Dyeing to be Healthy.

Hair dye is always a fun way for anyone to change up their look or style. Being a girl hair dyeing is just accepted as being normal, almost every girl has dyed their hair once in their life. Now I was a pretty regular dyer when it came to hair, every month or two I would get highlights and lowlights added to my hair. This of course is not good for your overall health since most hair dyes contain harsh chemicals to make the process faster or shinier, exedra. I decided a couple months ago that I was no longer going to dye my hair anymore and just stick to my natural color, the only problem is the strict process it takes to color your hair to your natural color, especially since I'm a blonde. I had my hair dresser dye my hair brown 3 months ago then the brown really faded to where you could still see my roots. I decided to try an all natural dyeing method since I am trying to slowly stop ever dyeing my hair with salon chemicals. I found that henna is great for dyeing hair and there are natural ingredients used to prepare the henna mixture. 

What I used to mix the henna dye:

1 container of Rainbow Henna

3 Tbs of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Tbs of Apple Cider Vinegar (I only used this to help the dye soak into my blonde hair)

3/4 cup of boiling water

1/4 cup of brewed black coffee

Mix all the ingredients until you get a dark green creamy paste. The process was simple and very easy to apply, just be careful because it stains and make sure you clean up right after you wrap your hair up to cure. The process takes around 60 to 75 minutes depending on how rich you want the color, if you have a heat lamp to stand under the process would be around 45 to 55 minutes. 

Also don't forget to coat the outline of your face, ears, and neck with Vaseline so the henna does not leave a funky line of dye on your skin. So, that is what everything should look like once mixed and now you apply and wait. I was kind of nervous when I was washing it out of my hair because it was hard to get all of it out so it took me awhile and I was not sure if I got all the hair coated in it or if it did not turn out the way I wanted it. Once I finally succeeded in getting all the henna out of my hair, I added some hair oil to my ends and brushed it out. 

Once dried the final result was this, I love it and it looks like I had nothing to worry about after all because I think it turned out great. This picture is of it without me using any heat to style it, I just let it dry on its own to assure that the color would be set. The Rainbow Henna that I used was really affordable, works great, and comes with detailed instructions. I surely feel like my 7 dollars was well spent and I think if I ever dye again I will make sure to use henna.

Week Three in a Nut Shell.

Wow, I cannot believe it is the last part of October. This month has truly flown by especially this last week. I wish I had a better reason as to why I have not posted in lately but I was just tremendously busy with family and school. It was my boyfriend's twenty-second birthday yesterday and I took him to an awesome Italian Steakhouse called Iavarone's. The food is to die for and the atmosphere is perfect plus it is not that expensive if you want to go out to have a nice dinner. For my meal choice I stuck with a salad, chicken with sautéed spinach, we had bruschetta for our appetizer (I only had 2 out of the 6 on the plate), and I also had a glass of wine. We were stuffed so there was no birthday dessert, ironically my boyfriend does not really care for desserts or sweets so avoid that kind of stuff is super easy when I am out with him. Dinner was moderately healthy but I almost considered that a cheat meal because I had more carbs than I planned on eating. I did not beat myself up about it since we had tickets for Howl O'Scream  at Busch Gardens. It ended up being so packed since it is getting closer to Halloween and it was a Saturday so we ended up just walking the whole park and did all the scare zones and road a few rides. By the end of the night we were both so beat because not only did we walk the whole park twice but we also walked back to our car since the line for the tram was way too long. Boy were we tired once we got home, I am pretty sure all those carbs I had at dinner were put to good use while we were at Busch Gardens. The other four days went great as well, I have had no slip ups and I am going to kick it into high gear for this last week. I plan to make sure that at least 90 minutes of exercise is done everyday, the only carbs that I will be consuming is the carbs from fruit or vegetables. I will also make sure that I am juicing daily to keep my cravings at bay. I cannot wait for this fourth week and I cannot believe that I have almost completed this challenge. Only 10 more days until the before and after picture, and I have a few interesting blog posts that will be posted this week so be on the lookout.

Days Fourteen, Fifteen and Sixteen.

"To know what has to be done, then to do it, compromises the whole philosophy of practical life." - Sir William Osler

Week three is off to a great start, I have been juicing quite a bit and I am incorporating a few superfoods that I am currently reading up on. For this post I want to focus on how to eat smart when you're eating out. This week is my boyfriend's birthday so that means I have quite a few birthday dinners to attend and more than likely they will all be at restaurants. Always keep a positive outlook when planning on going to dinner because it is not the end of the world, you just have to keep yourself focused and you'll be fine. Keep reassuring yourself of your ultimate goals while you are waiting to be seated. Once the menu gets placed in front of you, make sure you look for clues on the menu like hearts or stars indicating if the meal is heart healthy or low calories. Once you found the few select items narrow it down to the choice that sounds the most filling with mostly vegetables as the ingredients. Also, most restaurants will modify a meal for you and even if they won't just say your allergic to said ingredient(s) then it should not be a problem. I have done this a few times during this challenge so I could still go out with my friends and family for dinner and still stick with the challenge.

Here are some of the meals I have opted for while going out to restaurants during this challenge.
Taco Bus:

Poblanos Mexican Grill:

As previously posted, Oxford Exchange:

Eating healthy and smart while eating out is solely a personal disciplined choice but I promise you will not regret the switch once you stick to it.

On the other hand here is a picture of my juicer:

I adore it and I am so glad I made the purchase because it has made a huge difference with my cravings. My cravings are basically nonexistent now and if I do get a craving I just pour myself a glass of juice, so simple! My recent juicing recipe is 1 to 2 carrots, a pear, 2 to 3 apples, and a handful of kale leaves. This recipe makes enough juice for one day and the juice is deliciously sweet, great for the sweet tooth cravers out there. I have also played around with many other recipes and found some that I can't stand and others that I can't seem to get enough of. Let me know if you would like to see a post covering some juicing recipes and the benefits; stay healthy and take care everyone.

Day Six & Seven.

Weekends are a bit like rainbows; they look good from a distance but disappear when you get close to them. - John Shirley

I can't think of a better quote to describe how this weekend came to pass. It seems like it was just Friday and now everyone is gearing up for the start of the second week of October. This is good news to me because that means I have completed Week 1 of the 30 Day Challenge. Looking back at this week I am proud to say that I did not slip up one bit and I stuck to everything, even thought it was a challenge at some times. The main struggle I am facing is posting everyday, it's becoming very tedious and time consuming since I have homework, work, gym, cooking, and family to contend with as well. I figured I would try a grouped post on the past two days to see how everyone feels about it, I find it easier and a lot less time consuming. So just for future reference, you guys might be seeing more of these grouped postings.

Now onto my meals and daily workouts the past days. Yesterday (October 6th) my boyfriend wanted to take me to this new place in Tampa called Oxford Exchange; and I know what you're thinking, oh my she's going to go eat out and actually have a cheat meal. Well yes many would think that, because when we go out to eat we tend to let our diet fly right out the meal but making up excuses like: there is nothing healthy on the menu, well I'm eating out so I might as well eat whatever I want, etc. These are excuses and need to stay that way, we are not making anything about eating out justifiable if anything we need to become more strick on ourselves WHEN we eat out. I would also like to say that eating smart when choosing to eat out is about 70% important then the last 30% is making the right choices once in the restaurant. My boyfriend picked Oxford Exchange because it is a brand new Tampa restaurant and its main focus is serving food that is healthy, organic, and all grown local. So if you ever wanted to go to a restaurant where you are having a meal made with local Florida ingredients then I say check it out! I ended up getting a Mediterranean Sea Bass dish with sautéed vegetables.

This meal was delightful, and it was packed with ingredients that I can have while I am on this strict diet. I also ordered an unsweet blueberry and hibiscus green tea for my drink. As you can also see, my boyfriend opted for a burger and fries. This lunch filled me up so much I did not even need a midday snack before dinner. As for dinner I cooked up a very simple dish since parents when out to eat and my boyfriend and I decided to cook for ourselves since we did not want to eat out twice in one day. I made my lemon basil chicken with brown rice and some sautéed vegetables.

This meal is very simple and I have the recipe for the chicken in Day Two's blog. After dinner I made some green tea and just relaxed for the rest of the evening.

As for today, day seven, I decided to start off my day with some more protein pancakes. This time I made them without the banana and I only used a table spoon of honey for my "syrup" since I wanted to make these pancakes with the lowest carbs as possible.

This version tastes the exact same and they are not dry tasting without syrup so that's a plus. These pancakes really filled me up and held me over till my midday snack. The snack I ended up making was greek yogurt with peaches, muesli, cinnamon, and coco nibs. I also took a 1 Tbs of coconut oil and mixed it with 1/2 Tbs of honey and drizzled that over my cold greek yogurt. The magical thing behind coconut oil is that it has all the properties of that Shell Chocolate Syrup for ice cream, just it's all natural. If you wanted any type of syrup for your treats or snack just mix some healthy ingredients with coconut oil and voila you have yourself a healthy syrup. I also had my midday snack with some chocolate coconut water which surprisingly tastes just like chocolate milk.

Woohoo and now we're on to dinner, I kept this dinner quite simple as well since I was not feeling that hungry. I just made a huge vegetable medley with some seared salmon strips.

Tomorrow is the start of week two! I cannot be anymore excited and I have a surprise that will be revealed in Wednesdays post, take care everyone!

Day Five.

You know it's always the days where you have nothing to do that suddenly become the most unorganized chaotic mess of a day. It never fails, I have yet to see a day where I don't have anything coming up for me to do. I actually planned to have a relaxing day today but that's another story, this low carb day wasn't that bad since I've been swamped with things to do all day and I've had very little time to eat. Days like this are bitter sweet because if you keep you calorie intake really low you force your body into ketosis.

Ketosis is the secrete key to carb cycling, you want to keep your body in and out of ketosis through out the day. In this article, they talk about how carb cycling is the best diet when trying to loose that last little bit of stubborn fat. They point out that this diet will work on anyone if they are willing to stick to it. They also talk about how ketosis is the major benefactor here since your body switches to a fat burning state when it is in ketosis, verses a carb burning state which is normal for our bodys. Basically ketosis is what makes eating disorders so extreme, by girls/guys starving themselves they are putting their bodys in this ketosis state. Their body starts eating at their fat cells to keep energy levels up but once all the fat is gone ketosis will begin depleting nutrients from your muscles. Ketosis is a great trick of the trade when it comes to fast diets but it is also a very dangerous way to diet if you are not educated on the allowed food plan for this diet. I recommend checking out the article and looking into ketosis if you are really interested in loosing those last 5 to 10 pounds.

My morning breakfast was very simple and great for an energy boost midday snack if you'd want. I used fat free Greek yogurt with 1/4 cup of muesli and a table spoon of organic blackberry jam. Mix all together and let sit for softened oats or eat instantly for a little crunch to your yogurt. I didn't have anytime for mid morning snack and lunch but I did have an organic PB&J on an egg based "bread" for my midday snack. For dinner I just had a salad with beets, feta cheese, red peppers, and wasabi dressing. I missed the gym today since I was helping out my parents with stuff around the house all day, so I burnt some calories but not as much as I would with my normal workout. So tomorrow I am getting up bright and early to do my leg workout and end with some yoga.

Day Three.

Today was a low carb day so my energy levels have not been treating me well, as far as today goes. Besides that little bump in the road currently, today was great and successful just like the rest. For breakfast I had the same thing I did yesterday, which was muesli, but instead of jam I did a scoop of peanut butter with half of a banana. For my midmorning snack, which ended up being after my workout, was plain fat free greek yogurt.

The ingredients are:

• 1 cup of Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 of a Banana
• A handful of sunflower seeds (raw/unsalted)
• Cinnamon to taste

This "snack" also doubled as my lunch since my workout today took up my whole midmorning/midday. I figured it would be fine since today was ment to be low carbs and lower calories are never anything to complain about when dieting. My workout today was pretty intense and was 90 minutes long. I spent an hour on my legs then spent the last 30 doing some HIIT. This workout was really draining because I plan to do my cardio every morning so I will not feel so worn out when I finish lifting later in the day (basically maintain the same energy level throughout the whole day). Basically what I am trying to get at is do not do this workout in one sitting while you're carb cycling, I felt very drained and almost in complete haze throughout the rest of the day. Luckily I had nothing to do for the rest of the day so I spent those lovely hours just laying around the house relaxing. 

Now it's time for dinner and tonight ended up being a sautéed vegetables with a side salad. I chose to prepare this for dinner since it is the easiest to make and it does not require much of your energy or time for the finished meal.

The sautéed vegetables:

• Mushrooms
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Cashews

Combine all ingredients to a pan, use 2 tsp of avocado oil OR olive oil then flavor with whatever seasonings you desire. Sauté them for 10 minutes on a low to medium heat so the vegetables don't end up burnt or soggy.

The salad:

• Spring Mix
• Fresh Strips of Salmon
• Wasabi Dressing 

This dinner was great and made full, I also had some black coffee right after dinner which provided me with enough energy to make this post then head right to bed. So goodnight everyone and I'll see you tomorrow. 

Squash the Carbs

Who doesn't enjoy a nice plate of spaghetti, I know I sure do! Although I can tell you the one thing I don't like about spaghetti is the fact that it is packed full of unwanted carbs. Back in high school I ran in track and field and the night before every meet the team would have a spaghetti cookout night, basically carb loading for the meet. So not only would my mother cook spaghetti or some type of pasta every other night but I also had my coaches trying to get me to carb up, which is never the best approach to loosing weight. Carbs are mistaken for being the one food that will boost your energy levels almost instantly, but there are many other healthier food options that will give you instant energy and also help maintain your energy levels.

My take on carbs is you just have to play it smart. I strive to eat clean carbs like sweet potatoes, brown rice, or steel cut oats. Those types of carbs are the good carbs that your body will process for energy, just remember to keep all carbs in moderation because abusing carb intake will just result in stubborn weight staying around.

Now onto the recipe! You will need a spaghetti squash, olive oil, and whatever else you desire for your spaghetti squash noodles. Now take your spaghetti squash and cut it in half vertically. Now that you have it halved you want to take a spoon (I used an ice-cream scooper) to scoop out the insides and the seeds. Don't scoop too hard, treat it like you're cleaning out the inside of a pumpkin.

Now that you have your squash all cleaned and ready to go, take some baking paper and line your cooking sheet with it. Take your olive oil and drizzle about 1 to 2 tsp on the inside of the spaghetti squash, then place the two halves open side down and bake for 45 to 60 mins at 375 F degrees.

Once the time is up take your squash out and let it cool for 10 minutes. Then you want to take your scooper again and start scraping at the inner sides of the squash. You will begin to notice noodle like pieces pulling up as your continue to scrape. Hollow out both halves of the squash and place in a serving bowl where you can add whichever other ingredients you wish! I made one serving just plain with sautéed mushrooms mixed in and another one with organic marinara sauce on top.

Spaghetti squash is super delicious and good for you! Plus it has minimal carbs since it is a vegetable. This is just another healthy food alternative that I make sure is a part of my everyday clean eating routine.

Pumpkin Spread - Fall Foods

As fall begins to creep up on us I begin making all of my old fall recipes, and today was pumpkin cream cheese spread. This spread is a great fall food because it can be added to almost anything to make it a festive meal. I usually use this spread on toast, pancakes, in yogurt, and as dip. This spread is not only delicious but it is nutritious! The ingredients are: 1 can of organic purée pumpkin, 1 packet of fat free cream cheese, grade A maple syrup, truvia to taste, and cinnamon.

All of these ingredients are natural and healthy for your body! And it's super easy to make.

You just add all the ingredients to the bowl and you decide how much maple syrup, cinnamon, and truvia as you like. I try to keep it simple and light for my mid-day snacks so I will still have enough energy until my next meal. Well this will be my afternoon snack, a nutritious fall flavored afternoon pick me up is just what I need.

Juicing, Smoothies, and Detox OH MY!

Ever heard of a magic weight-loss potion, or a magical pill that will melt your fat away? We all know that the hyped up weight-loss "programs" and "quick fixes" do not work, but what does work is juicing in order to get the proper amount of nutrients daily. Now I know what you're thinking, "How can one drink cleanse my entire body?" well you are slightly right and slightly wrong at the same time. Detoxing is not just a one-step procedure, it involves many different drink recipes in order to make the detox work 100% and worth your time. What people mainly get wrong about detox programs and drinks is the fact that it takes a lot of your time and you must stay committed if you want to complete the detox. A blog that I love to follow ( Organic Beauty Talk ) just recently did a post about juicing, including some detox juice recipes. At the same time that I believe detox programs can help rejuvenate one's body, I also believe that fasting (during or for a detox program) is not the best for your body.

Now I do believe in super smoothies and super drinks that will help your body rejuvenate its self. I do not do detox programs anymore, but I do try to drink a power smoothie every day. In my smoothies I try to pack a bunch of superfoods in there so my body is getting the best nourishment.

Above is what I use daily when it comes to my juices and smoothies. All of these products are 100% natural, so there are no additives or preservatives in your super smoothie. You can use water, coconut water, or unsweetened almond milk as your base. I usually just stick with coconut water (ZICO) as my base, but if I want a creamier texture I use the unsweetened almond milk.

Regardless of what you prefer, detox or daily superfood smoothies, both are great for your body but remember to be cautious when it comes to detox fasting. I encourage everyone to try and make a super smoothie this week.