I decided to make the Blueberry Shake from Day 1 Phase 1 for breakfast. The weather here today has been overall miserable, my body has been in snap, crackle, pop mode since yesterday. This sweet granola like shake was just what I was craving. May be I put to many ice cubes in the shake, or my blender did not “warm up” as much as normal but I had several coconut oil chunks in my drink. Below is a photo of the coconut oil pieces leftover from my drink.

Lunch was amazing and filling, I had some of the left over soup as a snack before dinner. My lunch soup was Carrot Ginger. I added all of the boosts, coconut oil and chipotle. This was a soup I haven’t had yet from the book, I think it was supposed to be a snack but I didn’t see any harm in turning it into a lunch soup.

The soup was thick, creamy, simple and even felt like it was cooked. I think the chipotle gave it that warm kick that can mimic cooked foods. On a cold, damp and thundering day like this it’s nice to have a comfort food around.

Carrot Ginger Soup mostly tastes like avocado, miso and carrot. I was bummed out that I couldn’t taste the ginger, the recipe called for one teaspoon, the next time I make this soup I will probably add a lot more ginger. Shhh, I tried a little bit with a sprinkle of nutritional yeast for a Vitamin B boost (great for healthy brain function and to improve ones mood). It was bomb diggity!

I am having my dinner on the go so I am making this post before I even get to eat it, hehe. But for dinner I will be having the Mushroom Rolls with Root Rice in Wraps that I had last night. I loved these little sushi like bites, these rolls hold so much flavor and crunch. I have enough root rice leftover for probably just one wrap not two, but I’m going to try to make it work anyway

A few people have asked me where I bought my raw oils and other condiments. Why raw oils and so on. In the past I made a post all about what materials one should have in their kitchen if they want to make raw dishes, especially if they are going to use oils and other condiments. Here is a link to that post titled, “5 Basic Raw Ingredients In Your Unbaking Cabinet.” Also, here is a link to my post all about raw black sesame oil. I go over what the oil looks like, tastes like, and a recipe of mine that I used it in.

Check-In:

Overall I feel well, my energy isn’t as high as yesterday but I think it’s also because my sciatic pain is much worse today. The dampness here today is making me feel stiff.

I am back to my original weight loss of about 4 pounds from following Ani Phyo’s Fat Blast, at one point I had lost 6 pounds had stomach issues gained a ton of weight and now there is where I am. My stomach is back to having regular bowel movements and none of the food today has bothered my stomach.

There are a few recipes Ani shares in the book to try out after doing the Fat Blast. I plan on testing a few of them out, there are some juice recipes that I am mostly excited for.

I’ve been reading a lot about Watermelon Feasts lately, for cleansing. In a few days once I use up the leftover veggies and what not from following Ani’s book I will probably do a Watermelon Feast for about 5 days depending if I can find a good deal on watermelons right now.

I still have a ton of cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes and herbs from following this book. Most of the herbs are already to the point that I do not think I will be able to use them fresh, so I plan on hanging them upside to dry. This way I have more dried herbs around the house

Another thing I plan on doing after this cleanse is to keep away from nuts, zucchini, bananas and try to use some of the ingredients in Ani’s recipes more often. Especially the ones I notice that are used almost everyday such as; miso, coconut oil, avocado, fruit, fermented foods, nori and mushrooms.

Tomorrow I’ll be posting some recipes I did not get to try out during the cleanse plus a meal or juice that Ani recommends trying out from the after the Fat Blast section.

Thank you all for following me on this adventure! It’s amazing how much the body tries to educate you on what is good and bad for you as an individual. I’ve always noticed that these foods like bananas have slightly bothered my stomach but didn’t think much of it. Have a delicious day!

xoxo

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For lunch I had a Cumin Slaw with Coconut Miso Vinaigrette. Here’s another recipe where I couldn’t find any measurements on just how much vinaigrette should go over the salad. The salad consists of any type of cabbage (I had Napa around), cucumber, tomato (I used cherry tomatoes), carrot, scallions and cumin seeds. I hope I was supposed to use whole cumin seeds and not ground. I always get worried when it’s not clearly stated like that. The Coconut Miso Vinaigrette was simple; coconut oil, miso and apple cider vinegar. I was a little hesitant with this salad, I wasn’t sure how the cumin would taste with everything else.

I was pleasantly surprised! The “vinaigrette” makes the slaw so tasty and was more of a paste. I mashed in one tablespoon, mixed the salad well, tasted it, and added just a teaspoon more. The vinaigrette tasted very creamy, almost like a mayonnaise. I loved the crunch of all of the vegetables. I kept mushing the slaw around while I ate because the coconut oil was turning into very tiny solid pieces.

Dinner was Mushroom Rolls with Root Rice. Mushrooms were marinated in soy sauce (coconut nectar in my case), toasted sesame oil (I use raw black sesame oil), and one cup of mushrooms (I used Portabella and Shiitake again ). This is the same marinate sauce used in the Mushroom Green Wraps from two nights ago.

The root rice options are jicama, turnip or daikon radish. I could only find turnip in town, I really wanted to do it with the jicama. Jicama rice is the bomb! Also in the root rice is white miso and scallions. This root rice has lots of flavor from the miso and scallions, it reminds me of creamy onion mashed potatoes.

To make this into a wrap, half on a collard green is placed half way though a nori sheet wrapped with the mushrooms, root rice, carrots and cucumbers. I LOVE THESE! Simple, flavorful, crunchy, salty, creamy and they look absolutely stunning. I have enough of the root rice left over to make just one more roll of wraps, tomorrow is the last day of the Fat Blast and I am allowed to pick whatever I want to eat…this will be my dinner for sure.

The collard greens, marinate and root rice combined make the wraps taste like wasabi is inside. It feels weird calling these wraps because it’s more like sushi, at least to me These stick together very well, and the collard does a great job protecting the nori sheet from getting wet.

Check-In:

Today’s meals were superb, everything went well with my stomach and I feel like I am learning a lot of spices with these recipes.

My energy level has been fantastic, I think I might even go to another yoga class today because I feel so good. I haven’t had any sciatic pain today and I did have one bowel movement, but nothing to congratulate me on it wasn’t much.

This morning I noticed my skin is breaking out a little bit on my chin and near my left ear. It was just starting to get a great glow and bam pimples.

Tomorrow I am allowed to pick meals from the book for each meal. Right away I picked up blueberries to make the blueberry shake! I know I will have the same dinner I had tonight tomorrow. But I still haven’t made up my mind for lunch, may be a soup to mix things up?

Thank you all so much for reading! I tried to post earlier today per request Hope you can stop by tomorrow and see how my last day of the Fat Blast goes. I plan on doing a weigh in and reflecting on my previous posts and filling you in on my food plans after Ani’s Fat Blast. Have a delicious day! Much love <3

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The shake was more like a smoothie because of the creamy avocado. It even had an oily savory taste and I think this is what helped me feel so full. The avocado and strawberry had a tropical vibe to it without even having coconut or citrus fruits. I woke up before my alarm clock this morning and made this Avocado Shake right away. Thank goodness too; it was super filling to the point that I was glad I had some extra hours to digest it before going to yoga.

About an hour after having this shake I had a healthy bowel movement, YAY! It wasn’t a dam releasing or painful, just healthy and enough to get my stomach to not feel as hard.

My sciatic pain has been increasing throughout the day today. It was difficult for me to do poses in yoga that I can usually do without having to do much adjusting. The pain is heavily concentrated in my hips, lower back, behind and around the knee caps as well.

For lunch I had Ani’s Fennel Slaw with Dill Vinaigrette. The slaw calls for jicama, which I haven’t been able to find around here in a while now, so I subbed radishes in. Other ingredients in the slaw are fennel and sunflower seeds. I’m almost sure now that my stomach is sensitive to cashews but other nuts seem to not be a problem. Nut sensitivities and allergies are rather tricky, it’s possible to be allergic to just a specific type of nut. This recipe only calls for 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. I thought the sunflower seeds would taste and look better in the slaw. It’s been over an hour since I had the slaw and my stomach is still feeling fine.

The vinaigrette for this slaw is creamy, salty, sweet and delicious! It has apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, fresh dill, miso, and lemon zest. I did use both the “Thermo Charger” and ” ‘Bot Boost” in this. The thermo charger of nutritional yeast added a great saltiness that goes great with the licorice taste of fennel. The ‘bot boost is black pepper, something I usually put in my salad recipes This slaw is up there on my list of favorite lunch dishes from Ani’s Fat Blast. It’s crunchy, green, sweet, salty, creamy and pleasing to the eye. I like the color the radishes added to the slaw too, it ended up being a great replacement.

For dinner I was supposed to have Pesto Wraps, but just trying two tablespoons of the nut based pesto gave me a terrible stomach ache. I’ve been doing quiet a bit of research on nut sensitivities, and it looks like my stomach can not handle the protein in them. This may be because I never really eat much nuts, and since I am vegan I cut out meat, dairy other heavy proteins. My stomach has symptoms of not being able to properly digest nuts. The few tablespoons of sunflower seeds and almonds I have been consuming during Ani’s Fat Blast have been fine. But it looks like having more than that irritates my stomach. Cashews seem to be the worst, even a few tablespoons causes almost instant discomfort.

Instead for dinner I made sushi, which I had a few nights ago. I made one sheet with radishes, sprouts, cucumber and miso. The other with carrots, cucumber, sprouts and miso.

I had a friend ask me some good questions about making raw vegan sushi at home.

Does the nori sheet need to be wet or do I need to wet my hands? It’s best to not wet the nori sheets or your hands. Roll your sheet on a dry surface and make sure you hands are not wet either. If the sheets become too moist they rip easily and are difficult to roll.

How should I spread on the miso? It’s best to spread the miso on before any other ingredients. Use a knife, preferably one that isn’t very sharp. A spoon or fork is difficult to spread across the nori evenly. The miso also helps keep the nori rolled, also keeping the seam down and nicely flapped over. This way nothing spills out.

It’s best to keep the sheet not too packed with items and evenly spread out. Keeping this is mind you should be able to roll the nori with much more ease.

Bon appetit!

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Orange Vanilla Shake, you have done me wrong I think this would have tasted better if the orange was juiced, not just diced. I did use hemp protein, not nuts, so maybe this is why I did not get the creamy thick flavor I was geeking for. Never ever again will I have the shake, at least not willingly.

For lunch I had a tasty Italian Salad except I did not have black olives around. It is very difficult to find them raw, I did order some from a grocery store and almost a month later I was told they couldn’t get them for me anymore. The olives would have been fantastic in this salad plus I love olives! I’m thinking it would give a nice oily salty taste, a little variation in soft textures and they would have really popped. I can imagine the color contrast…dreamy

The salad consisted of avocado, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, capers, nutritional yeast, black pepper, tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes since I already had them in the house), basil, scallions & oregano. It was very creamy with the avocado and coconut oil, most of the lunch meals have been simple, refreshening and not all that filling.

Today’s lunch was more filling compared to the other lunch meals. The flavors were much more complex with the use of so many herbs and capers for a salty kick. I could see someone using this as a dip or blending it up for a soup too. This recipe is a keeper !

For dinner I had Marinated Mushrooms in Lettuce Wraps. I was surprised at how little sauce Ani called for to marinate the mushrooms in and how simple this recipe is. I think I took more time cutting the carrots, cucumbers and red peppers than anything else with this recipe (besides marinating time). The marinate was just soy sauce (I use Coconut Aminos), agave (I used Coconut Nectar and not even half of the amount called for), toasted sesame oil (opted for Raw Black Sesame Oil) and mushrooms. For the mushrooms I used Portabella and Shiitake, they are my favorites and I wanted to have a mix in texture, flavor, and mushroom power!

I don’t want to go too crazy listing all of the health benefits of mushrooms and get myself launched into sounding like a robot textbook. But below are a few properties I thought were worth mentioning.

Mushrooms help strengthen our immune system & are fully loaded with protein. Some say consumption aids with weight loss, mushrooms are made up of 80%-90% water and are low in calories (100 calories/oz). They have little sodium and fat, and 8%-10% of the dry weight is fiber. They are an ideal food for those following a weight management program or a diet for hypertensive disorders.

One medium portabella mushroom has more potassium than a banana or a glass of orange juice! One serving of mushrooms also provides about 20%-40% of the daily value of copper, a mineral that has cardio protective properties. Mushrooms are rich in riboflavin, niacin, and selenium. Selenium is an antioxidant that works with vitamin E to protect cells from the harmful effects of free radicals.

Shiitake mushrooms have been used for centuries by the Chinese and Japanese to treat colds and flu. Lentinan, a beta-glucan isolated from the fruiting body of shiitake mushrooms, is found to stimulate the immune system, help fight infection and is even shown to have anti-tumor activity.

A mushroom a day can keep the doctor away? No wonder mushroom is such a fungi…get it fun, guy woooo!

I had lots of fun assembling my wraps, I used romaine lettuce since that’s what I had around. I was a little confused by the recipe, Ani states one can use red pepper in a little caption about the recipe but never mentions a quantity or cutting technique. After marinating my mushrooms for 2 hours, I squeezed them and let them sit on a paper plate to absorb the rest of the juice. I did use dulse as my boost in this, I couldn’t taste it at all, it went so well with the mushrooms that I was worried at first that I forgot to add them in there.

The jalapeno pepper was too much for me. Even now my face is burning still. Ani’s recipe calls for 1/2 of a jalapeno, I sliced that much and still have a little more than half of that half, hahaha. It really got my nose drained out, lots of saliva in my mouth, and I’m scared to touch my face or anything.

I still need to take a shower from yoga but I’m paranoid about washing myself and possibly still having jalapeno on my hands!

I can also hear a lot of action going on in my stomach, hopefully it’s something good.

Check-In:

My favorite meal today was the Marinated Mushrooms in Lettuce Wraps. I can see myself making this again in the future and may be adding some sprouts, avocado and snap peas to make different variations.

I still have had no bowel movements, last night I only took one Cleanse More capsule because I was scared my body turn into a dam that has fallen apart. So tonight I will have to take two capsules.

I’ve gained all of the weight back I have lost from the cleanse AND MORE! Not cool. The piglet belly is in full effect and bikini season is just around the corner

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day and had a chance to celebrate with all of the beautiful mamas in your life. Have a delicious day and please stop by tomorrow to see how my Monday Funday of day 13 of Ani’s Fat Blast is going. Thank you all for reading! Much love <3 and raw power

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These two citrus fruits are similar and different, lime is tart while grapefruit has always been on the sweeter side to me. With raw vegan juices, shakes and smoothies the taste and getting it to work is almost entirely dependent on fruit. I am always working on finding a balance with this, I personally do not like things as sweet as most people. I need to consider others with my recipes, which isn’t easy at times. I would have never thought of bringing these ingredients together, is sounds utterly crazy. I definitely tilted my head and stared at the book like I must have been reading something wrong.

The Green Grapefruit Shake is refreshening, and was a comforting sunshine kick in the morning. I’ve always been a sucker for fruit juice in the morning, it beats any coffee or tea. The feeling afterward is like kisses all over, this shake felt like it was taking care of me. It was perfect with the weather today too, it’s the first day of sunshine and warmth for days now. Plus, I need to start off my weekend right!

For lunch I had a Shredded Sesame Salad with Orange Vinaigrette Dressing. The salad was made of shredded napa cabbage, julienned carrots, celery, red pepper and cucumber. Today seems to be one of those days where all the food is cooling, refreshening and green! The salad was kind of boring, not much going on flavor wise and the dressing didn’t do anything for me either. I was still hungry after eating this

Since I wanted to opt out the cashew pate that was planned for tonights dinner because I think I might have a cashew sensitivity I made Zucchini Noodles with Marinara. This is a dish I opted out the first night because of my stomach hurting me. The zucchini noodles are made by placing a zucchini through a spiral slicer, if you do not own one Ani has directions on how to make something similar by hand.

The Marinara was traditional with; olive oil, garlic, oregano, thyme, and salt. If you are not used to raw marinara the sauce is much lighter compared to the store-bought sauces. I’ve made this dish on my own before, it’s a good transition to raw meal. Many raw restaurants serve something like this or make raw lasagna, yum

There was a little too much marinara sauce, but it gave that spaghetti messy slurping experience. It really reminded me of cooked wheat pasta because of this, so in a weird way it worked out. There can be a lot of comfort in finding raw foods that remind us of cooked meals especially when it comes to wheat products.

Check-In:

I was on the go today so I made my meals ahead of time and brought them with me. I also brought a fruit salad to the party that was okay for me to eat some of the fruit while following Ani’s book. This way I didn’t feel awkward or out of the loop.

I still have not had a proper bowel movement. A good friend recommended a cleansing pill, I’m going to try that out tonight. I can’t stand feeling this way much longer.

Today’s meals did not cause any stomach aches and overall, everything was just okay. I loved the flavor combining in my breakfast shake but I still wasn’t amazed.

I’m hoping tomorrow’s meals leave me feeling more satisfied and settle well with my stomach.

Tomorrow I am excited to try the Orange Vanilla Shake, I’m hoping for an Orange Julius flavor with this one! Dinner sounds yummy too, Marinated Mushrooms in Lettuce Wraps. It’s funny, I never enjoyed mushrooms until I went vegan and my appreciation for them has only grown since I went raw.

Please stop by tomorrow and see how Day 12 of Ani’s Fat Blast is going for me! Thank you all for reading and taking the time out of your day to stop by. Have a delicious day!

xoxo

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Pears are packed with fiber and vitamins A, C, K, B2, B3, and B6. It also has a few minerals such as; calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, and manganese. Pears are immune boosting, prevent stomach and lung cancer, and lower the risk of age-related macular degeneration.

This shake had a nice texture from the fiber from the pear and tasted great with the lime, ginger and coconut oil. I added the “Fat Melter” of pineapple which ended up being only 3 or 4 pieces and I threw in the “Thermo Charger” of matcha powder. I did not receive as much energy from this shake compared to most of the others, but it was still up there! The flavor was amazing, sweet, fibrous yet smooth, and the warmth from the ginger and coconut oil felt good.

The white oily specks you can see in the photo are from coconut oil, this is a natural process it goes through because of the oil being cooled from the ice cubes. Coconut oil is extremely sensitive to temperature and should always been kept in a dark area at room temperature. Otherwise is will turn into a solid when cold and a liquid when warm.

For my morning snack I enjoyed a Watermelon Grapefruit Salad with scallions and mint. The mint didn’t seem like a weird idea to me but the scallions sounded like a terrible idea. Somehow they went really great with the citrus in grapefruit. I’m still very confused on how that works but I have had scallions with pineapple before in dishes, that was good too.

I love both fruits and I haven’t had watermelon in a while so this treat felt extra fresh. There is a “Thermo Charger” option of jalapeno which I wanted to try badly but I couldn’t find any fresh jalapeno around. Hopefully the next time I see some around I can throw that in there too. I still can’t get over how elegant this salad tasted and looked. I have much to learn about spices, herbs and flavor combining! <3

Now lunch was dangerous, I was and am still mega gassy from it. My lunch was Zucchini Hummus, it may sound harmless to you but oh no you are so so so wrong my friend. The recipe is mostly zucchini and cashews, I think the cashews did me in. It was only 1/4 cup but with food sensitivities it doesn’t even matter how little of the item was consumed. It’s semi heart breaking to see that bananas and nuts do not go well with my stomach. They are both heavily used in raw vegan shakes and desserts.

What also sucks is this hummus was tasty and I probably shouldn’t eat it again! I had two tablespoons of the hummus on top of 2 cups spinach and 1/2 cup sprouts. I ate about another two tablespoons worth with carrots, cucumbers and celery. The left over salad I had that I didn’t think I could finish I spreaded onto a nori sheet and devoured it. I was surprised at how great that tasted, the salty nori sheet went so well with the garlicky hummus. I shared my hummus and veggies with someone who isn’t vegetarian, vegan or anything of the sorts and they loved the hummus too

Dinner was freakin’ fantastic, I’ve made something almost exactly like this on my own but Ani’s Sesame Dipping Sauce is way better than mine. I had Mixed Vegetable Seaweed Rolls; nori sheets covered with miso, avocado, sprouts, carrots and cucumbers. Two sheets of nori were allowed to be used, I made one roll with all of the fixings and the other with everything but carrot.

What makes Ani’s dipping sauce different to me is the use of scallions, she called for toasted sesame oil in her recipe however I only use raw oils and had some black sesame oil around and used that instead. For my soy sauce I used Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos huge fan of their products!

I thinnly sliced ginger and soaked it for just a few minutes in some lemon to quickly soften it up to add to my sushi. It wasn’t recommended or anything in the book but I love ginger especially with my sushi. I didn’t see any harm in eating some! Here is my finished product plated

Dinner was spectacular! I feel like I could eat sushi everyday it’s so fun to come up with different combinations and like I’ve mentioned before I LOVE NORI SHEETS. They always save me when I am traveling <3

Check-In:

Today was the first time I felt an energy crash while following Ani’s meal plan. I think it was because of my stomach, I am rocking a nut gut hard bloated stomach right now.

I plan on doing more research on nut sensitivities and seeing if for example having a sensitivity to cashews does not mean you are also sensitive to almonds.

My stomach still hurts even now from lunch. Tomorrow I will be treading extra careful. There is a cashew pate planned for dinner tomorrow night that I will be opting out for sure. I will do the Marinated Noodles dish I opted out the other night to replace it.

I’m excited to try out the Green Grapefruit Shake for breakfast. I will be eating on the go tomorrow, I will go more in-depth about what you can do to make this easier on yourself. In previous posts I have mentioned that I typically bring my blender and ingredients with me and just make my food. But tomorrow is my nephew’s birthday party and it would be nice to have everything already done.

Thank you all for reading! Please join me here tomorrow and see what tasty dishes Ani’s book served up. Have a delicious day, much love <3

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Today for breakfast I had this rawmazing Pineapple Cilantro Shake! Pineapple and cilantro? Yes, with cucumber, coconut oil, matcha and flax. It was sweet, smooth, savory and made me too full to even eat lunch or a snack today. That might sound crazy, but a few of these shakes have made me that full before. Below is a photo of me enjoying the shake Yummy!

All day I was walking around feeling like I had a little Piglet belly. Ani states in her book that this shake a loaded with Fat Blast Power, I hope so, I’m addicted to this green sweet treat. Pineapple, cucumber and cilantro are a few of my favorite things, I would have never thrown these all together on my own. Ani mentions a few health benefits of cucumbers such as; fiber, potassium, magnesium, silica, ascorbic acid, and caffein acid (the last three are great to get that glowing skin )

So I only had breakfast and dinner today. My stomach is still feeling off from that Senna tea I had two days ago now. Today I had zero bowel movements, probably because that tea drained me out. I’ve been drinking tons of water, sun tea, and I’m about to crack open a bottle of strawberry acai coconut probiotic water. I’m praying to my bowels that the probiotics in this coconut water and the miso in my dinner, Celery Almond Pate.

The ingredients to this pate might sound random, crazy, or completely bizarre but it came out looking like pate. The raisins give it a nice sweetness, and help create a slight paste. There is mostly celery and almond meal, I altered the almond meal portions my stomach does not like a lot of nuts and I am still being overly precautious because of my stomach. I did three tablespoons almond meal and three tablespoons flax meal.

I’m a huge flax fan, and completely comfortable with modifying a few of these recipes for my stomach sensitivities. Whenever I do not want to use nuts in any of Ani’s Fat Blast recipes, or anyone’s recipes actually, I usually switch them out for hemp seeds, flax, flax meal or protein powder. The texture is close, most of these ingredients have similar nutritional value and the taste is semi similar.

I ate the pate with carrots, celery and nori sheets. I freakin’ love nori sheets I bought a package of 50 sheets even, hehehe I was a little hesitant on trying the pate in a nori sheet but gave it a try any who. Somehow it worked and tasted especially fantastic with a few julienned strips of celery. This dinner was on the go, I packed my goodies, blender and made my food at my friend’s house. It was amazing to make this dish in just a few minutes, it takes a while to eat too. I couldn’t finish all of the pate, I want to guess that I have around 1/4 cup or more of the pate leftover.

Ani does not mention how many servings this recipe makes, I hope I didn’t over due it. But this was also my “Linner.”

Check-In:

My stomach feels a bloated, and gassy…meeeeeep.

I started off my day feeling very weak and shaky, damn Senna tea I was planning on making my breakfast shake before going to yoga but I didn’t have enough cucumber. After yoga, taking a shower, getting some sun and having the Pineapple Cilantro Shake I felt great. My energy came back, the shakes went away, and I was ready to zip around like I usually do.

Tomorrow I am excited for the Pear Lime Ginger Shake for breakfast, Watermelon Grapefruit Salad as a snack and the Mixed Vegetable Seaweed Rolls with Sesame Dipping Sauce for lunch. I made sure this time around to have my breakfast shake ingredients already to go so no excuses tomorrow morning! I will have my shake and go to yoga afterwards.

Since my banana issues when I gained 3 or 4 pounds I still have that weight dragging me down. I hope my stomach gets back to normal soon, I am not used to being so inconsistent with bowel movements, energy and my appetite.

Please stop by here tomorrow and see how Ani Phyo’s 15-Day Fat Blast is treating me. After tomorrow there are only 5 days left! I can’t believe it. Thank you all for taking the time to read my post. Have a delicious day, much love <3 and raw power!

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I recommend buying a single packet of the powder and seeing if you like it or not. Fresh wheatgrass of course is much better but we work with what we have! Wheatgrass is super alkalizing, energizing and is packed with lots of nutrients. Wheatgrass is largely chlorophyll & contains all the essential amino acids; it is a rich source of vitamin a & d, and is exceptionally high in b vitamins (great for a healthy brain and to keep your mood up). It is also rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, sulfur, cobalt and zinc.

When I came home from yoga I drank the left over Vanilla Blueberry Shake (8 oz.). Due to the high amounts of fiber in blueberries and the hemp protein I threw in instead of using nuts, the top of the shake had a foamy thick separated substance.

This is completely normal, and is the natural process especially with oxidizing. Just stir the shake and it will be perfectly fine to consume You will probably also get some of these wonder pieces stuck on your teeth

For lunch I had to modify the planned salad quiet a bit because of my stomach bothering me today. The Senna tea I consumed last night has been extremely harsh on my stomach today. Leaving me dehydrated, drained, and my stomach is feeling ultra sensitive. I did not think my stomach could handle the nuts needed for the dressing so I used a mix of ground flax, flax seeds and hemp seeds. My lunch was a modified Kreamy Chipotle Salad with Kreamy Chipotle Dressing.

The salad is simple just romaine, red leaf, red pepper and cucumbers. The dressing tasted very strong of miso, probably because I did not use cashews like the recipe called for. It did taste pretty good though anyway! It really is the dressing that makes this salad.

I changed the dinner plan today tremendously due to my stomach pains. There was supposed to be a Zucchini or Kelp Noodle dish with marinara sauce. But I know marinara sauce and my stomach right now would only end with me feeling even worse. Instead I made the snack soup for my dinner. The soup has lots of rehydrating, alkalizing, good bacteria and fats that my body is probably lacking right now from how harsh the Senna tea was on my stomach.

Kreamy Cucumber Soup is mostly made of cucumber, miso, avocado, and romaine or green of your choice (I used spinach YUM!). There are two boosts to pick and choose, I used both chipotle and coconut oil. This recipe called for almost the same ingredients used in today’s lunch soup…kinda weird. So I wanted to mix it up a little bit and add the spinach. This soup is def up there on my list of favorites. I’m surprised at how amazing the coconut oil works in this one, it helps make it thick and plays well with the chipotle.

Check-In:

That Senna Tea knocked me off my feet! I never get consistent results with that stuff, I don’t think I’ll be using it again. I’m hoping tomorrows foods will be good to me, the Pineapple Cilantro Shake for breakfast looks amazing and right up my taste bud alley.

Besides my stomach bringing me down overall I was in good spirits today, not ever moody even though my stomach felt terrible. I surprised myself and took a quick cat nap, I am not a napper at all but I’m guessing taking this many bowel movements pooped me out, ha ha ha

I did go to yoga today and did my run! I’ve been keeping a water bottle with me at all times too to try to get hydrated again.

Today it has been difficult to eat and stay with the meal plans because of my stomach feeling like complete chaos. But I just stayed busy, motivated and hydrated that helped big time.

Please stop by here tomorrow and see how Ani Phyo’s 15-Day Fat Blast is treating me! Thank you for reading and have a delicious day <3

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Shh I added a few ice cubes to make the quantity larger. I also threw in the “Thermo Charger” and “Super Power Pack“, matcha and maca. Plus some boosts of my own like Ashwagandha and Mesquite powder.

Ashwagandha (ash wag an dha) has a caramel flavor, it has rejuvenating properties like; reducing the side effects of stress, reducing anxiety & immune system protection. It improves learning, memory and reaction time and reduces brain cell degeneration. Some use it for thyroid health, its anti-tumor qualities, to reduce blood sugar and cholesterol levels and so much more. All are great benefits to be consuming any day but especially helpful when you are feeling sluggish, may be some ashwagandha in the morning is just the kick you need

Mesquite is has a spicy caramel chocolate taste that goes great with desserts. Usually it can be found in powder form in the supplement isle with cacao and other sweet boosts. It is high in protein, iron, fiber, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and lysine (yay amino acid!). Mesquite helps balance blood sugar levels and is even low in fat. Now that I’ve intrigued you may be you are wondering how the heck you are going to find this product or how to pronounce it. “Mes-keet” is in most health food stores and is easy to find online too.

Today’s lunch was an Asian Cabbage Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette. As promised I had a Mango Mint Shake for my afternoon snack. I had this delicious treat after going for a run and soaking up some sun. For the mint I used lemon mint from my yard, it went especially well with the sweet mango and romaine.

The recipe calls for 1 cup mango which ended up being a little bit more than half of a mango for me. I love how fresh, lively, simple and green this drink was!

For dinner I had the Coconut Tomato Soup that I seem to be having difficulties enjoying and making a sufficient amount, here is my previous post on this soup for more details. The soup lacks texture, sweetness and overall substance. I feel really terrible saying that but that’s my honest opinion.

Check-In:

Yet again this is when I can’t seem to have any bowel movements, the same problem I had the first day I was eating these meals. The banana shake this morning did not feel well, it tasted freakin’ amazing and I wish it didn’t hurt my stomach so much. It felt like my stomach put up a vault for anything to be digested nicely.

Yesterday’s dinner soup did not go well with my stomach either. I was feeling very bloated, surprisingly no gas. It had that feeling to it though and I could even hear my stomach not sounding too happy.

I managed to gain around 3-4 pounds because of not being able to go to the bathroom and bloating. Tonight I’ll have to do what I did the last time and drink some Senna tea.

I’m excited about tomorrow’s meals, last time I loved all of them and didn’t seem to have any stomach pains. Last time there was an afternoon snack shake I wasn’t hungry enough for that I will try to have tomorrow.

Tomorrow is also the last day of Phase 2, once I went Phase 3 more solids will be incorporated and some fun ingredients to talk about

Please stop by here tomorrow and see how I am holding up! Thank you all for taking the time to read my posts. Have a delicious day, much love <3 and raw power

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It felt instant, probably wasn’t that extreme, but my stomach did not feel right afterwards. I haven’t had a bowel movement yet today, it’s been making my stomach feel uncomfortable. It’s fun and interesting for me to rediscover which foods do not go well or go well with me after having smoothies, shakes and juices for a few days.

I think it’s almost safe to say bananas and I do not go well. They taste great, don’t get me wrong! There are several reasons on why my stomach possibly does not like them, such as; the ripeness of a banana will determine whether or not it will make you constipated when it is consumed (tricky tricky), gases used to ripen bananas, natural starch & they are a hybrid fruit (cross breeding food = decreased nutrition and no assurance on how safe they really are).

For lunch I had Ani’s Spring Sauerkraut Salad with Thermo Dressing. This time I had spring mix around the house and I picked up sunflower seeds because I remember last time I wish I had them instead of almonds. The sunflower seeds were everything I dreamed of hahaha. It tasted fantastic with the sauerkraut, miso based thermo dressing and sprouts. May be it’s just me but it even looked prettier too! Below is a photo

For my afternoon snack I had a Pineapple Protein Shake, something I didn’t get to make the first time around…I was still full then The shake was simple, just four or so ingredients. I used frozen pineapple to make it thick and I did add the boost of chlorella. Ani writes that this shake is amazing for injuries or food sensitivities because of its anti-inflammatory benefits from pineapples.

I’ve been having some terrible sciatic pain just the past few days, it’s actually cooled down a ton thank goodness. It prevented me from running and going to the second yoga class I like to go to on Sundays. I’m hoping the shake ends up balancing out my stomach too.

Today’s dinner soup was Kreamy Dill Delight. Here is a link to my post the first time I did Day 2 of Phase 2 where I have a video of me making the soup, and showing what ingredients this tasty dish consists of. This soup is hulking out with chlorophyll richness. Chlorophyll has been used for ulcers, skin diseases, pain relief and as a breath freshener. As you probably remember from your school days chlorophyll is the “blood” of a plant.

Chlorophyll gives our bodies oxygen and without sufficient oxygen in our blood we develop symptoms of; low energy, and sluggish digestion and metabolism. If I could talk to Ani myself I would ask why this is a dinner soup instead of a lunch meal, this sounds like nutrients we all could really use during the day especially to help those who suffer from afternoon crashes.

Check-In:

Besides the sciatic pain that was unbearable earlier today and my stomach feeling off after that banana shake this morning I’ve been feeling great. I’ve been feeling fantastic energy wise, my skin is continuing to clear up and I haven’t had any temptations to eat something that is not on my planned schedule for the day.

I bought a new water bottle the other day, this may sound completely nutso but I’ve been drinking more water ever since. The bottle has a straw that makes it easier for me to quickly take a sip so “not having time to drink water” is no longer a problem.

I’m nervous about tomorrow though, there is a “Chocolate Banana Mylk Shake” planned for my breakfast. I loved how that one tasted last time and all of the energy it gave me though. I might try it out and see if I am right about my stomach and bananas getting along or not. Also, the first time around this is when I also did not have healthy bowel movements…interesting.

Last time I wasn’t hungry enough for the Mango Mint Shake, so this time I will plan on not having the Pineapple Coconut Salad to make room for this shake!

Please stop by tomorrow and follow me on this journey Thank you all for reading!

xoxo

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Today’s breakfast was a Ginger Mango Shake (delicious!) and my solid for the day was Ani’s Easy Being Green Salad for lunch.

The first time I started Phase 2 I wasn’t hungry enough for the Strawberry Mint Shake as my snack. But today I will be working out a ton extra so even though I wasn’t too hungry I made this shake and I loved it. This would be a great drink to give to someone who is new to raw shakes, being more green or is curious about how greens & fruit go together in drinks. Avocado, kale & strawberries are all used it might sound like a crazy mix of ingredients but everything compliments each other nicely. It brings out the sweet and creaminess out of everything. The shake would not get completely smooth on me, I like my shakes with a few little pieces when it’s a green one. My mother even asked if she could try some and she never wants to have any of my juices (she loved it).

I have some lemon mint growing in my yard, it has kinda just appeared there on me. The leaves are massive compared to the mint I see in my backyard. I only needed one large leaf and a baby one to make 2 tablespoons chopped. I love how lemon tastes with kale, avocado and strawberries so why not have some fun in test it out in this shake. It was super refreshening, fun and made the drink smell just as good as it tasted.

Mint can be successfully used in gastrointestinal disorders; it helps the liver and calms indigestion. It calms ones digestion, helps digest fats, treats diarrhea, great for headaches, wonderful antibacterial (acne, ear inflammation) and some say mint is recommended in cases of asthma, bronchitis and the flu because of its antispasmodic and sedative properties. Enjoy some mint in your tea, shakes, soups, hang some upside down in your kitchen or above your trash, OR even just chew on some to keep your mouth and breathe clean, fresh, and delicious!

For dinner I had Red Pepper Soup, and added garlic & ginger to it even though it wasn’t a listed ingredient. But I am a sucker for these plus I do not have chipotle, I have chili…it was missing something ! I did use the “Super Power Pack,” this time around I used a mix of seaweed flakes I had in the house (last time I just used dulse). The seaweed adds a nice saltiness, protein and color to the soup. Here is a goofy photo of me and the Red Pepper Soup after I went for a run.

The soup came out creamy, orange with little pieces of red pepper skin. It smelled like tomatoes, may be the mix of avocado and red pepper did this? Overall, this was a fun soup! Everything I consumed today was tasty and I know I will make all of these salads, shakes and soups again.

Check-In:

Everything energy wise is the same, my sciatic pain was only bothering me in the morning. I pushed my run into later in the day today and felt kinda grumpy because of it. It’s amazing how the body gets so use to doing things at certain times of the day. I felt like my muscles and mind were protesting.

Sorry for making this post rather short & putting it up here earlier than normal. But I’m volunteering for most of the night and won’t be home until 10:30pm-ish.

Yet again I have not been able to find pomegranate for the planned snack for tomorrow. I’m about to head out to the grocery store in hopes that I can get aa few ingredients for tomorrow like: a good banana, some cashews for my dinner soup, and sunflower seeds for the Spring Sauerkraut Salad since I kept wishing I had them last time!

Thank you all for reading my post! Hope you all have a wonderful full moon night and get to enjoy the view and power of having the moon so close. Please stop by tomorrow and follow me on my adventure. Much love <3 and raw power

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This morning my sciatic nerve decided to act up. Possibly from all the rain we have gotten here in Rhode Island this week, usually that’s how it works for me. I went to yoga class and worked out most of the kinks but my run was a whole other story. I had to cut it down to two miles instead of three. Later today I will try to finish it up but if the pain becomes terrible again it’s not worth it to me.

Today for breakfast I had a Piña Colada, I’m still in awe at how much I love this drink. Even though it’s not listed as a boost option, I added some ginger to help with my sciatic pain and the planned “Squeaky Cleaner” matcha powder. There are a few options here with protein, nuts or protein powders. I used natural flavored hemp protein by Sun Warrior. In the image below you can see the protein swimming around in all the live enzymes and goodness!

Ani mentions in her book how pineapples are a powerful source of bromelain, a proteolytic enzyme that is used to remove dead tissue from burns & wounds. Pineapple is also a great anti-inflammatory. So YAY muscle health I love Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain, hehe. Also another little fun fact, Piña Colada drinks were created in Puerto Rico, the meaning comes from the phrase “strained pineapple” in spanish thus we have piña, pineapple + colada!

After some experimenting these past few days I’ve come to realize that I prefer my shakes after working out to be extra icy. So I have been using half a cup frozen fruit and half a cup fresh fruit. The appearance is much more attractive and it doesn’t hurt that it makes more of the shake as well.

Today’s yummy snack was a Pear Power Shake. I love the combination of kale, pear and vanilla in this one. There is a lot of fiber in this shake so if you are following the Fat Blast you really do not want to miss out on this one. Plus, this is your major source of greens for the day, greens that are high in detoxing agents & protein to keep you going through out the day.

While cleansing or changing your diet you’ll begin to pay attention to your energy level. May be you see a tend on what time of day you feel tired, when you get hungry or when it’s “coffee time.” Sometimes this comes from negative thoughts, your environment or a lack of passion (dreams, love, to take care of yourself & so on). Here is an article all about reversing your energy levels, the title says for raw vegans but I think this can be incorporated into anyones life.

Something that always helps me is thinking about everything the people I admire have overcome. I usually think about Dr. Ann Wigmore, the struggles she had as a child and how even though she was ill she found the keys to health. Ann found health, strength and knowledge in; detoxing, wheatgrass, weeds, herbs, and living foods. She was a pioneer and arguably the mother of raw food. Dr. Wigmore was coming out with extreme facts and ideas for her time. The things she was exposing to the public could essentially bring down corporate food companies. Ann Wigmore curiously died in Boston on February 16, 1994 of smoke inhalation from a fire at the Ann Wigmore Foundation. It is strongly believed that someone was out to kill Ann and destroy all of her research.

“Let me share my vision with you: I see the world without sickness, sorrow or mental disturbances in which we are living in perfect balance and abundant health and harmony.”
– Dr Ann Wigmore

Hearing myself repeat her story in my head or read books from her institute always feed the fire and passion I have for raw food. For sharing the knowledge and answers I have found. In life there is always an element of fear, it can come at you in a person, in food, emptiness, a color or any form. But the reward you earn after conquering your fear makes any demon look like an ant.

I’m sorry to cut myself off like this but I am worried my post is becoming too long and I may be losing you all Time to wrap this post up!

Today’s lunch soup was a Spicy Avocado Soup and dinner was a Curry Coconut Soup. Sadly I do not have anything new to say about these ones, I still do not like them :-X

Check-In:

I feel like repeating Phase 1 was a huge success towards detoxing and working on my own personal problems. It was touching to see friends make an extra effort to keep my head up and let me know that they love me. Sometimes it does get lonely not having a friend to talk about detoxing, cleansing, juices and what not. These have become such an important part of my life and schedule that I need to feel comfortable about people who will not mock me.

Wow, just checked my weight now and I’ve lost a total of 8 pounds from following Ani’s Fat Blast. So I lost an addition 3 pounds repeating Phase 1. Last time, when I transitioned to Phase 2 I ended up again 1 pound back. Let’s see what happens this time around.

GIRL TALK :-p

GIRL

TALK

NOW

…

I haven’t even pooped yet today hahahaha and yeah it’s that time of the month so I don’t feel the difference just yet. However, even with what’s going on with my body because of my period my pants to fit nicer. If you are expecting to get a flat tummy by doing this cleanse, it’s not gonna happen. The only way to get those abs or washboard tummy is working out loves. My skin has almost completely cleared up already, a record while having my period.

Okay,

Welcome back boys!

I notice a huge different in my face it does not look puffy like it did before the Fat Blast. I didn’t even realize my face puffed up like that during my travels :-/

On the Left, Before: (Sorry for the weird photo, this was during my many hours around airports eating way too many nuts & coconut candies)

On the Right, After: Oh Hi Self, there are your cheeks! I tried my best to replicate my expression, and use similar crappy lighting, all my smiling photos automatically look more flattering. So I went with my half-smile weird thing…

<img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-926" title="Me After: Last Day of Repeating Phase 1" src="http://livinggirllivingfoods.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/today.png?w=225" alt="Puffy face be gone, puffy hair hello

“Aspire to Inspire before you Expire,” as the saying goes. I have an eventful Friday night planned, hanging out with my mother and getting some errands done So an early dinner was a must! Tomorrow I welcome Phase 2 of Ani’s Fat Blast where solid food will be consumed for lunch and snacks. There is also an emphasis on prebiotic and probiotic foods.Thank you all for reading, and taking the time to read my little cleansing journey post. I hope anyone finding themselves with not enough energy find my little section of reversing energy helpful. Please stop by tomorrow to continue this adventure of cleansing, re-energizing, conquering fear, and of course having fun. Much love <3 and raw power

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Day 2 of Phase 1 is 100 times easier than the first day. The first day of liquids only on any cleanse can be the worse, even the second time around. Day 2 it’s much easier to understand when and why you will be hungry. There is a better understanding of your mind, what time you should work out, eat, be social and so on to help keep your energy level up and your temptations down.

I started off my day with a good ole solo dance party in my room and yoga. When I got home I made Ani’s Simple Strawberry Shake for breakfast. This time around I used hemp protein instead of nuts (just one tablespoon) and because this changes the texture, more liquidy than the nuts would have made it, I used half a cup fresh strawberries, half a cup frozen and 4 ice cubes. The shake was exactly what I needed after a good workout. If you are trying to loss a significant amount of weight doing this Fat Blast consider using hemp protein or flax instead of nuts, it’s another way of cutting corners with fats. I used the “Squeaky Cleaner” in this one and did find myself having a healthy elimination around two hours later.

Today’s planned snack was a Apple Green Mar-Tea-Ni with the “Squeaky Cleaner.” I remember last time this drink was too liquidy yet chunky at the same time. So I made a point of chopping up the romaine better and more uniform. I did not blend the drink for as long as I did last time either. The second time around I feel like I have a better grasp on how long to blend things up and what should have frozen fruits.

Lunch was Ginger Soup with the “Squeaky Cleaner” the boost is a must with this soup otherwise it is super plain. Marvelous Minestrone was for dinner, if you are looking to increase your omega’s or get something in you to help you poop use the “Squeaky Cleaner” in this one. It really will help and it doesn’t have much of a taste in the soup.

Please don’t forget to not eat past 7pm! This was extremely difficult for me when I first started this cleanse but I could actually feel a difference in my body just after a few days of following this rule. I think it might be one of the reasons why I am sleeping better and my stomach has been feeling healthy. Your stomach will have more time to break everything down before you sleep. If you find yourself having cravings or still feeling hungry make a half batch of the soup (if time permits). Or drink water or tea, if you are thirsty your stomach will sometimes feel like it is hungry. I ate extra early tonight because I have something to do later that will conflict with this rule.

Check-In:

My skin is clearing up, my energy level keeps going up and I am sleeping well too. I’ve been working out a little more this time of going through Phase 1, it helps with all of the above I think. It also helps me consume and be aware of my water intake.

What was hard for me today was when I read a conversation about raw foodies that hurt me. It is always difficult for me to be social, even though I have the personality for it, because once conversations about food/health come up I get scared. I usually just tell people I am vegan, if they seem open enough to not bash that then I will tell them I eat a raw diet. If I tell anyone before that it’s because I think they have shown some sort of understanding that relates to how I feel & think about food. Let food by thy medicine, and medicine by thy food. That’s truly how I think about it.

I did actually cry for a little bit and made sure I got in touch with a good friend that would understand before I could let it “get to me.” Yes, I know people do hurtful things like this out of fear, misunderstanding or social pressure. It hurts though. I can’t say that I’ve managed to just let it go completely. So I’m sorry if it is visible in my voice/writing

Thank you all so much for stopping by my site and reading this post! It means a lot to me to see people interested especially in something that is ridiculed and feared. I look forward to hearing back from you. Please stop by tomorrow to continue my adventure! Much love <3 and raw power

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I’ve been hearing from most Fat Blasters (what I am calling people following this cleanse/fat blast book) that they are frustrated and have lost around 3 pounds in total during Phase 1 and 2, thus they are doing as Ani recommends and repeating Phases 1 & 2. Before getting too hung up over how to blame yourself or trying to figure out why this isn’t working evaluate where you are right now.

If you are new to vegan food, raw food, high raw, or all of these diets your body has just tried to make a massive adjustment. Your energy levels will be off because your body was so used to consuming processed sugars, foods, caffeine and heavy-duty fats. Some other signs of this is issues sleeping, aches, headaches, constipation or increase of elimination (higher fiber intake can cause such opposite results) and acne.

The body is doing what it can to cleanse all those previously made bad choices out. This is just me speaking my mind I have no proof of any sorts just my own experiences. It would be kind for your body and mind if before starting this Fat Blast you cut caffeine, sugar, processed foods and animal fats out of your diet. Everyone is different on how long it takes them to get their barrings. My belief is that this could take 2 weeks to a month to get your energy level high, completely get rid of these items from your diet with may be one set back, and to feel happy & confident with eating a high raw diet.

It is also key to work out while following this Fat Blast meal plan. Ani mentions 20 minutes a day works, but I’ve been doing more than double that amount. So far I have fairly good results too.

Drinking enough water is a factor in losing weight along with stress and sleep. Working out, walking, creating, getting enough sleep, being positive, giving positive energy, serving others, laughing and so on are ways to stay lessen stress and will probably help you sleep better too!

Consciously make the choice to work on all of this while you complete Ani Phyo’s Fat Blast. If you plan on continuing eating meat, sugar, processed foods, caffeine and so on after doing the Fat Blast you will most likely gain whatever weight you lost back.

PLEASE read the entire book before starting the cleanse!!! It will teach you why you are eating certain things, give you ideas on how to continue eating well, why eat raw, and some food facts. Sometimes these education chapters give us all the fuel we need to stick to something. It can explain why you crave certain things and how to overcome those thoughts.

Not all diets work for all of us. Our bodies needs are so different from one another. This cleanse is high in medium-chain fatty acids and many of the recipes use nuts, coconut oil and avocado. If you have any heart problems, the fats in coconuts probably aren’t the best for you.

Any type of diet, cleanse, or so on, is a chance to flip over a new leaf in your life it’s an inspiring time. You will discover yourself, and possibly see through all the chaos and chatter in your mind. If you are like me, and you believe this below is a list of Dalai Lama’s 18 Rules For Living (I’ve bolded rules that easily relate to cleansing). Try to incorporate these in your life. Keep a journal (written or art) of how you feel, anything that comes to mind while you cleanse. This will help you stay focused and strong.

For breakfast today I have a Blueberry Shake, this time around I used walnuts instead of flax. I prefer the shake with flax actually, it gives it more of a breakfast, granola feel. The walnuts make a wonderful creaminess though so depending on your taste buds and what you think you need either options are tasty

My skin is starting to calm down GIRL TALK TIME, BYE BYE NOW

Thank you all for reading and taking the time out of your day to stop by! Please visit me here tomorrow to see how Day 2 goes and any adventures I have been having. Much love <3 and raw power

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Breakfast: Matcha Shake

Snack: Pecan Candy Apple

Lunch: Corn and Basil Mesclun Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Dinner: Souper Supper

This morning I was looking forward to making a Matcha Shake for breakfast. When I already starting throwing in ingredients I realized the bananas I had in the house went bad before they ripened so I couldn’t use the main ingredient for this one (clearly, I should have checked before and I went to yoga at 7am so it was possible to get new bananas beforehand) :-/ But I had some frozen pineapple in the freezer that I thought would be the closest thing I had around that could be a suitable improvise. Here are some photos of me with the shake and an up close & personal view of it!

I really wish I had the banana though, it would have been perfect for this shake. The pineapple still worked but it’s one of those things that nags you in the back on your mind. I added the “Super Power Pack” to this one, it didn’t make the shake taste any different and gave it an extra kick of green. The shake was like a dessert. I can only imagine how creamy it would have been with banana instead.

For my snack I had Pecan Candy Apple, it’s been raining buckets here on and off all day and it looks like the rest of the week will be one day rain, one day sunshine repeat.

This snack gave me that warm comforting feeling while getting full off of just one apple with some great toppings. I did at the “Fat Melter” and “Thermo Charger” for this recipe, the “Fat Melter” added a great texture and helped evenly spread out the toppings.

Today’s lunch was a Corn and Basil Mesclun Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette. I do not have mesclun mix in the house so I used some red leaf lettuce, romaine and spinach instead. This salad has very few ingredients but really got the job done. The salad doesn’t look very big or all that bright because I did not use mesclun greens, but do not let it fool you! It also doesn’t help that I had it on the go so it’s in a container

The flavors, texture, colors, herbs were all satisfying. I loved having some basil and radishes to munch on! I did add the “Fat Melter” to this one, ginger, which also helped me warm up on this damp day.

Souper Supper was for dinner, this was probably one of the best soups. I love the celery and cucumber in here, we were allowed to choose a herb and I picked dill. It went amazing with the miso, lemon juice & cayenne (one of the boosts). I didn’t blend this up as much as I have been doing for the soups in hopes to be more satisfied with the texture and as you can guess it worked. I left tiny chopped up pieces of celery not completely blended up in the soup. The salty green crunch was just right for my liking.

Check-In:

Well my total weight loss is 5 pounds, so I actually gained one pound back during phase two. This isn’t so terrible for not being able to go poop for at least two days now. My energy is still amazing, I slept fantastic last night as well.

Sorry boys girls only if you can’t handle “female talk”.

I got my period this morning so this may explain the lack of elimination the past few days and also why my skin has looked terrible. Due to some powerful/touching emails from people I will do Phases 1 & 2 all over again.

It appears that almost everyone doing this Fat Blast cleanse is doing them again, it is recommended in the book even. I’ve been asked to do them again, do more videos and discuss more about elimination and skin health.

Thus, tomorrow starts Day 1 of the Fat Blast. If there were any smoothies I did not make before I will go over these. I will go more into my personal accounts of the Fat Blast as well. Just like I did a minute ago I will try to remember to give you all a heads up if I will discuss something that may be in any way offensive or uncomfortable.

I’ve been asked to include more photos of my self: skin, body, if my nails look well and so on. I will try my best!

Thank you all so much for reading my blog, checking up on me, your e-mails and comments. Much love <3 and RAW POWER!

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I used the “Thermo Charger” for this one, matcha which also happened to be the most expensive ingredient for me during this experience. Matcha can be difficult to find but if you go to a WholeFoods it will be located in the supplement isle, some smaller health food and organic grocery stores carry it but the problem I found trying to buy it at a mom and pop shop was that their matcha was a blend instead of being pure matcha. I spent around $20 on a 5.5oz container of matcha each brand has a different potency of EGCG, that helps burn fat and boosts ones metabolism some say it is even a wonderful for anti-aging. Matcha is a green powder that tastes very much like green tea. If you aren’t feeling confident about adding this to your smoothie I highly recommend it, the flavor and texture aren’t noticeable but the feeling you get after consuming some is. Below is an image of matcha powder for those curious cats

Matcha is alkalizing, energizing, detoxifying and rejuvenating. It’s high in amino acids like L-theanine aiding to improve cognition and mood while reducing physical and mental stress. While cleansing or dieting one should try to have the least of amount of stress possibly (easier said than done I know) because when the body is stressed it stores fat. Matcha is high in anti-oxidants that assist in strengthening the immune system by protecting the body from free radicals.

If you like your shakes thicker I recommend freezing the banana over night. First peel the banana, cut it into pieces your blender can handle then store it in a bag or plastic container. Frozen banana makes smoothies and shakes larger in quantity and can help you feel fuller. Overall, the taste in this one is amazing but may be it’s because I have always found comfort in a banana shake. This is a great recipe to share with friends and family, they may be surprised at how tasty and good for them this is compared to a normal banana shake or smoothie.

After going for a 40 minute run and doing lots of cleaning around the house (very therapeutic while cleansing) I was ready for a snack & for something with some anti-inflammatory benefits! Yesterday I wasn’t hungry enough for one, and the planned snack for today asked for pomegranate which I can not find around town. So instead I had yesterday’s snack, Grapefruit Salad. This salad has cinnamon & ginger, great anti-inflammatory ingredients. Instead of silvering ginger I minced it, I prefer the texture and how it spreads the flavor. I purposely put cinnamon & ginger in the center of my plate so I could dip my grapefruit slices if I didn’t think a piece had enough of the toppings.

While cleansing it is normal to feel aches in your body, or feel like your energy is off. Cleansing pulls out toxins and even mental build up in your body. It is even common to feel the pain from a previous injury. I will be going over this in more depth in my second post.

There is a Pineapple Protein Shake as a snack for this afternoon but I’m still full from lunch. For lunch had Spring Sauerkraut Salad with Thermo Dressing. I really wasn’t happy to see that this recipe uses a lot of oils, before doing this fat blast I was on a kick of not using any oils or may be using them once a week if need be. The thermo dressing was nothing to rave about. But it did go well with the salad specifically the sauerkraut.

The recipe calls for spring mesclun mix or your favorite greens. I already had red leaf lettuce, spinach, dandelion greens, and romaine in the house so I used a mix of that instead. I sliced the almonds because I prefer pieces of almond than whole almonds in my salads. If I had sunflower seeds around I would have used those instead, it compliments the dressing & salad much more. For the Thermo Dressing I added the “Fat Melter” in the blender. I also used the ” ‘Bot Booster” but sprinkled that on top instead for appearance and texture.This salad is another one that is filling to the point that I wouldn’t feel comfortable exercising for over an hour afterwards.

If you ever do not feel full with solid foods try focusing more on eating. What I mean by that is have no distractions while you eat, no tv, do not talk on your phone, do not read, just try to look at every piece of food your fork picks up and focus on chewing your food. Chew your food to the point that it’s pretty much a liquid. Think about the texture, flavor, how you feel, keeping your jaw relaxed, how your teeth or tongue feel, how things start tasting differently when they are completely chewed and broken down.

Processed foods like bread, cheese and so on would never taste this good if they were completely chomped down on. It would start tasting like chemicals, or you can’t really describe the taste as well as whole foods.

Check-In:

Today I feel even more inspired to form a type of community here on my website where people who are vegan, carnivores, processed food junkies and so on can come and feel safe. Eventually I would love to take this further and have an actual physical place for people to visit. A space for people to openly talk without confining themselves to how others would “want” them to think. A community with tolerance and acceptance for where anyone is in their life right now.

I haven’t been doing well, once again, with consuming enough water. I’ve tried so many different tricks I know but I’ll have to try harder.

Please stop by later tonight for my dinner post and a brief conversation on cleansing (how the body & mind feel). If you are looking for more ways to cleanse yourself check out some of my previous posts on oil pulling, Tampico brushes, tongue scraping, hot water with lemon and juice cleanses/feasts.

http://livinggirllivingfoods.com/2012/01/24/my-first-day-of-oil-pulling/

http://livinggirllivingfoods.com/tag/hot-water-with-lemon/

Much love <3 and raw power!

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Today’s menu:

Breakfast: Ginger Mango Shake
Lunch: Easy Being Green Salad
Dinner: Red Pepper Soup

(There are snack options everyday as well between each meal but I’ve been feeling very full with most of the main entrees. Probably because I am not use to consuming the fats in this diet so frequently)

The Ginger Mango Shake was just like a mousse, thick, whipped, fill & satisfying texture and I even had fun scraping the blender and my cup for more. I think I have mentioned before that I’m a fruit junky, so starting off Phase 2 (Day 4 of Ani’s 15-Day Fat Blast) with some delicious mango was rewarding.

I did add the “Squeaky Cleaner” to this smoothie, and it helped give some flavor and warmth to the shake. Ginger is a wonderful anti-inflammatory and is also great for your digestion. Just a little bit of this root goes a long way in taste and health benefits.

The Easy Being Green Salad for lunch was insanely filling. I took my time eating the salad. The fermented food made me so full so easily. This salad takes very little time to make but is loaded with beautiful colors and flavors. I usually do not eat capers, not a fan, but I tried it out because it was part of the recipe and I surprised myself. It went well with the other ingredients in the salad and added a salty & smoky flavor that was fantastic to have after three days of just liquids. This recipe is a keeper for Day 15 when I can pick & choose recipes!

There is no dressing for the Easy Being Green Salad and it did not need it, if you think otherwise though keep tossing the salad mix around and mush some of the ingredients (especially the avocado). It will give you a dressing-like substance in no time. Below is a photo of a handful of the salad that I set aside to mush up to use as an example

So many useless calories and fats are in dressings now and days, and sometimes the ingredients are sketchy. Using fruits, vegetables and/or fermented foods will make a much more guiltless dressing that actually tastes good too. Even an hour after eating the salad I was feeling stuffed to the point that I only took a jog instead of a run in the afternoon. About 50 minutes after eating this salad I had a healthy elimination.

Red Pepper Soup was like all the other dinner soups I’ve had thus far. Creamy, filling, usual ingredients, and easy to make. It lacked flavors that really kept me captivated or pleased. But I was happy with the herb selection, refreshening! I also liked the boost options and used all of them

Check-in time:

Today I was feeling very worried in the morning about some things I am trying to plan out. But as the day went on I more or less got over it with a little assurance from friends. I am hoping to add more fermented foods into my eating routine even after this cleanse. They seriously make salads bomb diggity.

My water intake still isn’t as high as it should be :/ Today I was supposed to drink kombucha, coconut kefir, or some sort of probiotic coconut drink. I picked up a Strawberry Coconut Kevita at the store, it was the only flavor they had. I’ve had it before but I prefer the Green one or something a little bit more plain…these types of things always taste too sweet. I only managed to drink close to half of it :X There isn’t anything anywhere in Ani’s book on what time to drink a fermented drink. But just to play it safe I will not finish the rest of it today (there is a rule that we can not eat after 7pm).

Please come visit me here and seeing how the cleanse is going for me tomorrow! Thank you all for reading, much love <3 and raw power.

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Breakfast: Piña Colada

Snack: Pear Power Shake

Lunch: Spicy Avocado Soup

Dinner: Curry Coconut Soup

This morning before leaving the house for yoga I made sure I had 16 oz of water with lemon and brought a 32 oz bottle filled with water. I’m starting to become a little considered with how little I seem to be flushing out. My skin hasn’t broken out and I am not used to going to the bathroom so little.

One I got home from practice I was completely famished and ready to get going on making my breakfast, Piña Colada. Don’t get me wrong I love pineapple and I love coconut but Piña Colada always taste too sweet and concentrated. This was the first time I ever had one that was practically perfect in every way as Mary Poppins would say!

The day before I had my almonds soaking for this drink. It’s crucial to soak your tree nuts and seeds so they can germinate, neutralizing the enzyme inhibitors, encourage growth of beneficial enzymes (such as vitamins, like vitamin b something many vegheads lack) thus activating the proteins and lowering the amount of carbs. Soaked nuts and seeds are also more gentle on ones digestion and make the nutrients more easily absorbed.

Ani recommends using the ratio 1 cup nuts to 2 cups filtered water, place the nuts & water in a bowl and keep it covered with plastic wrap or something of the sorts until the next day. Please use your soaked nuts in a day or two, otherwise they start to become moldy.

Below are images of what my almonds looked like this morning and how the water ended up looking after soaking the nuts over night.

After they have soaked overnight and have been drained, give them one good last rinse and dry them off with a towel. This way none of the remaining water is on them. Soaked nuts make a great texture for smoothies, shakes, dressings and raw desserts.

SO YES, back to the Piña Colada! I loved it It was super easy to make, I want to say it has taken me the least amount of time (besides soaking the almonds) out of all of the drinks and soups. I used the “Squeaky Cleaner” ingredient, something I don’t think I would ever think of adding in on my own but was pleased with it because of how well it went with the coconut. This drink has been the least pleasing to look at so far, the froth and separation are a little bizarre but I’m sure you won’t be looking at it for long! Below is how my shake turned out.

(Colada image keeps crashing WordPress…still having the same problem I had with an image yesterday. I WILL upload these once WordPress allows it. Thank you for your patience <3 )

For my snack I had the Pear Power Shake, also another great drink that took very little time to make. I added the “Super Power Pack” because I wanted a little extra protein and greens. I’ve been working out a lot and I wanted to make sure I took extra care of myself. It was refreshing to have Pear in a shake, I love them. Their sweetness, texture & color is so well-balanced.

Now for my dinner…I wasn’t crazy about this one. The dinner soups haven’t really been tasty to me. I’m tired of the same base and ingredients in them and the flavor isn’t doing anything for me. But I will have to give Ani credit that they are filling. Today’s dinner soup was Curry Coconut, I do enjoy curry and coconut but the soup had more of this wanna-be cheesy taste that threw me off. I did add the “Squeaky Cleaner” in this one, delicious addition!

My overall thoughts about Day 3:

I am so tired of avocados. Oh my goodness!!! Done done done with them. The breakfast drinks are always a huge hit for me. I feel like I could keep going with liquids only for longer but it’s not necessary at all. My day was excellent, no complaints besides the lack of pooping in my life right now. Yet somehow I still have managed to loss weight, around 6 pounds. I think I lost the weight around my hips, the oh so unkind love handle area. I have a feeling most of this weight will be gained all over again once I eat solids. In Ani’s book she writes its normal to loss around 3 to 5 lbs.

I’m feeling a bit hopeless with drinking enough water, it never seems like I can get enough in me for how much I work out. Last night was the only night I slept poorly. My skin does not look or feel any better and my stomach has never felt uneasy, bloated, cramped, ill or so on during this experience.

Tomorrow starts Phase 2 of the cleanse where solids are introduced. There will be a high focus on fermented foods (kombucha, probiotic coconut water/kefir, sauerkraut). My meals for tomorrow sound amazing and I’m pretty excited to try out the snack of the day. I do not miss chewing on food but I do miss fruit!

Please visit me here tomorrow to see how this cleanse is working out for me! Thank you all for reading <3

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I had a lot of errands to run and I wanted to hangout with my brother so I made my breakfast and snack drink before heading over to his place. I brought my lunch and dinner ingredients with me as well as my blender. I originally expected this to be a challenge but with proper planning and patience everything worked out wonderfully.

Today I feel energized, full, and my mind is very clear. The weather here today is cloudy and it looks like it will be raining shortly. I am usually the type that feels unmotivated on days like this but feeling this strong and positive about everything has been a massive help.

Today’s Menu:

Breakfast: Simple Strawberry Shake

Snack: Apple Green Mar-Tea-Ni (such a cute name for it)

Lunch: Ginger Soup

Dinner: Marvelous Minestrone (I actually made time for dinner today WOOOO!)

Today for breakfast I had a Simple Strawberry Shake. I’m in love with these breakfast shakes, so far they have had the same basic ingredients and I have been sticking with using the “Squeaky Cleaner” ingredient. The shakes are smooth and naturally sweet. For this one I opted using a sweetener, I didn’t find it necessary. But I’m a weeeeeeeee bit sensitive with sweets

All of these soups, shakes and juices so far have been fairly similar. Today for a snack I had a Apple Green Mar-Tea-Ni. Like yesterdays Green Juice this had basic ingredients used in a green juice that I would typically have for breakfast, giving me a healthy elimination before leaving the house. This juice was plain and sweet because of the apple (I used Fuji, my favorite!) but still absolutely tasty! The greens used in this one made a more fibrous drink, I was kind of starting to wish I had juiced all of the ingredients. But I have a feeling this texture helps the mind feel full and satisfied. For this juice I also used the “Squeaky Cleaner” ingredient and suggest you use it too, it adds a great flavor to the juice that ties to all together.

For lunch I had Ginger Soup, I loved the consistency in this one it helped me feel full rather quickly. I added the “Squeaky Cleaner” ingredient to this one, super-duper glad I did too because I think it was my favorite part of the soup. For me personally this wasn’t a super ginger soup, it was more heavy on the flavors of greens used in it. One of the ingredients made this tasty a little too salty for my liking so next time I make this soup I will probably do a little adjusting. This is another recipe that I think is a keeper! <3

Now yesterday I didn’t have enough time for dinner after some poor planning. But today I actually managed to figure how to squeeze everything in and I was being mobile. My dinner was Marvelous Minestrone Soup. For some odd reason, this only made 8 oz. of soup, around half of what these recipes typically make. I measured everything out and triple checked afterwards if I missed something, read a line incorrectly but I couldn’t find an error. This soup was refreshing, light, savory and not all that filling at first. Overtime it felt like everything expanded in my stomach though and I was full. I used the “Squeaky Cleaner” ingredient in this one

I do have an image for this soup however there is currently a problem with WordPress and I can not download it (page freezes and crashes) as soon as I can I will have a photo up! Sorry

Overall thoughts on Day 2:

Why the hell is my eliminations less often than I am use to? Usually by day 2 or 3 there is a lot of things flushing out. I’m happy the Ginger Soup was more to my liking than yesterday’s lunch. The recipes for tomorrow look excellent! PUMPED! I remember that Ani recommends going to a sauna during this part of the cleanse, I know it’s not the same but I do go to heated & steamed yoga classes everyday so I am hoping this will still be helpful with cleansing. Working a sweat should help detoxify, especially with the twists in yoga.

Please do not hesitate to ask any questions and thank you for reading! Have a fantastic night Stop on by tomorrow to check on how day 3, the last day of liquids, goes for me. Much love <3

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So far I have made everything from Breakfast to Lunch and it doesn’t look like I gave myself enough time to make and eat the savory soup that should be my dinner. I am going to a yoga class in about two hours and I really don’t like to eat anything that close to when I do yoga. It’s not good for my stomach or me.

I’m actually super full from the smoothies! I am worried though that I might be hungry when I get back home, Ani recommends not having any food after 7pm and I won’t get back home until 8:30ish.

In the book Ani asks readers to ask themselves each day two things; what was hard for you today and how do you feel.

As I just mentioned I guess what was hard for me today was managing my time so I could actually make & eat dinner. I’m not sure yet if it will exactly be a problem because I might actually still be full when I get home tonight. A huge problem I am having is drinking enough water. Thankfully most of these smoothies and soups ask for water in them, so I know I am getting a little through that. But drinking enough water has always been a problem for me, especially since I work out a fair amount. I should be drinking around a gallon of water a day. Right now I drank around one quart of water…it takes four quarters to make a gallon :-X Since I am not drinking enough water it is slowing down the cleansing/elimination process with cleansing. I feel pretty confident that I will be able to get to one gallon or close by the end of the day.

Today I feel relaxed, full and have managed to get a lot done. My energy level is high and I’m excited to see how the rest of the day goes.

Here are a few images of the smoothies from Day One.

Blueberry Blast Breakfast Smoothie. It reminded me of a blueberry granola bar blended up! Delicious and I am sure this one is on my list of recipe keepers I did using the Super Power Pack ingredient in this one and opted the nuts for flax. I recommend stirring the smoothie every so often and not letting it sit around for a while. The ingredients start to break up odd and it ruins the texture.

Snack juice: Pineapple Green Shake. This tastes just like a traditional green juice, I added the Squeaky Clean ingredient in this one Usually I would have a juice like this as breakfast, it helps flush everything out and tends to work better on an empty stomach.

Now this Spicy Bok Choy Soup is what really threw me off today making it so my lunch would be my last meal :-/ Something in my kitchen ended up knocking over my full cup of soup before I even had a chance to try it! I cleaned up my mess and started all over again because YES I can make my Spicy Bok Choy Soup and EAT IT TOO This soup was insanely filling, I was surprised at how great it ended up tasting but I had to drink it quickly, the texture was starting to change along with the color. I added all three Squeaky Cleaner ingredients and digged it.

My favorite meal from today was the Blueberry Blast for sure. I never had anything like that before, it had so many sweet, comforting and warming flavors to it. It was the perfect way to start off my day and introduce me to the cleanse.

I am doing this cleanse not to lose weight but to CLEANSE. This cleanse works all around eating foods to help give you energy that will not cause extra fat storage in your body.

These meal plans are based on the idea that you exercise around 20 minutes everyday and are working on becoming toned and tight.

This is done by carefully choosing and spreading out:

• Probiotic – Help digest food properly, proper elimination, strengthen the immune system, relieves inflammation, and helps balance out the bacteria in your gut (great for Chron’s and keeping a healthy metabolism).

• Prebiotic – Help growth of good bacteria & boost bioavailability so you absorb more nutrition. Also great for Chron’s and your metabolism.

• MCFA’s (medium chain fatty acids) – Good fat that helps use up the fat instead of being stored in those awkward places It helps the production of leptin (regulates weight).

• Thermogenic Foods – This foods just straight up help you burn fat such as; grapefruits, black pepper and green tea.

Keep following my blog to see how it goes!

Days 1-3, Juices, Shakes, Smoothies and Soups.

Days 4-7, Juices, Shakes, and Green Salads.

Days 8-15, Combining everything AND even having sweets. Day 15 you choose all meals from previous salads, juices and so on!

If you are interested in buying a copy of Ani’s book here is a link that will direct you to Amazon’s “Buy Now” now page. Thank you all for reading! xoxo

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