Food for this week. First time buying raw honey.

DAY 5

Today was one of my favorite days ever. I think it is because last night I watched the Secret. I have the original version before all the drama. I haven't watched it for awhile as I am always lending it out but last night my cable was out so I popped it in and WOW I missed all the Secret goodness. I am a huge fan of Mike Dooley and look forward to my message from the Universe every single day. I saw him a few months ago in NYC and he is a wonderful speaker. I haven't figured out the fitness part of the GSC (Green Smoothie Challenge) yet and my procrastination is interesting to me. I usually fight the things I need most so I think I need to just jump into it and stop reading/researching etc. I mean let's be real there are some total knuckleheads out there in sick shape (um anyone watching a certain beach town on mtv lately cough cough) so I should stop being so intellectual about it. I'm just wasting time. I'm finding it hard to schedule yoga/boxing and weight training as they all conflict and if I do them all I won't have days off for my body to repair. Anyway today at WF a certain green was calling out to me so I bought it. When I got home I looked it up and it was Frisee and is an antioxidant and adds moisture to skin. I was like WHOA as that is exactly what my body needs right now. I immediately felt bad for making fun of a video I saw the other day on Intuitive Cooking. If you don't know what that is it is when someone picks ingredients intuitively or by "feel".... which means in the dark/eyes closed/blindfolded and then makes a meal. That'll show me to judge others! Universe: 1 Chris: 0.

OFFICIAL CHALLENGE

DAY 2 (Officially)
During my Pre Challenge month I stuck to my green smoothie commitment 29 days out of 31. Not bad. I didn't do the exercise regimen full on but worked out about 2-3 times a week. Not too bad. Yesterday (Happy New Year!) when I weighed/measured myself I was exactly the same as I was Pre Pre Challenge. BAD. I have to admit I feel quite disappointed and a bit unmotivated. Although I am a big fan of the amazing health benefits it doesn't hurt to see some proof of all my hard work. Emotionally I have seen changes and SKIN-WISE I am a hot mess. Emotionally I felt crazy amazing beautiful energy. I was like omg THIS is the person I was meant to be...this is my true self! yay! Sleep? who needs sleep? Then like the last week I started crashing but I would still say I got lots of energy from the green smoothies. I also felt my ADD increase ten fold. I'm not sure if it is because I am detoxing and a lot of emotions come out but it certainly has gotten ugly at times but most times I felt fantastic. The mood swings were a lot so I did those around me a big favor and spent a lot of time alone. I must say I truly enjoy being by myself with my computer, my iphone and my books. I just wish there were more hours in the day. Anyway I also have these red splotches that began appearing...I seem to have a new one every few days. I have about 8 on both legs, 2 on my stomach and one on my back. I would post pics but that is just too much information.They dont itch or anything but it is unsightly and disturbing. I have a dermatologist appointment Wednesday. So now I need to make adjustments and do some more reading. tonight I am ordering a couple of Ann Wigmore and Victoria Boutenko books and a few others that will help guide me with the green smoothies. I am also taking MSM and a lot of maca...not sure if I am having these side effects because of these. Either way I am going to give this tons of time I mean THINK ABOUT IT. I have been eating crap and abusing my body for 90% of my lifetime thus far. I think I will allow a little transition time!!! Geez with me! Always wanting everything and wanting it yesterday. Tonight I am going to lay out my daily plan. I bought a binder to keep me on track. Even though I love the computer I need to actually write things down on paper in order to keep myself sane. I am a big believer in lists. Everyday I write a list. If it's not written on my list it doesnt get done. It is one way I try to control my ADD and for the most part it is successful. So I am going to tweak the challenge once I figure out what my game plan is going to be. I will hopefully have that up and running this week. One thing I have to be sure to do is NOT stress myself out over this. I tend to have a perfectionist complex which can be very annoying. In the past I have only done things that I was "good" at. Things that were safe. You know what this translates into? BORINGNESS. And yes that's a word. So now I try to challenge myself a lot but man it is hard. That is why I am sticking with boxing. I am pretty terrible at it but I keep plugging away. I think it is really fun and exciting but I find it near impossible to remember the combinations and do the footwork at the same time and sparring is my least favorite. I feel bad for the other people in class that have to partner up with me. Thank goodness they are all sweet and really helpful. One of the changes I am going to make is to write down EVERYTHING that goes into my mouth because I know I have selective memory when it comes to that (What bar of dark chocolate? Ohhhh the one I inhaled while making a nutritious green smoothie? And those two avocados I was having every day for a week? Its good fat not magical-I-don't-count-and -you-won't-gain-weight-fat) Like Kimay said today at Whole Food "ummm you mean everything in here isn't healthy?" Sadly no...but your positive attitude will surpass all! Think thin!.
xoxo

Radish Greens Smoothie

Day 30

In my new quest to mix up my greens I used Radish Greens in my smoothie today! Yes I said Radish GREENS. We are more accustomed to eating just the red root part of the radish but in doing so we are missing out on so many great vitamins and minerals. Radish greens contains 6 times the Vitamin C of the root and are also higher in calcium and protein than the root. These vegetable greens are Cruciferous which means they are part of the Cabbage family. Radish greens also possess cancer-protecting properties and are high in sulfur which helps support the digestive system. Radish Greens also contain properties that are beneficial for symptoms of colds, flu, fevers and other respiratory problems. This smoothie came out so awesome (and the color a gorgeous light mint green) that I wrote it down quickly before I forgot it! I think this smoothie would be perfect for spring and summer because it is so light and cooling.

Radish Greens Smoothie Recipe:

Base of filtered water and aloe vera juice.
2 oranges, 1 apple, 1/2 cucumber with peel.
1 tsp Maca, 1 tbs Hemp Oil
1 cup Radish Greens
1 Radish for good measure
sweeten to taste ( I didnt add sweetener)

Tonight I listened to the David Wolfe interview from the Raw Mom Summit Interviews. Best $97 I ever spent. I am grateful for his brilliant mind.

Alkaloids

DAY 28

I'm sitting here sipping on one of my green smoothies not sure what to talk about. I have a couple blogs in progress that are chock full of info and research and I am just not in the mood to think so much. I'm not taking so many pictures of my smoothies as they are all pretty much the same lately but now I just read that you have to switch your greens or else you can get a build up of alkaloids. Greens have alkaloids that are good in small quantities but slightly toxic if you eat the same green day-after-day. UH OH. I put so many greens in my smoothies each day that maybe I should start splitting it up. I think once the Official Challenge starts on January 1st I will be simplifying alot. I'm glad I did a month long test run. I learned a lot of things but there is sooooo much more out there to learn. It's like being a baby in the sense that you have to re learn the basics. Tonight I am in the mood to unwind with magazines and a movie...sorry dirty laundry! I love either sitting in front of the computer with my magazines and looking up whatever I find to be interesting. Another favorite thing (and a habit I picked up from design school) is to tear and paste things that catch my eye into a scrapbook. It is always so cool to look back at the trends you spotted.

Avatar: The Eco Movie (Yeah Right)

I just came back from Avatar with Kimay and I feel a thousand ways. On one hand the movie was a visual feast full of amazing special effects and magnificent color. It tells a beautiful and touching multi- layered emotional story that comments on race relations, military relations and war It also takes a huge ecological punch at the human destruction of the environment. I adored this movie and the important message it was sending. On the other hand WHO CARES? Certainly not the kid next to me who laughed as the bulldozers tore through the forest of the Na'vi destroying part of their sacred land . Certainly not the manufacturer of the plastic 3 D glasses we all wore while watching Avatar. I mean at this point we all know how bad plastics are. (The manufacturing of plastics cause the release of toxic pollutants, greenhouse gases, and have both a biodegradable and non-biodegradable landfill impact as a result of the production and disposal of plastics. When in use, plastic bottles and containers, such as water bottles and tupper ware, leach into our food and water causing our bodies to become toxic, carcinogenic, causing birth defects and are endocrine disruptions. When we throw out or "recycle" plastic it pollutes our beautiful oceans, poisoning our marine life and land animals.. ...the destructive arm of plastic is far reaching.) Certainly not James Cameron, who allegedly will have spent nearly 500 MILLION DOLLARS on this film and spent FIFTEEN years of his life on the film. Why not dedicate that time and money to ACTUALLY helping the environment instead of commenting on (and adding to the destruction of it?). Sometimes I feel suffocated and overwhelmed by the effects of everything I do on the environment that it makes me feel horribly guilty and anxious. Even though I am far, far, far from perfect I care so much about the things that I do that it freaks me out that some people never even think twice about it. I always try to be a better person and not judge others for their choices in life but in situations like this it is impossible not to. This is just so wrong! and ass backwards. Why do we need a movie filled with fantasy images and actors pretending to convincingly portray human emotion and situations to send a message about our reality? Why can't James Cameron have the balls to come out and say 'STOP DESTROYING THE WORLD" and "AMERICA YOU ARE A MONEY HUNGRY CULTURE KILLING BULLY"and "OBAMA YOU ARE NO BETTER THAN BUSH, I THOUGH YOU SAID YOU WOULD BRING OUR TROOPS BACK", then start a charity called Eco-Direct and raise half a billion dollars to solve the problem of plastics in and on humans and our environment? Now THAT would be Award worthy. Instead though we are living in a time when it is "cool" to be "eco", a time where green is the new black, organic is the new culinary trend, sustainable is the new tag phrase...it makes me wonder if people really care or if it's all big business. I know there are many great and amazing things going on right now and it absolutely excites me to be a part of this information age. I just hate that there is a price to pay and I think this time around we will be paying for it sooner than later. I do understand that this is a form of art and art comments on and reflects life blah blah blah but what about responsibility? What about actually doing something? What about (wait for it...) being the change we want to see? Why are we waiting for someone else to do it? Who are we all waiting for anyway?At the end of the movie just as I was wondering what to do with the fashionable hipster 3d glasses, I came across a "Recycle" bin in which to return the glasses. A way in which to make money multiple times over on one item? Or another chance to give the viewers yet another false sense of "greenness"? I tossed them in the box with a heavy yet hopeful heart.

Headaches and Heartache

DAY 23
I have a banginggggg headache and I rarely get them so I am hurting. Now lets see what I ate today so I can hopefully figure out the culprit. For breakfast I had a green smoothie (surprise surprise) I did a base of coconut water, chia seeds, cashews, MSM, date sugar, agave, vanilla extract, tsp Maca, apple, banana, frozen grapes, 1/2 orange, kale, cilantro, parsley, red chard, celery, salt. Maybe I need to use less salt and I also feel like I added a lot of date sugar as this smoothie tasted harsh. For Lunch I had a salad of spinach, chard, kale, cilantro,parsley with cherry tomatoes, celery, carrots, juice of one lemon, hemp oil, and Annie's Naturals sesame ginger dressing. Maybe it was the dressing. Hmmm... Anyway I will be making my second smoothie in a little bit so I have something to eat after yoga before I go out for holiday drinks/present exchange. I don't really like to drink anymore since I started this challenge and I highly doubt they have Frey's Organic Sulfite Free Wine that a co worker...a very fabulous and brilliant coworker... gave to me today for Christmas...
Right now I am sipping on my favorite soup, Vegan Curry Apple Pumpkin soup from Whole Foods which I won't link because they are notoriously anti-union. But I like their soup. Alot. Its like being in love with the asshole boyfriend you know is bad for you. Baby steps....babysteps...

I Will Miss You BRITTANY MURPHY !

I can't let today go by without mentioning Brittany Murphy's death yesterday. I have never been sad over the death of a celebrity. I always feel a bit detached from the situation as I don't know them and I am Irish. This means we ignore potentially emotional situations and live in a world of make believe, anger and denial. Well this time was wayyyy different. I became so sad and upset that I actually cried a few tears and I still can't shake the fact that she is gone. I loved her as much as someone can love a person they see in a square box with moving pictures. There was something so special and sparkly about her. When I first got Netflix I remember looking up all the movies they had with her in it and ordered Ramen Girl. Probably the WORST movie in the world but she is so awesome it just works. Some people are just special. Sure she may not have been the greatest actress that ever lived but she was a star and that craft can't be learned. I will truly miss her. Maybe the green juice is the new talk therapy.