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Energy Bits Review

EnergyBits is a Spirulina Algae supplement that is 100% organic. It supplies you energy through chlorophyll, which makes oxygen more available to red blood cells. I am used to green juices, green shakes, and smoothies, so this was nothing new to me or my body. I like the marketing and I love the packaging, but I don’t like the fact it says you can chew these. Imagine this, you’re on your way out the door to work and are feeling a bit fatigued. You realize you have these EnergyBits to sample and figure this must be the best time to test them out. So you pop a few in your mouth and give them a chew. BIG MISTAKE! Your lips, teeth, tounge, and breath now are a puky green that is entirely too hard to wash out with a mouth full of water! I ended up brushing my teeth for 5 minutes in order to try and get this green gunk out of my mouth. Please EnergyBits, take off the chewing option!!!

The next day I tried swallowing a handful. It says a serving is 30 tablets. I don’t know about you, but there is no way I could possibly swallow thirty pills at once! A handful wasn’t 30, and it was hard to get down. I get the idea of this product, but I just don’t think it’s very feasible. I take spirulina and wheat grass and all that good stuff in my AmazingGrass Orange Dreamsicle. It tastes great, I can drink it at work, and it doesn’t get my mouth all gunky.

I really wanted to like this product because of the attention to detail, the sourced ingredients, and the overall kindness and quickness of the company. But…in the end I will not be purchasing it because of how hard it is to ingest the required amount to feel the buzz. I’ll take a few here and there until they are gone, because I appreciate the healthfulness of the product. Thank you EnergyBits for the sample!!

Best of Luck!

Oh Congo: Riots Page 2 (Work in Progress – No Text)

I love this artist! Look at all these fun bunnies! 🙂

Oh Congo

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Cleanse Conclusion

It’s over! So I made it 2.5 days of a 3 day cleanse. Some say I failed…but I am proud of myself! I ended it with a 1/2 vegan burger (lentil, barley, oats) and a big raw salad with just red wine vinegar as a dressing. It was amazing! (Check out Meridian Pint for you all you DC folk.) I would definitely go back JUST for that burger. I had the other half for lunch and it was still very tasty. 🙂

So the cleanse…

Overall, a cleanse is more mental than anything else. You just have to go over the fact of not chewing “real food” for 3 days and find things to keep yourself busy. I only got hungry 2 times: once after working from 7am-5pm and then yesterday at 4pm for my lunch plans to end it.

I really liked how it made me think more about how much, and what, I was putting into my body. I didn’t lose any weight {:( but I think I gained some more awareness. I already know how to eat healthy, but regaining awareness is vital to STAY healthy.

Taste: It was very, very tasty! I loved the Gouter tonics and will continue to buy them instead of a smoothie or Starbucks Skinny Soy Latte. They energize you in the best ways, through nourishment instead of stimulation.

Effects: The most obvious effect for me is the mental one. I feel like I pressed the “focus” button on my health views. Over time they were starting to get blurry. I was eating too much overall, and too much sugar/snacks. Even if it was a “vegan cupcake” it was still too much sugar! Of course I will live my life and enjoy my moments, but I am back on the trail of super foods instead of slow foods.

The worst effect for me was the constant fatigue. I felt very tired the whole 3 days, unless I had JUST ingested a juice. Working was extremely hard and I was very irritable and what I like to call hangry. I wasn’t actually hungry, but I always have an appetite!

Would I Do It Again? If it was free, yes. Cleanses are expensive! I would actually like to try different cleanses and compare results (Weight loss, awareness, clear head, fatigue, etc.) But only if they are free of charge (but of course I will promote the juices out of them like I have been this one 😉

Conclusion: I will include more raw-vegan foods in my diet, as well as super foods like seaweed, golden berries, camu camu, acai, and those sorts of things. I definitely feel the difference in health. You just feel better!

Gouter Cleanse Day 2

Today was a hard day. I worked from 7am to 845pm and am exhausted! The juices were great and I didn’t get hungry until 5pm. By the time I got home at 848pm, I was STARVING! I ended my day with the tiny raw salad (sprouted split peas, golden beets, apples, cabbage) that came as an option as Juice 6. I’ve got tomorrow off from work (Thank goodness!) and plan on sleeping a ton.

I may not feel very hungry, but I am very lethargic, tired, and just plain hangry. I’m never an angry person and am very patient, but these past couple days my anger has been coming out of me like the toxins! Anger is a toxin too, right?

Last night I hit the sauna for 30 minutes and felt very nauseous. Detoxing is supposed to be torture…I hope. I eat healthy 80% of the time so I figured I didn’t have too many toxins, but I guess something is making me feel so tired besides the lack of normal calories.

Laying in the sun felt amazing. In the image above, I was laying in the sun taking my 20minutes before my 9am session and could have laid there all day. Taking time to yourself is vital. I know this to be true, and you do too, yet we all get involved and overwhelmed with work and life. We fill up our calendars with social events, traveling, and work, and forget to schedule “me-time.”

Tomorrow I see the doctor and hope she gives me two refferals: One for an MRI, one for a specialist. I need to know how to cure this thing! Positive thoughts, juicing, and fasting may not exactly be the right answer.

Yes I am detoxing my body of toxins, eating/drinking a very low calorie diet, and hoping for some weight loss. But when it comes down to it, I gained weight because I was snacking too much and not working my lower body (the calorie burners).

I think this juice cleanse is a great wake-up call to get me back on track of a mostly raw-vegan diet. It has me reading my nutrition books, paying attention to myself, how my body feels, and writing recipes again. It has me wishing I had more time in the kitchen to prep my foods, prepare my fridge, and get my mind straight. Simply check out My Pantry and see how I eat when I’m focused and well.

I’ll finish my 5 juices tomorrow and end my cleanse with my high protein black bean pasta and a BUNCH of fresh, raw, fruits and veggies. Seen Here: http://instagram.com/p/a4ign3pTjX/

Organic Black Bean Pasta (Black beans, water), Avocado, Lime juice, Corn, Scallions, Cilantro, Tomato, and Fresh Jalapenos! (Daiya and Vegan Sour Cream on top)

Good night!!

Gouter Cleanse Day 1

I’ve been wanting to go on a juice fast/cleanse since I’ve watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. It’s about a guy who is more than 100 pounds over weight and is suffering from a plethora of illnesses, pains, and diseases. He decides he wants to be healthy and goes on a 60-day fruit and vegetable cleanse. The movie documents his highs, lows, and everything in between. The main point is that it worked. Watch and see. (It’s free on Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, etc.)

I’ve been suffering from my first-ever real injury in my life. It has been keeping me from doing plenty of things I would normally love to do. I believe highly in natural cures over medicinal ones and truly think that if I commit to healing, it will happen. I will only know if I try, so here I am on my first day of cleansing my body. An all raw and vegan diet has been shown to cure diabetes, reduce and eliminate inflammation (my main source of pain right now), and eradicate toxins in the body. Kriss Carr uses a raw and/or vegan diet to keep her incurable brain cancer from growing or spreading. Organic vegetables can do amazing things for the body and that is why I attempt to keep a clean, plant-based diet on most days. Albeit, I’m human and crave my Newman-O’s, cupcakes, and fried foods, and give in accordingly. For the next 3 days (which is nothing compared to 60!) I’ll use all the discipline I have, all the will power inside, to overcome and focus on healing and cleansing what ever is keeping my body from healing up to 100%.

Of course I know I won’t be healed by Tuesday, but I hope these nutrient packed little tonics help my body take more focus on what it needs, and open my eyes to a whole new level of wellness.

Wish me luck on my journey!

Bulu Box Review #2

I received two boxes this week! One is my weight loss subscription and one is the normal BuluBox! Here is the rundown of what I thought of each one!

Weight Loss

FlapJacked Protein Pancakes: I haven’t made these because the ingredients include milk. I’m lactose intolerant and don’t consume dairy, so I will make these for the boyfriend when he gets in the mood. He’s more of a cereal or waffles guy, so that may take a while!

EatGreen Tea: This was weird. I opened it up and tried some, but it just tasted exactly like dry green tea! I think it should be more of a snack OR powder to add to smoothies. It simply is loose leaf green tea. This product seems to be having an idendity crisis…or just is trying to pull off marketing of something that is edible, yet not very tasty!

Shapeology Burn Blend: Hello Caffeinne! I’m in a detox-mode right now to help cure my leg injury and reboot my adrenal glands, so I have not indulged in this supplement. It was nice of them to give 14 pills to try. I may take some later, after I’m all healthy, but right now high caffeine dosage is not recommended!

BluCetin: This is VERY interesting! It is an herbal pill that promises to not be a buzz kill, yet prevent you from having a hangover. It says the herb helps you metabolize the alcohol faster (Hello Light Weight and Cheap Drunk) so you will have it processed before you pass out from a night of drinking. Again, not planning on having 5 drinks quite yet, but 4th of July is 2 weeks away and this pill WILL be taken!

Probiotic: I love probiotics and consume many different types. From kombucha, to Kevita, to VegaOne and my multi-vitamin, I support healthy digestion. These will be taken also! You can’t really judge the effect of them since you can’t see your insides, but it’s a nice free sample.

Bulu Box Regular

Theragesic: This actually works. I mean, IcyHot is old as I can remember, and this is another one of those muscle rubs. It definitely lasts at least an hour and warms up where ever you rub it. It has no “icy” sensation, only warm, and I love the menthol smell.

GU Chomps: My boyfriend and I both had one of these “gummies” and it was very chewy. Not quite a gummy bear, not quite a fruit chew, and HUGE. Way too big for my liking. Taste was OKAY. I wouldn’t purchase them.

Shapeology: See above.

PowerFuel: The text on the back of the packet is tiny so it’s really hard to see what is this powder exactly. It promises you will work 1000% time harder than usual, but I don’t see how that is possible. One stick is 45 calories and contains a TON of lab-made ingredients that I can’t pronounce. Not for my taste.

Power Ice: An electrolyte popsicle? Isn’t this a Pedialyte?

I love getting surprises each month! I really like how BuluBox leans more towards natural supplements, even if it includes a few here or there that I won’t ingest. But we’ve all got friends who love gifts now, don’t we? Thanks Bulu! See you next month!

IF YOU WANT TO TRY BULUBOX FOR FREE, ENTER CODE BULUGAN143 AT BULUBOX.COM TODAY!

Losing Weight With An Injury

Losing weight is hard enough on it’s own. Cut out all your favorite junk food, eat out less, go to fewer happy hours, and choose egg white scrambles over the french toast. Stop snacking all the time. Reduce your sodium intake. Eat fewer carbs. It’s hard. I know. I’m doing it.

When you choose to lose weight, you really have to take charge of your life. It takes an immense amount of commitment, dedication, and discipline to get results. Losing weight is a serious mental challenge. The hardest part is eating the right things at the right times, and knowing how much or how little.

The exercise is the easy part compared to the obstacles we face with food. All of the walkable restaurants, bakeries, $5 slices of pizza, coffee houses, and cheap delicious food around does NOT make it easy! It takes a strong mental focus, serious social support, and dedication, to overcome an attachment to food.

You want to eat what you want to eat. When it comes down to it, you want that slice of pizza and cupcake, you want that pint of beer, and you want to have fun at a social outing. You DON’T want to deprive yourself, starve yourself, detox yourself, and ignore your cravings. You want to live life and be happy. I get it.

I’ve been fit as a fiddle, working my ass off to get down to a certain number, size, and look. And then I became injured. I can no longer do any sort of cardio requiring my lower body. Your lower body is your POWERHOUSE of energy burning. Running, cycling, stair climbing, squats, dead lifts, plyometrics, and lunges torch calories. If you have full use of your legs, USE THEM to your advantage.

Over the past 4 weeks, I’ve become more than a few pounds over my ideal weight because of my lack of cardio. This means I’ve had a surplus of calories. Plus, I’ve lost the muscle in my legs from non-use and it has turned to fat. I’m officially in need of a change. At this point, I feel like I’ll do anything and everything to heal this stupid leg injury!

But I can’t accelerate healing – it has it’s own timelime. I am powerless.

Feeling powerless is the worst thing in the world. And when you are fat you know this. You feel powerless over cravings, hunger, thirst, mental roadblocks, and more. You don’t know what to do, and you just want to feel healthy. I get it, and I’m here to help.

I’m joining YOU, my clients, on YOUR weight loss journey. I’m going to try and lose this weight even without the use of my “legs day” or “cardio day.” I need to let my body heal, and I’m ready to do what it takes.

My first step to recovery is to detoxify and cleanse my body. I admit, after moving to DC in April, I’ve been trying tons of new places to eat, indulging in a few too many snacks, trying out a few too many flavors of cupcakes, and going out for drinks. All that stuff didn’t make me fat; but it sent me down a spiral of eating too much when I shouldn’t have. You have to know when to stop, and today is that day. I’m still going to be social and enjoy myself; what is life about anyway? But now I know I need to seriously watch my snacking and get back to my healthy routine.

The Plan
I’m starting my weight loss goal by replacing a few meals with a VegaOne shake and only having a small salad for dinner. This will last 3 days. My next step will be to do a 3-day juice cleanse to give my body a break and let it focus on healing. Last, I will incorporate a 24-hour fast to fully give my body some rest and rejuvenation.

Digestion takes a load of energy and attention from your body. When you replace meals with liquid alternatives (meal replacements, shakes, smoothies, broths, tonic, fresh green juice) it can focus on other, more important tasks, such as recovering and rebuilding.

I hope you come along this weight loss journey with me! Show your support and join in if you’re in the same boat! Say goodbye to being fat and hello to being healthy!!

Best Health,

Nicole

BuluBox Review #1

I’ve received my first BuluBox! Inside were the following items, and this is what I thought about them:

BeautyBursts: Yummy! I like the idea. They come with collagen, hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, and Collagen enhancer in a soft, berry chew. They are made by NeoCell. And the little triangle packaging is really cute.

Fit n’ Crisp: I couldn’t eat it but I gave it to my boyfriend and he chowed down! He said it was “yummy” and was surprised by the 13grams of protein inside. For 140 calories packed with protein, I think this is a great deal. I definitely be interested to see a soy and milk free similar product! For those who can have soy and milk, I’d suggest trying this treat out!

Fit Mixer Amino: I’m very interested in this amino acid supplement. It’s not only a mix of 5grams aminos, but includes TriFlow which has been shown to increase nitric oxide. (That means you get that vascular PUMP while working out.) To top you off with energy, this supplement comes with 100mg of caffeine from Green Tea extract and Green Coffee extract. I’ll be drinking this tonight during my cardio workout.

Raw Acai Berry Nut Butter: Now I’ve seen these packets in my health food stores, but haven’t tried them yet! I’m so glad I got this one in my BuluBox so I wouldn’t have to choose between all the flavors. It’s 106 calories a pack, and I think would go great on top of toast.

AllerDx: I’ve never seen an herbal cure to allergies except for a spoonful of raw, local honey. This supplement is all-vegetarian and herbal sources to immeidately cure symptoms from allergies. It claims to restore nasal airflow, calm histamine reaction, and is non-drowsy and stimulant free. I don’t personally have a huge issues with spring allergies, but I do find that long walks throughout the city can make my eyes dry and nose runny. I think it’s great that there is a holistic cure for allergies, since so many people turn towards stimulants and Benadryl as soon as the season starts.

I’ve got a year long subscription, so stay tuned to see what comes in next month’s box! If you want to try it FREE with NO STRINGS ATTACHED! Enter code BULUGAN143 at checkout for a free 1-month subscription. Enjoy!

Question: Do you subscribe to anything related to health? Magazines? Boxes? Supplements?

Bikini Body Craze

Everyone who has come to me in the past few weeks for any type of health or fitness advice has said one thing:

I want to look good in my bathing suit!

Whether it be flattening your abs, toning your triceps, or slimming your inner thighs: I’ve got the plan for you.

A big misleading fitness myth is that you can lose fat in a certain area of your body by WORKING that area. Sorry ladies, this is WRONG. Just because you do bicep curls does NOT mean your biceps will lose fat. Your body picks and chooses as it likes where it will burn fat from.

Spot-Toning DOES work. So if you are already lean, and have no fat over a muscle, isolating that muscle will show through. With most people, this is not the case. You’ve got a few inches of fat over that inner thigh, a little pooch to grab on your belly, and some not-so-flattering triceps. Don’t worry – we can fix it!

The number one thing you need to understand is that you will have to change your diet. If you really want to look good and lose a few pounds and inches, you are going to have to focus on cutting out happy hours, drinks, and fatty foods. (I’m looking at you chips & salsa before dinner.)

Here is a simple breakdown to look fantastic this Summer 2013:

1) Eat a low-fat, whole-food, mostly-plant based diet, and drink plenty of water.

This means no processed white bread from the dinner basket, no extra scoops of margarine on your toast, and no olive oil or vinaigrette on your salad. For carbs, stick to whole grains like sprouted bread (Ezekial), brown or wild rice, quinoa, and fruit.

Have at least one meal as a salad: Load up a bowl of greens with your favorite fruits, veggies, and a lean choice of protein. (3oz white fish or organic chicken breast, grilled) Top with a flavored vinegar but hold the oil. I like Trader Joe’s Citrus Vinegar. It has enough flavor and a low calorie count.

2) Do your CARDIO!

Performing 3-5 sessions of 30 minutes each per week of running, swimming, biking, kettlebells, and/or HIIT will set your body into fat-burning mode. My favorite cardio is High Intensity Interval Training filled with mountain climbers, jump squats, agility ladder drills, hop lunges, ski jumps, and burpees. HIIT will give you a greater metabolic boost, so for the rest of the day your body will be processing your food a bit faster and more efficiently.

3) Do not skip the weights.

Strength training is vital when you want to tone those muscles to look sleek without covers. The more muscle you have on your body, the more calories you burn each day. I advise training 2-3x per week with yours truly, a personal trainer, with free weights, cable machines, medicine balls, and kettlebells. Doing weights in a circuit will also be a high intensity form of cardio, boosting your cardio session results.

Plus, for you ladies reading this, strength training is vital for strong bones as we age. Our calcium is absorbed less efficiently, so using weights actually increases the density of our bones to reduce the risk of injury and osteoporosis. Yay!

4) Consistency

Okay, so you’ve got the motivation now. The sun is out and the warm breeze is blowing. You are all hyped for the summer season…but soon the spark will start to fade. You NEED to keep up the consistency and dedicate yourself to these steps to a bangin’ bod. Wouldn’t you like to have it year round? It’s not just the 6 weeks before summer that are going to shape you into a healthier, happier human being. It is the weeks, months, and years that you continue this fit lifestyle down the road. If you can find time now to fit it in, you can find it later. Apply these simple rules above and nothing will stop you from being, feeling, and looking FANTASTIC!

Message me for a personal workout routine, free training session, or recipe ideas. Also, sign up for my newsletter to get weekly fitness moves, wellness, and food tips!

Wellness Weekly!!

I’m one of those people who fills her plate with WAY too much and then tries to chew it all down anyway. Well, I’ve started something new…besides my full time job as a Personal Trainer/Wellness Warrior at Vida Fitness: A newsletter! If you sign up before Friday, you will receive Issue one of Wellness Weekly. I’m slowly figuring out a good format, text, images, type for the newsletter, so it will look a little varied each week. Who doesn’t like surprises and new things?

Join in on the fun, get some recipes, fit tips, and wellness ideas. Please feel free to give me all the feedback and opinions so I can make it the best newsletter in your inbox. Got an idea, question, or special workout you’d like to try? I’ll address it and put it in. Anything it is, don’t hesitate to ask!

If you look to your right, you will see a link to subscribe to my newsletter. Or just click here. Please have your friends join too! I want to help EVERYONE! =P

Best Health,

Nicole