my body with healthy nutrients and eating habits
• learn about healthier lifestyle habits and influence my family to choose healthier habits
• increase my aerobic activity and get back into running

Specific habits that I am aiming for:

• regular juicing of fresh fruits and veggies (and blending in whole foods)
• increased water consumption
• dedicated vitamin supplementation
• increased exercise
• breaking up with fast food dining establishments (it just ain't working out)
• eating more colorful fruits and veggies
• simplifying my family's meals to focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy protein sources

Day One:

My husband and I restocked our fridge with colorful fruits and vegetables including:

• apples
• oranges
• grapefruit
• avocados
• peppers
• pineapple
• spinach
• blueberries
• bananas
• zucchinis
• tomatoes
• broccoli

We also purchased chicken (for dinners and salads), fish, Greek yogurt, granola, and eggs. Yesterday for dinner, we made large chicken salads with spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, olives, cheese, and real Ranch dressing (less than 6 pronounceable ingredients!)

For dessert, we had homemade avocado ice cream that Aidyn and I made last week when we were learning about avocados. It was amazingly delicious!

Day Two:

For breakfast, we juiced a pineapple, oranges, apples, and blended it with bananas. My son made eggs (as a Mother's Day service) and whole grain toast.

I made a pitcher of water flavored with grapefruit slices, blueberries, cherries, and chia seeds, and I have been drinking water throughout the day.

Lunch: chicken salad for lunch with fresh juice. : )

Dinner: Tuna steak, brown rice and broccoli.

Healthy and Tasty Cereal

I have been playing with different breakfast cereal combos in search of a healthy, relatively inexpensive, and tasty morning meal. I just may have found it:


Step #1:

Add a bit of Multibran Flakes to your bowl. I use Nature's Path Organic Flax Plus Multibran Flakes,

but you can use any variety of whole grain flakes cereal so long as the ingredients are simple. This cereal offers 5g of fiber, 10g of whole grain plus some omega-3 and 3g of protein.

Step #2:

Next, add a bit of whole wheat biscuits like Autumn Wheat or Shredded Wheat.

Adding this will enhance the cereal with  50g of whole grains, 6 more grams of fiber and 6g of protein.

Step #3:

Next, sprinkle in some Grape Nuts, which is a natural whole grain wheat with barley cereal.

A half a cup will give you 100% of your day's whole grains (not to mention what you already received from the previous two cereals). It also provides you with loads of vitamins (like 90% of your daily value of iron!).

Step #4:

Now, toss in a small handful of uncooked quick oats. I use Mom's Best Naturals Quick Oats, but Quaker Oats works too. As long as you choose something that is 100% whole grain rolled oats with no other ingredients, you're set.

 

Step #5

 

Next, I toss a bit of organic agave nectar for sweetness. Be careful with agave nectar as it's super sweet. Only a teaspoon is needed.

 

 

This is a low-glycemic sweetner, a great substitute for sugar. You could also use raw local honey as your cereal sweetner.

Step #6:

Sprinkle a bit of flaxseed meal to your cereal.

Flaxseed is packed with omega-3 fatty acids and has been known to help fight against breat cancer, heart disease, cancer and stroke.

Step #7:

Load on some fruit and nuts. Go crazy here!

I like adding:

-sliced bananas
-blueberries
-raisins
-dried cranberries
-sliced almonds

but you can also add kiwis, peaches, mangoes, strawberries, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, etc.

Adding colorful fruits and nuts not only makes it tastier but adds a wealth of vitamins and minerals for you.

Step #8:

Pour in some unsweetened almond milk and enjoy!

I know this seems like a lot of steps, but it gets easy. Little bit of this, little bit of that, and done. The most important thing is to choose whole grain cereals without added sugar (the more basic, the better), fruit, and some sources of omega-3 fatty acids.

Please let me know if you come up with more combinations! I love tweaking my cereal combos. : )







Feed Your Face

So I cannot afford the high-end wrinkle-reducing comes-in-the-tiniest-container-ever-made face cream or the cancer that might possibly go with it. I must improvise.

By improvise, I mean using stuff from my kitchen that will go to waste if I don't find some use for it now!

Whenever that happens, I make an avocado conconction. Basically, I mash up one whole avocado until it is a bowlful of creamy goodness. Depending on my mood (or the availability of resources), I add one or more of the following:

• a drizzle of honey
• a spoonful of olive oil
• a pinch of sugar (for exfoliation)
• warm water
• a squirt of lemon juice
• egg yolk, or
• half a banana that is quickly ripening to the point of no return

After opening my pores with a couple splashes of warm water, I slather the gunk all over my face.

Education, then, comes in at least two forms:

1. Chasing Aidyn around the house as a zombie, thereby teaching him about special effects make-up and acting.

     2. Answering his question, "why are you doing that?" as he's covering his mouth in absolute disgust, with "avocadoes have vitamins in them, which are good for your skin. Vitamins like E, A, K...Ya know, you don't only get yer vitamins from eating them."

I apologize that no picture with accompany this post. Use your imagination (or try it yourself!).