Day 5, Raw Detox Diet

I feel like I'm starting to write the same thing everyday and I'm getting a little bored with myself haha. Things are going great, I have boat loads of energy, I feel fabulous, blah, blah, blah. Honestly, I didn't think I could make it raw for an entire week so I'm giving myself a big 'ole pat on the back :) I've not only gone raw all week, I've been in the gym having hard core sweat-fests all week. Super duper proud of myself! I've gotta keep it up!

Breakfast - 2 nectarines
Lunch - Subway salad (I forgot my lunch in the car, and though this isn't great, it's the closest thing to work that kept me raw. And YES, it was hard to not grab chips and a cookie...)
Snack -peanut butter pack
Dinner -Salad with pretty much all the veggies that were left in my fridge


My lovely lil child (AKA dog) decided that her food was not enough last night and that she must eat the trash as well. So not normal for her but "Bad, Sadie!" So last night I was up with a sick little dog who was having umm "stomach issues" for a lack of words and I got about 2 hours of solid sleep. On the couch. Yeah.

BUT I still made it to the gym for a hour tonight. (Who am I and what did I do with lazy-crystal?!) I almost used it as an excuse but then I thought, it's FRIDAY and I get to sleep in tomorrow and I really have no reason to not go because honestly I wasn't falling asleep tired.So BOOM, another hour in the gym!

My plans for this weekend include a girls day, a dinner date with my one and only, grocery shopping and slowly adding back in some healthy non-raw eats. What are you doing this weekend?

XOXO,
Crystal

Day 3, Raw Detox Diet

I completely cracked this morning and had a strawberry poptart. I don't even liiiiike poptarts and they've been in the house forever because we don't eat them. But this morning, as I was waiting for my ride (I am STILL car-less, thanks Mr. Mechanic...) I saw the poptart in the pantry and grabbed it.

And then felt horrible after I ate it. My tummy definitely did not like it either. Over it and moving on though.

The rest of my eats were fantastic!

Breakfast - dreaded poptart...no comment
Lunch - YUMMY salad! I added chickpeas and black beans, threw in some baby carrots and cucumber, mixed with chia seeds and acv
Snack - Fruit bowl of strawberries, pineapple and oranges
Dinner - Guac with cucumber "chips" (simple but perfect)
Dessert - Homemade apple sauce (apples, cinnamon, honey and water in food processor)

Fruit bowl was so gooood!

We are now over half way through the week. And that means half way through my raw detox. And honestly, I am feeling much better! I am more tired than usual though and I could go to bed at 8pm every night, but I know that's just my body detoxifying and cleaning house!

After this week, I've decided to keep up with the raw eating most of the time, but still add in some favorites. I am thinking breakfast and lunch be completely raw and then dinner can be my choice. Anyone else have any experience with a half raw diet? Or I guess this would be more like a 75% raw diet...

I'm just basically going to listen to my body. I KNOW I can not live without peanut butter, chocolate and oatmeal (sometimes all at the same time) so I'm not going to deprive myself if that's what I want for dinner.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous, skinny week!

XOXO,
Crystal

Day 2, Raw Detox Diet

Today has been much better. I'm still stressed out to the max with car problems, but I'm really trying to not let it bother me as much. I'm trying to stay calm and know that worse things could be happening. Plus I have an amazing boyfriend who is just perfect in stressful situations ♥

I wasn't as hungry today but I did snack a lot. And I feel skinnier though I know I haven't lost anything. I just feel light and healthy haha. I have to remember to weigh myself in the mornings so I can keep track!!

Some random things I've come to realize:

- Smoothies are not the breakfast item for me. I love smoothies but on cold mornings, it's the last thing I want. So I think I will save my smoothie packs for desserts and have something more like just plain fruit in the mornings. Today it worked out much better that way.

- Water is really hard for me to get into when it's cold too. I've making lemon and lime water and it's been a little easier than regular water. At work today, I kept forgetting to drink it though.

- I definitely did not buy enough veggies for the week. It's only Tuesday and I'm already out of tomatoes and romaine. I'm eating much bigger salads than normal since it's my only meal at lunch and dinner. Fruits I'm doing just fine on though. I think to save money, I will make it work for one more day and eat what I have and then back to the Farmers Market.

- I could literally eat avocado all day long. I never realized how much I love them! I have to really watch myself since they are high in calories and fat. I've been using it mixed with apple cider vinegar as a "dressing" and I really need to come up with something else so I'm not eating so much fat.

- I could eat oranges all day long too! It's just the perfect little snack. I usually don't buy them because I hate peeling them (I know, so lazy) and getting my hands all sticky. But I sliced them up in 4's and just eat them like that. Perfecto!


FOOD LOG:
Breakfast - Banana
Snack- 1 1/2 oranges, sliced
Lunch - Salad with lots of veggies, almond slivers, sunflower seeds tossed in acv
Snack -  Homemade simoas cookie
Snack - Celery and pb (I can NOT stay away from my nut butters...uugh!!!) 
Dinner - Veggie Guacamole on romaine (which would have totally been better with tomatoes!!)
Dessert - Smoothie with spinach, pineapple and chia seeds and then topped with more pineapple chunks.

I did the CrossRamp for about 45 minutes, followed by some crunches and planks. I skipped the gym yesterday so it felt good to be back.

How are you guys doing on your diet and exercise?! Hope everyone had a lovely Valentines <3

XOXO,
Crystal

Day 1, Raw Detox Diet

Today is Day 1 of my 7-day raw detox diet and I'm not going to lie, it was hard.

This morning was STRESSFUL - I woke up to car problems, nothing was going right, I was starving and I really felt the urge to drive through the Burger King window to get hash browns and a coffee! But I didn't!

The car problems caused me to be stuck at home car-less ALL DAY...around all my food temptations. Originally I planned on beginning the detox on a Monday so that I would be at work with less temptations and couldn't just snack all day. But obviously things never go as planned.

I'm tired, I'm cranky and I'm hungry. I hope this is all worth it in the end!

Breakfast - Smoothie with spinach, strawberry, banana, chia seeds, cinnamon and water
Lunch - Salad with a ton of veggies, apple, water with lemon
Snack - Almond butter on celery (I'm not sure if pb is okay, but I needed it and it's all natural)
Dinner - Salad with a ton of veggies, nectarine, water with lime
Snack - Guacamole with celery
Dessert - Banana "ice cream" (Basically, a frozen banana in the blender)

AND while I am being completely truthful, I did sneak a handful of dark chocolate chips in my banana "ice cream". Just a couple.

Tonight I had to make cupcakes for work for Valentines. Which is why I felt the urge to have the chocolate chips. But I was really proud of myself for not eating a cupcake!! Why on earth would I want to go raw during Valentines?! I didn't plan this well but I know it will be worth it. And I've already told the boyfriend no more chocolate is to be brought in the house :)

Hope everyone is having a much better Monday than me!

XOXO,
Crystal

Getting Ready for my Raw Detox

Yesterday I spend about half an hour slicing and dicing all my veggies and fruits and getting prepared for my 7-day raw detox diet! I just thought I'd show you a picture of some of my food (doesn't include any of my greens)

Veggies - Cucumbers, carrots, green pepper, broccoli, green onion, avocado
Fruits - Smoothie packs, bananas, nectarines, oranges, apples, pineapple

I'm sticking with just basic fruits for breakfast and snacks and salad for lunch and dinners. I'm really not even sure if this is enough for a week (I already need more bananas!!), but the Farmers Market is close so I will be visiting often if not.

I'll be posting how my first day went tonight so make sure you look for that later. Happy Monday!!

XOXO, Crystal

Confirmation and Support

This morning I woke up AGAIN feeling bloated, tired and all over exhausted. It is just even more confirmation that completing a raw detox is what is needed for my body!

I told my boyfriend that I am going to do this 7-day detox and he was extremely supportive. I've been talking about it for a while anyways. He mentioned that his boss has been a fruitarian for over a month now and feels fabulous. They were just talking the other day about all the major health benefits there are with having a raw diet and how he's already seen some great changes. It's nice to see someone else has completed the move to raw (even though a fruitarian just seems SO extreme to me!) and it's really nice to talk with my boyfriend about all the benefits and have his support 110%. Though I know he is completely a meat and potatoes guy and would never even think about going raw, he completely understands why I want to and is eager for me to stick with it :)

Last night I started with a basic raw meal for dinner. Chopped up some avocado, spritzed it with some lime and mixed in some tomatoes and cilantro - all served over some romaine lettuce. It was light and perfect! I wish I would have remembered to take a pic because it looked so fresh. I could definitely eat it every day!

On another food note....I HAVE to change up my Pinterest followers....like ummm right now....because there are just too many yummy (BAD!) recipes popping up everywhere and way too much temptation. Smores, mac n'cheese, mint chocolate chip cookies, cheesy lasagna. OMG!!!! No wonder I'm fat!!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. I am aiming for 2-a-day workouts on both Saturday and Sunday again :) My legs are gonna love me!

XOXO,
Crystal

Raw Food Detox

Yesterday I woke up feeling bloated and just all over gross. Lately, this has become something that happens at least a couple times a week for me. I won’t go all into the specifics, but I definitely know that something is whacky with my digestive system. I just don’t feel “normal.”

I’ve been reading about raw diets for a while now, after one of my favorite youtubers, LizYArtur started talking about it years ago, but I never thought that it was something I could manage full-time since I still have to cook for my boyfriend. It’s hard having all your old favorite foods in front of you when  you are on a new lifestyle change, but the boyfriend has been amazing with helping with dinners lately so I thought this is the perfect time to try it out. Plus my body has been craving salads like none other and you can’t deny what your body needs!

I can’t say that I am going all out on the raw food diet, but I definitely want to compete at least a 7-day raw detox and then continue with a healthy lifestyle without processed foods. So that is my goal for now. I am hoping that this will give my digestive system a quick start to get back on track and stop all this bloating and give me some much needed energy to rid of this sluggish feeling lately. And a jumpstart with weight loss is always an added benefit :)

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I’ll have to stock up on all the fruits and veggies this weekend at the Farmers Market, so I won’t be starting until next Monday. But from today through Monday, I want to start cutting back and slowly start to cut all the processed foods and meat out of my diet. 

I thought I have a pretty clean diet as of lately, but when I sat down, thought about it and evaluated, I do still depend on some processed food that could definitely be cut for good. For example, I live off frozen dinners for work lunches, only because they are cheap, easy and fast but I’ve been wanting to cut them out for a while anyways so this is where I will start. They have a ton of sodium and I could easily make something much healthier at home. I know I just need to give myself some extra time to prepare, instead of grabbing one out of the freezer! 

Also, I eat Kashi Crunch cereal for breakfast every day, and though this isn't the worst cereal out there, I could definitely cut it out as well and add much needed fruit in the mornings!

Items I will avoid: Dairy, Coffee, Meat, Sugar, Alcohol, Grains

Also, I have fell in LOVE with this website!! She has the BEST recipes and tons of tips and tricks and information. I have spent hours looking over her website and blog and it has all been so helpful!

So that is about it for now! I'm excited to get my body back in great shape and begin a healthy lifestyle! 

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XOXO, 

Crystal