Moving Past the Past

For as long as I can remember, I have felt that my self worth was equated with how thin I was. I don't state this because I think it is a very unique experience or because I think it is an earth shattering thing to say, but because I think that there are still many people who think this way. The women in my mother's side of the family, in particular, are perfectionists and notice every detail, every flaw. I grew up  with a sister and two cousins who were all similar in age and the competition began. It wasn't until I was in middle school that I really felt it was a competition and at that point I started to see the world and my family around me for what it really was. I was constantly being judged by people based on how thin I was, how pretty I was and how smart I was. Every moment counted and anxiety set in.

I remember first noticing my weight and being truly embarrassed by it in this picture taken circa 1996 in Rota, Spain. My family spent four years in Spain and I remember this day well. It was one of my best friends' birthdays and we were having a beach sleepover at a nice hotel. It was a seriously fabulous birthday celebration! However, I remember feeling so body conscious, being surrounded by other people who I saw as much thinner than I was and who were less developed as well. I remember seeing this picture for the first time and wanting to tear it up because my arm looked huge in it. (I, of course, now just see a happy and healthy pre-teen. Btw, isn't the spiral perm just awesome on me, haha!)

I actually do not think that I have ever totally gotten over these body issues and they have thwarted my ability to truly grow. Last year, my health took a major turn when I found out that I was anemic. Being overweight and anemic seemed counter-intuitive to me, but the reality was that I was malnourished. I knew so little about how to keep me healthy that my body didn't have the right nutrients to function properly so I was getting sick constantly. It was during this time that I started to really research what I didn't know. In the last year I have had varying degrees of success, but finally am at a point where I'm making decisions not to be skinny or fit someone else's mold of beauty, but to be healthy, feel better inside and out and know that I am truly taking care of myself. While I can't change my past and it has had an effect on a lot of the body problems I have now, I am an adult and have the responsibility for what I do moving forward. As my Titi Carmen always says "you must think in the positive" (imagine an adorable, short hispanic woman with a thick accent).

So that's exactly what I've done this week!
1) I finished my 5 day cleanse and celebrated by opening a bottle of bubbly and taking a bubble bath - two of my favorite things!

Bubbles & more bubbles!

2) I got a visual for my end goal. A dress for my 30 lb lighter self! I haven't worn a strapless or sleeveless anything in YEARS...

I have the dress hanging in my bedroom across the bed so that I see it when I wake up in the morning and reminds me to work out ASAP!

3) Went to my first all vegan/vegetarian restaurant in NYC after a comedy show. Laughing and making plans to enjoy life is part of my vegan heaven, afterall. The restaurant was delicious and we had a hard time not eating EVERYTHING we ate! (For those of you who live here or come visit, it is called Soy & Sake.)

It's THAT good - even my carnivorous husband couldn't get enough!

4) While my cleanse was successful, I didn't see a huge difference on the scale. To keep better track of calories burned and help myself meet my weekly and monthly weight loss goals, my husband bought me a watch that also keeps track of my calories burned so that I can better estimate how much I need to work out to achieve my goals! In addition, I made myself a deal that for every week that I loose at least 3 pounds, I get to buy myself a new piece of workout clothes from lulu (this could get expensive, haha)!

So jazzed to try this out tomorrow! Btw, the nail polish does not match on purpose...

So, all in all, while there are things that I could have done better, I'm learning and have not cheated. Today I started working out twice a day to up the ante and hope to continue pushing myself. Next week I will be sharing new vegan dishes that I am trying, new juicing recipes and how I'm getting fit without a gym membership!

90 Days til Vegan Heaven...

      Hi, my name is Denise and I am a sweetaholic. It is true, since I can remember I have been addicted to sugar. And until recently I would have thought that saying "addicted" was too much. However, I now know that the effect that sugar has on my brain is similar to some narcotics. (If this is a surprise to you, I know!! Take a moment to let that one sink in...) Over a year ago I started to really consider what healthy was. I was getting ready to face the big 3-0 birthday and I really wasn't happy with my body, how I felt and I just didn't know why. I knew what I had learned as a kid, I knew what commercials, TV and the majority of the propaganda out there told me, but I had a feeling that there was something missing. As I started watching documentaries and reading studies and books, I began to realize that I actually had NO clue about nutrition or what it meant to be healthy.
      After some time and many hours of research, I have decided to go 100% vegan during the next 90 days (3 months) as well as work on my overall health and fitness. First step in this process is starting a juicing fast for 5 days. The second step is exercising 6 days a week with the lightest exercise being taking a walk for an hour (or two walks for 30 minutes each). Finally my third step is keeping this blog to not only document my progress, good and bad, but also to share recipes I find that I love and encourage other folks to give it a try too!

COUNTDOWN TIMER WIDGET

      If you think that sounds crazy, I would have agreed with you a year ago. I tried it to go vegan for my health and for my own personal philosophy around animal cruelty. However, I failed miserably. This year I decided to give juicing another chance - with the right juicer, right recipes and self-control, juicing has proven to be a wonderful experience for me! There's tons of research on the subject out there that proves how and why this is an effective way to cleanse your body. Lots of health gurus on the subject also suggest starting off a new health routine with a juicing cleanse. Having successfully juiced for 7 days last month, I am excited to do it again (yes, I actually grew to LOVE juicing) and kick-start the new vegan me.
       Still have one more question? What is this whole "veganing out" title I have? It used to be my favorite thing to veg out in front of the TV. I decided that as long as I'm veganing out instead, I can keep vegging out on healthy food instead of eating empty calories that were slowing my body down and pushing me in the unhealthy direction. The idea of Veganing Out Heaven is a state that I will reach at the end of my 90 days. In three months, I will be down 30 pounds, have become an experienced juicer and vegan cook, and feel heavenly healthy!
      So why should you follow along? Whether you are or are not vegan, I'm excited to really explore this new lifestyle with you all. We all want to live long lives and have a great time in the process so let's do it together! Each week I will tackle a topic around healthy eating and share my progress (good or bad). While I will not be sharing my actual weight with you, I will be sharing how much weight I have lost towards my goal and recipes I think are awesome!
      Let's do this! I'm so ready to veg out, vegan style!

Here's what I've been up to thus far... JUICING!

I bought myself a new juicer after seeing amazing reviews for it on Amazon and saw it used in a documentary too.

I set it up and got SUPER excited! See the bag on the left side? This helps with clean-ups (like whoa).

I used one of my favorite recipes to make my strawberry green juice (1 cucumber, 3 pieces of celery, 2 green apples, 5 strawberries, 1/2 a lime, 2 basil leaves and 8 spinach leaves). This made two full glasses so I was able to make both breakfast and snack in one juicing!

I then met up with a friend to hang out and grabbed another juice, but this one from Juice Generation. If you live in NYC, you have probably seen these popping up everywhere. I tried one of their green juices and it was tasty!

Finally, I had two more juices before the day with through. I decided to make my super green juice recipe (8 kale leaves, 8 spinach leaves, 1/2 cucumber, 2 green apples, 2 pieces of celery, 1/2 lime, touch of ginger, touch of mint).

     I seriously feel awesome today and since this is the 2nd day in my juice cleanse, I already feel the awesome effects - more energy (walked 3 miles, ran 3 miles), inflammation down and regular trips to the bathroom! Yay!

Want more info on juicing recipes? Want to know how to get started juicing? Take a look below! 

Please note: I have added or amended other recipes and advise I have seen online or in books. I am NOT a licensed nutritionist, but can say that all of this advice has worked wonders for me!

HOW TO SET YOURSELF UP TO JUICE

So I'm not going to lie - this is going to be a BIG change. Especially when people around you are not doing it, the first couple of days are super hard. Here's the key: PREPARATION! If you know what you need and you have everything already ready to go, it is actually so much easier to juice some veggies and fruit and keep going than make a whole meal for yourself.

Starting grocery list (this should last you 7 days): I recommend just getting ingredients for 3-4 days so that you have the freshest tasting juice!

• 12-15 Granny Smith Apples x 2
• 16 – 20  Cucumbers
• 1 Bag of Carrots
• 1 Bag of Oranges
• 6-12 Tomatoes
• 7 Beets
• 1 Garlic
• 1 Bag of Basil Large
• 4 Cups of Blueberries
• A Bag of Grapes
• 3 Bags of Celery
• 5 Big Bags of Spinach or 8-12 Bundles of Kale
• A Ginger Root
• 7 Lemons
• 2 Limes
• Fresh mint (helps to cleanse - clean out your bowles)
• Fresh parsley (helps to cleanse - clean out your bowles)
• Fresh cilantro (helps to cleanse - clean out your bowles)

Recipes I love & where to find more:

MEAN GREEN

• 2 Granny Smith Apple
• 1 Cucumber
• 4 Stalks of Celery
• 4-6 Kale Leaves
• 1/4 Lemon Peeled
• 1″ Ginger or use Mint or Cilantro for an extra kick

MORNING GLORY

• 2 Apples
• 1 Cucumber
• 1 cup Blueberries
• 2 cups of Grapes
• 2 Kale Leaves
• 1″ Ginger or use Mint/Cilantro/Parlsey

GREEN MACHINE

• 4 Kale Leaves
• 2 Apples
• 2 Cups Spinach
• 1/2 Cucumber
• 2 Celery Stalks
• 1 Med Carrot
• 1″ Ginger

STRAWBERRY GREEN

6 strawberries
1 apple
6 – 8 leaves kale
2 celery stalks

1 cucumber

1/4 lemon

*As you go, experiment a little bit! I never knew how much I loved beets or that cucumber juice was so delicious! So I use these ALOT. I now have made up some of my own recipes that are versions of some recipes that I have found online.

*Rule of thumb is that you should have 2-3 veggies for each fruit you add.

*For every juice you drink, you need to drink an entire glass of water (8 oz.). I usually start off my day with a glass of water with fresh lemon in it. At night I would have green tea - no sweeteners at all, not even honey.

OTHER SITES TO GET GOOD RECIPES:

*Again, keep in mind that you might need to add more veggies to some recipes you find online to fit the rule above. Sometimes you may need to add a 1/4 of a lemon to cut the flavor of the veggies - this is easy just taste it before you finish juicing and add in some lemon if you feel like you can taste too much green. As you go, you will need to add less and less lemon. =)

http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/juicing/

http://juicerecipes.com/health/benefits/juicing-for-weight-loss/

http://blog.williams-sonoma.com/30-days-of-juicing/

WHAT JUICER TO BUY

Juicers can be EXPENSIVE! I originally bought one from Target called Juiceman, but it take a while to clean and doesn't always extract the most juice. The brands that get the best rankings at a good price (under $200) are Breville. The others that they recommend: Champion Juicer, Hurom Slow juicer, Green star juice extractor, and Samson ultra juicer. But these are over $200 so I say stick to Breville and make sure that you choose a model that throws all the pulp in a separate area where you can then put a small trash bag to make clean up super fast.