Fruity Friday

     A few weeks ago, my mom and I were at Sears when we stumbled across a refrigerator on sale for $175 ! This was an amazing opportunity since I had been on the lookout for a refrigerator for my fruit. In the winter time it was ok to leave half of my fruit out on the counters when we ran out of space in my mom's refrigerator, but in the summer fruit can rot and/or fruit flies and spiders come into the house to get at them. Most refrigerator with any sort of decent storage space had been way out of my price range. 


     In the end I bought the refrigerator and about two weeks ago it arrived safe and sound. However, in all the joy of finding, buying, and recieving this refrigerator, I had forgotten in considering where I was to put the thing! Up So up until last Friday, my poor refrigerator sat in my mom's kitchen, laying dormant, awaiting to be used. 


     Last Friday was Farmer's Market day and there were lots of good deals in bulk buying organic fruit this time around, so I really stocked up. When my mom and I got home I knew that we weren't going to be able to fit my groceries and my mom's groceries into her refrigerator. It was then I convinced my mom to let me get her to move the refrigerator into the garage. 


Behold my brand new refrigerator and its first load of fruit and veg!! 

     It didn't take me long to devour all of this! My mom and I split the figs and oranges between us, but the rest was all me. Sunday is whe I get to replenish my supplies. Luckily my Mango and Dragon Fruit order came in over the course of the week. I also bought a watermelon today at my local Publix so I should be good until Sunday.

The fridge was filled with:

- A large Yellow Watermelon!

- Organic Black Mission Figs

- Organic Navel Oranges

- Organic White Cherries

- Organic  Georgia Peaches

- Organic Strawberries

- Belize Papaya

- Organic Grape Tomatoes

- Cherry Tomatoes

- Organic Iceberg Lettuce

- Organic Asparagus

- Organic Radishes

     As for today I had a completely clear schedule! I was so excited at the prospect this morning and decided to use it by spending most of the day exercising in whatever way I felt like! I didn't have to rush through the workout because there wasn't anything I urgently needed to get done and there was no one that I had to meet at a specific time. 

     When I finished working out, I was able to take my time in the showers and getting dresses, and I even stopped off at Starbucks to buy a water and eat my lunch (a bunch of bananas) in the sun! During my lunch, a few people looked at me as if I were mental! However, I might have misread their facial expressions and they might just have been jealous of my yummy bananas! LOL.

My lunch set-up (from left to right): Garbage baggy with banana peels inside, organizer, yet to be eaten bananas, journal, and Runner's magazine.

In summation of my day. . .

Sleep: 8 hours (getting better) 
Sunshine: 2 hours 
Water: So far 2 liter (working on my 3rd liter at the moment)
Food: Dragon Fruit, OJ, Bananas, and a giant Mango/Banana/Peach smoothie
Exercise: 22 minute run 6mph pace, 20 minute 3mph walk with my mom and the dogs, 10 minutes lifting weights (tried a new routine and felt muscles I didn't even know I had!), 18.5 mile bike ride (approx. 80% of the course being uphill) at an average 15 mph pace, and 22 minutes swimming laps freestyle as hard as I could!

I hope everyone enjoys there weekend and that it is filled with warm sunshine, a cooling breeze, refreshing water, and juicy fruit!! =D

Citrus, NEWSTART, and College

     Ever since my last (and my first) mini-Juice feast I've wanted to do it again. These past few months I have developed a real love of all things citrus - navels, clementines, tangerines, mandarins, valencias, grapefruit - you name the citrus and I've been eating them by the pound. So this Wednesday and Thursday I drank nothing freshly juiced Valencia Oranges, Mandarins, and Honey Tangerines. It was so sweet, so refreshing, and to top it off, the days were sunny with clear blue skies! :-)

     Yesterday, I was terribly tired physically and mentally. My energy levels were so low that I forwent any intense workout. At first I thought it was due to my being indoors for to long and I tried to remedy that by packing my studies into my backpack to walk to the library (2.6 mile walk round trip). It didn't work.

     By the time I got home I had a killer headache, my eyes were burning, I was ready to crash. I drank a big glass of water and skipped my evening juice to go to bed early. I slept from 6:50pm to 7:30am and felt much MUCH better. It was the next morning when I looked at the bags under my eyes thatI realized what had been wrong with me, I was sleep deprived! 

     For the past couple of months I have been living on 5 to 6 hours of sleep and I do believe it has finally caught up with me. I had twelve hours of sleep last night and I still feel like I need another twelve to completely recuperate. Sometimes we have to stop and revaluate what we are doing in our lives that could be harmful to our health. 

     You can eat tons of fresh raw fruits and greens, drink plenty of water, get lots of sunshine, but your health suffers because you short yourself sleep. Our bodies are strong. Our bodies can take a lot of stress so that we can get through our daily lives, but if you short yourself on something crucial to your health for to long, your body will begin to suffer the effects, and the quality of your life.

     Follow NEWSTART to the best of your ability and you your body will thank you.

• Nutrition
• Exercise
• Water
• Sleep
• Temperance
• Air
• Rest
• Trust in the Divine (in my case Yahweh)

     As for today, my mom and I took a drive to see where I will be going to college in the fall, Kennesaw State University (KSU).  We drove aroung the campus, visited the admissions office, and took a peak at the campus housing (nice!).

            

     I originally wanted to go to a University out of state (still do), but decided that since the economy is a little shaky at the moment, and my mother and brother have to stay in Georgia one more year before they can move, I decided to stay instate for now.

     My mom and I made good time getting up to KSU and had enough time to stop off at Whole Foods for lunch. I picked up a 16 oz. "Strawberry Punch" (freshly juiced strawberries, grapes, pineapple, and lemon) juice and 4 cups of chopped pineapple. 

     I also came across this little treasure and got so excited! I have been looking for something like this for ages and all of a sudden I just stumble upon it unintentionally. No longer will I have to use disposable silverware because I've got my own REUSABLE bamboo eating utensils. Woohoo!! :-D

 

Keep it simple and stay motivated!

For the past couple of weeks I have really been increasing my exercising regime.: swimming laps and speed walking with intermittent sprints mostly. I really feel like I am getting into the swing of things and am looking to bump it up a little. The humidity in Georgia is beginning to lighten up so jogging/running is back on the agenda. I have also found a yoga class (I hope they have a spot open) which I hope to sign up for, and I finally cleaned out the garage and set the karate/work out room back up with a punching bag.

I think exercising is quite easy of you can find a form of exercise you really love and/or when you can find a reason to WANT to exercise. This morning for example, I woke up and did not want to drive to the pool to do my laps, but I knew that is I didn't I would miss out on the majority of good quality exercise for the day and would being messing up fitness training. So I found something to motivate me to get my butt out of bed, into the car, and to the pool. I remembered how good I had felt in Europe where I walked practically ALL DAY LONG. I remembered how GOOD I had been felling these past few days after swimming laps every morning and I realized that I wanted to feel that way today, so I got up and went out. When I got there I wound up feeling so energized that I wound up swimming an extra 10 laps! So in the end I swam 40 laps in 25 minutes rather than my usual 30 laps in 19 minutes. It paid off and I've been feeling really good with a positive and productive attitude.

Tomorrow I am starting on some strength and resistance training and I really REALLY want to get a bike so I can start cycling. I have never wanted to do all this stuff so much before and actually went through with it. I really believe that if you can find a good and influential reason to to get fit, that it will motivate you and lead you to success!!

Today I was also in a very simple mood. I didn't want a lot of different stuff meshed together so today I went for simple and it was incredibly refreshing! :) It went something like this:

• Breakfast: 8 cups of watermelon (so sweet and juicy!)
• Lunch: 2 cups of chopped spinach and basil leaves topped off with asparagus and fresh picked yellow and red tomatoes from the garden.

• Afternoon juice: 16 oz. of green juice
• Supper: Quart of smoothie - 4 mango, 4 bananas, a handful of strawberries & blueberries, and a bit of raw honey.

On my 1 to 10 simple eating scale (1 being the simples, 10 the most complex) I would say today was about a 3. I find the simpler I eat, the better I feel and preform through out the day. Just enjoying each individual flavour is really a delightful experience!

So go out there and have fun! Move around, enjoy the simple things in life when you can, and above all else . . . SMILE!! :D

Monday: Mameys, Mangos, and the Mall

Labor Day, Monday, was another lovely sunny day! I had my first Mamey Sapote that morning. The taste and texture really surprised me, as I had no idea what to expect of it. To me, a Mamey has the same taste and texture as a baked sweet potato with maple syrup. Yummy! I also had a fruit smoothie that I made for my entire family, and they all adored it (even my usuall raw avoiding brother).  

                       

Frozen

banana,

fresh strawberries

& blueberries,

raw honey,

& vanilla. My mom said,

"It's like having dessert for breakfast."

 

 

While enjoying our breakfast smoothies my family and I decided to watch the movie U.S. Marshalls. It turned out to be quite the thriller. I was on the edge of my seat almost the entire time and the movie even managed to throw in a twist I did not see coming. I definitely recommend this movie. I would watch the movie The Fugitive first since U.S. Marshalls is the companion/sequel to The Fugitive. You could still watch it without watching The Fugitive, but I think you would appreciate it more.

By the end of the movie my Mom and I were getting a bit restless so we left my brother at the house while we went to the Mall. First we walked around outside for a bit before walking the mall (stairs and all) for about 45 minutes before stopping at Borders to browse. I ended up purchasing an autobiography of a man who has Asperger's syndrome (a form of Autism). So far it's turning out to be a good read. I might write a review on it for my this blog when I finish it.

After arriving home I took my car out to stop off at Ingles to grab some more bananas and pick up my crate of organic mangos (which are ripening on top of the refrigerator as I as writing this). Seriously my family is in love with bananas. My family goes through 7 to 8 bunches a week. I put them in my smoothies, eat them as a snack or mono meal. My mom and brother has them in his Raw Cacao Hemp smoothies. My toy poodle, Penny, has a potassium deficiency so she always wants to eat bananas, so I feed her 1 to 2 of them everyday!

I hope everyone has had a lovely holiday!