Ginger Apple Cinnamon Detox Drink/Zombies/Cheesecake Factory/Water Kefir

That was quite the long title. Let's start with the drink recipe:

Did you know the apple belongs to the Rose family of plants? Interesting. Here is a link to a great article about the health benefits of apples http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?dbid=15&tname=foodspice

Here is some info about Cinammon: from http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/lifestyle-guide-11/supplement-guide-cinnamon
Cinammon may reduce inflammation, have antioxidant effects, and fight bacteria and it is super yummy. 

Ginger- great for digestion!! More info at: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=72

Green tea: http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/benefit_of_drinking_green_tea.

Without further ado:

Cheesecake Factory? I went for the first time yesterday with my lovely sisters. We went to Ann Taylor for a free makeover/party thingy where Juice Beauty was demoing products and we received a free birchbox (box full of Juice Beauty products). Great stuff. Had a wonderful relaxing time with the girls.

Zombies? Tomorrow, my sister Erika and my friend Maylin, and I are making our debut at getting chased by zombies in Seattle. 5k .https://www.thezombierun.com/location/louisville/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=zombie%20race&utm_campaign=Zombie%20Run-Louisville

Water kefir? Just received my order of the kefir crystals http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051WV5K6/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I have my first batch brewing on my kitchen counter. I will update more as we see how that progresses.

AND Finally a sneak peek of a dish I made tonight for dinner, that I stuffed into romaine leaves and had with a side of roasted broccoli. At first I was going to call this "Pink chicken salad" but that just seems gross, as well as the picture does not do the dish justice. So I'm going to go with "Beet, pickle chicken salad."

And I leave you with some relaxing Jennifer Charles

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Sunday morning musings on Paleo eating and Oil pulling

Its been 5 days since I posted the pic of me at 130#. I'm currently 127#. Not bad for 5 days time. And the above picture illustrates my own mirrored inner "YES!!!"

I feel incredibly GOOD. I find, so far, what seems to be working for me is the addition of ghee, butter, and eggs. I don't really feel drawn to meat. I'll eat it but I'm more craving the fat. I use ghee the most, and butter (organic) when I run out and I did. In a weeks time I (and the kiddos) toasted through this:

Plus, I have always had extra virgin coconut oil but I've really upped my intake. The many uses of this product is amazing! Click the pic of the coconut for a great article from Wellness Mama on 101 uses of this deliciously fabulous oil. This past week, I've been drizzling it in my warm green tea and in any smoothie I make. AND I've been oil pulling with it.

Here is a great article on oil pulling: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-7857/why-you-should-start-oil-pulling-today.html

My very first experience was an instant.. "OH GOD I just put a whole glob of oil in my mouth" and I had to kind of fight the gag factor. But I soldiered on and swished and pulled for about 10 mins while I was in the shower. Then I blissfully ran to spit it out in the trash and instantly my sinuses began to feel leaky. I don't have sinus issues but something was going on. My main reason for giving oil pulling a go is I started having a tooth ache, I still have unfilled cavities and well, I really don't want to get them filled. I've been reading Ramiel Nagel's Cure Tooth Decay. Fascinating.

Here is a link to a well layed out article: http://www.naturalnews.com/022564_cavities_root_canals.html

My toothache is gone and my teeth are looking whiter. I actually like this part of my morning routine. I feel good after, pretty energized. I'm not having the gag factor anymore and can swish for longer periods of time.. up to 20 mins.

I know this post is kind of all over the place but yes that's how my brain works.. Going "Paleo" for me seems to be quite awesome. My main focus is still on TONS and TONS of glorious vegetables. I eat greens with almost every meal. I've limited my fruit consumption just because I want to limit my carbs for a brief time to speed up weight loss. I eat berries because they are lower glycemic and DAMN, when you take away the sweets and then have a piece of fresh fruit, your taste buds explode. Really. They do. Blueberries rock.

In a nut shell I have taken away from my diet: White sugar and white flour. And added: glowing skin and weight loss.

Whenever you cut carbs, your body can experience a "detox" and mine did. I feel it in the background but its not annoying. It was the 3rd day and I needed sleep like I never needed sleep before. I believe it was on Thursday, I came home from practicum, fed the kids dinner and all that mommy stuff and then I told everyone I was going to go lay down AT 8:30 at night!!! I didn't wake up until the next morning at 8am. I got up to take Ollie home to Everett and when I came home, I fell asleep for a nap with Connor for 2 hours.

The only other side effect I have experienced is a slightly "off" feeling that my body is switching to burning fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates. I guess if this was your first time with low carb eating, this would be really weird and potentially scary but I'm an old pro at this. Hmmm not sure if I should be proud of that statement... lol.

I continue to work out to Fitness Blender (I'm so absolutely in love with this couple because their workouts WORK for me and I'm always excited to check what my work out is for the day).

Hmm what else what else? I guess that's it for now. Stayed tuned. :)

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