Juice Cleanse, Day 2

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Health, How To, Recipes, WIAW by chicken nugget girl

The night between Day 1 and Day 2 I had lots of really vivid dreams and I remembered them once I woke up! That’s definitely a surprising side effect from the cleanse.

Thank gawwwd I didn’t have a headache anymore, and I was not hungry. Both good things.

I hopped on the scale and was excited to see that I was down 3 lbs. This shit was actually working!

Weirdly enough, I had an easier time getting up in the morning than I usually do. I also felt like my mind was a bit sharper in the morning – even without coffee.

The day passed in two(ish) hour increments, spent waiting for the next time I could have my juice. Not because I was hungry, I just wanted to consume something. Every hour and a half I would start to feel a little more drained, a little weaker. I could seriously tell that my body was soaking up the nutrients in the juice when I re-fueled, which is kind of a strange feeling and hard to describe!

Here’s the juice schedule I followed:

Juice 1: 9:30 am
Juice 2: 12:00 pm
Juice 3: 2:30 pm
Juice 4: 4:30 pm
Juice 5: 7:00 pm
Juice 6: 9:00 pm

I could not wait for Juice 2, my absolute favorite juice by far.

P.A.M. is a pretty simple juice: a ton of pineapple, and some apple and mint. It was extra cool because I got to use my mint from my mint plant that I harvested and have yet to kill (nbd, hell is freezing over).

I haven’t really tried pineapple before, and I think the only time I’ve ever had pineapple juice was with a bunch of vodka in Hawaii. At least now I have one juice from the cleanse that I genuinely love and will keep making!

Everything continued smoothly the rest of the day until Ginger-Gate.

*Side note: I’m talking about ginger root – which I had to ask the grocery store worker for because I was wandering around looking for pink ginger like the kind that comes with sushi. Turns out that the pink ginger is made from artificial dye. Who knew.*

The first night I had C.A.B. I didn’t put any ginger in the jar because I ran out of room. Beets make a lot of juice.

It wasn’t the best thing in the world, but it was filling, and I liked the carrot juice in it.

The measurements I used were:

1 apple
1/2 lemon
2 giant carrots
3 beets (I did not juice the greens)

On Day 2, I prepped my C.A.B. juice to take to Tuna’s. Since I’ve never used ginger before, I didn’t know how much to put in the juice (and was apparently too lazy to google it for some reason).

So, I proceeded to juice about half of the amount shown in the picture above. *See evil.

The kitchen sure smelled like sushi, but I didn’t think much of it. I packed up my juice and headed on over to Tuna’s.

When I got to his place, I stuck a straw into my mason jar and took a huge gulp.

Omg.

Too. Much. Ginger.

That was the first time I considered stopping the juice cleanse. I needed to have something for dinner, and I was not about to drink that crap. I panicked.

Tuna suggested I water it down. Still foul. I tried to put some ice in it and stir it around. Nope.

All I could do was hold my nose, chug half of it, and try to keep it down. The latter was hard to do, but I did.

I brushed my teeth but was still hurtin’. It was time to resort to Tuna’s mint gum.

You’re not supposed to chew gum on a juice cleanse because it supposedly tricks your stomach into thinking it needs to digest something, but that’s okay. Funny how ginger is supposed to be soothing for your stomach, but it upset mine for the rest of the night.

Day 2 lesson learned: try the juice before you take it to go.

I have now sworn off ginger. For life.

Thanks as always to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons for hosting What I ~~Drank~~ Ate Wednesday!

4Jun2013

Juice Cleanse, Day 1

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Health, Recipes by chicken nugget girl

I woke up the morning of Day 1 with a slight headache from the few glasses of red wine I had the night before (dumb idea, I know).

At least I took some initiative of what I ate and drank pre-cleanse. I did some research that recommended cutting back on coffee, chocolate, and avoiding grains in order to prep your body for the juice cleanse. I drank a smaller cup of coffee than usual on Friday, and didn’t have an coffee on Saturday. Saturday I ate healthily – a smoothie, eggs for dinner, etc.

The BluePrint cleanse I’m following consists of 6 juices a day that you drink about every two hours.

Green Juice
P.A.M.
Green Juice
Spicy Lemonade
C.A.B.
Nut Milk

I’ll outline the recipes for all of juices as the days progress!

I’m so glad I got to do the first day on a weekend day (Sunday) because I totally would not have survived through work

Even though I was excited to start the juice cleanse, I really wanted some FOOD. But once I drank my first Green Juice, my stomach did feel full.

Here’s what’s in the Green Juice:

Since I was jacking the ingredients from BluePrint, I didn’t have the exact recipe, but the juice I ended up with was pretty good! Those measurements are:

1/2 cucumber
2-4 celery stalks
1/2 lemon
1 handful parsley
1-2 small heads of romaine
1-2 small heads of spinach
6 large kale leaves
top off with filtered water

That makes approximately 16 oz. of juice, which is suggested amount for each of the juices in the cleanse. It’s perfect – regular sized mason jars are exactly 16 ounces!

I found it helpful to drink the juices slowwwwly [think 30-40 minutes], which made me feel less deprived and kept my stomach feeling okay. I also drank A LOT of herbal tea – about 1 in between each of the juices. After drinking so many cold juices, all I wanted was something warm!

By far, the worst thing about Day 1 was the bad headache I had all day. I’m pretty sure this was due to caffeine withdrawal, but I’m not positive. There was a lot of massaging my temples going on. I even refrained from watching Real Housewives because I absolutely could not deal with any raised voices or yelling. #juicecleanseproblems

(source)

In addition to the headache, I felt tired, had low energy, and kept sweating. It almost felt like I was sick! I was pretty miserable, but wasn’t hungry – even though I missed eating…and chewing.

Despite all of this, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t feel dizzy and did not feel the need to eat any solid food add-ins. I’ve been carrying around an avocado, banana, and some pecans just in case of emergency.

I literally googled: “What to do if lightheaded during juice cleanse?” before I started, because I was anemic in high school and fear fainting. THIS article warned me, “Light headedness to the point of fainting puts you at serious risk for injury.” Point taken. I’m taking a slow-releasing iron pill and am doing just fine so far.

Plus, during the juice cleanse, I’ve been listening to my body like whoa. I’m hyper-aware of everything I’m feeling because I want to make sure I stay safe!

As the afternoon continued, I started to feel a lot of doubt, wondering if this was the right thing to put my body through. I was poking around my bookshelf, and saw I had a book on juicing that I’ve never even looked at! It came at just the right time, because it helped me validate why I’m doing this.

I fell asleep thinking of pizza and Mexican food (legit images of the cheesy goodness in my head) and crossing my fingers that Day 2 would be easier.

3Jun2013

Juice Cleanse Grocery List

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Health, How To by chicken nugget girl

After our last trip to Eastern Market, I knew I wanted to come back and get lots of produce before my big juice cleanse. So Saturday morning, some friends and I headed on over to check it out!

We found almost everything I needed for a [slightly] cheaper price than Whole Foods and probably a lot fresher too! A lot of the veggies I bought still had the roots on them – and you can’t beat the size of some of this stuff.

Look at the giant carrots!

bigcarrots And I got a huge bushel of beets for $3.50.

My bags started to get pretty dang heavy, so I kept ploppin’ them down while I bought more goodies. Thanks for being my personal photographer for the day, Mal!

I don’t think my fridge has ever been as full as it was after this trip.

Yeah, it’s nice to have really fresh veggies for juicing, but that also meant they were on the dirty side. Solution = wax paper.

I am basing my juice cleanse on BluePrint’s Renovation Cleanse, their three day beginner cleanse.

Making the juices myself is definitely a daunting task, but I’m glad I’m doing it this way. I went to the store to get the last few items and spotted the actual pre-made juices from BluePrint. Look at the prices. Seriously? I was able to get all of the ingredients on the above grocery list for a third of the price that the cleanse would cost if you bought the juices already made.

Here goes nothin’!

30May2013

Fat Sick and Nearly Dead

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Health by chicken nugget girl

Remember how I said I would never do a juice cleanse?

Well, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead made me want to do one.

(source)

Though the documentary could have made its point in half the time, it totally got me amped up about juicing.

It starts off with a big guy, Joe Cross, doing a 60 day (WHAAAA) “fast,” or juice cleanse, meaning he only drinks juice from fresh fruits and veggies. When he started, he was very overweight and had a terrible dermatitis/skin disease that he had to be on lots of the steroid Prednisone for.

By the end of his cleanse, he lost 90lbs and his skin disease was GONE.

After accomplishing his goal, Joe gets hooked on the health benefits of juicing and inspires others to follow suit.

My favorite quote from the movie: 70% of the disease that affects us now are caused by our life choices.

That really stuck with me because it suggests that a lot of the health problems we face can be prevented by the food [and exercise, sleep habits, mental health, etc] that we subject our bodies to.

Just like Hungry For Change, Joe talks about the ridiculous supply of micro-nutrients in fruit/veggie juice and how it nourishes our bodies.

I do wish he told us a little more HOW to juice and what to juice. But I guess that’s what research is for.

Last week I tried adding the juice from a tomato into my green juice. It tasted like shit.

I’ve got my research cut out for me because I am going to try a juice cleanse.

I’m going to the beach in a week and a half, so I might as well try it now! My plan so far is to start on Sunday so that I don’t go brain dead at work, and then see how Monday and Tuesday go. I’m convincing myself that it is not a challenge that I have to complete and am not a failure if I don’t. It might not work for me. So 3 days is definitely all I want to start with!

More details on my cleanse to come – don’t worry, I’ll fill ya in on every little detail. 🙂

If you’d like to watch Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, watch it for free HERE!

Have you ever done a juice cleanse?

29May2013

Thai Quinoa Lettuce Wraps

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Recipes, WIAW by chicken nugget girl

This is one of those recipes that I could definitely see myself being scared of a year or two ago.

It involves making your own dressing! Omg. Scary.

I promise it isn’t that hard to make though: the secret ingredient is – peanut butter. And paired with quinoa? Gotta love that protein.

This recipe was inspired by Ambitious Kitchen.

Ingredients:

¾ cup uncooked quinoa
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup shredded red cabbage
½ red onion, diced
1 cup shredded carrots
½ cup chopped cilantro
fresh lime juice, to taste
handful of green onion, chopped
garnish with chives, chopped
head of romaine lettuce

Dressing:

¼ cup peanut butter
1 tbsp honey (sub with agave if vegan)
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp water

Directions:

Cook quinoa and let cool.

Make the dressing: add peanut butter and honey to a medium microwave safe bowl. Heat in microwave for 20 seconds. Stir in soy sauce, vinegar, water, sesame oil, and olive oil. Stir until smooth.

Add the dressing to quinoa.

Mix red pepper, cabbage, onions, carrots, and cilantro into the quinoa. Squeeze a little fresh lime juice and garnish with chives. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

It looks good…but I didn’t feel like eatin’ it straight up.

Luckily, I remembered I had a bag of romaine lettuce in the fridge!

The best part? Lots of leftovers!

Thanks as always to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons for hosting What I Ate Wednesday!

22May2013

Post Race Eats

Posted in Food, Restaurants, WIAW by chicken nugget girl

After the Capitol Hill Classic we headed in search of something good to eat.

In order to get to some good restaurants we had to walk through Eastern Market. Very weird that I’ve lived here forever and never been!

It was perfect wandering past all the yummy booths and taking handfuls of samples. Just what I needed post race!

Mal said it would be a great place to buy fruit and veggies for juicing – agreed! We def need to go back there with some cash pronto.

Pretty cool that you can get farmers market produce right in the city.

I would like all of these, please.

We settled on a place called Boxcar Tavern for brunch and sat at the bar. I couldn’t resist ordering a mimosa.

Re-hydration is necessary after running 6.2 miles. Yeah.

Chocolate chip pancakes seem to be part of my post 10K tradition, so I’m just gonna go with it.

I may need to do a race every Sunday because it was the first time I’ve gone to bed before 11 in a looooong time.

Thanks to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons for hosting What I Ate Wednesday!

What’s your favorite post-race meal?

15May2013

Guac Deviled Eggs

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Recipes, WIAW by chicken nugget girl

Um. So. Delicious.

Tuna and I agree that these are going in the regular rotation.

The texture of the guac/yolks is perfect and the contrast with the cool eggs is super refreshing. The only thing I think I’ll add next time is a little bit of lime juice and a teensy bit of cilantro.

Another pro – they’re filling! And don’t forget: a good source of healthy fats and protein.

Ingredients:

6 hard boiled eggs
1 avocado
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp olive oil
pepper to season

Makes 12 deviled eggs.

Recipe adapted from HERE. (The name – ha).

They were surprisingly great as an added filling to a bed of lettuce and a side of sweet corn.

I need to have a summer dinner party to go to soon so I can bring these.

Thanks as always to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons for hosting What I Ate Wednesday!

8May2013

Homemade Hummus

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Recipes, WIAW by chicken nugget girl

Here’s another money saver for ya. Once you buy the ingredients to make hummus the first time, most of them last for awhile.

It’s def a little more work, but I’m on the homemade trend now!

The past few weeks I’ve been scrutinizing my diet to make sure I’m getting everything I need, especially since I’ve been trying to work out on a more regular basis. I’m not a big fan of cooking meat, so I like bringing hummus with me to work for some extra protein to get me through the day.

Tuna helped me make this first batch, and we were quite proud of ourselves. 🙂

This recipe is adapted from one found on the Whole Foods website.

INGREDIENTS:

1 (15 ounce) can no-salt-added garbanzo beans
1 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp reduced-sodium tamari (soy sauce)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
cayenne pepper, to taste
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
a pinch of red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:

Rinse and drain garbanzo beans.

Put garlic in a blender and pulse to roughly chop.

Add garbanzo beans, tahini, water, lemon juice, tamari, cumin, a pinch of cayenne, and blend until smooth.

Scoop into a bowl, cover and chill for an hour or so.

Mix in parsley before serving.

Thanks as always to Jenn for hosting What I Ate Wednesday!

7May2013

My First Attempt at Juicing

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Health, Recipes by chicken nugget girl

I bought a bunch of produce on Sunday so I would be all set to experiment with my new juicer. Weirdly enough, buying a ridiculous amount of produce turned out to be cheaper than my usual trip to the grocery store ( when I buy Clif bars, Puffins, etc).

There’s a lot of research out there about the benefits of juicing. This article explains some of the basics. I also learned some tips – like to only drink juice that’s made fresh (if it’s not pasteurized) because otherwise gross bacteria can grow in it. You know OCD me is making my juice for lunch in the morning then, not the night before.

Hungry For Change suggests juicing as a method of cleansing our bodies, and a good way to get the nutrients that we don’t get from everyday meals.

I’m not going to do a cleanse, nor do I think I ever will. I like to chew, so I think a cleanse would turn me evil. I’m currently juicing as a supplement to my diet. It will be interesting to see if I feel a lot better and/or have more energy when I start to juice more and more!

My first attempt at juicing last night:

I based my juice on one of the recipes from Bess Be Fit’s cleanse and it was pretty darn good! The green apple seems to cancel out the kale-ness a bit. I think this juice tastes fresher than the Naked’s Green Machine.

It is surprising how much produce it takes to make about a cup of juice. I don’t mind it though, because that means my body gets that much more nutrients in comparison to eating them! I don’t think I could down that many veggies in one sitting in non-juice form.

Tell me everything you know about juicing!

Have you tried it? What are your favorite juicing recipes?

6May2013

The Baltimore FlowerMart

Posted in Food by chicken nugget girl

My friend Nancy is the best and suggested that we go to the FlowerMart festival in downtown Baltimore on Saturday.

Our allergies behaved and we had a fab evening walking around and exploring the sights!

There were tons of plant vendors and we loved looking at the pretty flowers

and herbs!

Both Nance and I stopped in our tracks when we smelled this chocolate mint. It smelled like a peppermint patty.

I originally wasn’t going to buy anything because I tend to kill any plant that comes into my possession, but I’ve been cooking with so many herbs lately that it makes sense to try to grow some of my own! A small bushel of mint is like five bucks at Whole Foods, and each of these herbs were going for three bucks a pop.

I settled on some regular mint since I’ve been putting it in my water lately and I can use it in my new JUICER!

We stopped again to giggle at the homemade chia pets. If only I could somehow grow my own chia seeds for my overnight oats….now that would save me some $$.

It was time for food! YUM. Hello weekend reward meal(s).

Tip: arrive at a food festival toward the end and you will get lots of free food.

The falafel guy was packing up his tent and I asked if I could pretty please still buy some falafel.

He agreed and gave me two pitas for the price of one! The falafel was some of the best I’ve ever had – though I know that’s not saying too much since I just started eating it about a year ago. 😉

Nancy got a pulled pork sandwich and some delish fresh french fries that I snarked half of.

Our sampling continued with some dips.

The cajun was our favorite by far. I need to find a healthy dip recipe for the summer!

I was enthralled by the giant vat of kettle corn. I definitely need one of those cool popcorn protection masks when I make my stove popped popcorn.

We thought we’d grab a few hush puppies on our way out and used our powers of persuasion to have the guy give us all of the remaining hush puppies and a shit ton of fried shrimp for five dollars.