Last day!!!!!

Hi everyone!!!!
 Last day of get fit August! But do not worry September is just around the bend:()
I wanted to thank you all for looking at my blog and being apart of my "community outreach project". I have had a challenging blast working on this blog. I've  really enjoyed hearing from you all this past month and getting to see the end results.

I am personally on the tail end of my detox and cannot wait to get back to my normal coffee in the morning, exercise and healthy clean eating life:)

My personal goal after the detox is over is to maintain my healthy life style and continue to educate myself on health and nutrition. I didn't realize how much i took for granted the energy and joy that comes from having an active happy nourishing life style. I want to encourage all of you to keep it up the good work, keep moving forward and appreciate your health!

What is to come?
Good question! I don't know;) But for now looking forward, how do you all feel about "Git Limber Septimber"? Since I will be gone most of the month of September I wanted to work on putting together a new yoga video and updating the blog with a few new posters (in detail) as much as I can throughout the month. If you have any request let me know. Yoga is therapeutic for many different areas of life so if you are looking to stretch, breath, strengthen, balance, circulate, work on your alignment/posture, even out your energy, or just need to relax. Give yoga a try:)

Since August is over I think I need a new name for my blog. Any suggestions?

Goodbye for now I hope you all have enjoyed your summer~~~~~

Last week Detox!!!!!!!!!

All right my friends here is the final challenge if you choose to except it!

Detoxing.......
Our bodies are always naturally detoxing. The Liver neutralizes toxins so that they can safely leave the body. Toxins are then removed through the waste system, Skin (sweat), and the lungs  (breathing). 

How it works......

•   Fat tissue stores difficult to remove toxic waste 
  
•  The liver metabolizes fats into their usable forms. Proper ingestion and digestion of fats causes less liver stress.
  
•  The bile (built of healthy fat), is the river by which toxins are removed from the body via the intestinal tract.
  
• 
  

The idea behind a detox cleanse is to help this very important process of detoxing that our bodies do naturally.

So.....
 Here is the 7 day detox that I put together.
The first 3-4 days are the flushing out days that you will really be cleaning out your system. After that you will be using the rest of the week to build back up the nutrients your body needs through clean eating. This way you have time to let your body regenerate properly and not lose all the hard work of the first few days. 

Taco Tuesday without the Taco:)

For Taco Tuesday Night with the girls we tried out the Quinoa Salad with Shrimp recipe But I ended up tweaking it a lot to make it into a mexican dish.

The quinoa salad ended up having black beans, avacodo, onion, cilantro, and tomatoes along with the quinoa. we topped the Salad with the dressing shown below.

Creamy Avocado Lime and Cilantro Dressing By Catie Baumer Schwalb makes about one cup. 1/2 avocado 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, from one large lime, or a few smaller 1/4 cup, packed, fresh cilantro (include stems too if they are young and fresh) 1/2-3/4 cup olive oil salt, to taste In a blender, combine avocado, lime juice and cilantro. Blend until smooth. Through the hole in the blender lid, slowly pour in the olive oil, with the blender on low. Start with a half cup, and taste for balance.  If it seems too tart, add a little more gradually, tasting as you go. Season with salt, to taste. Serve immediately, or chill briefly.

For the main course we had Steak Kabobs with zucchini and squash (fresh from Mary's Garden) onions and peppers. Add the Salad drizzled with the creamy Avocado dressing and Corn Cob on the side!

It was fantastic I think I could eat it every night!!! I would defiantly make the dressing part of my own personal food pyramid;) 

Please take note:

<-Good Food

<-Wine

<-Music 

<-Gentle Summer Breeze. 

Sadly you cannot see the happy beautiful faces of good friends, or hear the sweet pathetic whine of Mary's dog Taj begging for steak. But take me at my word, it was a good night!

 I would really recommend this recipe idea for an outside BBQ! And speaking of BBQ's there is no better girl friendly way to grill than on a traeger!

1/2 way there!!! Whats to come in the next 2 weeks?

Hi!!!
I hope everyone is enjoying the end of their summer and kicking it in to gear:)
I wanted to post what my plan is for the next two weeks as far as the nutrition side of Get Fit August goes. 

I will be posting a cleanse for the last week in August (25-31). It will be the last step for the month of getting fit in August. The idea would be that after eating more nutrient dense foods for the last three weeks your system would be more prepared for a detox diet. That is why I am putting this at the end instead of the beginning. 

To prepare....
 Next week (18-24) I encourage you to eat a "CLEAN" diet. 
Meaning try to take out any refined or processed foods. 
ie... breads, paste, cereals, baked goods, white rice, refined flours, added sugar. Foods that are considered Junk food, empty calories, crap!

Also drink plenty of water.

I will try and post the detox diet next week so you can look over it and see if you want to try it and get the groceries you will need.
It will mostly be veggies, a little fruit, soup maybe some meat towards the end and eggs.

Stay Tuned!!

Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15

Hi everyone!
I hope all is going well so far in August which is somehow almost half way over!!!!!
I wanted to post about trying to decide which produce to splurge on going Organic or not. I am posting a link to a site that will shoe you a list on 12 (+2 added) fruits and veggies to avoid as far as pesticide go and 15 that are not as important to avoid. I know that it can be spending buying all Organic so this is a good way to start if you are trying to take baby steps!
 Check it..... Dirty Dozen/Clean 15


Dirty Dozen

1. Apples
2. Strawberries
3. Grapes
4. Celery
5. Peaches
6. Spinach
7. Sweet Bell Peppers
8. Nectarines- imported
9. Cucumbers
10. Potatoes
11. Cherry Tomatoes
12. Hot Peppers 

Clean 15  

1. Sweet Corn
2. Onions
3. Pineapple
4. Avocado
5. Cabbage
6. Sweet Peas- frozen
7. Papaya
8. Mangos
9. Asparagus
10. Eggplant
11. Kiwi
12. Grapefruit
13. Cantaloupe
14. Sweet Potato
15. Mushrooms

And there is also a Dirty Dozen Plus- these items are not on the Dirty Dozen list but still something to try to find in organic if you can:

1. Summer Squash 
2. Leafy Greens (kale and collards in particular)

Quinoa for Breakfast!

This morning I tried out a Quinoa Cake Recipe that I put together from searching google and deciding that the other ones were to complicated for an early quick breakfast.
Quinoa is a great Breakfast choice. Yes, it is a grain but it is low glycemic and it is also considered a complete protein, meaning that it has the 9 essential amino acids that you need to get from your diet. Although it does not have the same amount of protein as meat, eggs, or milk. It is still a good source and don't worry I hardly make anything without throwing an egg in there;)

Quinoa Breakfast cakes

2 cups quinoa

1/4 almond milk

1/2 flax seed

1/2 spinach chopped

1/4 shredded cheese

salt pepper red pepper

Mix everything together 

scoop a small pancake size spoon full into a frying pan

Fry in coconut oil, butter, or olive oil

Other ideas:

 Try a fried egg on top or sweeten it up with a little honey!