Product reviews galore!

It's almost Halloween and I love this time of year. 

I do want to warn you, I will not be making many posts, 

in fact this may be the last one for the year.

I wanted to make sure I posted some comments

on products I have been trying recently.

First off is a healthy snacks monthly delivery service.

Naturebox.com is a site that provides snack that

can be delivered to you on a monthly basis.

You get 5 bags of snacks for $20.

The nice part of this site is that it has a wide range of healthy choices.

Now there are tons of snacks that I do not consider healthy.

But you can filter the snacks out to only show what you want.

While the number of gluten free, no sugar snacks

 are severely limited at the moment.

I do hope they will be adding more.

Still it's a good way to get some dried fruit on a monthly basis.

Next is a meal delivery service called HelloFresh. 

 This is cashew chicken.

They give you 5 meal choices each week and you choose 3.

They send you everything needed to prepare the meals.

The instructions take you step by step and are easy to follow.

I absolutely love this service and there are usually at least

3 meals that are gluten free. I will update my review

in January but so far I highly recommend trying it.

The cleanse is over!

The Cleanse is over!

The 30 day cleanse has come to an end.

I have lost a total of 15 pounds.

I really enjoyed this cleanse

and will be doing them twice

per year, in the spring and fall.

My plan is to keep to a schedule of

lemon water and a healthy

low calorie option for breakfast(kind bar),

a smoothie for lunch, and

a healthy meal for dinner.

I will be walking 5 times a week.

Yoga and Cardio 3 times a week.

Strength and Abs 2 times a week.

Limited Pork and Beef.

At least one day meat free.

Limited oils.

I have some product reviews coming next week.

Thank you all for all the support!

Until next time, stay healthy!

Final 3 Days!

Final 3 Days!

As I begin the final 3 days of my 30 day cleanse, 

I look back in amazement on how

easy it was to consume only raw fruits and veggies.

With 2 weeks being only liquids and 16 days of raw food,

I thought it would be a lot more difficult than it was.

I also really enjoyed it and it gave me plenty of energy.

I would suggest everyone trying 

going a week(or even a few days) eating only raw food.

It's a great way to maximize nutrient absorption into your body.

I have decided to not have my diet be as restrictive as 

I had originally planned. I was going to cut out beef and pork,

but I think I will just limit those 2 two meats.

I will still limit dairy and oils.

I will be following the Wheat Belly diet 

and I don't want to have my diet be too restrictive 

so I can follow that diet comfortably. 

Starting Thursday I will have finished my

30 day cleanse and I will do my final weight measurement.

I look forward to sharing my final results 

and I will get back to reviewing various health

products I come across, and of course recipes!

As of today, I have lost a total of 15 pounds.

Day 21 Update(Day 8 eating raw)

Only 10 more days left!

I just wanted to post a little update as 

I begin the final 10 days of my 30 day cleanse.

I have lost a total of 12 lbs. so far with a goal of 15.

I try not to care about the weight loss that much

but of course that's really hard to do

and I always end up on a scale at some point.

I started at 197 lbs. and I am now 185.

If I can come out of this cleanse around 180 I will be happy.

After that I have realized I need make 

sure I keep my calories in check or

If I do eat more calories than normal

I need to be active and walk or workout.

I really think cutting down on the meat

and eating raw foods and smoothies

more often should help me keep

my weight in check.

Also completely cutting out even 

gluten free flours and starches

will keep my blood sugar from spiking

leading to weight gain.

It's been a great journey and one that isn't over yet.

I will make a few more posts before this cleanse is over

and I will share some of the salads I prepared this week.

I am also brewing Kombucha and Kefir Water!

Day 5 - Raw and Loving it!

It's the fifth day of my raw diet experiment and

I am loving eating fresh raw food.

Fruit and Veggies have never tasted so good.

I have also been infusing my water with

lemon, ginger, lime and cucumber.

I ordered some kelp noodles to try and they are awesome.

Very neutral taste and crunchy. Nice in salads.

These are Nori salad wraps.

Enjoyed some Arugula, Broccoli Sprouts and Watercress.

I also fell in love with Jicama!

While I wouldn't want to always eat this way.

I would definitely eat this way more often now.

And I will probably repeat this 

same 30 day cleanse in the spring. 

Remember to follow me on Facebook for daily updates!

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