The Juicy Truth on Going Green

Why you should be starting each morning off with a green juice or smoothie! 

If you are anything like me, weight loss and maintaining weight is extremely hard.  Trust me when I say, I've been on just about every "diet" out there.  In the past I've tried protein, supplements, fat burners, low carb, everything you can imagine! Although I had temporary success... whenever I deviated from the plan in the slightest way, I ended up gaining everything back and then some,  which left me feeling completed defeated.  That is until I started drinking greens regularly! 

If you are reading this thinking, "that's me" I have good news... You don't have to live that way anymore.  Just by making a few small changes you can achieve your dream weight and improve your overall health.  All you need to do is Go Green.  

Start off taking baby steps.  I want to challenge you to start swapping your breakfast out with 1 green juice or smoothie.  Think of each night as a mini fast and upon wakening you have the chance to cleanse, detox, and reboot your system with a delicious green drink.  

Green juices and smoothies are very easy on the digestive system... think of this as giving your digestive system a little break.  This allows your digestive system to start breaking down old foods that may be stored in the body, in lieu of breaking down a heavy breakfast.  This is one reason why drinking greens in the morning is fat flushing... cool, I know! The most powerful and health boosting thing you can do for your body is let fresh juiced/blended up greens be the first thing that enters your system.  I cannot emphasize how important it is to start each day off with a green drink! Green juice cleans out your system and your blood, which actually boots your energy and sets you up to be awake and alert the rest of the day.  

Juicy benefits of starting each day with a Green Juice or Smoothie: 

Weight Loss 

Boots Immune System 

Increased Energy
Cleanses your blood stream

Increased Nutrient Intake 

Bigger Variety of Vegetables are Consumed 

Glowing Skin 

Hair Growth 

Hair Shine 

Reverse Dark Circles 

Reverse Aging 

Disease Prevention 

So, for one month ditch the eggs and coffee and just try this out.  What do you have to lose?  There will come a point where at night, all you will think about is having your green drink in the morning! After you start making green drinks part of your morning routine, I guarantee you'll never want to go back! 

For green juice recipes click here. 

For green smoothie recipes click here. 

Update:  For those of you who have been reading my blog, you know that I lost over 30 lbs a year ago when I started making these exact small changes.  I am happy and proud to say that for the first time in my life I have been able to keep the weight off!  Sure, there were a few times I went out of town, overindulged, and gain a few pounds but I was able to lose it right away.  I still fit into the "skinny jeans" I bought last december when all the weight came off (woo hoo!) and I have never felt healthier in my entire life! 

Curent before & after.

If you have any question please feel free to message, comment, or tweet me! 

Instagram: ashleynicolemora1 

Twitter: MissAshleyMoora 

XoXo 

-Ashley 

Calories vs. Chemicals Part 1

Happy Monday everyone! Welcome to Calories vs. Chemicals part 1. 

In an effort to not gain the freshman 15 in college, I survived off of diet coke and lean pockets.  I thought diet coke was the most amazing thing since sliced bread and the lean pockets had way less calories than actual pizza... If I only knew what I was putting into my body! Once I stopped obsessing over calories and actually started to look at the ingredients in the food I was eating, (along with juicing) I then became successful in losing 30+lbs. 

 Throughout my year long journey as an avid juicer, I have learned so much about food and the myths behind what the food industry has had us eating up for years.  The biggest lesson learned has been that calories are not scary... the toxic chemical overload in food is.  Toxic chemicals are constantly accumulating in our bodies because the industry has had us obsessing over calories for years with labels like: "Low Calorie" "No Calorie" "100 Calories" 

Let me ask you a question... When you are purchasing your groceries and you turn your food or drink item over to check the calories, protein, fat etc.  How often are you checking the ingredients? 

   

When we focus only on the calories, we miss the fact that in exchange they are filling our food with toxic chemicals.  

& the scariest part about this is 

The more we fill our bodies with nutrient dense foods & empty calories, the harder we make it on ourselves to lose weight and the more we put our health at risk.  

Here is a short 2 minute video on chemicals in our food! I love this video and the way it describes what science and technogoly is doing to our food.

Let's take a look a protein bar.  Most of us think a protein bar is an optimal healthy snack.  They have protein, tons of delicious flavors, they're portable... something we can keep in our car or purse.  In hindsight, it's perfect! Not to mention that it comes off as a healthy alternative. 

At a first glance we see 20 grams of protein 

Flip it over and read

Calories: 280 

Fat: 10g 

Carb: 29g 

Protein: 20g 

Ingredients: 

Soy protein, isolate, beet juice concentrate, organic brown rice syrup, organic dried cane syrup, palm kernel oil, organic peanuts, cocoa, organic rolled oats, vegetable glycerin, soy protein concentrate, natural flavors, peanuts, peanut flour, rice starch, organic sunflower oil, unsweetened chocolate, inulin (chicory extract) sea salt, organic oat fiber, soy, lecithin, calcium carbonate, organic vanilla extract, cocoa butter, vanilla extract, natural vitamin E, calcium, carbonate, magnesium oxide, ascorbic acid, DL-Aplha tocopheryl acetate, thiamine monoitrate, beta carotene, niacin amide, D-Calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, erocalciferol, cyanocobalamin, potassium iodide.  

Can you pronounce that last sentence?  I know I had a hard time with it.  I am not in any way trying to discredit protein bars or say that you should never eat them. I am just simply trying to bring awareness to the chemical overload in foods we think are better than others.  

3 Rules of Thumb

 If you can't pronounce it, Don't eat it 

Try to stick to prepackaged or frozen foods that have 10 ingredients or less 

If it has a long shelf life, put it down 

If anything, I encourage you to start reading the labels on the back of food.  When you can, buy local. Food should always come from the farm and go straight to your table.  Ditch the diet and just be the healthiest, happiest version of yourself that you can be! 

Stay tuned for part 2 later this week, where we will compare and decode labels! 

XoXo

-Ashley 

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