Half way there!

Im now half way through my juicing challenge and im feeling great! Im up every morning to make the juice for my flatmate and I.
I am feeling very much alert and able to focus on my work. Also when I am going to the gym I seem to have much more stamina. Not only that but I am feeling lighter and fresher than ever before!

I cant stress enough how great this experience has been so far and I am very much looking forward to the next part of my journey.

Here are some photos of a few of my juices from the past few days

This one (above) was the first of week 3 - apples, carrots, beets, celery and ginger! I love the rainbow colours in the jug before i mixed it all together! What a lovely sight first thing in the morning! 

not only have I been juicing but I have discovered what is possibly my new favorite smoothie recipe - banana, peanut butter, hazelnut milk and spinach! (above)

I hope you are all enjoying the recipes that have come up so far - I know I have!

I have also recently ordered this book >>>

Jason vale is the guy from the documentary "fat sick and nearly dead" that I keep banging on about!! 

you can get your own copy here >> 

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Juice-Master-Keeping-Simple-Delicious/dp/0007225172/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1390339697&sr=8-4&keywords=jason+vale

Reflection and Research

I am one week into by 30 day juice challenge. So far I am really enjoying waking up every morning and making myself a fresh juice. It definitely has changed my mornings for the better. Whats even greater is that I have managed to rope my flatmate into it with me!

I would say that I really do have much more energy and mental clarity. I am finding it much easier to study for longer and actually take in the information!!! I am feeling lighter and cleaner in my body - really detoxed.

Although I have been going to the gym around 3-4 times a week as well as juicing which probably has something to do with my extra energy and uplifted mood for sure!

Recently I read a very interesting paper on health and mental health. The world health organisation recently said that;

"there is no health without mental health"

I have to say that I agree with this 100%. In the paper I found (Citation can be found at the bottom) it was generally talking about the effects that mental health can have on other health conditions. One of the findings was that, mental disorders like depression, interact with other health conditions. The one that stuck out for me was that depression can be a risk factor for both fatal and non-fatal strokes! At this moment in time and in the future cardiac conditions are one the highest causes of mortality. It seems to me that if there is some way to prevent the onset of depression then we might be able to enhance peoples physical health?

Now, I am no professional and definitely in no position to advise on this matter, but surely be widening the knowledge of simple things such as juicing which have shown to have beneficial effects on peoples moods (see fat sick and nearly dead)  we can begin to tackle this on going problem?? 

Hopefully in the future we will see some intervention of this kind in the NHS!! 

Fingers Crossed 

Prince, M., Patel, V., Saxena, S., Maj, M., Maselko, J., Phillips, M. R., & Rahman, A. (2007). No health without mental health. The Lancet, 370(9590), 859-877.

Juice Challenge Cont....... Bit late!!

Hi everyone!

I have been a tad neglectful these past few, well 5 or so days on keeping you updated on the juices I'm having and how they are tasting!

So these are the ones I had for the remainder of week one of the challenge;

below we have a lovely carrot, apple ginger and lemon. I have to say this one was particularly refreshing definitely setting me up for a long day at uni!

The following day featured carrots (AGAIN!) celery and apples.

starting week two I didn't manage to get to the supermarket in time to pick up my fruits and veggie so instead I had a recipe from week one - same as the one above in fact.

WEEK 2 - this was such a lovely juice, and had ingredients I had never had in my juice before. I have to say the purple cabbage gave such a lovely flavour if not the best combo I have had so far!

and of course it was a beautiful colour!!

This mornings juice was NOT a lovely colour, it was a sludgy brown shade, but it did still taste good. The recipe for this one was;

1 cucumber
1 pear
1 apple
1 lemon
3 handfuls of spinach
1 thumb of ginger

Delicious even if it wasn't easy n the eyes!

Lovely treat for the sweet tooth

I am always having that craving for something sweet to snack on and usually I would turn to the ever faithful chocolate.
But being conscious that I am trying to make healthier swaps I have treated myself to some goodies from holland and barrett.

So to satisfy my snacking nature I have made a trail mix with the ingredients below.
Iv'e added the cacao nibs so there is still that taste of chocolate :)

My shopping consisted of;

organic dried mango
cashews
pumpkin seeds
hazelnuts
agarvae nectar
raw cacao nibs
dried coconut
pistachios
dried figs
dired (non sulphered) apricots

Its really great!   Give it a try and let me know what combination you choose!!

#4 and 5#

I was really busy yesterday finishing off my essays for uni so I didn't get a chance to post my juice challenge pictures up here,
But, better late than never. :)
On day 4 the recipe was;

- apple 2 apples
- celery 4 stalks
- carrot  3 carrots

I have to say I wasn't too keen on this one, there was a lot of celery and it was just a bit too peppery for me. Nonetheless, I still felt great afterwards. It looks pretty though, sort of like a sunset.

day 5 juice was much better;

- carrot 7

- apple 2

- lemon 1

- ginger 1 thumb 

This one was great, really refreshing with the lemon but warming with the ginger. 

So far Im really enjoying the juice challenge, I am feeling very alert and more able to focus. 

Also I would recommend this juice book - Reboot with Joe,  its by the guy on Fat, Sick and Nearly dead if anyone has seen that, if not I would recommend that you watch it!  Really inspiring stuff. 

#3 plus a few extras

Day three of the juicing challenge, I have to say this weeks juices are very carrot based and I think i'm craving something less carroty!
Although saying that I am still thoroughly enjoying my morning juice. But the one today was HUGE I couldn't finish it all I had to save some of it to have with my lunch!!
I have a whole heap of essay writing to be doing at the moment as well, and I have to say that my mental clarity is at it's peak! Something which i'm putting down to the juice for sure.
So here is a snap of today's juice

What a lovely, vibrant orange it is indeed!
The ingredients for this one are;
10 carrots (Yes 10!!)
2 apples
2 oranges

Not only have I been juicing today but I also had a crack at making a raw blue berry ice cream. Since I have stopped having dairy ice cream is something that I really miss. So I thought why not give this raw, dairy free one a go. It was DELICIOUS! extra creamy too as i used coconut milk rather than water. The recipe for this is;

Severs 4

180g frozen blueberries
100g raw cashew nuts
2 tablespoons of agarvae nectar (available form health food shops and some supermarkets)
80ml of water (or I used coconut milk)

Whizz it up in your blender then pop into the freezer and keep whisking every now and again so it doesn't get too frosty.
And here it is

If you are wondering what the dark chips are- I sprinkled a few raw cacao nibs on top for that luxury chocolaty taste we all love. Raw cacao has the highest concentrate of antioxidants so its really great for a detox and for fantastic radiant skin! These I think you can get online as well as in health food shops.

Mental health today -- 9/10
Physical health -- 8/10     >> (Still a bit sluggish after the christmas period! )



Look out for the next days in my juicing challenge and more scrummy raw food and healthy recipes :)

Happy Juicing  

#2

Day 2 and I'm feeling great! Mentally and physically I'm feeling alert and ready to go. This mornings juice was a fruity number made from 5 apples, 2 oranges and 2 sticks of celery - DELICIOUS!
I even loved the colour of the juice, a bright yellowish orange, beautiful >>

"Golden Delicious"

For those of you who are interested in the nutrition in the juice, as I am, here is a few pointers about this one;

- Calories 325
-  Vitamins 

Choline 40.4mg

7.34%

Vitamin A 49µg	5.40%
Vitamin C 158.8mg	176.43%
Calcium 142mg	14.16%
Iron 0.93mg	11.57%

So one of the great things about this juice is that it has quite a bit of the vitamin Choline in it. This vitamin is very similar to the B-vitamins, and is really great for preventing fat accumulation around the liver. 

Other good sources of Choline are peanut butter, cauliflower and almonds! 

Happy Juicing 

#1

Today is day 1 of my juice challenge! I am feeling very excited and positive about this, which is the way it should be. I have even drawn up a chart for my fridge! Throughout the challenge I will be swapping my cereal for a pint of fresh, homemade, vegetable and fruit juice.
This mornings juice was lovely; kale, carrot and apple! DELICIOUS!
After having my juice I felt alive, fresh and full of energy, not to mention all the goodness from the carrots that will help to look after my immune system, perfect for this cold weather!!

Happy Juicing 

New Year New Juice!

Hello everyone!

So I have been very neglectful over the Christmas period and I shall tell you I have paid for it in my energy and definitely my skin! So to begin to the new year I am about to begin a 30 day juice challenge. Basically this involves having at least one juice a day for 30 days,
I found this great website (the one I posted a link to further down -www.juicerecipies.com) that provides you with a shopping list and a challenger (challenge calendar)!
So for the following week, starting tomorrow, I will be enjoying heaps of carrots, apples, celery, ginger and lemon juices for my first week.
The great thing about  carrots is that they are CHEAP and great for looking after your immune system, just what you need in these cold months.

If you wish to join me on this challenge heres the link

http://juicerecipes.com/30-day-challenge/

I will be posting a photo of my daily juice so you'll be able to see how delicious it looks!

Happy juicing !