Green smoothie:
2 bananas
One to two handfuls of baby dill
One handful of spinach
One handful of sorrel
Lots of nutrition in the baby greens with very little bitterness!
Mint iced tea:
Handful of mint sprigs
Hot water
Cold water
Honey
Immerse the mint sprigs in the hot water for around five minutes. Dilute with cold water and sweeten with honey.
I'm really excited for Friday!
Reasons:
What I bought on Sunday for green smoothies:
Organic spinach from Costco
Organic carrots from Costco
Conventional celery from Costco
Frozen fruit from TJ's (mango and strawberries)
Organic romaine lettuce from TJ's
Apples from TJ's
I had lemons and frozen berries already.
Today is Tuesday, and I've pretty much finished eating for the day. I still have
½ of the organic spinach I bought
A lot of carrots
All of the celery
½ bag of mango and ¾ bag of strawberries
¾ romaine lettuce
3 apples
1.5 lemons
1 bag berries
I think I will make it until at least Friday J
.
Lemon juice
Sesame oil (I used cold-pressed)
Grapeseed oil
Carrots (grated or made into ribbons)
Cabbage (I used purple—much prettier!)
Black pepper
Optional: Salt (because I couldn't find my salt…?!)
Mix in a big bowl. Put in fridge. Eat.
Trust me; it gets exponentially better after a couple hours in the refrigerator.
I was looking for my cumin, but that magically disappeared as well.
Recently, I've been super busy, but not too busy to make green smoothies!
I've saved a lot of time by buying pre-washed salad mixes from Trader Joe's and throwing them into the blender with a banana.
It always turns out sooo good. Trader Joe's Herb Salad= love. If I had time, I'd make salad mixes myself and store them in bags after washing, but… I don't have time L More time+ salad mixes= higher utility than making salad mixes myself and wasting time.
Celery + banana is good, too. I'm drinking one right now, as a break from studying (it's cram time, ugh), and the sodium from it is making me feel a lot more energetic. The doctor has told me that I get blackouts when I'm sodium deficient, so… celery and banana smoothie is perfect to combat this.
Monthly cycle= bad for exams. Seriously. I can't think straight.
½ butternut squash
1 cup broccoli
1/3 cup garbanzo beans
1 carrot
½ cup broccoli slaw
Cottage cheese
Cumin
Cinnamon
Salt & pepper
Bake the butternut squash at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour. Meanwhile, cook a cup of broccoli with a cup of water until the water boils. Take the butternut squash, halve it and scoop out the seeds. Toss half into the Vitamix with the broccoli and its cooking liquid (so if you're like me and tend to overcook broccoli, you won't lose any nutrients!) Next, put in around ½ cup of cottage cheese (depending how creamy and cheesy you want it), the carrot, broccoli slaw (which is basically just the stem of the broccoli with some julienned carrots), the garbanzo beans, and the seasonings (how much depends on how you like your soup). Whir on high until it's all thick and creamy. Eat. Yummy. Perfect for college students.
Somewhat like baby food, though. Toss in some julienned vegetables or sprouts for crunch if you like. Even eat it with a slice of bread.
I have such a sore throat right now. I'm also really tired.
But! Elimination has been good today.
Drinking lots of water and tea. Hopefully this will be gone by tomorrow.
Wow, I've had a smoothie yesterday and am in the process of finishing one today, and the effects are pretty tremendous.
Without the smoothies, I don't eliminate waste as efficiently, but now… it's getting slowly to the point of what it was like during the month of green smoothies.
My skin and my upper lip are also itching a bit. It comes and goes.
I went exercising for 20 min this morning, and couldn't continue because I was sweating so much that it was running into my eyes. Such a big difference!
I also find that I need more water, which is good!
I still have too many sweets (my mom always brings me stuff), so I crave them, but that's going to start changing soon.
Today's smoothie:
Concord grapes (grown in a family friend's garden!)
Fresh apple cider (from the cider mill)
Lemon juice
3 leaves of kale
4 strawberries (frozen, so the Vitamix wouldn't make the smoothie warm)
Lots of fiber! I also included the seeds and skin of the grapes, and I do think that it's the main reason why my detox is so apparent today. It started right after I drank a third of the smoothie, so I took a break (am actually still taking one) from the smoothie. I'll finish it after my super circuits class J
I'm keeping it all to myself J but it was a good day. Particularly, a good morning.
Hint: "The look that melted Peter"
But here's a recipe:
Wheatgrass juice (yay, I finally could juice my precious wheatgrass~)
1/5 apple
5 strawberries (frozen)
Juice of 1 lemon
Water
Blend and enjoy~ Wheatgrass-strawberry-lemonade.
After making cookies on Friday, I keep craving sweets and chocolate. Fell for it in a big way today, but that's okay. I can run and row it off tomorrow morning. It's a bit late right now, so I'm not going to attempt to exercise (because otherwise, I'll be unable to sleep). I'm going to buy some spinach, collards, and kale. And whatever is there at the local market (freshly grown greens)! Greens bought locally are so cheap, and so good~ my parents will also be giving me lots of apples (they went apple picking today). My wheatgrass should be ready soon, too. Apple and wheatgrass juice, yum. Mega energy booster!
½ frozen banana
1 hybrid b/w apple and pear (apple-pear!)
3 kale leaves
1 collard leaf
Water
Yummy, but I can only finish 600 mL. I added enough water to make one liter. So full.
For the past three weeks, I've been taking it easy on Friday thru Sunday after the increasingly hard fitness classes on Monday to Thursday with my walking schedule added on in the mornings. The main reason for this is because I don't have class on Friday until noon, so I was lazy and didn't want to wake up early. Every week, it just snowballed so that I wouldn't exercise on the weekend. As a result, the weight I lost during the week was gained back because I didn't exercise and Fridays and Sundays are when the saints make us a meal. So… I exercised on Friday, and I exercise today, and I plan to exercise on Sunday. I will lose my freshman fifteen and more!
Today was my first time using the rowing machine. It was so fun! And it amazed me how I burned 102 calories within 10 minutes without having to think too much about it (compared to running, which requires me to get really hard-hitting music to get going). I did run for 15 min and walk for 15-20 min (all in intervals) before the rowing machine, so the difference between the amount of mental effort I put into running and then into rowing was pretty obvious to me. Sadly, I only got to row for about 10 min. I got a bit freaked out when a guy moved the rowing machine behind me next to mine. I think I'll include rowing into my daily morning routine. The trainer for my super circuits class also advised me to row to improve my back muscles and my scoliosis, so I'm happy that we're having a good relationship from the start (me and the rowing machine, I mean).
Every morning, I've walked 20-30 min. I only stop walking after 20 min if my feet hurt. My feet are getting used to walking for long distances without wearing Earth shoes (that extensively pad the front of the foot, which is where it hurts when I walk a lot). Today, I walked for 30 min for 3.0 mi/hr and at a 3.0 incline to burn 152 cal. My goal is usually to burn at least 150 cal and 1.5 miles, so this was my minimum. Walking in the morning before class definitely wakes me up and makes me pay attention during class. It seems to speed up my metabolism too—I sweat more easily and I've been losing weight at the rate of 1 pound every two days.
I'm down to 143 pounds—I still have twenty pounds until I am back to where I used to be.
For eating, I mostly feed my cravings. They're especially bad this week because this is my PMS week. I've been trying to drink PMS tea (from Traditional Medicinals) daily, but I haven't had it today or yesterday. I craved first underripe bananas, then dates with almond butter. I ate several dates with almond butter today, and that craving is now satiated. I think part of it is a sugar craving, but also because dates are known in Chinese medicine to be good for replenishing your blood supply and should be eaten during your period (or maybe a bit before) to warm up your body. I made an interesting salad today—I sliced half of a huge zucchini (only 79 cents!) into noodles and blanched them. Then I sautéed half a red onion, an orange tomato, and more zucchini together. I was trying to fry an egg and have the yolk nice and slippery to form a sauce over the salad, but I've had my eggs too long, so the yolk didn't hold its shape. I really wanted a gooey texture, so I melted some cheese over the whole thing. It was satisfying. I could tell I was satisfied after I ate that salad and those dates because my jaw was sore from chewing and I wasn't hungry anymore.
I went to a super circuit class today. It was a bit awkward, because I was easily the largest person there (they were naturally skinny or athletes), but my energy level, coordination, and my movements were up to par, or better than theirs. I felt more comfortable after the teacher said that she had lost 80 pounds in two years, so I feel like I'm not alone (though I don't have THAT much weight to lose).
She told us to eat and drink water after the class, so I made a green smoothie ^^ I also ate half a slice of bread with cheese and tomato (I really love tomatoes!)
It's good to be active again (and to be at school)!
I've exercised in the morning before class on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. The only reason I missed Thursday was because I went to a prayer meeting on Wednesday and came home late. It was God's sovereignty, though, because if I had walked for an hour on Thursday, my feet would've been too sore for me to help out at the COC table for 3.5 hours.
Benefits of exercising in the morning:
-I exercise before I eat. I often feel ravenous in the morning, but after exercising, my hunger is dulled and I am easily satisfied with a green smoothie made of very few ingredients (whereas before, my smoothies were highly complicated).
-I have more energy. I had trouble staying awake in the afternoon classes last year, but none of that problem so far!
-I focus better afterwards. I'm more productive and stick more easily to my schedule.
-It ensures that I wake up early enough in the mornings and that I don't waste time. I also get hungry during lunchtime because I eat breakfast so early, whereas last year, I ate lunch merely because it was lunchtime, not because I was hungry.
-I don't feel drowsy in the mornings—it's an instant reviver.
-It warms me up for exercise sessions in the evening (which I will be starting next week).
-I sweat more easily, releasing more toxins.
-It gets me to drink more water.
-I don't have to stress about fitting in exercise later in the day because it's already done.
-I feel healthy!
-I don't feel guilty about not exercising.
-My back is a lot straighter than when I don't exercise. I'm not a cylinder anymore!
1 apple-pear (it's new! It's at Costco! It tastes like an apple and a pear!)
Kale and spinach (Put more spinach than kale. Otherwise, it gets bitter.)
Half a small zucchini, or a fourth of a large zucchini (I added it just because I had it. You can't taste it.)
Agave nectar (if it isn't sweet enough)
Couple leaves of basil (I like to be able to smell the basil above the other flavors)
Cinnamon
I promise you, cinnamon, basil, and a bit of agave nectar fixes any green smoothie. The basil has a sweetness that you can taste above all the other flavors.
Be careful how much agave and cinnamon you add, though. If you don't keep shaking your green smoothie between sips, they'll sink to the bottom. It'll be cloyingly sweet.
