Saturday, June 23

The Juice diet detox, day 2!

It's 1:30pm of Juicin' day two and at this point I'd juice a snickers bar if I didn't despise cleaning up the horrific mess the juicer makes.

I'm really only continuing this facade to prove to myself that I can do it.  I weighed in at 99 pounds this morning, leaving me not much weight to shed through this detox.  I'm not hungry, the shakes are filling and delicious and I've been sipping green tea all morning.  But I am miserably bored and craving the crunch of a snack. 

Another shake to go and we're packing the ol juicer into the Tahoe and heading North to Bend Oregon for some camping.  Going on a 12 hour road trip without Smartfood, Trail mix or honey mustard pretzel bites seems unorthodox, but I suppose it's worth a try if it will help keep Matt on track to melting off the lbs.


I've resigned to only follow the juicing detox for two full days, then start adding raw veggies and fruits to my diet.  I really don't want to shed any more weight; under 100 pounds when you're 5'6 is not cute, it's sickly.  Plus, I'm still a little skeptical of this diet - I mean aren't we losing all of the fiber  and really just drinking sugar water with some vitamins?  To me, it seems like you'd lose a heck of a lot more weight by drinking skinny water or vitamin zero waters all day and munching on endless veggies and fruits.  And throwing in protein shakes when you have a killer workout.  Now that's a crash diet that should be patented. 

Friday, June 22

Juice diet detox - Day one

I am not a juicer. 

I  thoroughly enjoy eating .  I love the pomp and circumstance of dining out, the satisfaction of preparing a homemade meal, the pride in a sprouting garden.  Nothing gets me like exploring the differing tastes and textures of a new food, and I truly consider myself a "full blown foodie" in every sense of the word. 
      Despite this, I find myself on day one of a juice cleanse. My boyfriend is one carb away from overeaters anonymous and has vowed to juice for 10 days to drop weight fast.
     Because I don't feel like going alone to dinner each night, I have decided to join on Matts juicing cleanse. Well that.. and yacht week is creeping up and I wouldn't reaaaally mind losing my love handles prior to setting sail.   OK fine.  I was maybe tempted a little by the challenge too. I can, and will, outlast Matt in his juice-athalon.   (chalk it up to only-child-syndrome but I've got a fierce competitive side)
      I've guzzled 4 cups of juice today. While I do feel full, I'm completely horrified that Matt actually wants to keep this up tomorrow.  I mean really.  We're in Beverly Hills - snuggled between culinary gems like Spago, Cut, Maestros and Il Fornio.  Not to mention yogurtland, sprinkles and menchies.  
    To anyone else insane enough to consider this rare torture, I bestow day one's trials and tribulations: 

LESSONS LEARNED FROM DAY 1 of JUICIN'! 
1. Juicing is extremely costly. You are buying organic, and you are buying a lot. My breakfast (hah! If you can call it that) drink was 1 peach, 2 cups of kale, a whole cucumber, mango chunks, ginger, half a lemon.   All that for one measley drinkable cup of juice and a full shopping bag of "unusable" fruit and veggie waste. 

2.  Don't work out if you are juicin' (seems funny right - ya know, juicin.. steroids). Anyways, to avoid fainting in exhaustion post 9am weight lifting class, I swallowed some spirulina algae pills (skinnybits.com, promo code: healthy) to get a little protein & extra nutrients.

3. Ok. So supposedly there are quite a few possible side effects to juicing.  One of them being "face boils".  Not sure what that entails, but my tip here is to obsessively check your face for new bumps and if you find one immediately go to the closest fast food joint and give up the idea of detoxing for good.  Would you really take face boils over skinny?  Because I sure as hell wouldn't.

4. Everyone has a weak time for hunger.  Mine is in the AM. To counter my incessant desire to nibble endlessly on anything and everything I can rummage, I drank Slim Life Blueberry Green Tea (Yogi teas too so you get the adorable little sentiment quote with each tea bag) and two 8 oz glasses of water to quell my rumbling belly.   Most people experience this hunger mid afternoon - so plan accordingly.  Water down your juice so you fill your stomach, sip tea, slug water, put crest white strips in, anything you can do to keep your mind off of warm reeces cup peanut butter cookies (what?)

5.  Okay, maybe this is just me, but it helped today.  Watch the food network, read a health cook book, go grocery shopping, and don't shy away from food.  The most valuable lesson to take from your juice detox is pride in your self discipline and will power.

6. A little fresh ginger goes a long way.

7. Best combo thus far: apple, carrot, ginger, beet, kale and/or wheat grass.

8. Other great add-ins: pineapple, berries, grapes, mangoes, mint, basil, tomatoes, watermelon, lime, broccoli, celery, 

9. Tell someone else you're juicin' (but perhaps don't call it juicin, since they will most likely assume steroids) so you feel guilty quitting after one day. 

10.  Ease into it.  The days leading up to your juice-cation, eliminate fried foods and reduce sugars, processed foods, caffeine, and alcohol.   A day or two leading up eat/juice as many fruit and vegetables as you'd like but still eat solid foods like chicken, fish and whole grains. 
11.  Lastly, but arguably most importantly.  I suppose alcohol and caffeine should be omitted from your detox, but lets get real and see this on a logical level.  Wine is basically juiced grapes right? (don't argue with me).  So everyone has their vice.  This juice diet is for you.  Don't miss your sisters birthday because you're juicing and don't want to eat at dinner.  Its about eating right to live better, not living worse to eat better. 

** i can't put this as a tip because I have yet to try it... but (drum roll)..
What about this - juice all your fruits first, empty bin to a mason jar, sprinkle with sugar and store until you give up this juicing nonsense for good. 
NEXT (and get this! drum roll and triangle please), you add all your vegetables - heavy on the tomatoes - and move the discarded skins and unjuiced vegetable sections to a mason jar.  Add garilc/parsley/lime/cayenne pepper and wah-lah! Salsa! 

Monday, June 18

Yacht-diet kick-off!

And yacht week diet begins. 


perfect oven roasted tomatoes - oven to 400, spread cherry tomatoes on greased baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic and pepper, cook 20 minutes

Grilled blackened chicken breast

Spinach salad with fresh corn off the cob, grilled onions, poppyseed, lemon, balsamic vinegar and apple cider vinegar

victory.

Monday, June 11

Yacht Week Fashion & Wardrobe Essentials!

Admist packing for yacht week in Greece while sipping Sangria and listening to "Red red wine", I've hit a fashion wall.  While I do reside in New England, my going out clothes reflect a mix between Los Angeles hipster and NY posh.

So, naturally, I google, "yacht week wardrobe essentials."  To my dismay, this leads to pages upon pages of safety tips and precautions (yawn), so I'm taking matters into my own hands.

Here, are my yacht week wardrobe essentials: 









1. over sized hat 
2. block colored shorts 
3. sheer shirts, the brighter the better
4. white oversized shirt-dress
5. african inspired bangles
6. nude wedge sandals 
7. Chanel holiday nail color or nouvelle vague
8. jean button up
9. Skirt with stepped hem
10. Printed Shorts
                                    11. Jumpsuit
                                    12. Audrey Hepburn inspired cat eye sunglasses
                                   

Monday, June 4

Healthy Shrimp and Spinach salad with lemon poppyseed dressing!

Chelsea's Scrumptious Shrimp and Spinach Salad!

-Grill small-medium size shrimp in a skillet with garlic lemon and pepper


Salad:
Mix 1 bag spinach leaves, 1 diced tomato, 1/4 cup diced onion, 1/2 diced avocado, handful of sunflower seeds, handful of raisins, handful of cashews

Dressing:
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 4 tsp poppyseeds, 2 tsp mustard, 2 tsp lemon juice, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 tsp ground pepper

And enjoy.  it's really that easy!  Not sure why lemon poppyseed dressing from the store always contains 14 g of sugar/serving, but this salad dressing is sugar free and delicious.

Catalina Island! - A Kayak Adventure!



I have been to Catalina Island twice, and the two trips could not have been more different.


Trip one: EXPLORING Catalina via Kayak
We excitedly bounced onto the Catalina Express Ferry equipped with enormous backpacks filled to the brim with camping 'necessities' (ok and Matt brought his straightener).

We spent the day setting up our big camping adventure for the following morning, but still leaving a bit of time to explore the tourist town overlooking Avalon Bay.  While we enjoyed our ice creams, we strolled through the shops, stopped at the beach to admire the marina life and popped in and out of bed and breakfasts trying to find the perfect stay.  Unfortunately the locals aggrandized the fact that the island is haunted and built on an ancient burial ground - a notion that put my 250lb meathead boyfriend into a frenzy, so we ended up staying in the most modern hotel we could find: Hotel Vista del Mar. The hotel was comfortable and luxurious, but lacked the charm I was craving.

The next morning we rented our kayaks from Catalina kayaks, and took off for the few mile paddle around to the secluded campsites. Hours later, I was near tears and Matt was hollering at me as we finally pulled up to the inlet we would call home.  I love adventure and fitness, but kayaking in the ocean as a first timer was much more challenging than I had anticipated.  As the sun quickly set, we scrambled to build a fire and put together our tent.  Before long, we had decompressed and were enjoying smores over the fire.  It wasn't until 9ish that the panic ensued as the waves crashed up onto our tent and put out the fire.  We moved up into the brush, which had us spooked because of earlier ghost stories AND the fear of wild animals.  Secluded is one thing, but this was too much.  We spent the night shivering, soaked and scared.  And when the sun finally peaked over the mountain I brushed the bugs and dirt from my hair, jumped back into my kayak and took off as fast as my swollen arms could take me.

That night, staying at Hotel Vista del Mar was more than spectacular - it was absolutely perfect. The next day we scuba dived with the legendary Ron Moore, rented a golf cart to cruise the town, and dined on fresh fish until the sun began to set.  Then we hightailed it to the ferry and took off for Beverly Hills!