Monday, June 22, 2015

Health & Happiness Cleanse: Day 1

Hey you guys! As promised, I'm here with day one of what I'm calling my "Health & Happiness Cleanse." This is because I'm not only cleaning out my body but I'm working on getting to my "happy place" so to speak. I tend to let the stressful things in life get to me and strip me of my happiness but I've been working really hard to find the things that make me happy and make the time to indulge these things. So this cleanse will be a marriage of putting healthy foods into my body and healthy thoughts into my mind. And I'll be here to update you on both :)

So today was day one and it was my intention to start with my favorite smoothie of all time which is my Cherry Chocolate Smoothie. Instead I slept very late and just went the easy route and had:


A giant pile of sweet, juicy cantaloupe. And I loved every bite of it.


A little while later (after some shopping!) I made this Banana Date Shake. It is basically frozen bananas, a few dates, almond milk and cinnamon. It's very delicious but very sweet so next time instead of dates I'll use almond butter or something to cut the sweetness.


For a snack I had some of these yummy Kool Ranch flavored Kale Chips. They were great and had no bell peppers (yay!). They also had a little bit of a kick to them which was also really good.



Dinner is going to be a big salad that I made using up some produce that I had. My salad basics of romaine, carrot, cucumber, tomato and sun dried tomato. I will add red wine vinegar and olive oil as my dressing.


Lots of water is also a big part of this. Staying hydrated is so important, especially because it is insanely hot lately. I had several of these 32 oz mason jars full of water. Also in this picture is the "Happiness" portion of my day. I am obsessed with candles, I really really love them. Every single day when I get home from work I lay down in my bed in a dark (or as dark as I can make it) room with a candle lit and I just recharge and relax for 30 minutes. I guess it is my form of meditation because it is the time when I let my day go and transition into my evening mode. It is my favorite part of my day. 

Anyway, for my "happiness" portion of the day I decided to light a candle (watermelon scented... shocking I'm sure!!) and apply a face mask. It was nice to pamper myself and give myself some time to really do something that I enjoy and makes me feel good.

Just to let you know, even though I started my cleanse today I haven't been grocery shopping yet for the week. I am going to be at my brother's house from Thursday - Tuesday and I just wanted to go grocery shopping once so I will be going after work on Wednesday and dropping my groceries off there. That being said... the first few days of this cleanse will likely be boring as I work off of the little food that I have in my house but I'll do my best to pull it together! I guess maybe that'll be part of the challenge ;) Then I'll have some really yummy, fun meals to show you!

I hope that you are all doing well! I'll be back to share my meals with you tomorrow!

<3




6 comments:

  1. It looks like a great first day! I think adding some almond butter will definitely help cut the sweetness. I've come to find unsweetened almond milk is the best way to go - or also using water as your liquid (or 50/50). Water is so super important! The weekend was really hot here, too - we're back down into the 80s this week, but I've noticed my thirst has increased! Drink, drink, drink!

    Love the self care - it's necessary on every level! I hope the week goes well, and happy house-sitting!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ingrid! I'm already running into trouble because I didn't grocery shop and that just leads to being too unprepared :( I'm going to do what I can to get through the first few days but I may have to restart on Friday once I have groceries.

      I always use unsweetened almond milk. I find it sweet enough so I can't imagine how sweet it is with added sweetener! It has been really hot here too so I've definitely been trying to keep hydrated :)

      Thanks! I've found it more and more important as I get older. I'm so excited to cuddle with the fur babies!

      Delete
  2. This seems more like your usual eats than a cleanse. Are you just cutting out Hummus and Stuffed Grape Leaves.

    Let me tell you, your brother is so freakin lucky to have you as a house sitter. You are worth your weight in gold there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is how I used to eat when I was at my healthiest but over the past few months to even a year the bread and processed foods have been sneaking in more and more frequently and I've been feeling more and more horrible so it is just time to clean it up and get back to feeling my healthiest.

      It's funny because I feel lucky to do it! I get to have endless cuddles with the amazing fur babies and I get the house to myself, ha! It's great! As you know 4 pets is a lot to take care of but the only time it was really difficult was when TJ was very sick last year. It broke my heart and was a lot of work but he's feeling good now :)

      Delete
  3. Awesome! Good luck with the cleanse. Love the part about chilling with a candle after work for 30 minutes. I should really try that. I come home and immediately start checking off all my evening chores and rarely take a minute to sit down.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Bianca!! You should definitely try it, it is definitely my favorite part of the day. I find that I'm more productive after that because it is when I let any stress or frustration go and I can enjoy the rest of my night :)

      Delete