Quilt #2

I think I can now call myself a quilter, or at least past true beginner stage. I completed my second baby quilt and I am already planning my next quilt project. Lots of friends are at the baby stage of life and I enjoy being able to make them something special rather than just buying something online. So baby quilt #2 was made for cutie pie who lives up north and needs to stay warm. Below are a few pictures of the process and then final photo. The back is minky and the front is flannel so it's super soft and warm. With every craft project I learned a bit more about quilting and can't wait to start my next quilt.

Meal planning- I'm really trying here

I keep trying to meal plan my way to a healthier diet but life always gets in the way. Here is attempt number who knows to plan out the meals for the week. I found online (oh the joys of Pinterest) a meal planning sheet and printed it out. On Sunday night I looked over the schedule for the week and planned out dinners first, lunches are either leftovers or something else that we already have in the house and breakfast is usually yogurt, cereal or a green smoothie. Here is what I planned for dinners for the week.

Monday
We tried a boxed quinoa thingy and zucchini- Not bad actually

Tuesday
We had meetings so we ate dinner out

Wednesday
Veggies and soup

Thursday
Zucchini boat

Friday
Going out or eating leftovers

Things will probably change since our schedules are so busy but I can at least try to stick with a schedule each week.
 

5 day juice cleanse- a 1 time thing for me

A little over a week ago I finished a 5 day juice cleanse, that will be a 1 time thing only for me. I would consider a few days if I needed to reset my stomach but 5 days while trying to maintain a level of pleasant interaction is not going to happen. That being said I don't think I was mean or unpleasant save for day 2 morning when I first woke up. Day 2 was by far the hardest for me. The caffeine withdrawl, sugar low, lack of sleep and need to function like a human hit me hard all at once. I do drink coffee daily and I think that is why I turned into a zombie.

So it wasn't actually as bad as I'm making it sound. I didn't have to d any of the juicing, bottling or cleaning thanks to Squeeze here in St. Pete. I am no paid by them or given juices to say any of this but they do have some seriously good juice. That made all of this so much easier. There were a few "flavors" that were not my favorite but I can be picky sometimes so that is just me.

Overall here are the benefits I notices from juicing:

• Not as hungry as I thought
• Surprisingly energetic (other than day 2)
• Much less bloated and puffy feeling
• No stomach pain (this is a big deal for my stomach history)
• Slept amazing and fell asleep easily
• Lost a few pounds (this wasn't the point of the cleanse but a bonus for sure)

I did have to supplement my juice with some lean protein each day in order to keep up with my running schedule but I was careful to add clean foods only. 

I'd been wanting to do this for a while and I'm glad I finally did it. I will continue to drink juices but not to quite this level again.

Juice Day #2 complete

No caffeine and no sugar....my body must really need this if it feels like this.

I am not hungry, not craving food, but I'm so groggy and realizing that I was used to drinking a good 3-4 cups of coffee a day, eating more sugar than I needed, and not getting nearly enough good stuff. The juice has tasted really fresh and healthy and all but one flavor tasted delicious.

That was all I could write yesterday between my caffeine headache and busy workday. Day #3 is here and I am so excited to say that I don't have a caffeine headache, I am not hungry, I have more energy and I'm not dreading juice. Last night I did have half a a sausage that Jeff had grilled but I had also run a 5k so I needed a little something extra. I also have been so tired that I've been falling asleep by 10pm. For those of you who know me this is very odd behavior. I'm not sure if it's the cold (yes I know it's all relative) weather, the juice or just coincidence but I did sleep really hard for a long time last night.  I haven't stepped on the scale yet but that wasn't really the point of this so we'll see at the end how I feel.

Have any of you done a cleanse or a juice diet and what days were your bad days?

Goal #3 of 2014: Juice

This week I will be completing goal #3 on my list for 2014: a 1 week juice cleanse. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time and haven't taken the plunge because I didn't know the best way to do it so that I wasn't missing out on any important nutrients. I have tried recipes, juice on my own some and really do like fresh juice so it seemed like it would be easy enough, except I don't have enough recipes to keep me going through a whole week. Luckily I found Squeeze! I first started by buying a few bottles and was instantly convinced that this was how I would get this 5 day of juices complete.

Before I go on I want to address one thing. I understand that not everyone thinks juice cleanses are good for you or healthy. I appreciate your opinion but this is something I'm doing for myself and I know my body is healthy and ready for this.

So this week I will drink a lot of juice, probably consume more fruits and veggies than I have in a while and hopefully not be too hungry.

Are you a juicer? Have you done a cleanse?