post workout...

YO!

Nutritional values...well, a small portion of it.

http://www.raw-food-for-the-beginner.com/VegetableNutritionFacts.html 

This link is where I pulled my information from. I have found it has a wonderful amount of valueable information. Most likely where I will be pulling more of my information for the next portions of my journey! 

Carrots:

Carrots have low calories, low sodium and no fat or cholesterol. The juice of carrots is very high in vitamin A, important for eye and skin health. A single serving of carrots added to your juice provides 110 percent of your daily allowance of vitamin A. Carrot juice is also a good source of vitamin C. Vitamin C along with vitamin A may help to improve the immune system and prevent cancer.

Apples:

Apples are low in calories and high in fiber. There are different types of apples, some sweet and some more sour than others. The juice of apples is high in vitamin C, beta-carotene and B vitamins. Apple juice may also help in dementia according to research published in 2006 in the “Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.” Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Lowell discovered that apple juice consumption increases production of an essential neurotransmitter, acetylcholine in animal studies. Increased acetylcholine is known to impact memory.

Celery:

Celery is very low in calories and has no fat, although it is high in vitamin C and vitamin A. Celery juice is also high in dietary fiber and a good source of folic acid, potassium, vitamin B-1 and vitamin B-6. Although celery juice contains a higher level of sodium than other vegetables juices at 115 milligrams per serving, the sodium is generally offset by the high levels of potassium. Celery juice has a phytochemical compound known as coumarins. Coumarins may help treat cancer, prevent migraines and lower blood pressure.

Cucumber:
A good source of vitamin A, C, and K. Also a good source of phosphorus, pantothenic acid, manganese, magnesium and potassium. Also, a good source of silicon. Anti-aging diuretic, good for complexion, improves nail and hair growth, lowers cholesterol 

Tomatoes: Relieves dryness and thirst. Tones the stomach cleans the live. Purifies the blood and detoxifies the body. Encourages digestion. Relieves high blood pressure and headache. 

Peppers: Good for skin. Aid the immune system. Helps heal heart conditions. 

Sweet Potato: strengthens the spleen-panceras. removes toxins from the body. Benefits the kidneys. Treats diarrhea.  

Kale: Vitamin C, Vitamin A (beta-carotene), Calcium, Vitamin K, Lutein, Zeaxanthin, Chlorophyll, Iron, Potassium, Phosphorus, Manganese, Riboflavin, Thiamin, Copper, Magnesium, Folate Acid. Kale benefits eye sight, is a potent antioxidant, protects from coronary artery disease, reduces risk of cancer, reduces risk of stroke. 

http://www.raw-food-for-the-beginner.com/VegetableNutritionFacts.html 

Who said you can't juice in a blender?

quick Check in

the next 24 hours

Hey Everyone,

 I thought I would give you a "lay of the land". Tonight I am doing over night babysitting for a good friend of mine. I will NOT be posting until FRIDAY night. Thursday is my second craziest day of the week and to try to get a blog in tonight with child care is going to be near to impossible.

Never the less, here is food break down for the day (because I like telling you all)

Breakfast:
1 Hebrew National Hot Dog (can take the girl out of Chicago but can't take Chicago out of the girl)
2 eggs scrambled
1/4 Kerry Gold Cheese

Yep! I made an omelet and it was DELICIOUS!

I am going to take almonds, an apple and a clementine for snack today at work. I have an hour lunch today, which is wonderful. So I will be coming home to have a salad, but today I am going to cut up some of the chicken breast that I literally just cooked this morning, and add it to that bad boy.

Dinner will be a juice. I will have just enough time after work and before singing lessons to make one! WOOOOO! You guys, I don't like that I haven't had my juice yet, but I am so happy that I get to have it later. I don't think that I will ever miss a day of juicing in some way, I enjoy the way it tastes too much.

On a report side note, I wore a blouse yesterday that I haven't worn in a few years, and by a few I mean more like over 5 years. Any how, it fit wonderfully! I did pin it on the area above and below the button that goes right across the bust but that is just a practical move. I mean, who wants to be sitting there talking to somebody and then all of a sudden their button pops open...just think that quote from "a League of Their Own" when Madonna is talking about the new uniforms they are meant to wear, She asks what is she going to do if "oops, all of a sudden my bosom pops out" LOL! EXACTLY!

Don't forget, Monday starts the work out portion of the new life style changes. I am really excited and committed to doing this. I have been making a new playlist of songs to get motivated by and that I will probably sing along to so let's bring on the building of lung capacity!

Okay, I am signing off to get ready for work. I will see you all on Friday night.

Rebecca

Thoughts worth pondering...

So, I have been mulling over a few things the past couple of days. I can happily say that they are all very good ideas that have been crashing through the banks of my brain. I would like to share a few of them with you all tonight. Also, I thought this would be a nice way to take a break from making you have to see my face. :)

Thought 1:

How can one correlate job interviews to preparing for auditions? The answer is simple. They both function is similar ways. On an audition, your very appearance can make or break a director's idea of your fit for the role. With a job interview your appearance does play a role; did you come dressed appropriately for the job you are applying to?

Not to mention how you sell yourself. When preforming a monologue, especially something that is well known, I always try to make it my own.  It is kind of the same way when you "sell" yourself for the job you are applying for. You could come in there just like ever other Tom, Dick and Harry, or you COULD bring the dynamics that is your very character.

Regardless how you look at it, both put you in a situation where even though you may have prepared there is going to be that one question that forces you to look deep within yourself. That is the MOMENT you truly get to shine. That is the moment when who you are gets to come across! SO TURN ON THAT CHARM, pull out the SMILES and just relax. They are either going to like you or not, and the only thing you can be in control of is whether you presented who you are or what you thought they want you to be.


Thought 2:

"Where have all the cowboys gone"? Paula Cole, you sly dog! This song gets stuck in my head at least once a week and it can on set from any of the afore mentioned words that are lyrics. I have to be truthful though...I REALLY love this song. Maybe I am over thinking it but really, WHERE HAVE ALL THE COWBOYS GONE? I don't mean that literally, but more in the way of that the image of cowboy. The rough and tumble guy. The one that would kick a guy's A for looking at him wrong, that would rise to a lady's defense and help up hold the moral fiber of life? Okay, I guess I really do over think when it comes to that song.
Take a listen and decide for yourself:

Okay, well, that is all I have for you tonight. Oh wait, do you want to know what I ate today...I bet you already guessed it....SALAD!!! I had a salad for lunch and then my friends invited me to stay for dinner tonight and I had a salad there.

NIGHT ALL,
Rebecca

Is that Juice even real?

juice:

1/2 head of Broccoli
1/2 heart of Celery
1 Cucumber
3 Carrots
2 Cuties
1 Apple

Blonde moments are the BEST.

Outtakes

Meet the Fitness Coach...DO IT!

Night Juice:
1/2 heart romaine
2 cups spinach
i apple
2" ginger
2 carrots
1/2 red pepper
1/2 cucumber
4 leaves kale

Day 10: night

Tonight's Juice:
4 strawberries
2 apples
7 leaves of romaine
1 3/4 cup spinach
3 clemintines

Day 10: MID DAY check in

Day 10 Morning

Morning Juice:
2 Cups Spinach
1/2 heart Celery
1/2 Red Pepper
1/4 red onion
2 lemons

HELLO!!!

So, my friends just brought to my attention that I didn't have a following icon. I found the gadget for it and added it to the sidebar. Sorry that I didn't have it up there sooner! NOW, it is easy to follow along. :)

Rebecca

Day 9 Morning...doing fine

Green Juice:
1 Cucmber
4 Celery stalks
1 Green Apple
2 Cups of Spinach
1 Lemon
1" Ginger

Day 8...Don't hate

Tabbouleh Juice made it into the rounds again this morning. Check the previous post for the recipe.

Carrot Apple Ginger juice:
3 Carrots
2 Apples
1" Ginger

Day 7 Night

Had the Bruschetta Juice at 500PM to get me through the evening after work.



Night Snack: (hehe)
3 Carrots
1 cup Parsley
3 cup Spinach
4 Asparagus
1 Tomato
1 Green Apple

Day 7 morning

Just recipes for you this morning, I have gotta fly. Need to get ready for work!




Tabbouleh Juice:
4 Cups Parsely
1 Tomato
1/4 Red Onion
1 Lemon
1 Cucumber (med size)
1 tsp Olive Oil
Sea Salt and Black Pepper (to taste)




Mid morning Juice:
1/4 green Cabbage
1/2 heart Romaine
1/2 heart Celery
4 Asparagus
1 green apple
1"ginger

Day 6 Evening part 2

Day 6 Evening part one

Bruschetta Juice:
2 Tomatoes
2 Garlic cloves (peeled)
1 Bunch Basil (20 leaves)

THIS SERIOUSLY WAS A GODSEND TO ME TONIGHT!

The video cuts out so I will post the rest of my thoughts in part 2.

DAY 6 morning

Morning Juice:

1/4 Cabbage
1/2 heart of Romaine
5 stalks of Celery
3 shoots of Asparagus
1" ginger
1 pear

DAY 5 Night

Hey Everyone,

I thought tonight I would blog instead of vlog. Although, I am not sure that it will be as profound as my first few.

Well, I guess what I will write about is how I am feeling up to this point. After juicing for five days I can say that I feel really good. I am excited to take on the next five days of this little adventure. The journey has been a lot more fun than I had anticipated. I am still having break outs on my face, but that is a much expected turn of events. One that I welcome happily. I will take the little pimples since they are a sign of good things going on inside the body.

As far as energy goes, I would say that over all it is up. I do feel a little more exhausted on work days, which can be expected since I work in a warehouse. As long as I remember to bring enough juice with me to get through, I feel good through the day.

I can also say that I am well satisfied after every juice. I have yet to come across a juice I have not liked.  Even the massive veggie based one that I made for last night. Not going to lie, it smelled like a garden. It took me a little time to passed the smell. The taste was SPECTACULAR! Actually, it has been one of my favorites so far. I think that my taste buds truly do like the taste of greens. I mean, how could you not like being able to detect all of those different flavors?

I hope that my posts have been encouraging to anyone who may be thinking about transforming their life to a more healthy style. I admit that these posts have been a bit random. At least that is how it has felt to me. I am certain that when I am finished detoxing I will end up being more focused. I am sorry to say that my thoughts are scattered and a little bobbled.

As much, I am done typing because honestly, it is hard to keep focusing.

Rebecca

DAY 5 Morning

Hey Everybody,

This is going to just be my juice reciepes for the day. I woke up with just enough time to juice this morning before work. I will get you a good video tonight. :)

Morning juice:
1 large sweet potato
1/2 heart of celery
2 oranges
1 apple
1" ginger

Afternoon juice:
1/2 heart of romaine
3 large Kale leaves
1 Bunch of Broccoli
1/2 Red Pepper
1 Cucumber
1 apple

DAY 4 night

Hey guys,

Fading out fast tonight...I am just going to post my dinner juice. Catch you all in the morning.

Here's to hoping I sleep all night long,

Rebecca


garden juice:

6 Asparagus
1/2 a head of broccoli
8 kale leaves
1/4 cabbage
1/2 heart of celery
1/2 heart of romaine
1 pear

DAY 4: post work

DAY 4 Morning

Today's Juice: 52-54 oz

6 leaves of Kale
1/2 Heart of Romaine
1/2 Red Pepper
2 Carrots
1/4 Head of Cabbage
1 Whole bunch of Broccoli
6 Stalks of Celery
1 Cucumber
1 Tbs of Ginger
1 Orange
2 Apples

Also, at this point I would say I am half way or a little over half way through my ingredients I bought on Friday.

DAY 3 Night

EPIC JUICE:

7 stalks of celery
2 cucumbers
1/3 bag of spinach
4 carrots
1 grapefruit
2 trees of broccoli
1/4 cup corn
5 strawberries
10 grapes
1/4 of cantoloupe

I think that is everything I had in the juice I made tonight. It literally was a hodge-podge of ingredients from my friends! THANK you to you all for you generous giving!

Day 3 Morning

2 stalks of Broccoli
1 Sweet potato
2 apples
1/2 Red pepper
1/2 Cucumber
2 stalks of Celery
2 leaves of romaine
1 cups shredded carrots
just over a tsp of ginger

DAY 2

Breakfast Juice:

1 pear
1 orange
2 carrots
2 stalks of broccoli
3 Kale leaves
2 leaves of Romaine
2 stalks of celery
1 cucumber

Lunch Juice:
1 pear
1 orange
2 stalks celery
1/2 cucumber
2 romaine leaves
2 kale leaves
2 carrots
1 tsp ginger

I made some hefty juices today! LOL

see ya later,

Rebecca

Good Morning,

I did not blog last night because I did not have the mental ability to do so!

Let me walk you through day one of juicing:

7AM

Made juice before work, drank, felt GREAT.

10AM (break time at work)

Was HUNGRY. Realised I completely forgot to bring ANY juice with me to work!
Not a huge deal, I live close enough that I could run home at lunch.

1030AM

All I could think about was a BIG, FAT, JUICY HAMBURGER! HELLO!!!

12PM

Went home at lunch made enough juice for lunch. Went back to work and the afternoon was pretty good. Just used the same I had used for Dinner the night before and breakfast.

330PM

A dull headache set in.

430PM

Meet with a client

530PM

Went to the market to get fruit and veg for the  next few days. Spent just shy of $30.

6PM

Made dinner:

Ingredients:
3 kale leaves
3 celery stalks
4 carrots
2 fuji apples

That was DELICIOUS. 

645PM

Got together with some friends to watch SMASH. (yes, I am an avid SMASH watcher).
As the night went on the headache increased. I am expecting these kind of reactions over the next few days. Even though this usually causes most of us to stop detoxing, I know that I will just need to push through the next few days to overcome it. 

11PM

I took leave of my friends house because I was literally too DULL to function. My friend could visibly see me shut down while we were talking. I came home, fell into bed and as soon as my head hit my pillow I crashed. I slept from 1145PM to 1145AM. 

So, that was day one. I PROMISE that tonight I will Vlog for today. 

I look forward to seeing you all later, 

Rebecca

Day1

GOOD MORNING!

 I am on my way to make a juice. I think I am going to stick with the same one from last night. Then, it is off to work I go. Have a great day!

Rebecca

Pre-game Day, Evening start

Okay, so today I have only had one juice. It was my dinner. I will say that after having it I felt very satisfied and have not noticed any big changes as of yet.

Here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients:     
2 cucumber
4 celery stalks
2 zucchini
6 kale Leaves
6 spinach leaves
1 lemon
2 Tbsp. ginger

Happy juicing!

Rebecca

The Game Plan

Okay, so here is how it is going to go down.

I am going to do a ten day juice cleanse. I am doing it to reboot my system. During this time, I plan to Vlog to best capture how the detox goes. I will post my juicing recipes and the cost of food. After the first ten days I will take the next ten days to "reintroduce" solid food. Marking day 20 with a GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST... I know; I haven't even started and I am already excited about it, the small things. :)

After the first twenty days we will begin to work out. I know that you won't actually be working out, but you are on this journey with me, so, we work out. I will post what I am doing. I will take the time to type out my program for you, you can give it a whirl.

Once a week, I will post photos. I am using the photos to track the tangible progress. I will say two things about this: 1. This is the most vulnerable aspect of this project for me. 2. I will not allow negative comments (and we can expect them to be DELETED, not just on photos).

Here's to Turning New,

Rebecca

pre-juice detox photo shoot

So this is where it will be the hardest. Photos...

The Old is Gone; The New has Come...

....and it all is still a process; sometimes a painful one, sometimes a joyful one, BUT ALWAYS a changing one.

So as I eluded in the previous post (which you should read if you have not), I am going to open "it" up to you here. What the heck does that mean? I want to share with you the history of my life, the nitty-gritty of my past. I want to tell you what it was like to grow up as a taller, chubby kid. I want to share with you the names I got called that affected my "formative" years in ways that I did not know until I was in a tailspin of destruction. I want to talk about how the death of a very close friend and the dark hole of Alzheimer's that has taken over my dad drove me to dive into emotional eating. I WANT to cover the gambit that is EATING DISORDERS...yes, that's right, we are going to go there for a little bit. Don't worry, this won't be one of those after school specials that we grew up with. I am merely going to share the story of my life with you.

Like I said, I grew up as a taller kid. Don't think that I just mean I was taller than my classmates, I was taller than a few of my teachers and my own mother; nothing like being a "giant" and being surrounded by children who don't understand weight distribution. Perspectively, at four years old, I was too big to play in the McDonald's play lands (you know the ones with Grimace and Hamburglar) and by the time I ended my fifth grade year, I was five-foot-fourish. Not to mention that I played sports and was more than willing to beat the tar out of you for calling me fat. Of course I grew up in the time when "Street Fighter" was all the rage and the kids at recess had no qualms about calling me Ehonda. I spent my childhood being called "Fatty", "Ehonda", "Butter Bar", "Lardo".

In junior high it wasn't any better. Talk about AKWARD years of life. I will skim past them as they were pretty similar to elementary, with the only change being the formation of large breasts and no butt.  OH! And occasionally being told by other girls that if I were just thinner, "Johnny" would totally date me. HA! Yeah, because having a boyfriend when I am 12 is the smartest thing in the world...

Before I go on, I should mention that when I was entering into my eighth grade year my family got terrible news. The company my dad worked for was doing "cut backs". We had to sell our home and move another town over; I had to start my last year of junior high in a brand new school... Enter the start of massive amounts of depression. My depression was––what I would guess is called––pretty normal. I had anger issues (which we can conclude really developed in elementary school), I quit playing all the sports that I LOVED, and started to find comfort in food.

So here I go into high school. I don't have very much to say here because I think we all have terrible stories of this time of our lives. The long and short of this is that this was the time when I started to spiral out of control...Very subtle changes happened. I started smoking, which became a very easy way to deter eating. Soon, I was skipping one meal a day. In my junior year I chose to take a strength and conditioning class for phys ed. (I should back story that my PE classes were always the last period of the day and that my lunch period was at 11:30 AM...) Remember how I said that my dad's company was doing "cut-backs"? Well, my dad got laid off. Why does that matter? Well, you see I have a very distinct memory from a day after school when I came home, grabbed a snack and my dad said to me, "yeah, go ahead and eat that because that won't make you fat". That is all I will say on that.

Anyway, I will fast forward to the summer after my junior year. I graduated that summer and resolved to work third shift as a semi-truck loader for a major company. This particular company has their loaders load by hand mind you. Sooooooo, figured out where this could be going? I basically got paid to work out, which was GREAT...until I plateaued at any given weight. So the first time that happened I cut a meal out of my day, then two meals, eventually I would eat once a week. That was just the beginning; I started to only allow alcohol to be my calories I would intake. I was diving down the wrong rabbit hole. I will round this out by saying I got down to 145 pounds (oh, and by the way, as an adult, I am 5'11-ish and have a broader frame), and I realized that what I was doing was going to be the death of me.

I left that job thinking that would be the thing that would save me. A VERY good friend of mine hired me on to help her function in life as she had just been diagnosed with a terminal disease. In that time of caring, I really began to value life in a new way. I eventually told people that were close to me about my disorder. I started to get "healthy". I say that loosely because really what happened is my friend started getting a lot worse as time went on. She lost her appetite, so lots of us around her would eat with her just to try to get her to eat. I entered back into the emotional binging that I had done when I had moved. Except this time I included alcohol with that binging. I did gain an amount of weight, but what really happened was I came up to a healthy weight. This all happened in the years of 2004-2007.

Yet again I am going to jump ahead a few years. Let's land in October of 2009. This was the year that my family and I officially received the diagnoses that my dad has Alzheimer's. Yep, you guessed it; first I started to skip meals and run like a FREAK. As the years have gone on it has turned into a little more outworking of emotional eating. Neither were as extreme as I had experienced in previous seasons of life.

So here we are in the glorious year of 2013. Here I am FINALLY in love with me! Yes, I have excess weight, Yes, I love me some ice cream and sugar, but most importantly, I LOVE my body. I have learned to not have critical eyes when I look at myself in the mirror, I have learned to ignore all the snide comments one can over hear, I HAVE LEARNED TO BE SECURE!!! Thank GOD!

However, I want to be living HEALTHY and NOT HELLthy... It has taken me a long time to get to a place where I can love me and be secure. I am not going to lie, the prospects of what I plan to do over the next year SCARE the ever-living out of me. But, I will press through it because I know it is yet another area in my life where I AM taking ground back that was so RUDELY stripped out of my hands at a young age.

I will give a SHOUT that shakes the earth and tears down the walls!

Rebecca

A New Road To RUN

Hello, and WELCOME! 

So you have just stumbled upon this blog....Or, I invited you to come and take a look. In whatever case, I bet you are wanting to know what this blog is actually about. I mean, that is what I ask myself whenever I come across a blog for the first time. I immediately want to know WHY should I be reading this?

I will give you a brief overview; I am sick of living HELLthy and want to live a healthy life-style. I promise that I will try not to get soap boxed, meaning I won't preach at you! I will share the highs and the lows, the ins and the outs and all the in betweens no matter how "ugly" I may think they are. 

My goal is to encourage any of you to go for what you dream, to make the changes you need to make, and to know that it is normal for it to feel hard. I know that there will be times when I will probably want to give up and quit; as I said in my profile info, I don't ever believe that is an option. I am not foolish though, and I know that the flesh is weak even when the mind and will may be strong, so PLEASE feel free to encourage me in any way you feel to do so! I will appreciate it. I also believe you will reap a reward from spurring me on! 

The basic blog will either be written or videos. I want to keep them changed up as often as possible; you know, keep it lively. I am going to be posting photos of the physical changes that occur over the duration of this project; I will Vlog as often as I can. I want to be as vulnerable before you all as I can be. I want you to be on this journey with me. 

I hope that you enjoy the little parts of life that I share, that you are inspired and that you maybe find the courage to step into the things you have always wanted to do! 

Oh, yeah! One last thing, I am going to spend the next two blogs opening up to you about myself, what my motivation is behind this journey and try to give a structured layout for what you will actually find and how often to be expecting "goodies" to appear. 

Thanks for your time in reading this, 

Rebecca