Hi there! I’m Christy! Heather asked me to guest post for her after a conversation we had following one of her recent posts, in which Heather mentioned that after a weekend of not so clean eating, she was going to drink nothing but juice for the next 2 days.

 

To which, I commented saying something along the lines of,“No!!!! Don’t drink only juice for two days! That’s so bad for you!”

 

Let me preface this by saying that I am not a nutritionist, a registered dietician or any kind of expert on healthy or clean eating. I’m just someone speaking from my own experience.

 

I’ve never tried a juice cleanse and I’m not opposed to it, but I do think that some considerations need to be made when delving into a juice cleanse. We all have those weekends where we just can’t pass up the cheese plate, eat an entire bowl of guacamole and drink way too much wine. Believe me, I’ve been there.

 

I’m all too familiar with the feeling of needing a total detox after a weekend like that, however, the best and healthiest way to juice is to prep beforehand, cutting out meat and dairy, sugars and caffeine at least 10 hours before starting the cleanse). So to go from a binge fest of eating and drinking to nothing but juice…can shock your system in a way that just won’t be good. 

 

So, I’m here to talk about my favorite tried and true ways to detox after a weekend (or week!) of not-so-healthy eating.

 

Probiotics – Probiotics are healthy bacteria that help maintain the natural balance of organisms in the intestines. They’re designed to restore balance and detoxify the body. Our bodies are self-cleansing and probiotics are the tools in the detoxification process. They’re found most commonly in yogurt, so whenever I’m in need of a detox, I stock up on Greek yogurt.

 

I’ll usually have a bowl of Greek yogurt for breakfast. (my personal preference because of the high protein levels, but any yogurt with probiotics will do) and top it with fruit (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, you name it!)

 

Other Breakfast Ideas:

-Whole-grain waffles topped with Greek yogurt (mixed with 1 tsp maple syrup) and your favorite fruit

-Smoothies: 1 cup Greek yogurt with 1 cup milk (I use either soy or almond) and a your favorite fruits

 

Meals – When I’m in ‘detox mode’ I eat at much Greek yogurt as possible. Parfaits for breakfast and smoothies for lunch., froyo for dessert. Mixed with fresh fruit, this is one of the best ways to automatically start to feel better.

 

Salads are perfect for lunch and dinner since they can be filling. The basic idea is to just eat as much fruit and vegetables as possible. Being a vegetarian, this is super easy for me.

 

Favorite Lunch Recipes:

–Quinoa and kale with grape tomatoes, dried cranberries, walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette

-Spinach with cucumbers, strawberries, dried cranberries, walnuts, mint, feta cheese and champagne vinaigrette

 

Dinner Options: You can grill some kind of lean meat or fish with some veggies. Now that it’s summer time, kebabs are a great clean eating idea. Chicken with peppers, onions and zucchini with a small side salad are a great option! I also love cooking with quinoa. This recipe from Pinterest is one of my absolute favorites! It can be eaten hot or cold so it makes for great left overs for lunch the next day!

 

Workouts – Want to detox fast? Sweat it all out. Hot yoga is one of the BEST ways to detox. I highly recommend trying it after a long weekend of partying. If yoga isn’t for you, just get moving. Go for a run sans headphones. Take in the your surroundings. Go for a long, brisk walk with a friend. Pump some iron. Try a new fitness class. Just get moving! I find that working out first thing in the morning, especially after a weekend of partying, really helps to kick off the “feel good again” process!

 

Water. Water. Water – At the end of the day, the best way to cleanse your system is to just flush it all out. Drink tons of water.

 

Juice cleanses require some prep work, but so does living a healthy life style! The next time you plan a crazy weekend, or a vacation, do some work in advance. Buy some yogurt and fresh veggies and schedule a work out date with a friend for when you get back. This way, when it’s time to get back into it and start feeling great again, you have no excuses.

 

Good luck!

 

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Thanks so much for these great tips Christy!  As most of you know, I’m a huge juicing fan, but Christy made a lot of sense because I can see where that would “shock” your system if you went immediately to something like that.  I’ll continue to add juicing into my every day diet because of the great benefits I get from it, but next time I have a Wrecked Weekend for the diet, I’ll use these tips for sure!

 

My friend Meghan just talked yesterday about how her husband is juicing his way to health and she shared some great benefits he’s getting and some good tips on juicing.  Now I know that I definitely need to invest in some mason jars!

Good morning Lady Loves!

I’m starting to wish that I was the type of blogger who could just sit down and crank out a post really fast… do those bloggers exist?  In my mind, I imagine that every other blogger (besides myself) just sits, writes, and publishes.  Yeah, I know that can’t actually be the case, but I don’t feel like I’m any good at just sitting down and coming up with interesting enough content to capture an audience without putting serious thought into it and starting a good draft that then becomes a scheduled post.  Anywho, that’s besides the point… I say all that to let y’all know that I’m working on this and the way I’m working on it is by sitting down and writing my posts when I have time.  I usually like to publish posts at 6am central time, but now you may find a post early in the morning or late at night or even in the middle of the day.  I’ll see how this works for a while and decide what is best for me.

I’ve been loving the refresher on vegan living from Main Street Vegan and it seriously makes me wonder how the entire world isn’t vegan (myself included) when there are so many health benefits and not to mention how great it is for our environment and seriously y’all… veganism could make a huge difference in world hunger!  Anyways, I’m pretty sure that once I move out of Starkville and get my own place (meaning, I don’t live with 8 other girls like at Disney and I don’t live with my sisters or my parents and I have a real job) I’ll probably turn into a vegan at home, vegetarian out and eventually a full-fledged vegan.  You really should read about it if you’re into the whole going green and saving the earth deal – or just interested in losing some weight and living a healthy fulfilling life!

On that same note, I ran into some vegan cookbooks that I’m dying to have now.

Also some books on professional development… needless to say, Amazon may be hearing from me real soon and they will probably enjoy the chunk of change I want to throw at them!

Nick and I started a new 10 day challenge today!  Usually we do something related to health or fitness, but this 10 day challenge is focused on financial health!  We each have $35.00 to spend on eating out for the next 10 days and whoever spends the least amount wins.  There is a mathematical way we calculate out the prize that I’m really not interested in getting in to, but you should know… I’m determined to win!  So here goes lunches with my co-workers and here comes lunch at my desk prepared by ME! 

By the way… the pictures in this post have absolutely NOTHING to do with anything, except that when I decide to write a post based solely on brain power at this particular moment, I don’t have a lot of good material.  I’m surprised if you made it this far!  Congrats!

I’d also like to point out the amazing fact that my parents are celebrating their 25th anniversary today! Holy smokes, 25 years!  I love them and I’m proud of them, they’ve overcome a lot in 25 years and I’m blessed to have them as parents! Happy 25th Anniversary y’all (Because, I’m pretty sure you’re reading!) Love you both!

 

Hope you’re having a great week!  I hope all of you participants of the Bloggers Helping Bloggers are enjoying getting to know your partners!  I know I’m already swooning over my sweet new friend, Sarah, and I’m excited to be praying for some really exciting stuff going on in her life right now!