Green Smoothie Challenge - Day 7!

Today is the last day of the Green Smoothie Challenge! I hope you all have benefited in one way or another from this week of green smoothies. It's been a good week for me and I'm ready to have another week of green smoothies! To end this week of the Green Smoothie Challenge, I wanted to share something I found in "12 Steps to Raw Foods" by Victoria Boutenko. It is about Breathing properly. This is a very interesting and easy way to increase our health.

"Proper Breathing. Oxygen plays a vital role in the circulatory and respiratory systems. As we breathe, oxygen that is inhaled nourishes the body and purifies the blood by removing poisonous waste products circulating throughout our blood system. According to Michael White, founder of The Optimal Breathing Development System, "the respiratory system is responsible for eliminating 70% of our metabolic waste." Irregular breathing may hinder this purification process and cause waste products to remain in circulation, which may contribute to many serious illnesses.

Based on years of research, White states: "Most people have unhealthy breathing habits. They hold their breath or breathe high in the chest or in a shallow, irregular manner. These patterns have been unconsciously adopted, accidentally formed, or emotionally impressed. Certain 'typical' breathing patterns may trigger physiological and psychological stress and anxiety reactions."

To check your own pattern of breathing, sit in a quiet place and relax for a minute or two. Put your hand, horizontally, about one inch above your navel. Close your eyes. Breathe normally without trying to influence your breathing one way or the other. Observe how your abdomen moves every time you breathe in and out. If you are breathing correctly, you should find that the hand over the stomach moves as you breathe in and out.

Abdominal breathing is the correct way of breathing. If your chest is moving as you breathe, and you do not have a medical reason to do so, that means that you are breathing shallowly and incorrectly.

Begin paying steady attention to your breathing. Any time you find yourself holding your breath, breathing irregularly or too rapidly, go back to your abdominal breathing."

I don't know about you - but I hold my breath a lot! It's interesting when we become aware of our breathing how incorrectly most of us our breathing. I've been really trying to work on my breathing. The fact that 70% of our metabolic waste is eliminated through our breathing, amazes me! So, that's my 2 cents!

Have a good weekend!

I'll be sending an email out later today for the next week of the Green Smoothie Challenge!

Green Smoothie Challenge - Day 6!

We are almost to the end of our Green Smoothie Challenge! I hope everyone is doing well. Today was a good day. I got to sleep in until about 7:30 and the extra sleep was definitely needed. I decided to try and drink a green smoothie before I exercised as well as right after. I wondered if it would be too much in my stomach, but it actually really helped keep my energy up as I was riding the stationary bike. I guess because it's blended food, the body doesn't have to use much energy to digest it, so it's really just pure energy for the exercise. I thought that was cool. I've heard of people that run long distances, drinking green smoothies and eating bananas while they run. I'll have to try it out when I get into my long runs in a couple of months.

Today my smoothies were: pineapple, grapes, blackberries, and strawberries with mixed spring salad mix. They were quite delicious! I had a snack of a banana and a couple blood oranges. For lunch I had a green salad. When I got home I had another green smoothie and some berry ice cream (fresh bananas blended with frozen mixed berries). Everything was quite satisfying!

Tomorrow I will be sending out the information for next weeks Green Smoothie Challenge. I'm still deciding what I want to do.

Have a good weekend!

Green Smoothie Challenge - Day 5!

Good Evening everyone!

We have made it one more day! It's been a long day, but this is about how it went: We got up at 3 o'clock this morning. Jake had a lot of work today so we went to bed early and got up early. I was a bit too tired so I did go back to sleep again til about 4:30. I rode the stationary bike for 30 minutes and it was great! I sure love riding. I can't wait til it warms up a bit so we can ride outside! I made a smoothie this morning from bananas, frozen mixed berries, and chard. It was delicious! I drank about 40 ounces and had a banana to go along side it. For lunch, I did have a salad. Then for snack I had a blood orange (best oranges on the planet - I highly recommend) and a banana. Tonight my sister in law came over and I made an interesting smoothie for us. I had some fruit salad left over from Jake's lunch today (pineapple, apple, blood orange, pomegranate arils, and grapefruit). I put that in the blender with some water and chard. It was so delicious! It's so fun to experiment! And if it's not quite sweet enough, you can always add more fruit.

I hope you all are doing well. This has been a good week so far. Even though I didn't stick with JUST green smoothies for the week, I feel great, I've lost a couple pounds, and my workout schedule has gone well. A few of you are up for another week of a green smoothie challenge and I too am ready for another week also! I think it will be a little different than this week, but I'm still trying to decide on what I want to do. I'll let you know on Saturday what I'll be doing next week. If you are getting sick of my emails, just let me know and I'll take you off the email list. I don't want to annoy anyone. And I won't be offended if you don't want to get my emails anymore! It would be great to have you all come along for another week of green smoothies!

I hope your week has gone well. It'd be great to hear how you all are doing. Have a good night!

Green Smoothie Challenge - Day 4!

Hello!

We've made it to hump day - halfway through! I hope everyone is doing well! It's been a very good day for me. I did my usual routine this morning. I got off work about 2:30 and now I'm headed to school. The green smoothies are treating me wonderfully - I have such a positive attitude, even when I have an extremely stressful day. This is probably the thing I like most about the green smoothies - how it makes me feel mentally and emotionally.

I want to know how everyone is doing with their green smoothie cleanse, if you are participating. I've had some whole fruit again today. I found that when I workout, I get a lot more hungry, so I like to have some fruit alongside the green smoothies. I'm liking this challenge so far. And only three more days to go! I hope all is well with everyone!

Green Smoothie Challenge - Day 3!

Good Evening,

I hope all is well with everyone! Things have been going good for me. Today was another long day at the office, but I'm still feeling pretty good. I got up again at 4 and rode the exercise bike. I didn't feel like eating much this morning, so I just had a 16 ounce smoothie for breakfast. I ended up eating some fruit while I was at work - I had a couple clementines, a banana, and some grapefruit. When I got home tonight I had another 16 ounces of green smoothie. My smoothie today was: blueberries, cherries, banana, chard, and romaine lettuce. It was a beautiful deep purple color. I almost didn't want to drink it because it was so pretty! I love chard in my smoothies - it's just so yummy!

I hope the green smoothies are treating you all well. It's been a very long day, so it's time for me to relax. Have a good evening!

And I'd love to hear everyone's experiences so far. Has anything profound happened yet?

Green Smoothie Challenge - Day 2!

Good Evening!

Well we made it through another day! Phew! What a day it was! I spent the day deciding if it's really worth taking an 11 day vacation, just to come back to a big mess at work. I sure had a fun vacation, but today was quite stressful! Luckily, by the end of the 12 hour work day, I had made great progress on the issues that arose while I was away. So overall, it was a successful day and I'm back to loving my job!

This is what my day looked like:

Because I am trying to change my schedule to earlier to accommodate school and work, I got up at 4 this morning. I rode my exercise bike for 30 minutes and then proceeded to make my green smoothies for the day as well as make Jake some food for the day (he's trying to increase his raw food intake, so he had apples, grapefruit, bananas, and clementines today at work).

For my breakfast smoothie, I made a grape, blueberry, banana base with mixed greens and spinach.

For my lunch smoothie, I made a grape, apple, spinach smoothie.

Both smoothies were quite good. What I usually do is make 48 ounces for the morning (Jake drinks about 12 ounces in the morning). Then I like to make another 48 ounces so I can take 32 ounces with me in my lunch bag, with some ice, so I can drink it whenever throughout the day. Then I put the rest in the fridge for later in the evening. If Jake nor I feel like a smoothie in the evening, the doggies get it with their dinner. And they LOVE it! Today I didn't feel like drinking the second smoothie until about 3pm and I drank 16 ounces.

I drank about a half gallon of water while I was at work today. I could tell I was in detox mode as my breath started to get kind of nasty. Overall I am feeling pretty good. Since I got about 3 hours of sleep last night, I'm going to try and get a few more hours today.

A few things I've been thinking about:

First, in the book The 80/10/10 Diet, by Dr Doug Graham, he points out that: "Foods do not heal, the body heals". To me that means, if we are feeding the body the fuel it needs and deserves, our body can heal properly from whatever ailments we may suffer. This is what I'm striving for. On certain food isn't a miracle food and won't cure us. If we have our bodies in the right state, they will heal. And this isn't just about food. It's about exercise, erst, sunshine, less stress, etc. Someday, maybe I'll figure all those things out :).

Secondly, the last few days as I have been dreading returning to work, I've been thinking about what I would rather be doing or where I would rather be. The grass seems to always be greener on the other side: "if I had kids, I (hopefully) wouldn't have to work, and life would be easier OR if we lived somewhere warmer, I would enjoy life so much more" etc, etc. But I've come to a conclusion. Life is what we make of it. We can be happy in ANY situation. My new motto is: 'Happiness is not based on our circumstances, it's based on the perception of them.' The next year is going to be the craziest year I will have experienced, but I choose to use this experience as a tool for growth in many areas. We have started the year off with a WONDERFUL week of green smoothies. I am increasing my exercise to appropriate levels. I am starting school this week to train in the area I've wanted to all my life. Plus, I'm pretty much married to the best man on the planet. So, I'm pretty dang happy. Except that I realized today, that most of my clothes no longer fit me very well :(. Which is a good and bad thing :).

Green Smoothie Challenge - Day 1!

Hello All!!

I am excited to start this 7 day Green Smoothie Challenge with everyone. I think this will be a GREAT week! Today, I am just enjoying fasting, and resting and thinking about the coming week. I've been drinking a lot of water to get rid of any hungry I may experience. So far, the day is going great. I have some light housework that I am doing today, but other than that, not much is going on. I went shopping yesterday to prepare for the next couple days of green smoothies. Eating 3 quarts of green smoothies each day takes a lot of fruit and greens, and my fridge can't hold it all! So I will be shopping every couple of days to make sure I'm well stocked. I think to break my fast today at 6pm, I will be having a blueberry, banana, kale smoothie. Yum!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and I'll email again tomorrow to see how everyone is doing!

-Karen

Green Smoothie Challenge - Let's Get Started!

Good Evening!

Tonight is the start of the Green Smoothie Challenge. I have had a dinner of fruit and will now be fasting until 6pm tomorrow evening when I will have a 32 ounce green smoothie for dinner. I am so excited to start the New Year off with this Green Smoothie Challenge. 7 days isn't very long, and I know we can all succeed at this! I like to take things one day at a time and not think about anything but the current day. Tomorrow will be a nice relaxing day after our week and 1/2 long vacation. I plan on doing some good resting and drinking a lot of water. I got on the scale this morning and realized I didn't gain an ounce over the holiday! I think I actually lost a few pounds! Wahoo!!

I hope you have a great weekend. I will do my best at sending a daily email this week with my experiences, tips, and recipes. Please feel free to do the same!!

Happy New Year!

Reminder - Green Smoothie Challenge

December 31, 2009

Good Morning!

This is a reminder that I am starting a Green Smoothie Challenge on Sunday, December 3, 2010. To prepare for the challenge, I wanted to send a list of the things you will need to succeed.

1. Good blender. I have a Blendtec, but any blender will work.
2. Plenty of greens. It's best to rotate the greens you are eating on a regular basis, but for one week, using one kind of greens will work fine.
3. Lots of fresh, ripe fruit. There are a lot of yummy combinations of fruit and greens to make the smoothies delicious! Find some good recipes that you can use regularly that you will thoroughly enjoy.

Here are some awesome recipes that I enjoy.

Banana Kiwi Smoothie
2 bananas
4 kiwis
1 bunch of kale or spinach
2 cups of water (or however much will make it the consistency you would like)

Pineapple delight
1/2 pineapple
2 bananas
1 bunch of spinach
2 cups of water (or however much will make it the consistency you would like)

Best Smoothie Ever :)
Some grapes
Some blueberries
Some strawberries
1 mango
As much greens as you can fit in your blender
Some water

I'll send an email out on Saturday to make sure everyone is ready for the Green Smoothie Challenge! Thanks for joining me! This is going to be a great week!!!

Green Smoothie Challenge

December 27, 2009

Good Evening!!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and wonderful New Year! I wanted to let you know that on January 3, 2010, I will be starting a 7 Day Green Smoothie Challenge!! What better way to start the New Year? I'm sure most of us have not eaten quite the way we should, or exercised as often during the holidays, so I thought this would be a good way to start the New Year!!

First I want to talk about the reason I am doing this, and what I want to accomplish. Then I will tell you what my plans are for the Green Smoothie Challenge. Follow along as closely as you would like. I will send out a daily email giving some tips, maybe some recipes, and tell you how my day is going. Thanks for joining me!

Before we start the Green Smoothie Challenge, I encourage everyone to read Green for Life, by Victoria Boutenko. Also, Green Smoothie Revolution, by Victoria Boutenko is her new book. It's a very easy read and elaborates more on the benefits of green smoothies. Not only that, but there are over 200 recipes for green smoothies! Both of those books are amazing and most helpful when understanding the reason behind my Green Smoothie Challenge :). I have never felt better than when I restrict to a simple daily intake of green smoothies. We'll see how this 7 day challenge goes!

I want to do this challenge because I have reached a plateau in my weight loss streak. I only have a few more pounds to go, but I want to get it off as soon as possible! I know that a strict diet of green smoothies for a short amount of time, is just what I need to boost me to my weight goal.

My goals during the 7 day Green Smoothie Challenge are:

I would like to be consistent with excercising 6 days 30 minutes each day. I would also like to stick to nothing but green smoothies all 7 days.

January 3

This is the first day of the Green Smoothie Challenge. I will be starting the Challenge with a fast that will begin Saturday, the 2nd at 6pm (light dinner Saturday). I will fast for 24 hours and have a 32 ounce green smoothie at 6pm on Sunday, January 3.

Daily Routine (January 4 - 9)

Exercise - 30 minutes aerobic exercise upon rising

Breakfast - 32 - 48 ounce green smoothie

Lunch - 32 - 48 ounce green smoothie

Dinner - 32 - 48 ounce green smoothie

I will also be drinking plenty of water. Although I've been eating quite clean for several months, I know I will still have some detoxification symptoms so I will need to make sure to drink a lot of water so I feel OK.

I hope you'll join me for the Green Smoothie Challenge!!! Happy New Year!

Welcome to my Blog!

Oddly enough, in this day in age, I am new to the blogging world. But, since I've been working on perfecting my new, Raw Food Lifestyle, I've gotten the itch to share my experiences with the world (or even just a few people :) ). After struggling for several years with trying to become a 100% raw foodist, I feel like I've finally succeeded. Since September 1 of this year, I have eaten 100% raw food. I have released a lot of weight, I feel great, and it's time to share my experiences.

On this blog you will find my tidbits for the day, recipes, ideas, and opinions (lots of those as my opinions are almost ALWAYS heard :) ). I would love to hear other raw food experiences. With the holidays coming up, I know I will face some big challenges in sticking with the raw food diet. I'm preparing myself now so I don't give in or let others comments bother me. I think it will be fine.

I follow the Raw Vegan 80/10/10 Diet (See Dr Douglas Graham's book The 80/10/10 Diet). I have found that the mainstream raw food diet is very high in fat (about 50% of calories from fat). I tried this type of raw diet a few times and I couldn't maintain it because I felt SO terrible on it. After reading Dr Graham's book I realized why I couldn't succeed longterm on the high fat diet. I drink about 64 ounces of green smoothies a day in addition to a very simple diet of fresh, sweet fruits, non-sweet fruits, and no more than an ounce of nuts or seeds per day. I track my calories on www.nutridiary.com and that helps keep everything in the right proportions.

This journey has been fun so far and I look forward to continuing. After gaining so much health in the last couple months, I see absolutely no reason to change what I am doing.

That's all for today. I will try and post on a regular basis. If you have any questions, please ask. I am learning too and I think we can all learn from each other. Thanks for visiting!

P.S. I've become obsessed with taking pictures of my food because it looks so amazing. The recipe above is:

Winter Fruit Salad

Pomegranate arils from one pomegranate (I found already seeded arils at Costco - saved me hours of time I'm sure :) )

3 small navel oranges

1 honeycrisp apple chopped (this is my most favorite apple, but any will do)

1 cup chopped pineapple

1 banana sliced

Chop and mix everything together. I kept 1/4 of one of the oranges and squeezed it to make a nice dressing. You could also use lime juice, but I didn't have a lime :). This salad was so delicious!! 450 Calories.