The raw cleanse begins!

Raw Cleanse

So today starts the 16 days of raw eating.

I am excited to try this. I enjoy raw veggies.

But coming up with different ways 

to enjoy those veggies should be fun.

I decided to keep it simple.

Create a weeks worth of raw dips and dressing.

Then I can use those to make various 

salads or just dip veggies in them.

I decided on five dips. Using all raw ingredients.

#1 Olive Tapenade 

Love this salty dip! 

I used a little bit of cashew cheese instead of oil.

#2 Cashew Cheese

This recipe makes a nice soft ricotta like dip.

Can be used to make other dressings and dips.

#3 Raw-nch Sauce

Similar to Ranch Dressing.

Seasoned with Dill, Garlic, and Chives.

#4 Moroccan Carrot Dip

This one is amazing!

You must try this if you enjoy

Moroccan flavors.

#5 Zucchini Hummus

Different texture than normal hummus,

but with all the taste.

I enjoyed it as much as regular hummus.

I did not add avocado to this batch,

but I may in the future.

So that's the plan, eat raw fruit and veggies, 

along with nuts and seeds.

And use those dips and dressings along with 

others I come across to keep things fun.

I'll keep you updated weekly with new recipes and how

I am enjoying eating raw!

Day 12 on my 30 day cleanse.

Day 12 is here and I figured I should touch base before

the weekend, and the Smoothie/Juice fast ends.

This is the longest I have gone without consuming

solid food and honestly it hasn't been that hard.


Green Smoothie

There have been some bad days sure but overall

this has been a great experience and I am feeling refreshed.


3 Day Juice Cleanse finished

I will break the fast on Sunday night when

I consume a banana and avocado.

Homemade Juice for Day 4 of the Juice Cleanse

I will then begin my raw food diet plan on Monday 

and that will last a little over two weeks.

I will then start my completely wheat free journey from then on.

I will stop consuming gluten free products that contain

starches, rice and potato flours as well as limiting even 

gluten free grains like rice and quinoa.


Veggies for Juicing

I don't like ruling things out completely as long as 

there is some health value to it, it's hard to say no to quinoa,

so I will limit it to maybe once a month.

This may mean I will start consuming more beans, even though that 

does go against the Paleo lifestyle, I'll give it a try and introduce 

more beans into my diet and see how it goes. 

I can still use Nut flours and ground seeds.


Berry Pomegranate Ginger Brew

One of the hardest things I will be trying,

 is severely limiting my oil intake.

This is a personal thing, I really want to cut 

down on how much oil I consume.

There are various reasons for this, and you can read them here.

And here.

I am looking forward to trying out the raw diet, 

and how it can be more than just eating salads.


Chia Pudding and Veggie Cold Soup

I will go more in to that on Monday. Have a healthy weekend!

Week 2 Begins!

Week 1 Review

Week one was full of smoothies, juices and teas.

I extended my juice fast to 4 days and it went really well.

I barely had any discomfort during the detox days.

I don't need as much sleep during juice fasts.

I wake up feeling ready to go.

Now I am in that euphoric phase.

And now I start my one week of smoothies 

before transitioning into a raw food diet.

Social Media for daily updates!

Make sure to check out my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages for daily updates!

Day 1 of the Juice Fast is over

The initial detox funk is over and on Day 4 

of the overall cleanse I am feeling much better. 

Headaches, feeling lightheaded and general blahness has passed. 

The juices are really helping. 

I am not hungry at all and I still have 2 more juices to go for today.

The Juices have arrived - Review of Juice in the Raw

Hooray! They arrived. They were nice and frosty.

I was worried when I didn't get a shipping email 

but it came exactly when they said it would via FedEx.

Since they arrived before noon, I started immediately.

I tasted them all so I can tell you all about it.

So the Sweet Greens is the recipe for Mean Green Juice,

made popular by the Reboot with Joe.

It's a juice I am all too familiar with and I love it.

See: Juice Time!

Now the Detox Greens juice is a little peppery and has subtle floral tones.

It's really nice but there are some fancy ingredients in this juice.

Wild Arugala, Watercress, and Dandelion are not items you can always find.

This is an amazing juice, LOVE IT.

 

The next juice is the Spicy Lemonade and it's amazing for detoxing.

It's infused with cayenne pepper.

I do wish it was sweetened with grade b maple syrup.

Hopefully it's a high quality agave they use.

It only has a slight hint after taste of the cayenne.

I am used to my own recipe that almost makes you sneeze, ha! 

Ok so after all that, at the end of your day 

you get what they call a dinner replacement.

It's coconut water but its also coconut flesh.

This combo is refreshing but also

gives the illusion of milk.

The flesh almost melts away while still

making you feel like you are

consuming something solid.

Now hardcore juicing fanatics will say

there should be no pulp whatsoever and you

should never chew, at all.

I am not in that camp, I mean aren't we doing

enough by ONLY drinking healthy stuff damn it.

Allow me some damn coconut PULP!

I also loved this Coconut Fusion.

If only I could drink this stuff every day.

Well that all for the juicing review from Juice in the Raw.

Be sure to check local juice bars and deliver services. 

They are usually cheaper for cleanses, or just buy it 

by the bottle to or from work. Replace one

meal with fresh cold pressed juice for a week

and start your journey to better health!

Special Offer: Use coupon code aaronallen for a $79 cleanse!

juiceintheraw.com

Product Review: Various from Abe's Market #2

I posted that I would be finishing the review of the items

 I received from Abe's Market and in this post I will do just that.

The last two items were teas.

Blueberry Wild Child Herbal Tea from Tiesta Tea

This is an amazing berry flavored herbal tea.

Nice resealable packaging if you don't have proper storage options.

As I brew this the smell of berries fills the air.

The subtle hint of hibiscus and apple is nice touch.

Along with the health benefits of pomegranate. 

I enjoyed this tea.

Tiesta Tea's website

Purchase from Abe's Market

Yerba Mate Organic Tea from Kraus

I love Yerba Mate. It is a great coffee alternative.

It's strong and earthy. I have only tried one other brand.

This one tastes clean and refreshing.

It's a mix of both stems and leaves like most.

Makes a great cup of Mate!

Kraus' Website

Purchase from Abe's Market

Good Yerba Mate Source

Join me on a 30 day Maintenance Cleanse!

For the next 30 days I will be consuming only Smoothies, 

Juices and Raw Foods in order to detoxify and nourish my body. 

This will be my last long cleanse of the year and 

should get me in good shape for the holiday season.

These cleanses are a personal experience and I by no means 

want people to think they should be doing these more than a couple times a year.

It can be very beneficial to give your digestive system a rest 

and flood your system with nourishment but a healthy

regular diet is the most important.

I do these to make MYSELF feel better and 

because I am still struggling with losing weight.

I did a lot of damage to my body and I feel these help repair that damage.

I know I am a lot better off now and I know I am healthy.

But I can always be more healthy!

So this latest cleanse, much like most of my cleanses recently, 

was sparked out of my sister starting her first juice cleanse!

She found a good deal on a 3 day juice cleanse delivery product.

I have always wanted to try one because they are cold pressed, 

convenient and they have awesome fruit and veggie combos.

But they are always crazy expensive.

So my sister found a great deal, HALF OFF!

I jumped at the chance.

Click here for the Juice!

Click here for the deal!

I am doing what they call the advanced forever cleanse that is mostly veggies.

3 Days, 6 Juices per day

2x Sweet Greens: Apple, Cucumber, Celery, Kale, Chard, romaine, Spinach, Lemon, Ginger.
2x Detox Greens: Apple, Cucumber, Celery, Wheat-grass, Dandelion, Watercress, Wild Arugula, Lemon, Ginger
2x Spicy Lemonade: Water, Lemon, Agave, Cayenne
2x Coconut Fusion: Coconut Water and Flesh

That is an amazing combo for detoxing, wow!

And its all bottled and sent and it's kept cold.

My juice gets here Thursday I hope and 

I start either that day or Friday depending on when it gets here.

Now I thought I might as well take this opportunity 

and further supplement this juice fast.

And the best way to transition in to a juice fast? 

A smoothie fast! I also want to try a couple weeks of raw veggies.

So in the end this will end up being 30 days.

So this will be another month without meat AND dairy.

The first few days I will be consuming Kefir and Yogurt because

I need to consume it but after that, no dairy will be consumed.

30 day detox/cleanse plan:

3 days of smoothies followed by 4 days of juicing. 

Then 7 days of smoothies.

A 16 day RAW FOOD ONLY plan will then start.

I will go into the Raw Food plan in another post.

Wish me luck and please follow this blog and help support it!

Product Review: Various from Abe's Market #1

So Abe's market has an amazing service where you can try 

things for $2 each and they ship it for free. 

You can choose up to 3 items at a time. 

So I will be reviewing those items along with some 

other items I got along with this shipment.

Abe's Market. Try for $2!

Item #1

I am always hesitant to try freeze dried products but it sounded good so I gave it a try.

Creamy, crunchy and fruity. It's like eating cereal basically.

The flax mixed with the dried milk and fruit go well together.

Great on the go breakfast but not everyone enjoys freeze dried products.

I have to say I was surprised and that tiny package gives you half a cup of fruit!

Decent product but of course always eat fresh raw produce if possible.

GoVida website

Purchase this at Abe's Market

Item #2

I love the mix of savory and sweet. And this bar delivers just that.

If you are a fan of Moroccan flavors you may enjoy this bar.

With pistachio's, currants, carrots, and ginger, this bar

could easily be a meal replacement for either breakfast or lunch.

It wasn't until I finished the bar that I knew I enjoyed it.

The presence of sesame kinda threw me off but in the end I enjoyed it.

Slowfoodforfastlives.com

Purchase this at Abe's Market

Item #3 

Now this item I only got because I like spicy food.

I do not consume what this product has in it on a regular basis.

This item is a major cheat even though it is considered healthy.

I don't consume legumes often, and the soy bean oil, 

corn starch and "natural flavors", aren't things I personally consider healthy.

So that aside, how does it taste? Meh, it's got a kick for sure. 

I thought I used to like dried peas. I guess I don't anymore. 

I will probably mix these with my Asian Spiced Roasted Almonds I made the other day.

These items were part of the try for $2 promotion.

The other items were Mate Tea and herbal teas I will review in a future post.