The highs and lows of my 5 day Summer Re-Boot

Who doesn't love summertime?! But in the midst of all the summer fun and fresh and veggies, I always seem to end up eating lots of crap too. So a few friends / clients and I decided to do a 5 day Summer Re-boot ... Free from sugar, dairy, caffeine, alcohol and gluten and adding in fresh juices, clean, organic fruits and veggies and lots of water and herbal teas to flush out all the crap!

My goals:

1) As part of my IIN nutrition school "homework", experiment with a raw food diet (inspired by David Wolfe) and juicing (inspired by Joe Cross)
2) Take a break from sugar (I've been a sugar junky since I was 5 - probably earlier but that's as far back as I can remember) so every once in a while I need to reset my sweet tooth as my old behaviors start creeping back in.
3) Add in more organic fruits and veggies plus skin care products and self care (detoxing from crap is just as much about what we put on our skin and how we take care of ourselves as it is what we eat).

The 5 day detox was a bit of a roller coaster ride...

Day 1: I'm so excited to start!
Day 2: I have a headache :(
Day 3: I'm so excited (to get the juice!)
Day 4: I'm so hungry!
Day 5: I'm so excited! ( The finish line is near AND people are asking me "What are you doing? You look great. Your skin is glowing" :)

As with most new adventures and challenges in life, the journey is way more important that the destination. And we have to earn it! There really aren't any short cuts...

I had this quote in mind on day 2 through 4 when the going got tough. But I figured I had endured harder things in life, and part of my "rules" for my fellow detox team members was "no whining" allowed. It was OK to share that we had headaches, fatigue, hunger pangs, cravings... But honestly, we're eating and drinking fabulously healthy, delicious, nourishing foods to heal our bodies from disease and inflammation. There is no room to be anything other than grateful for that! Sounds sensible in theory, until you're try working all day and managing a household with a migraine!It would be different if we were on a retreat somewhere, but we were home, living our normal Mon - Fri lives with work, making dinner for our families, and some even had dinner parties to attend during the cleanse!

 

Day 1: I'm so excited! Beginning a new journey is always thrilling. There were 5 of us in the group and I think we all started off with enthusiasm and excitement.

The detox started on a Monday AM so we all shopped on Sunday and prepped clean healthy foods like salads, cut up veggies, made lemon water and I even made a lemon cilantro salad dressing, a chia seed pudding and a sunflower seed pate. My fridge was stocked with healthy snacks!

I was so excited in fact, I decided to get a gentle start on Sunday by making a healthy quinoa salad for dinner with fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and parsley from my garden and a lemon and olive oil dressing. It was a very satisfying dinner actually! And I felt like being a Vegan for the week would be pretty easy! I actually prefer eating Vegan / Raw anyway, despite having Type O blood and the Paleo trend (although I do plan to experiment with that during my IIN school year too).

I woke up early Monday morning (5:30AM) and made a hot lemon water and sat my butt down on my yoga mat for a little meditation / Intention setting followed by 10 minutes of Sun Salutations. After that I made a quick green smoothie and out the door I went for my 7AM client. By 9AM I was already hungry again so I ate some pepitas and an herbal tea and then taught yoga at 9:30. I met a friend for lunch at Wegman's at 11:30 and chose the Avocado veggie roll and a Kombucha. By 2pm I was starving again. Sesame seed pate and veggies snack. Perfect - phew, glad I prepped all that the day before! Dinner was early - HUGE salad with homemade avocado dressing and tons of veggies and sprouts. Hungry again by 7pm so made a fresh peach smoothie with coconut milk and Sunwarrior Raw protein powder. Slept like a baby.

Day 2: Woke up with a headache. Had a little green tea to take the edge off. Worked like a charm but wasn't as fun without the Coconut sugar and almond milk. Had another big green smoothie with spirulina and felt so good I went for a 4 mile run with my dog. I ran slow and felt a little sluggish (but I'm always a slow runner). Drank lots of water and decided to hit the Bio Mat at Natural Vibrant Health to help with the headache and general fatigue plus to boost my detoxification. After that had a few clients and errands so ended up eating a raw food bar that thankfully I picked up at Natural Vibrant Health after my Bio Mat session (which I really didn't want to eat unless it was an "emergency") but I felt my blood sugar dropping so the bar kept me going. Again, another huge salad for dinner and peach smoothie "dessert" in the evening. Rubbed some Magnesium oil on my neck, upper back and shoulders before bed to help relax the headache away. Sleep was OK and woke up NO headache!

Day 3: I'm so excited (to get the juice!!!) Phase two of the detox was when we got to pick up our juices and at this point, I had eaten all the food I had prepped on Sunday and was looking forward to not have to prep more and plus excited to take this detox to the next level.

The juice pick up unfortunately wasn't until 1pm so I made a Ginger Shot (pic left) and another huge green smoothie and went to meet one of my fellow IIN students and detox friend for a 6 mile walk on the NCR trail. Beautiful. We shared stories and 1 1/2 hour walk went by in a blip. I had taken the morning off, thankfully and prior to the walk felt REALLY hungry and tired. But after the green smoothie and walk I was feeling pretty darn fabulous!

Picking up the juices was fun. I busted out one of the Antioxidant juices out ASAP and it tasted like heaven. Very refreshing and to me, I feel like I can just taste the "Prana". That may sound a little "woo woo". But honestly, fresh juices are so full of Life Force energy. I sort of like to imagine every single cell in my body smiling as I drink the juice. OK, maybe I'm losing a few of you here. But seriously, so much of what we eat lacks any sort of real nourishment. Much of our foods are processed, packaged with appealing labels and shipped around the planet. They simply can't compare with real fruits and veggies. And in one bottle of fresh, unpasteurized juice you get like 5 - 8 servings of fruit and veg in one bottle! Talk about fueling your Prana!

For the rest of day 3 and all the way through day 5 I intended on drinking just green juices. They were all prepped for me and chilled in the fridge so I didn't have to shop, chop, prep or clean up! So I was feeling like that would be totally doable. But by 5pm I was pretty darn hungry so I had a salad WITH my juice and some raw cashews! Maybe day 4 I could do an all-juice day?!

Day 4: I'm so hungry!

I'll admit I eat a lot for a girl :) And I'm OK with it! But I really wanted to try to go all day with juice only. Just to see what it was like. But at the same time I woke up with so much energy I really wanted to run too! So this was the big dilemma. Again, I took the day off (lucky timing that two of my regular clients were out of town anyway). The weather was perfect for running and I so rarely have a weekday morning off to run so I was super tempted. But today was more about resting and being restored so I skipped the run for a little meditation, Sun Salutations and gentle stretches.

By 9AM I was already hungry AGAIN so I drank another super green juice. Ah, after two green juices and some yoga I was feeling very energized yet peaceful. I went to Natural Vibrant Health for my second Bio Mat session (part of our 'to do' during the cleanse was to book self care :) I fell sound asleep on the bio mat and woke up feeling like a new person, but slightly dehydrated. Water, water, water. Another juice by 11AM. Sort of full and sort of hungry all at the same time. Another juice at 1pm, wondering if I could make it through until bed time. Usually I'm so busy that my days fly by, but this day was starting to feel really long!

At 2pm my nephew came over and we filmed a few segments for my Youtube channel. Felt a little woozy but for the most part surprisingly energized. On a whim, he even filmed an Ice Bucket Challenge segment for me but I had to do it three times to get it right! I kept missing my head. But I won't blame that on the juice! Haha.

Another juice during our video shoot (my nephew actually took a shot of my super green juice and didn't hate it :)

By 5PM I was seriously ready to eat! But I had come too far to give up at that point! But the wheels started coming off when I had to garden the gazillions of tomatoes and cucumbers in our garden since my husband and I were leaving to out of town on Saturday. I never in a millions years thought I'd be so tempted by a tomato. And I had to spend hours chopping and cooking tomato sauce so this was when I eventually caved.

I had my final 6th juice of the day at 6pm and was drinking lots of water but I was still VERY hungry. So at 8pm I ate a few cups of my fresh (sugar free) tomato sauce and it was crazy delish. All that was in it was sea salt and fresh oregano and basil also from my garden, so it was basically a veg juice (I told myself). But the truth is I know I wouldn't have been able to sleep if my tummy was growling! And I actually did sleep pretty darn good! OK PHEW glad that day was over!

Day 5: I'm so excited! The finish line is in sight (and people are saying "wow your skin is glowing").

Again got up at 5:30AM for an early client and packed a little cooler with ice and three juices. After my client, I met up with a fellow detox friend for a yoga class. I rested in child's pose a good bit but really enjoyed taking a class and my energy felt great. I stopped by Wegman's for a few post detox / beach weekend supplies and while I was shopping got a text message from a client who wanted a session. I was planning on juicing all day, but I needed energy to stretch this client! So I bought two Raw Food bars and ate those, then decided at that point that I was still detoxing but no longer just juicing. So I had a salad for dinner and boy was that enjoyable!)


My husband and I left for the beach Saturday AM and I packed the last two of my juices (since I didn't do juice only on Friday I had a few extras) and I drank my last juice on the beach in Ocean City (wishing I had saved an Island Breeze juice as my finale, but I slammed that one the night before!)

The rest of the weekend I was somewhat challenged to eat healthy, as Ocean City seems to be the land of candy, funnel cakes and fried food. But we had great meals at The Blacksmith in Berlin, Liquid Assets and The Grove Marketplace. 

All in all the Juice Detox was a GREAT experience! Doing it with an awesome and enthusiastic group made a big difference. We all encouraged and cheered each other on and had fun with it.

And you'll all be disappointed that I didn't weigh myself (just not in that habit and in the midst of packing to leave for the beach Sat AM I just forgot!) but I can tell you that I FEEL GREAT and that's what matters most.

I enjoyed the detox so much, that I plan to do another Fall detox and a New Years detox as well. Email if you'd like to join me! And in the meantime, if you want to do a detox sooner, check out Juice Fresh and use the coupon code "yogadubs" at check out (and I can help coach you through it if you like - just email me for details).

Enjoy these last few days of summer my friends!

Namaste

Karen
www.flexiblewarrior.com

JOY, second chances and winning the lottery

This week's post has nothing to do with food, clean eating or flexibility. But it does have everything to do with something else that brings me great JOY.

My husband and I adopted a silly little mutt two years ago. And as our 2 year adoption anniversary approaches (Aug 25th) I have become very nostalgic about the whole thing.

Yesterday as Stella and I ran a few miles on the trail, I reflected back to where she was in the summer of 2012... found homeless as a stray on the streets of Louisianna, then moved to a high kill shelter with dozens of other poor souls. As cute and sweet as she is, her chances were slim to none at that shelter.

Then one day a volunteer from Bonnie Blue Rescue came to the shelter and had the task of carefully choosing a few dogs that he or she could put into foster care. Stella got a second chance! I wish I had the opportunity to find that rescue worker who saved my precious girl that day. After that, Stella got moved into a foster home in Louisiana and she was taken to a few adoption events. Again, as cute and sweet as she was with her purple "adopt me" vest on, she never got picked.

While Stella was waiting for her forever home, my husband and I had summer travels, and even though we had an amazing time mentoring at Knights of Heroes camp in Colorado and then to the London Olympics to cheer on my friend and client Suzanne Stettinius, I was so excited to get home and adopt a puppy. In fact, I had spotted Stella (her name was Missy at the time) a week or so before we left for London and I was hoping she'd still be available when we got back. And as luck would have it, she was!

Next, Stella (along with 5 - 6 other dogs) made the the 20 hour 3 day journey from Louisiana to Maryland! Many volunteer drivers and over night foster homes made that long trip possible. Again, if I could thank each and every one of them I would. So many caring, giving people work so hard to save these dogs and make adoption possible.

I had never had a blind date before and adopting a rescue dog from Louisiana that I had never met seemed a little risky. But I had a vibe about Stella. And I prayed about it and meditated on it and decided to go for it.

And ironically that year, I had chosen the word "JOY" as my "One Word" (with some help from my friend Jimmy Page). And do you know what? I got a puppy that is pure joy. I didn't know it until a few weeks after we had re-named her when her true personality came out and she was no longer so skinny and scared. "Joy" should have been her name.

These days Stella is living the life that she deserves... She wears her Ravens jersey for game days, runs on the trail with me, is invited to friends parties and Thanksgiving dinner with the family, catches frisbees like an super star, and even eats the best doggy food (no fillers and crap or course).

Prior to adopting Stella, my husband and I would look at Petfinder for hours and would joke that ..."one of these lucky pups is gonna win the lottery". And now the joke is that is wasn't Stella that won the lottery, it was US!

Happy Anniversary Stella!!!

Summer Juice & Yoga RENEWAL

Yes summer is the time of fresh fruits and veggies, sunshine and long, relaxing days. But it can also be a time of hot dogs on the grill, strawberry margaritas and travel that can often be stressful, exhausting and overly indulgent.

No regrets or guilt! Traveling and fun summer gatherings are the best and wasting energy beating ourselves up does more harm than good. Sometimes it's better to pick a date and clean the slate!

I'm feeling like it's time for an August Juice and Yoga Renewal...
A break from standard picnic fare and an opportunity to try some new clean food recipes and enjoy fresh juices, yoga and outdoor exercise to feel lighter, leaner and more energized (and better in our shorts, tank tops and bathing suits for the rest of the summer :)

When we take a week out of  our busy schedule to focus on foods and activities that FUEL OUR PRANA (life force energy)  we create an upward spiral that breaks us out of ruts that bog us down and allows us to jump start into new, healthy behaviors.

We'll be focusing on the combination of clean, healthy foods and fresh juices plus Yoga and meditation along with self care and outdoor activities that bring you joy... hiking, biking, walking, running, gardening, horseback riding or any outdoor exercise in "nature's gym" that allows you to be present and reconnect with the essence of summer.

Ironically, I'm in my fourth week of nutrition / health coach school with Integrative Institute of Nutrition and part of my "homework" is accountability to myself ... to take care of me first because we all know "you can't give from an empty cup" and no one will be inspired by a stressed out yoga teacher or an unhealthy health coach... 

Which is why I am committed to doing this 5 Day Juice and Yoga Renewal WITH YOU! We will be on this journey together as a team. And BTW taking a week out to care for yourself is the opposite of selfish because positive results will spill over to our spouses, kids, friends, dogs, co-workers, heck it will probably even have a positive affect on the grocery store clerk and everyone that crosses your path!

My friend and health coach Kendell Reichart from Natural Vibrant Health and I will be cheering you on with some informal coaching calls. And I'll be teaching yoga and (weather permitting) will do some optional group hiking, biking, running, and walking that week too!

So if you'd like to join us, the details are on this flyer. Yes, we're flexible (pun intended) and you can join the group without doing the yoga. Or you can do the yoga without juicing (if you have your own juicer or want to eat detox friendly foods and green smoothies instead). Or whatever feels right for you, your goals and your body! Just let me know and we can tweak the program and costs accordingly. 

A significant amount of the cost involved is for the juices, which are cold pressed locally and provided by a Baltimore based company called Juice Fresh! We are limited to 10 spots so order your juices here ASAP because once the spots are gone, they are gone (choose the Wed Aug 20th Baltimore pick up date and select Natural Vibrant Health in Hereford as your pick up location) and don't forget to use the coupon code "yogadubs" at checkout so they know you are part of my group. By the way, if you can't join us for the Summer Renewal Dates, you can still use my coupon code anytime and do a juice detox on your own at a date that better suits you! Kendall or I can coach you privately (just email for details).

One more thing... DO NOT SIGN UP if...

•  You're gonna whine, complain or make excuses. This doesn't mean we can't share our challenges! It just means we are blessed to have the opportunity to eat clean, healthy food and take care of ourselves for a week and there will be zero reasons to complain. An attitude of gratitude will get you everywhere. 
• You HATE greens. These juices are very green and intended for detoxifying. They aren't colorful fruity juices. So if bok choy, kale and spinach make you cringe, you may want to find another way to detox. 
• You're not 100% committed for whatever reason. You may have work commitments or a family member who needs you. But if you're not ALL IN, don't waste your money or precious energy.
• You have a medical issue that you're under a doctors care or need meds  / clearance for  (and / or if you have Hashimoto's thyroiditis - I have this condition so will be modifying my detox accordingly because many of the green juices have lots of cruciferous veggies in them, which are extremely cleansing and healing! But if you have an autoimmune thyroid condition like me, limiting these types of uncooked veggies is advised). You can ask me more about this if you have Hashimoto's. 

OK that's all for today! Hope your enjoying this awesome weather and are having an amazing summer!

Namaste

Karen
www.flexiblewarrior.com