What the Kale? You Can Battle Depression and Anxiety Through Your Diet?

All too often we look for doctors and pharmaceutical companies to aid us when we are feeling low or high-strung. We often think that there must be a disconnection or lacking ability somewhere in the brain for our bodies to properly produce and mechanize the neurotransmitters we need to feel good. But have we questioned that it may not be our bodies inability to produce/ properly mechanize our neurotransmitters? Maybe we don’t need to add a man-made compound of chemicals to do the work (which also causes quite a bit of side effects), maybe we need to see what is lacking in our bodies to heal itself and get the brain back in working order.

Vitamin C. From the time we are small we always hear that this vitamin is what keeps us from getting colds, so eat your oranges. But have you ever heard of it being a preventative treatment for anxiety and depression? Most likely not, as I didn’t either until I took it upon myself to do some research.

Unfortunately, I am an unwilling subscriber and all too familiar guest at the anxiety and depression dinner party. (Hey, sometimes you can’t pick all of the genes you were awarded) After taking high doses medication for a few years, and honestly not seeing much turn-around other than the sake of time, I decided that this probably was not the answer for me. It wasn’t until I began juicing regularly and practicing good exercise and sleep patters that I really noticed the symptoms decrease and practically fade away.

(Also allow me to clarify on symptoms, if you can name it, I’ve got it. I promise. Shaking hands, sweating constantly, so tired I could fall asleep standing up but when it’s bedtime I’m WIDE awake, waking up in the middle of the night, heart beating out of my chest, extreme irritability, and then feeling downright depressed)

So after my last juicing adventure, I took a bit of a hiatus for the Chicago summer and those all too familiar feelings started creeping back in on me. Realizing a. I don’t want to fall to a poor diet and b. my mental health is something I take serious, I figured why not do what worked last time, juice. Within 1 short week my symptoms have lifted dramatically.

Now my next question was, what could I have possibly been deficient in that was making my anxiety levels so high? A hop to the internet an behold- VITAMIN C! “Vitamin C?!”, I thought. Well, I haven’t juiced a single orange yet, so I wanted to know where is all of this coming from? Greens. Greens my friends.

Now for the guidelines:

The recommended daily dose for adults is: 60 mg per day

But… The International Journal of Sports Medicine recommends 1500 mg per day for athletes to keep there stress levels regulated. So it looks like if you’re active you can really amp up your intake. And I would venture, if you happen to be deficient this can too can apply to you.

Now for the heavy-hitters, this is what I eat often so that is what I researched (all cooked)

• Bok Choy. 44.2 mg per cup 
• Broccoli. 50.6 mg per 1/2 cup 
• Cabbage. 28.1 mg per 1/2 cup
• Kale. 53.3 mg per cup

And for the record, oranges do rein supreme- 69.7 mg in one medium raw orange.

Bok Choy everyday keeps the SSRI’s away!

(Source: health-alternatives.com)

Juicing 2.0

after a summer hiatus it’s time to get back on the fitness and health regimen. 

there isn’t much of a better way to jump-start my detox and reboot than juicing. when i ‘juiced’ last april-may for 30 days i lost a significant amount of excess weight (that i have also been able to keep off!) and restored my skin and hair to model status. I’ve also never experienced such great energy levels and prosperous sleep (which i have struggled with since teenage years).

so here’s to getting the jump start to health because feeling great and being healthy pays off in so many more ways than traditional restrictive dieting.

i’ll most likely lay low the first couple days as my energy may be lower and i’ll experience some caffeine, sugar and dairy withdraws (sad face, but for the best!) and then i will cycle in more exercise at my gym.

let’s see how this one goes…no set time plan for juice 2.0, just until i feel ready to get back into a plant-based, micronutrient diet.

if you have any questions about juicing or the process ask away!

health, happiness and fitness to all!

Chlorophyll…more like not so Bore-o-phyll

Healthy Benefits:  Dark leafy greens are rich in chlorophyll, which is believed to have the power to regenerate, cleanse and Reboot your body at the most basic cellular level. Increasing your consumption of chlorophyll also increases the number of red blood cells in your body, improving how effectively your body absorbs and uses oxygen, and that makes you healthier!

(Source: jointhereboot.com)

here’s a recent pick of us post-juicin’.

happy. healthy. a living it up.

on May 14th Hannah and I began our juicing journey.

Hannah juiced a total of 15 days

I juiced a total of 30 days

we’ve both followed up by continually following a nutritarian diet, with some room for a good time here and there. i mean, we live in chicago…that’s what people do best here. eat & drink.

i’ve also been on a rather strict, but very ENJOYABLE fitness regimen. Working out 5-6 days a week and rotating weight training (day 1: arms, day 2: legs, day 3:core & repeat). refusing to “live by the scale” and trigger bad old-habits i promised myself i would wait a full two months before doing my first weigh in. i just realized when i looked at the calendar, it’s only 4 days away. time to put in the extra umph and make it count.

basically where i’m going here with this is that, it’s true, we don’t have to live by the scale. i know whatever number i see, i’ll be happy because i know that i’m taking care of my body and that i didn’t race to gain weight, so to be fair, i can’t necessarily race to take it off. patience is key and winning comes to those who work hard for their goals.

eat right, work hard and appreciate the small things.

so last night rang in my 30th day for juicing. so proud, excited and xyz to say the least and so ready to change my lifestyle for good!

today i ate my first solid food in 30 days and my lord was is awesome. i had a banana for breakfast and plan on going to the grocery store in a few hours to stock up for the week. i will be basking in the glory of the grocery store for hours i’m sure. and i’ve been working on my list all week (dorky, i know but this is what happens when you become a health & food freak).

what i’m getting at- is that typically in the past going to the grocery store meant making a list of things i needed and then just buying whatever else i wanted and coming up with dishes on the fly at home. never really making good lunches so i’d often go out on my break.

now, i want and need to plan out healthy meals so i stay on track and have things to cook because fast-grab bad foods don’t exist in my world anymore.

so if you’re trying to eat well. sit down and think of a few things you can make throughout the week and compile your list. this will also keep you from over & under buying. and if you are a single gal like myself, most recipes will actually make more than one meal too!

Tomorrow will be day 30!
Waking up for an early gym sesh. and then off to work.

Final Day juice:
Spinach
Strawberry
Kiwi
Machintosh apple
Carrot
Kale

CARBS: THE GOOD, BAD & HARD TRUTH FOR WEIGHT-LOSS

as im nearing the end of my 30 day juice detox, i’m preparing myself to follow-up with a high nutrient/ calorie intake. what does this mean?

getting my recommended daily caloric intake through unlimited raw vegetables, cooked green and high nutrient vegetables (limited starch veggies), beans & legumes, fresh fruits and limited starch aka carb intake.

unfortunately, i love carbs and starches as much as 13 year old girls love bieber and i’m almost certain that is true for a lot of weight loss ladies  out there.

for some strange reason the world does not love high starch/carbohydrate/grain intake when we are trying to loose weight. i’m sorry ladies (and gentlemen) it’s just the science of how these food get processed into glucose (sugar!) and yaddah yaddah yaddah. so if you are eating ‘clean’ but wondering why you’re not shedding…reduce that starch baby!

how much you ask? if you are seriously trying to get mean and lean. no more than 1 serving per day or 1 cup. hey, some is better than none and when you can eat unlimited veggies, fruits and beans you should really have no excuse to be hungry. fill up on the good stuff, your body will love you for it.

if you are extremely active you can also modify, maybe add a little more. or when you are beginning a maintaining phase.

key starches to include in your diet but limit include:

brown & wild rice, quinoa, potatoes, whole grain/wheat breads & pitas, whole grain/ wheat cereals, rolled oats, sweet potatoes, carrots (cooked), butternut & acorn squash, corn

*don’t even play with white breads, rices, etc. that means it has undergone processing 

DAY 28!

2 days away from completing 30 days of juicin’

i’m getting excited to make a ‘real’ grocery list and have been creating an awesome cookbook full of healthy veg-head recipes.

most excited to make soups and come up with fresh salad dressings. good-bye to ‘lite’ dressings and hello to homemade.

excellent post work-out refresher:

1 whole cantaloupe or small watermelon + vita coco water

say hello to electrolytes!

DAY 27!

so i am officially 3 days away from my detox finale. excited? yes. nervous? yes. 

i find now that my brain is playing a nasty little trick on me. i’ve become so accustomed to juicing that the thought of physically ‘eating’ seems like i will be doing something wrong. but i’m sure with the first bite of food all of that will change immediately.

as i’ve said, this is a lifestyle change and the juicing was a great physical and mental jump-start to encourage a healthy lifestyle. with that said, i will not be diving into pizza and burgers. no way. i did not work this hard to turn back around.

so it’s on to delicious salads and vegetarian options (which i’ve actually been cravvving way more than junk food!) with limited fat, starch and dairy intake.(yes i will be eating these things, but limited & in moderation) i’m excited to be incorporating more foods and calories into my diet that way i can really punch out some HIIT and see my strength for weight training increase as well. (juicing definitely does not provide adequate energy for high intensity training)

notable changes:

more energy (yes even more some how)

increased work-out stamina (from working out)

1 week= 1 belt notch

(embarrassing but true…my underwear are getting big haha)

juice, <3 & fitness babes

feeling great today! ready to get my fitness on at the gym after work.

only 7 days left and it is on to a slightly modified version of the eat to live plan=

unlimited raw veggies (goal: 1lb/day)

cooked green and high-nutrient veggies (goal: 1lb/day)

cooked starches & whole grains (max: 1 cup/day)

beans & legumes (goal: 1 cup/day)

minimum of 4 fresh fruits

very limited dairy & oil intake 

*all salad dressings will be homemade to avoid preservatives, sugar and excess oils

when juicing it’s important to remember no caffeine or beverages other than water or herbal tea.

this is an AWESOME tea company in my home city (chicago) and they have tons of flavors of herbal teas and other types of tea if you aren’t avoiding caffeine.

great samples and loose leaf you can buy online too! and they also have a lot of information about tea in general. 

growing up in a home of tea drinkers…this is the good stuff people and reasonably priced i might also add.

steep.drink.enjoy.adagio teas

DAY 21: 3 WEEKS COMPLETED

so today marks my 21st day of juicing! to keep it simple i’ll just outline some changes i’ve noticed personally along the journey.

physical:

- i’ve always been a person to perspire a lot (not dripping in sweat mind you) however i could probably get away with not wearing deodorant if i really wanted to (but i still do)

- rings, bracelets and shoes even fit looser (I would probably say this is from lost water retention and weight loss as well)

- my skin has been pretty good to me the last few years since i’ve been out of college getting a more regulated sleep pattern, but i’ve always had dark circles and sometimes felt my skin was a bit uneven. not anymore, i’ve got a great healthy glow and no dark circles

- i’m getting quite possibly the best sleep of my life, i’ve had a lot of sleeping issues since i was a teenager so this is a blessing. (working out has also contributed to this) my body is on a definite clock. i’m ready to sleep by 10:00-11:00 every night and i wake up rested and ready to go around 7:30-8 on weekends, which makes getting up for work way easier

- increased energy levels

- notable weight-loss, though i’m not exactly sure how much (i haven’t weighed myself) but things are definitely fitting much differently and my appearance is changing. nothing crazy, which will be better for the long haul. rapid weight-loss is never a good thing.

9 more days and it’s on to plant-based dieting and juicing for supplemental purposes. 

DAY 19

so excited to be coming around the bend. tomorrow will mean only 10 days left of my journey. as of right now there are not many struggles regarding my own personal hunger. i think right now what is difficult is going out in Chicago summer weather. everyone and i mean everyone is out drinking and eating so it makes things a bit tough, but that soon will subside and this is far more worth it in the long run. i’ve also been going to Barnes & Noble on my lunch break to read more into Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman regarding his expertise in plant-based dieting for my post-juice plan. It’s truly a great read with a lot of information regarding america and nutrition so even if you just have a general interest in nutrition, i’d highly recommend it.

Some fresh juicing items and I found a great herbal red chai tea that’s organic too. Feels great to be fresh!