Toxins Be Gone

Three weeks or 21 days?! However you state it, that sounds like a long time to try something that is completely foreign to you and stick with it for that period of time. When Ang, Tara Lynn, and I decided to embark on this journey to cleanse our bodies and rid them from numerous toxins, the end seemed so distant. I kept thinking to myself, do I really want to do this during the summer where temptations of pool parties, cookouts, concerts, baby showers, and fairs were all lingering right in front of my face? Surprisingly, the answer was YES. Yes, I wanted to prove to myself that I have the self control and self discipline to be able to be in those situations and not avoid them and be a recluse. Don't get me wrong, it was hard, very hard, especially for someone like me who enjoys social gatherings where food and drinks are so easily accessible. However, it was a great feeling to be able to still go to the social events and have that self control.

Throughout the 3 weeks, I kept reminding myself of how important it would be to cleanse the inside of my body. Think about it... We do a lot to make sure our outer appearance looks good and healthy. Why not also treat the inside of our body the same way? Just entering the third decade of my life, my goal is to be as healthy as possible, inside and out!

During my three week journey, I also started taking Gentle Yoga every morning for an hour at my local gym. I had taken yoga in the past but always had a hard time focusing and not checking the clock every five minutes. Thanks to my good friend, Nic Cip, I rolled out of bed at 7:00 every morning on my summer vacation to practice yoga. Not soon after, I found out that two local women opened a small yoga studio called Two J's Yoga in the UT that offered Hot Power Yoga. I was very curious about this Power Yoga and turned to everyone's favorite friend, Google, to find out more information. Finally I got up the nerve to tackle this hot yoga and fell in love with it! I never wondered what time it was during the class and was totally focused every second I was in there. The best part was sweating out all of those nasty toxins in my body. I did not think that being soaking wet from sweat from head to toe could feel so good!

To end the cleanse, the PUMAS and I headed to Hershey, PA to see Joyce Meyer at a Christian conference. Although we planned this conference months before we started the Crazy Sexy cleanse, it could not have came at a better time. I have followed Joyce for years and she has gotten me through a few trials and tribulations in my life. "Whatever you hold in your mind, will happen in your life." I felt Joyce was speaking to me. Three weeks prior, I told myself " I can do this cleanse. I can eliminate dairy, processed foods, gluten, sugar, meat, caffeine, and alcohol!" The mind is a powerful thing. Positive minds produce positive lives- full of faith and hope. Without positive thinking, prayer, and meditation, I am not certain I would have been as successful.

Throughout the past month, I feel I have transformed my body mentally, physically, and emotionally. I can honestly say this is the best I have ever felt in my life. I am excited to enter my 30's with a clean slate!

"Your attitude determines your altitude. A positive attitude will cause you to fly high in life." - Joyce Meyer

Let the cleanse begin....

After finishing the book Crazy Sexy Diet, the next step was to begin the 21 day cleanse. With a bundle of emotions ranging from excitement to apprehension to worrisome (the cost of the food products including a pricey juicer!), my sister Ang, Tara Lynn, and I decided to embark on this journey together. Having the support of those two eased a lot of my anxiousness. The cleanse requires the elimination of all dairy, meat, gluten, processed foods, sugar, alcohol, and caffeine. It consists of a lot of fruits and veggies, including juicing them in the morning.

The first thing was to purchase a juicer. Ironically, my favorite fitness magazine, Oxygen, had a feature article on Juicers. I felt it was a sign that the book I was reading Crazy Sexy Diet and the article I was reading both talked about the health benefits of juicing. So I went ahead and purchased the Native Juicer. All I had to do now was wait and plan.

The weekend before the cleanse started I knew what I wanted to eat: a Phil's Corner store Turkey breast and provolone cheese hoagie with a side of Ranch Doritos! It was the best last meal I have ever had. And then Ang and I ordered a Dominos pizza late night. Hey, why not go out with a bang right?!

Fast forward to today- Day 9. The first week was not as bad as I thought. Well..... except getting down the first green juice ( I had to hold my nose because I couldn't stand the smell! See video below. lol) "Make Juice, Not War Green Juice" consists of 2 large cucumbers, 4-5 stalks kale, 4-5 romaine leaves, 4 stalks celery, 1-2 pears, 1" piece of ginger root. So each morning we juice that yummy concoction of fruits and veggies. Thank goodness for Tara Lynn who suggested adding a quarter of lemon and 1 apple to take away some of the bitterness!

Yesterday was my first day I actually had a craving for food I was not able to have. I was craving Highland House Pizza and an ice cold beer!! For those of you who have experienced this delicious pizza, you should understand! Fortunately I had the will power and support of the girls to help me get through those cravings. It was also difficult to be in a social setting with girls this past weekend and not have one drink of alcohol. But I managed to sip aqua with lemon the entire night. (hardest temptation thus far!) No hangover the next morning was definitely my reward!

Tomorrow we reach double digits and I am so thrilled to already see the amazing benefits: baby soft skin, an abundance of energy, decreased appetite, exposure to new foods and recipes. I am so delighted that I decided to do this and explore new avenues of healthy living. I can honestly say that I feel the best I have ever felt in my life!

The Crazy Sexy Diet

During one of my frequent visits to Brooklyn, my sisters and I dined out at one of the numerous amazing eateries that BK has to offer. The twinkies and I met the delightful and charming Davis sisters, Lisa and Lori at Coco Roco ,a divine Peruvian restaurant.

As we sipped mojitos waiting for our meal, I chatted with LKD. LKD is the content manager for the website I Eat Grass, a site about the vegan lifestyle. She started to tell me about a 21 day cleanse that she did with a few of her friends called The Crazy Sexy Diet. Instantly I was intrigued as I have been wanting to do a cleanse for a while now. The more she told me about the cleanse and all of the benefits, the more I got excited! Clear skin and sinuses, cleansing of all body toxins, baby soft skin, increased energy, regular and odorless bowel movements, and weight loss (just to name a few).... I could not wait to go back to Suzy Q's apartment and google this! LKD made sure to also tell me the other side of the cleanse which was not so appealing. Of course it would be somewhat pricey purchasing a juicer and all of the organic products needed for the cleanse. Another challenge was getting used to all of the natural raw foods including a variety of greens and nuts. (Something I have difficulty enjoying!) She also mentioned NO CAFFEINE OR ALCOHOL for the 21 days!! No, I am not even close to being an alcoholic, however, I do enjoy my glass of wine (or two) or an ice cold beer in the summer time on the deck or a nice cocktail in the evening. But then I quickly remembered how important this would be for my body.

When I returned home, I used a birthday gift card to Amazon (thanks B-Nasty) and I purchased The Crazy Sexy Diet. Since it arrived in the mail, I have not been able to put it down. I plan to read the entire book before I start the 21 day cleanse in order to have a better understanding of the importance of the cleanse.

After reading that Kris Carr, the author of The Crazy Sexy Diet, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at age 31 which the doctors said was inoperable, no surgery, radiation, chemotherapy- no cure, I could not wait to read more and more of the book. As I continue to read the book anticipating what other intriguing information the next page has to offer, I cannot help but admire the strength and courage of this young woman and the change she made in order to save her life. Very empowering to know that after seven years her cancer is stable and she is a healthy strong young woman living her dream!

Although I am pretty sure I will not convert to the vegan or vegetarian lifestyle, I am curious to learn more about this program and hope to adopt some of the principles into my life. I hope to share valuable information I learn throughout this process with you in order to enhance our lives as healthy confident sexy women!

"If your body is a temple, then your mouth is the altar. From this day forward vow to treat yourself like a Divine Being." - Kris Carr

AFTER WORKOUT HAIR TIP

As much as I love working out sometimes I hate the feeling that my freshly washed nicely blown out hair is about to get super sweaty wet from a good workout session. I do not look forward to the whole hair drying process, especially having long thick hair. I am sure many of you can relate to the pain of doing this womanly task. I thought my only option was to immediately wash my hair after my workout. Boy was I ever wrong!

Fortunately I have an amazing sister, Suzy Q, who has been in the beauty, fashion, and hair industry for about ten years now. Suzanne, or Suzy Q as I like to call her, is currently employed for a high end hair company called Bumble and Bumble. Since she has been employed for B & B, she has developed a mass amount of knowledge on hair and their line of hair products. When I told my sis that I was washing my hair almost daily after every workout, she freaked on me. What I did not know is that washing your hair every day is not a good thing. It strips your hair of natural oils and color. Luckily, Suzy Q, my hair doctor introduced me to two of B & B's amazing hair products- Prep and Hair Powder. I could not imagine my life without them now. Sounds dramatic I know but these two products have seriously changed my life. It saves me so much time getting ready and also saves me money on how often I need to color my hair. Love it!


B & B Prep- This is a primer product when applied to wet hair.
When applied to dry hair it reactivates product to rework the hairstyle.











B & B Hair Powder - While hair powder has dual purposes, I use it as a dry shampoo to absorb the oil in my hair which creates a matte texture. Another benefit of this product is you can use it as a root touch up between colors. This product comes in white, blondish brown, and black.

STACK THE DECK

I am sure everyone can relate to this comment, " Ugh, its cardio day!" I am an avid gym junkie, however when it comes to cardio I would love to dip out early. Of course we all know that cardiovascular exercise is a vital part of your exercise program. Thanks to my good friend TLC, I have now learned a fun new way to combine cardio and strength training. All you need are a deck of cards, some exercise equipment (medicine ball, boxing gloves, jump rope, variety of dumbbell weights, resistance bands, mat, etc.) and of course some motivating music!

Pick approximately 5-7 exercises to complete in a circuit. For example, jump rope, abs, upper body, lower body. (The first time I did this we did pull ups, push ups, ball slams with med ball, dumbbell squats, abs. For the cardio sprints we did the punching bag and jumping rope). Use a deck of cards to determine your reps. The number indicated on the card determines the number of reps for that exercise. Face cards are worth 10, Aces are the cardio sprints. Cardio sprints consist of 30-60 seconds of jumping rope, jumping cones, punching bag, sprints, squat jumps, etc. Move around the circuit until all of the cards in the deck are picked.

Completing the circuit took about 45-50 minutes. I found it to be a great way to fight off the dreadful cardio required in my program. I would also recommend finding a friend or two to help you Stack the Deck! Good Luck and don't forget to stretch after!! :-)

2011 Pittsburgh Marathon

My girlfriends and I committed to participating in the 2011 Pittsburgh Marathon.There were five of us who decided to compete on the Relay Team for the marathon and four girls who ran the Half Marathon. The majority of the girls had not participated in any type of marathon before so we were all extremely excited for this event. Team PUMAS was the name we created for the Relay. Unfortunately everything did not go as planned for our relay team (FYI- Trying to organize a relay team and get every one to their designated starting points when several streets in Pgh are closed and relying on shuttle services was a bit hectic.) However, we all finished the race and were very proud of our accomplishments! It was a great experience for me as I learned the importance of dedication, motivation, and team work. I am hoping to possibly participate in the half marathon next year.....

Pittsburgh Marathon 2011

Hey ladies! If anyone is interested in running the 2011 Pittsburgh Marathon, check out the link below. There are a few people going to run the 1/2 marathon and a few who are going to the relay. I have also attached a link to a training schedule that was given to me by a few experienced runners.

"Energy and persistence conquer all things."


http://http//www.pittsburghmarathon.com/

http://http://halhigdon.com/