Spring Cleaning!

It's that time of year again!  Spring is on it's way!  Thank goodness!  It may not seem like it, because of all the snow, but we're almost there.  Daylight savings is coming up and soon the snow will melt and everything will be green and full of life again.  Why not prepare for this beautiful time of year by doing a little cleansing yourself!  Recently I have read Kris Carr's "Crazy Sexy Diet."  For those of you who don't know Kris Carr, I'll give you a little bio.  Kris is a former actress and photographer who was diagnosed with a rare type of sarcoma called epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) at the age of 31!  That's cancer of the connective tissues that effects her liver and lungs.  This type of cancer is completely inoperable and there is no cure.  It's one of those "wait and see" type of cancers.  So Kris decided to ditch the "wait and see" method and take control to live life to the fullest.  She did a ton of research and even went back to school to study nutrition, and she began to heal herself with food!  That's right people.  Hippocrates said it best: "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."  Since Kris has taken on a vegan diet and switched to mostly alkaline foods, she has managed to keep her cancer in check.  It's been 7 years since she was diagnosed, and her cancer is dormant.  Kris Carr follows the rule of 80/20 or 60/40 ratio of vegan foods with 80-60 being alkaline and 20-40 being acidic.  The big no no's are: caffeine, alcohol, refined sugar, gluten, and drugs.  Cancer thrives in acidic environments and these things also cause inflamation.  When you eat a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and a moderate amount of grains, you are promoting an oxygen-rich environment.  Not only that, but you are cleaning out your system.  It's truly amazing how this diet detoxifies your body and how amazing you end up feeling.

Her cleanse is 21 days, and she has helpful day-by-day advice, affirmations, prayers, areas of focus, suggested meal plans, and recipes!  Since I've begun this cleanse I have been on a rollercoaster!  Leading up to my cleanse I sort of went on a free-for-all binge.  I thought "well, I'm cleansing soon, so I can eat all the crap I want!  Well, eat crap and you feel like crap, and I certainly did!  It took a few days into the cleanse for me to actually start feeling good, because my detox symptoms were intense at first.  I would get headaches, my body ached, I felt dizzy/nauseous, and I was running to the bathroom about every half hour.  Now that I'm on week two, I feel light, energetic, powerful, and happy!  I even did the green juice fast that she suggested all yesterday, breaking it with an avocado for dinner (alkaline).  I was definitely craving protein today, so I made sure to eat raw foods/nut butters and I had a yummy pad thai made with an almond butter base.  (Roasted peanuts are actually acidic, but almonds are alkaline.)  I begin every day with a green juice and I have another green juice around 3/4pm.  I rid myself of coffee 2 months ago, but I'm happy I replaced it with this juice!  I don't need caffeine when I have pure, raw, healthy energy packed into my green juice.  Your body is a machine, and you should be feeding it clean, efficient fuel.  I have to admit I was skeptical when it came to this cleanse, but I love the way I feel so much that I can safely say I will be following this diet the majority of the time from now on!  I will never give up my juice, that's for sure!  The following recipe, is Kris' own.  I make the full recipe in the morning and split the juice between two mason jars to cart with me. 


Make Juice, Not War Green Juice
 Serves 2

2 large cucumbers (peeled if not organic)
4-5 stalks kale
4-5 romaine leaves
4 stalks celery
1-2 big broccoli stems
1-2 pears
1" piece gingerroot

Juice all ingredients, alternating among them.


My breakfast and afternoon pick-me-up!

 My beautiful juicer!

 Action!

 Delicious!