Gotta talk about it!

Hi guys!!

It's barely 6 am. I've had my 24 ounces of water already and drinking coffee. My morning routine. I know it seems crazy drinking that much water first thing in the morning but it's one of those things that you just need to buckle down and do. And keep doing. Until it develops into a habit and routine as it has for me. You can get there with any sort of routine, you just need to stick with it. And it is a great way to start the day. Sets the tone! I am dropping my boys off and will be at work by 8:30 today. 

Hope you had a great weekend and a nice Monday. Mine was good though on Sunday, my almost four year old was not feeling well. I took my boys to see Monsters University at 1 pm. He was fine there. Later at home around 5 pm he was lethargic, feverish and eventually threw up. He was blah over the night through yesterday morning and he drank some Gatorade and water and had some food and by Noon was OK. I really have no idea what that was. Wasn't even a 24-hour bug. Possibly something he ate. My poor sweetie!! He was so pitiful! :(  He was afraid to eat or drink anything because he was thinking he'd keep throwing up. Nothing makes a mother feel worse than watching her babies be sick! 

Have you ever tried a cleanse? There are a variety of cleanses out there and I'm sure you hear about certain fad type cleanses or diets. I am not a fan of anything that brands itself as a "fast, easy way to lose weight". Sorry, that just doesn't exist. Yes, you can lose weight fairly fast by starving but it's not good for you and you won't look good by the end so it defeats the purpose. Yes, you might look like a skeleton, but is that really what you're going for?? 

Back to cleansing. I think it can be a really important part of weight-loss or even maintenance. I don't mean some weird, fad juice for two weeks. I mean whatever cleanse you choose to incorporate that can cleanse your guts out! If you want to shed some excess weight, then ingest certain foods that will help to eliminate it from your body. Old, toxic waste is not good for anything! And by cleansing once in awhile, you will help to get rid of that stuff! Nobody wants to talk about it but poop is important! haha! 

I have talked about the Sass 5-Day Fast Forward Cleanse before. I've done that one. You eat whole eggs, almonds or almond butter (raw/unsalted), plain or Greek yogurt, spinach and raspberries in various combinations for five days. You don't use any additives or salt. You can season with herbs, spices, peppers, garlic, etc...but nothing containing salt. It is four meals starting with a spinach/egg scramble with berries and almonds, then a yogurt parfait made of yogurt, raspberries and almonds (sprinkling cinnamon on that is good), and then a spinach salad using the spinach, sliced almonds, raspberries, hard-boiled eggs and using pepper and balsamic. And you finish with a smoothie using yogurt, raspberries (I use frozen for the smoothie) and almond butter. You can Google and find various blogs by people who did it and the results. I would change it up a bit. Sometimes I didn't want the salad and would just make the scramble again. 

Now is a great time for this cleanse because berries (especially raspberries) are in season. I have read that people changed it up and by day 3, they would eat blueberries or strawberries instead. I think that's OK. The author just states the study was done using the particular foods she chose however you can get results using other berries. Raspberries are nutrient powerhouses though! I have done the cleanse four times since reading about it two years ago. A really good time to do it is right after the holidays when you just feel YUCK and need to shed the yuck. haha! The only bad thing about that is there is nothing in season at that time. But the results are amazing. You shed your body of excess waste, you have eliminated salt cravings and cravings in general by excluding that stuff from your body for five solid days and you just feel great. You are a little light-headed and need to plan accordingly. And they do recommend not doing a lot of exercise during those five days as you are limiting your calories a lot. But this is solid proof that eating fats. Eggs and almonds...don't make you fat and can in fact help you shed excess waste! And lets face it, a food cleanse sounds a lot easier than only juice for days!! :) 

If you don't want to try that one then just check out various cleanses. Sometimes it can be as simple as eating a lot of fruits and veggies for a few days. Limit your starches. Just allow your body to use the good stuff in the fruit and veggies to shed the toxic stuff. Juicing can be really helpful with this too. And incorporating a cleanse once in awhile is so good for you. Just try something. Get out of the "fad cleanse" frame of mind and realize that they exist for a reason and you will benefit. 

Have a great day!! 

xoxoxo
Tam