Good morning and happy Monday! After eating all the things this weekend, and after eating all the things on spring break, I woke up feeling like my diet needs a reboot. If you’re in the same boat, here are some of the things I’ve done in the past to get my eating back on track.
Juice Cleanse
This is how a juice cleanse from Forest Greens Juice Bar in Lake Bluff works and I have a hunch other juice bars run theirs in a similar way. Over the course of three days, you replace your food intake with juice. Each day, you’re allowed six juices and three shots of a ginger lemon mix. The juices are numbered and you space them out through your day, trying to stay ahead of your hunger. If you need something to munch on, Forest Greens suggests a handful of almonds or a few apple slices. Forest Greens owner Annemarie Ranallo can walk you through the whole thing and tailor your juices to you specifically. I typically do a 3-day cleanse to really get the benefits of detoxing, but 1-2-4 and 5-day cleanses are available.
Here’s a longer post I wrote about my cleansing experience if you’re interested.
Go-To Green Smoothie
I drink this green smoothie mid-morning and I’m typically not hungry until mid-afternoon. Then, I can get by until dinner with some veggies, hummus (I love the beet or detox hummus from Forest Greens Juice Bar), and a handful of protein crackers or chips.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chocolate Keto meal shake (or any protein powder you like)
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed (improves digestive health)
- 1/4 tablesooon Swerve (zero-calorie sweetener)
- 2 scoops MCT powder (lots of benefits: helps with brain health, controls blood sugar, helps reduce risk of heart disease)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder (great anti-inflammatory
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups almond milk depending on how thick or thin you like your smoothie
- Half frozen banana (optional)
- Spoonful of nut butter of choice
- 2 scoops Vital Proteins Collagen Powder (great for bone health, skin, nails, and hair)
- 1 cup spinach
In my original post about this smoothie, I mentioned a hack I picked up from another blogger. That’s shared in this post.
Arbonne 30-Days to Healthy Living
I’ve done various phases of the Arbonne 30-Days to Healthy Living program before and have always liked the products and the simplicity of the plans. The same holds true for this 30-day plan. In a nutshell, I do a protein shake for breakfast/lunch (I drink it late morning and use the recipe above but use the Arbonne protein powder), 1/2 a green apple and almond butter or some veggies and hummus for a mid-afternoon snack, a handful of almonds, and then a relatively low carb, lean protein dinner.
This program does ask you to give up all of the fun stuff: sugar, dairy, gluten, alcohol, and caffeine. The only one that is really tough for me is been going without caffeine. If you’d like to learn more about this program and products, click here. I know my favorite Arbonne person Nicole Phelan is starting a new 30-day challenge on April 12 if you’d like to jump on board then. Finally, I wrote a longer post about my experience with this plan…click here to read it.
I hope one of these plans gives you the little boost you need this Monday! I’m going to go back to the green smoothie and light dinner to give myself a jump start as we look towards summer. Have a good one!
xo,