Detox Day 2 & Day 3

Hola! Sorry I didn't post day 2 and day 3 immediately after day one.  I ended up leaving town unexpectedly but I am sure that after the weekend some of you are ready to start a three day cleanse on Monday!

Before I list all the recipes from the rest of my detox I just wanted to share a few personal reasons why I LOVE JUICING over all of the other "diets" I have tried!

1. You NEVER have to count calories.  How awesome is that?! Counting calories has always felt like such a tedious task and I HATE feeling restricted... For example, like when you have had your calorie intake amount before 5:00 pm and then by the time 8 O'clock rolls around all you want to do is jump in your car and grab a cheeseburger! I never experienced anything like this when juicing because when I got hungry, I just drank more juice and its always so filling and satisfying! 
2.  You don't have to count or worry about carbs.  I was completely care free and never had to think twice about how many carbs I was eating because when I was juicing, the pounds were literally melting off my body.
3. No crazy supplements, protein shakes, pre-workout, or other products.  I have done the whole "fitness competition" type of diet and let me just say... I hated it.  Did it work? Yes... but it was hard for me to stick to and it was nothing I wanted to continue doing after my compeition.  All of the supplements I had to take made me feel weird, protein shakes got disgusting to the point where I refuse to drink them anymore, I was carb depleted... I just did not feel like myself.  Not to mention all of that stuff was SO expensive and more importantly all of those products are LOADED with man-made chemicals that are so harmful to our bodies. 
4. Juicing Kicked my ridiculous sweet tooth!  Before I started juicing I had the biggest sweet tooth on the planet.  I loved candy, ice cream, cake, cookies... I could go on and on.  I would CRAVE these types of sweets constantly and when I allowed myself to indulge... I would pick sweets over anything else.  This is no longer the case and it's not because I "wont allow myself to eat that type of food anymore" I have had a few things like cookies and what not, and they simply do not taste the same or taste good anymore and I owe it all to juicing.  Juicing is so rich in flavor that nothing else compares! (Yes... I just said that juices taste better than cookies!) 
5. My hair grew like crazy... Like an insane amount! I have always had pretty damaged hair because I color it and I style it so frequently.  Whenever I go to get my hair done my hair dresser is usually always like "You should probably do some condition treatments at home because your hair is pretty damaged!" For the past few months all I have been hearing when I go to the salon is how healthy my hair is and I have even been asked what exactly I have been doing.  My hair is so much longer than it was before and it has never grown so fast! For the longest time I couldn't figure out why this was happening and then someone mentioned that it was probably from all of the vitamins and healthy nutrients I was getting from juicing which completely made sense! 
6. Minimal Exercise... Yep! You read that right! I walk and bike occasionally and I do Hot Yoga. (Which is minimal for me)  I didn't lift a single weight when getting down to 115 and I didn't do cardio every single day.  Prior to juicing I would torture myself in the gym.  This is a true testament to the saying "It's 20% gym and 80% diet" and "Abs are made in the Kitchen, not in the Gym."  I am a huge fan of working out and working out hard I just wanted to show that the gym was just a small part of my weight loss.   

 I know that juicing can seem expensive.  You have to buy a lot of fruits and veggies and when you are juicing it seems like you waste a lot of that food but the picture above is something to keep in mind.  We were not intended to eat foods that last until 2047 and the chemicals that preserve food for that long are so harmful to our bodies.  

Ok... Lets get down to the fun part! When I am doing a "detox" or a "cleanse" I like to drink one 8-12oz juice every two hours from the moment I wake up, until the moment I lay down for bed.  I say this because I don't limit myself to 4 or 5 juices a day... I just continue to drink every two hours.  Also, there is nothing fancy behind the 8-12oz.  If I am feeling hungry I'll drink a 24oz juice if I feel like my body needs it.  The 8-12oz is just a ballpark range and typically what most recipes come out to be.  I can't stress enough that I do not limit myself.  The important part is to stay away from solid foods so if you need to drink a juice every hour to start off, by all means do it!  We are trying to rid our bodies of all the junk we are constantly filling it with and we are replacing it with natural nutrients and vitamins that will cleanse us from the inside out! Also, I like to drink a glass or bottle of water between juices to make sure I am flushing everything out of my system! 

Alright, so here are 13 recipes I rotated between during my cleanse!

Cranberry Crush

• 1 Cup of Cranberries 
• 1 Red Apple
• 1 Orange 

Ginger Ale  (Great for soft drink replacement)

• 2 Green Apples 
• 1" of Ginger Root 
• Lemon 
• Kale 
• Pour over ice and add Sparkling Water 

 Don't let the color fool you! (Good Green "starter" drink)

• 1 cup of Kale 
• 1 Pear 
• 1/2 Pineapple
• 1 Lemon 
• 1 Green Apple 

Immunity (Great for the Immune system) 

• 2 Oranges
• 1 Cup of Strawberries 
• 1/2 Pineapple  
• 2 Medium sized Carrots 

Healthy Orange Julius

• 1/2 Pineapple 
• 2 Oranges 
• 1" Ginger Root 
• Pour over ice and add Sparkling Water

Cran-apple 

• 1/4 Cup of Cranberries 
• 1 Lemon 
• 1/2 Cup of Green Grapes 
• 2 Green Apples

Raspberry Lemonade 

• 1 and 1/2 cups of Raspberries 
• 1 and 1/2 cups of Blueberries 
• 2 Lemons
• Pour over ice and add sparkling water 

Liquid Sunshine 

• 1" of Ginger 
• 2 Medium sized Carrots
• 1 Pear 
• 1 Tangerine 
• 1/2 Pineapple 
• 1 Lemon

Wine and Dine Me

• 2 Green Apples 
• 1/2 Cup of BlueBerries 
• 1/2 Cup of Blackberries
• 1/2 Cup of Raspberries 
• 1/2 Cup of Strawberries 
• 1/2 Cup of Grapes 

Skinny Margarita 

• 4 Celery Stalks 
• 2 Green Apples 
• 2 Limes 
• 1/2 Cup of Kale 
• Pour over ice and add sparkling water 

Citrus Soda 

• 1/2 Pineapple 
• 1 Orange 
• 1 Lemon 
• Pour over ice and add sparkling water

Green Machine 

• 1 head of broccoli
• 1 cucumber 
• 1 Green Apple 
• 1/2 Cup of Green Apples 
• 1 Cup of Kale 
• 2 Limes 
• 1" of Ginger Root 

Strawberry Lemonade

• 1/2 Pineapple 
• 1 Cup of Strawberries 
• 3 Lemons
• Pour over ice and add sparkling water 

And just a little motivation to jump start the week... Don't forget "summer bodies are made in the winter" ;) 

Xo, 

Ashley

For Daily Tips and Recipes follow me on: 

Instagram: ashleynicolemora1 

Twitter: MissAshleyMoora 

Detox Day 1

Starting my three day cleanse and detox today.  I feel so sick from eating junk food and binge eating after the pageant! This blog is going to be short and sweet. Just a quick look at what my "Day 1" looks like.... 

Morning: 1 8oz glass of water with lemon 

Breakfast juice: Juiced with Breville Juicer...

• Three Green Apples 
• 1" Ginger Root 
• 1 Cup of Kale 
• 1 Lemon

Mid Morning: (About one hour after first juice) 1 8oz glass of water

Snack: (About two hours after first juice) Juiced with Breville Juicer...

• 1/2 cup of Green Grapes 
• 1/2 Pineapple 
•  1 cucumber 
• 1 lemon 
• 1 green apple 
• 1" Ginger Root 

Lunch: (Two hours after previous juice) Juiced with Breville Juicer...

• 1/2 pineapple 
• 1 cup of strawberries 
• 1 pear 
• Mint leaves

Afternoon: (About one hour after juice) 1 8oz glass of water with lemon

Snack: (About two hours after previous juice) Juiced with Breville Juicer... 

• 2 Green Apples 
• 1 Cup of Kale 
• 1 Cucumber 
• 2 Celery sticks 
• 1" of Ginger Root 
• 2 Limes 

Dinner:  (Two hours after previous juice) LARGE Glass of Water

• 3 Green Apples 
• 1 Pear
• 2 Lemons 
• 1 Cup of Kale 
• 2" of Ginger Root

If I get starving at any point I'll just make another juice.  I never limit myself to a certain amount of juice.  For me, it's more important to continue drinking juice rather than feel deprived and reach for food.  Sometimes in the beginning ill get a slight headache but that's from the toxins leaving my body.  When that starts to happen I reach for water rather than to medication and it usually stops! So far I am feeling SO great... It feels good to know I am cleaning out my body.

Stay tuned for day 2..... :)

Xoxo
Ashley Mora

For Daily Tips and Recipes follow me on: 

Instagram: ashleynicolemora1 

Twitter: MissAshleyMoora 

Detoxing

 If I can do it... You can do it!

Down 20lbs, 26 inches, and went from a size 4 to a size 0!

Happy Monday!

I hope you all are starting off your week healthy and productive!  I just got back into ABQ after being out of town for 11 days (and binge pageant eating on top of that) So I am very happy to be home and ready to reboot my system with a 3 day cleanse which I am going to talk about today!

I have received a lot of questions about preparing juice & letting it sit in the refrigerator so I am going to touch on that quickly....

There is nothing better than FRESH juice, there is no denying that!  When we are juicing, we are breaking down and exposing the cell walls of the produce (this is what makes juicing so AMAZING and it's where all the benefits come from!)  When the cell walls become exposed we are making the produce very sensitive to light, air, heat etc.  Therefore, for MAXIMUM benefits drinking juice right away is best.  I do not have time to whip out my juicer 5 times a day and make fresh juice for every meal so I prepare most of my juices in advance.  I have noticed that citrus type foods tend to last a lot longer than other produce such as an apple which brown quickly.  I like to add extra lemon to whatever juices I am storing as well.  If you are not drinking your juice immediately, I recommend putting it in the refrigerator ASAP.  I have heard of some people freezing their juices and then when they are ready to drink them a few days after preparing them, they take the juice out of the freezer and drink as soon as its thawed.  I personally have not tried this yet but it sounds like a fantastic idea.  I also recommend storing juice in mason jars because the seal is air tight and the glass is better than plastic(...my own personal opinion and preference) 

I was reading some more about juicing today and I wanted to share with you all a list of Health Benefits from Juicing I came across that I felt really hit home with my own personal experience. Literally every bullet-point I was shaking my head and thinking, "Yep.. It does do that!"

Here it is! 

• Weight Loss 
• Immunity Booster 
• Better Digestion 
• Better Sleep 
• Decrease in Allergies 
• Balance in Skin Conditions 
• Healthier Hair 
• Improved Nail Strength 
• Decrease in Body Odor 
• Increase in Energy 
• Decrease in Medication 
• Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Health

 3 DAY DETOX 

Tomorrow I am starting a 3 day detox! After competing in Miss NM USA and being out of town for 11 days (and not caring what went into my mouth for the remainder of that trip) my body is SCREAMING for a detox.  And let me just say... the foods I thought I missed and had been fantasizing over for months were not nearly as "good" as I remembered them being and in fact I will drink juice over any of that yuck any day!!! Juice is SO delicious... I'm craving one as we speak! 

So my idea of a "Detox" is drinking only juice for three days straight.  The BEST advice I can give is to start off SLOWWWWW!!!!! Try doing a juice detox for one day & then maybe a few days later try two days.  Just giving your body all those nutrients for a day will work wonders. It's an amazing feeling to start off slow and work your way to doing a full blown juicing detox but it's not a change that you or your body will like to make overnight. AND Unless you were blessed with taste buds that crave vegetables, do not try and make pure veggie juices with stuff you would never eat to begin with.  IT'S OK to use yummy produce with high carbs and/or sugar (OMG... did I just say ok to high carbs and sugar in one sentence?!) Yes... Yes I did! And if we're going to be really honest, I typically use WAY more fruits than vegetables on a daily basis when juicing and I lost 20 lbs and 26 inches doing just that.  So don't be afraid to try some delicious recipes that use mostly fruit! Your body will thank you regardless, and you will be wanting to frame the picture on your scale.  -never thought that would happen!    

I typically like to drink one 16oz juice every two hours.  In between juices I like to drink 1/2-1 glass of water.  Water can be so boring so I like to jazz it up with some lemon, limes, strawberries, mint leaves, watermelon, cucumber, pineapple, or oranges.  If I am STARVING at any point of the day, I'll just drink another juice... I mean you're going all liquid for crying out loud... it's not going to hurt if you have an extra 16oz juice of FRESH, NATURAL produce.  

Picture of the water that you would prepare the night before..

Starting tomorrow I will be posting about my detox, how I feel, and what it's doing to my body.  I look forward to sharing about how it's going!

REMINDER:  I am no health expert, I am not majoring in health education, I do not have any type license.  I do not know what works for anyone other than myself however I do know that juicing has had a huge and positive impact on my life and I am happy to share what its done for me.  If you have questions I HIGHLY recommend consulting your doctor before trying anything I have shared.   

 

Looking forward to writing my next post already ;) 

Hope you all enjoyed this one and if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment!

xoxo 

Ashley Mora

For Daily Tips and Recipes follow me on: 

Instagram: ashleynicolemora1 

Twitter: MissAshleyMoora