"Happy Leap Day"?

This picture is a real scroll down pic...

This guy is literally LEAPING on leap day.

Question: When did people start saying "Happy Leap Day"?  I heard that a lot today.  Has that always been a thing?  I don't remember that from 2008.  Anyway, I dig this sheep.

Final cleanse thoughts (Part 3 of the cleanse series)

Okay, hopefully I will shut up about cleanses after this post.

Some final thoughts, answered in the form of fake frequently asked questions.

Why did I wind up doing this cleanse?
I saw a dietitian because I'd felt like my digestion and complexion had been getting worse over the past couple of years, and I had a hunch they were both related to my diet.  A new year's resolution was to get to the bottom of this.  In our first meeting, she suggested I do this cleanse, and I was all gung-ho to get going.  Fun fact: I brought home all the supplements and powders, and my husband said he wanted to do it with me.  It was very sweet of him and really nice to do it with a buddy, so we suffered (and learned!) together.

What were the hardest parts?
There are two clear winners for this question.
1.  The first four days were brutal.  Travis and I were both suffering major withdrawal from caffeine and sugar.  It took several days to get over it.  We had really bad headaches and were super-lethargic.  It was interesting, though, to experience your body legitimately freaking out without coffee and candy... we were literally detoxing.  And then also really satisfying to adjust to not having sugar and caffeine.  (I've been done with the cleanse for about two weeks now, and I've added back sugar (I'm not crazy!), but I actually haven't added caffeine back yet, and am trying not to get hooked again.)
2.  Weekends are pretty terrible.  Here are the things I like to do on weekends: go out to restaurants; go out to bars; cook a big pasta dinner and drink wine; drink coffee and read the paper; get a latte and go for a walk; watch movies and eat popcorn and drink diet coke.  We became social recluses because there's really no point in exposing yourself to so much temptation.  (We met friends at a bar once and had... waters.  So sad.  And then the waitress told us we couldn't sit there if we were just having waters.  Even sadder.)  I watched a lot of movies those weeks, and we started taking down "Breaking Bad."

What surprised you the most?
This is going to sound so cheesy and so LA, but... I really felt better while I was eating on the cleanse!  My skin totally cleared up, I lost a few pounds, which was a surprise bonus, and my energy levels were really even throughout the day.  I'm not going to exaggerate and say I leapt out of bed ready to take on the day, but I woke up feeling ready to wake up (even without coffee!), and didn't feel at all drowsy driving home from work.  I slept better, too.  I also found myself wanting to exercise more.  I'm sure that's because (a) there wasn't much else to do!, but also (b) I was putting so much effort into treating my body well, that I just wanted to keep doing right by it.

All that said, I was really excited to go to two wonderful birthday parties last weekend and indulge in yummy, yummy, frosting-y cake at both of them.  I think about what I eat more for now, but I'm still, and always will be, obsessed with eating.  Overall, worth the effort, and I am likely to do (a maybe modified) version of it annually.

What to eat on a cleanse (Part 2 of the cleanse series)

Hi guys!

A couple thoughts on my last cleanse post:
1.  I don't think you need the expensive products to do it and have it be effective.  I am not a registered dietitian (...surprise!!!), but I think you would be okay buying any rice-based protein powder for the smoothies.  (Rice, because you're eliminating soy and gluten, which most other ones are made of.)  And you'd want to make sure it's fortified with a lot of other good stuff.  Supposedly the supplement pills helped with the detoxification process, so you might want to splurge on those.

2.  You could also probably do this effectively just by taking a few weeks and only eating off the list of allowed foods.

Okay, I know I'm starting to sound like a crazy person, but eating this way for a month-ish really changed how I think about what I put in my body and made me realize it has an affect on how we feel all over.

But that's not the purpose of this post.  This post is a list of things you can eat on this cleanse, because when I first saw the list I was like "SRI!!?3$@ODsj!@$#@$#!!!!   There is nothing to eat!!!!!!"

Here are some things I ate that made me not feel like I was totally on a cleanse:

• Roasted potatoes and roasted vegetables as sides to any chicken or fish dish felt like totally normal food.
• A whole roasted chicken (with salt, pepper, garlic, herbs) is always delicious.
• For Valentine's Day, I made this delicious halibut, and served it with a quinoa/brown rice medley with sauteed vegetables.
• The first weekend, I made a big pot of hearty chicken chili and ate it over a baked potato.  (Yes, I missed the cheese but... what's a girl to do?)
• Brown rice pasta with any sort of veggie marinara sauce (plus chicken?) felt like a non-cleanse meal, and the brown rice pasta didn't really taste weird.  (And I'm very freaked out by fake versions of food tasting really weird.  ...Just go heavy on the sauce.)
• The smoothies for breakfast eliminated any need to think about breakfast foods, although you could do steel-cut oats (with almond milk, if you wanted), topped with blueberries and sliced almonds.
• I made a bunch of quinoa-based salads (sort of Whole Foods style) with cleanse-friendly ingredients.  (You could do a tex-mex black beans, onion, avocado thing... or a golden raisins, butternut squash, hazelnuts kinda thing...)
• It was easy to fall in a trap of everything tasting bland.  I made this sauce and put it on top of everything for a wonderful savory flavor burst.
• Eating a restaurants wasn't that hard, so long as it wasn't a specific type of ethnic cuisine.  (Like all asian foods would have a lot of soy; Mexican foods would have a lot of corn, etc.)  
• Brown rice cakes became surprisingly really delicious to me, topped with either almond butter or avocado, olive oil and salt.

Happy clean-eating!

Here is the cleanse that I did (part 1)

Anyone who spent any amount of time with me in the past month knows that I’ve been doing a cleanse/detox thing.  (What’s the difference?  Is there a difference?)

In short, it has been a really good experience.  It was hard, but not that hard, and I would recommend it to everybody.

Below are the details of this cleanse and how you can do it yourself.  I will follow up later this week with further thoughts on the process and some tips/tricks I learned along the way.

How long is it?

28 days, although the last week is easier because you start to add in non-cleanse foods again.

What do I need?

AdvaClear (buy one bottle)

Ultra Clear Plus (buy 2)

Ultra Clear Renew (buy 1)

Disclaimer: I bought my materials directly from the dietitian.  I don’t know anything about the difference in vendors, so these links are just for reference.  In total, the materials will cost you $300.  Steep, yes, but I found it to be worth it.

Also, as you use the Ultra Clear to make your smoothies (more below), start by using the Ultra Clear Plus powder.  When that runs out, switch to the Renew, and then finish off with the Plus.

Okay, how do I do it?

Here is what you remove from your diet:

Foods that increase acidity/inflammation/toxicity:

• Sugars, sweeteners, desserts
• Red meat
• Pork
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Non-dairy creamers
• Soda and soft drinks

Foods that are commonly allergenic:

• Soy
• Wheat/gluten
• Dairy
• Peanuts
• Corn
• Eggs
• Shellfish
• Chocolate

Here is what you can eat:

•  Fruits: All fruits, except oranges (I don’t know why, these were just the directions… but other citrus, even clementines, tangerines, etc. are okay.)
• Vegetables: All vegetables, except corn
• Starch: Anything gluten free, so stuff like rice, potato, oats, quinoa, etc.
• Legumes: The whole bean family is fine, except soy products, including soy beans
• Nuts & Seeds: All nuts, except peanuts
• Meat & Fish: Chicken, turkey, fish
• Dairy substitutes: Rice milk, almond milk, coconut milk, hemp milk, etc.
• Fats: Oils (olive, canola, sunflower, sesame, almond, etc.), no processed fats, like margarine, shortening, mayonnaise, etc.
• Spices: All spices are fine, but condiments/sauces should be homemade to avoid weird additives
• Sweeteners: Brown rice syrup, fruit sweetener, blackstrap molasses, stevia (although I never used any of these)

Here is what you can drink:

• Water
• Sparkling water
• Herbal tea

Here are the general smoothie basics:

• 2 scoops of the powder, plus whatever you want in your smoothie
• Take with 2 AdvaClear capsules
• Have one smoothie for breakfast, and another for an afternoon snack (or whenever)

Cleanse Schedule

Day 1

Follow the dietary guidelines

Have 1 smoothie for breakfast, but with only 1 scoop of the powder and 1 AdvaClear capsule, to warm your body up to the cleanse; have another AdvaClear capsule some other time during the day (with food)

Day 2

Have 1 smoothie, with 2 scoops of the powder, and 1 AdvaClear capsule; have another AdvaClear capsule some other time during the day (with food)

Days 3-6

Increase to 2 smoothies a day, with 2 scoops of the powder, and take 2 AdvaClear capsules with each smoothie.

Days 7-13

Warning: This week is terrible, kinda.

Have your 2 smoothies a day, with 2 scoops of powder, and 2 AdvaClear with each smoothie, as usual.

Eat only the following foods/food categories:

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Fats
• Spices
• Brown rice (no other starches)

This means you avoid:

• Starches (besides brown rice)
• Legumes
• Nuts & Seeds
• Meat & Fish
• Dairy substitutes
• Sweeteners

Days 14-15

2 smoothies, per usual, but for these two days, add back in other starches and dairy-substitutes.

Days 16-18

2 smoothies, and also add in legumes and nuts/seeds.

Days 19-21

2 smoothies, and also add back in meat and fish.

Days 22-28

Slowly start to add back in foods that weren’t allowed on the cleanse, one at a time.  If you are testing for food intolerances/reactions, here’s how you do it:

•  Pick one food, and keep it specific (for example, don’t add back “cake” because cake has gluten, egg, dairy, and sugar).
• Eat a lot of it in one day (twice in a day if possible).
• Wait 2-3 days, without eating it again and only eating from the cleanse foods listed above.
• See if there’s any reaction.  If there is, consider generally eliminating the food from your diet.  If there’s no reaction, it’s find to keep this food in your diet as you add back other groups and test.
• Let’s be real: if you’re doing the cleanse just to get clean and not to test, you can add stuff back more quickly, but go semi-slow so as not to shock your body.

I'll follow up with more information, including meal ideas and what to expect.

See follow up posts on the cleanse here and here.

Happy-almost-Valentine's-Day

Why people always be hating on Valentine's Day so much?  It's not breaking news that it can be a totally crass commercialized holiday that has prix fixe menus, creepy long stem dark red roses, and leave people feeling generally disappointment (Couldn't he get a card?  I mean seriously, just a card?!).

But guys, it's also a fun fake holiday that's all about pink, red, white, hearts, cutesy stuff, love, hugs, kisses, yummy food, chocolates, and treats.  I mean!!!!!!!  So fun!!!  If I weren't mid-cleanse (more on that later (this week, I hope)), I would totally have made some really cute baked goods to bring into work.

Instead, though, I found the tiny bit of crafty that lives deep inside me and made some valentines to send to friends.

This is my favorite one:

:: front ::

:: inside ::

xoxo!

Omigod please let's make this.

I'm dying to make this:

:: cake batter rice crispy treats via gimme some oven ::

Cake.  Batter.  Rice.  Crispy.  Treats.

Comfort food + dessert + rainbow goodness.  Oh me, oh my!

One more beautiful picture to entice you:

3 things you need to own. Like, now.

Guys, lately I've been really into three gadgets that I own, and I'm really not a gadget person, so if I'm obsessed, it really means something.  I want to highly endorse the following products to you, for your own sake:


Clairsonic

clairsonic at nordstrom

Okay, I know I endorsed Argan Oil a while ago, and now I'm talking about Clairsonic, and it's all becoming an urban cliche but... the Clairsonic is good!  I got the full-on regular one, but I don't see any reason why you shouldn't get the Clairsonic Mia, which is smaller and a bit less expensive (and come in a lot of cute colors).  Using it is basically like getting a mini-facial every day, and it's fun, too!  You use it for 60 seconds (20 seconds on forehead, 20 seconds on nose/chin, 10 seconds on each cheek), once a day, and you can use any face wash -- you don't need to buy the special Clairsonic ones.  If you use a Clairsonic, you don't need to/shouldn't use another exfoliant, so it basically pays for itself (in, like, 5 years).  My skin has never been in better shape (which isn't saying a lot, but it's definitely saying something), and I feel very clean!  (Oh, and soft -- so soft!  Like a Labrador's ears soft.)

Immersion Blender

immersion blender at amazon

I love soup, but seeing directions in a recipe that say things like: "Turn off heat, let cool, transfer to blender, blend, add back to pot, re-heat" make me not like soup.  But guys, with an immersion blender you don't need to do that!  Just plug it in, submerse it in your pot of soup (or sauce, or whatever you're trying to blend) and turn it on and swirl it around.  Voila!  Pureed goodness!  Do you have any idea how easy it is to whip up a batch of tomato soup, potato leek, butternut squash.... whatever!, with the help of an immersion blender?  (Hint: it's super easy!)  Also, the bottom part of it snaps off and can go right into the dishwasher.  So easy.  So, so easy.  (Disclaimer: I don't own this model -- I can't find the one I have.  I recommend you buy one in the $35 - $75 range, though... cheaper is not going to be durable, and there's no good reason to pay any more.)

Hand-Held Steamer

jiffy travel steamer at amazon

Like anyone who has ever tried to iron in his/her life, I hate ironing and am really bad at it.  I've literally cried over ironing before.  (To be fair, it was a king sized duvet cover and it was really, really hard.)  Also, my hate for ironing is matched only by my distaste for paying for dry cleaning.  So it puts me in a bit of a tight spot.  Until I got this Jiffy Travel Steamer!  Guys, it's like... a magic tool that removes wrinkles without messing up at all!  I'm sure the non-travel version would be even better, but I live in an apartment and am not about to find storage for something that big.  Especially when I'm so over the moon with my Jiffy Travel Steamer!  It has really opened up a world of possibilities in terms of what clothing I can buy.  Cute silk blouse?  Oh yeah!  Put it on delicate wash in a delicates bag in the washing machine, line dry, and then hand-held steamer that sh**!  Normal cotton Oxford shirt?  No problem!  Work pants?  Try to stop me!  It's the best.  (Tip: it does get a lot of calcification gunk going on, so you will need to buy the cleaner fluids and clean it every few months.  But a small price to pay.)

Happy shopping!

"Help" Me Out (hahaha)

Guys.  I just recently watched "The Help".  (I'm late to the party, but for those of you who haven't seen it yet, it's totally good!  I found the book sort of annoying, but the movie not annoying.)  But to get to my point: how can you cast two actresses who are literally identical twins in the same movie and not expect my mind to explode????

:: Jessica Chastain ::

:: Bryce Dallas Howard ::

My mind is exploding.  This is way crazier than Zooey Deschanel/Katy Perry.  This is real-life science fiction.