Well belated- that is. My birthday was Monday. Yipee! :) Well to be truly honest, I have not been feeling well at all :( I got "sick"-ish starting monday. Not completely sick- and won't ever be. Cause I usually kill whatever starts in 1-2 days with ginger & wellness formula, and emergen-c. Gargling salt water, eating garlic. Etc. Etc. I go allll the way- the all natural way. Although last night I really wasn't feeling good, like my body was actually sore :( but thats over now. Just my throat. And I'm doing one thing people sometimes don't do and don't realize how important it is. I'm literally doing nothing and sitting down. Well I have been on the computer all day pretty much, watching TV. Thankfully I'm off. Cause talking hurts :/ But yes. Doing nothing. Rest. Key ingredient to getting better. Although I had promised myself, similar to "new year resolutions'. That after my birthday would be the new year for me.  But thats okay! I have to do this in order to get better and I understand that. 

So at least with the time I've had off, I've been writing, listening to music. And now writing a plan. Yep. A plan. I love em' what can I say. So I don't know if you ever feel this way- but once you start feeling better, after being under the weather. I have the insane feeling to cleannn everything. Like everything. I want everything to be clean. I keep washing my face. Cause it's just gross to me after being sick. I want to feel clear and mhmmm breathe in fresh air. That feeling of rejuivantion. After feeling great that you won over being sick. Ah ha! Sickness! My body is stronger than you!' :)

So now I'm in the cleaning phase. Not totally healed myself. But instead of working out- which I reallllly want to do very badly. I miss my polar watch :'( Tomorrow though. Today I will be cleaning up the house. And feeling refreshed in that way! Tomorrow I'll break a sweat, and not from all the ginger I've been drinking. Cause I'll be taking a brisk walk around the park and neighborhood! Before going back to work tomorrow. After a veryyyyy long break. 

Alright. So time to make changes. My friend just did a 2 day detox. Drank 2 whole jugs of I don't even know what, but kudos to her. Any who- it inspired me. I feel like after being sick, and yes I blame cheese 100 %. I tell you I love cheese, but it truly makes me get sick.E v e r y time. When I was 'vegan' I never ever got sick. ever. Because I was not eating mucus. Makes sense. No dairy for me, for a while. Until I learn moderation for it. Lol. I truly love it. But I'm cheese'd out. So in order for me to clean up and clear the inside of me and feel refreshed, I've decided to do my own modified cleanse. After looking up a lot on particular ones. No, I don't want to do a juice one, mainly cause I don't have a juicer anymore :( So I can't afford to buy juices daily. But I feel a green smoothie(if made the right way) is a great alternative to detox. I will be replacing Breakfast & lunch with a green smoothie. And dinner will be a light vegan meal. For 13 days. 
Yep. 13. I chose 13. Because I truly wanted to do a long cleanse. And I chose to keep 1 meal, cause it keeps me sane. As long as I keep it light, and vegan. I'm in the clear. For myself. You can alter it the way you please.

Every Smoothie will have 1 cup of greens in it. Either Kale and or Spinach.

I'll be making my recipes -"Blueberry Pie Smoothie" & My "Cafe Verde" Smoothie.

Blueberry Pie Smoothie:

1/2 Banana
3/4 cup unsweetened almond/coco milk
1 tbsp chia
1/2 cup blueberries
1 cup spinach
handful of kale 
1/2 tsp of cinnamon

Cafe Verde Smoothie:

1/2 Banana
1 scoop Garden Of Eden coffee protein powder
1 tbsp raw cacao powder
1-2 cups spinach
handful of kale
3/4 cup unsweetend almond/coco milk

For dinner. It can be a range of things.

Red quinoa with veggies with cashew cheeze /or/ pumpkin seed pesto, sweet potato/butternut squash with veggies, Spaghetti squash with veggies. The list goes on and on

Alright guys & gals. There you have it. I hope this helps you, inspires you. Etc. Etc. I am already feeling good just thinking about the way I will feel after 13 days. Starting this tomorrow. And don't even make the excuse of not having groceries. I've got enough to make do until Friday. so I'm going friday to restock- get the essentials. 

I'm excited, for you. and for me. lets do this. Lets not waste any more time of our lives. I'm ready to get back in the game and out of this miserableness in my house with a cough. Bleh! Over it. Can't wait to get out doors.

Why the name, The Hulk? Well the Hulk is quite huge and quite green.
Just like this smoothie is. Well it's not so huge. But The Hulk could probably eat it for breakfast too
considering the amount of protein in it! I've been upping my protein intake due to lack of carb intake. So heres how I do it, fast and simple! No excuses.

1/2 cup Unsweetened Almond milk.
1 banana (a smoothie isn't a smoothie unless theres a banana!)
1/2 cup blueberries (Yes, I realize this is a carb. -but it's a natural fruit and ok by me in the A.M)
Loads of Spinach. Like 2-3 handfuls. seriously, you won't taste it!
2 scoops of Garden of Life Protein -Original

= 34 g of P R O T E I N

Enjoy and feel satisfied! <3

Keeps the doctor away? Nah. But it sure keeps me pumped. 
And I'm pretty sure feeling great about completing a 'challenge' is something to say for your health. Which in return means no doctor. Who goes anyway? I know I don't. I'm all about being all nat-u-raaaal. Medicine free. After changing my diet- into a vegan one. Wow. The benefits. I just truly don't get sick as often, and I feel good. Feel more energetic. Of course, don't get me wrong. There are many ways of being an unhealthy vegan. You can do anything the wrong way- believe me. 
It's more than anything, more than being vegan, more than working out for 2 hours a day- it's MORE about being healthy all the time. Consistently. Not milking every moment of everything. Ya know? And I know you know! We all know. 
We all were once babies ;) We know how to get what we want. But we also hopefully learned discipline...also. Which we have to carry on in our adult life with. So about this post. Where am I going with it- after that extreme long tangent. 

I'd like to propose another challenge! My first one, in case you missed it, was a 5 day Cleanse. Which has been going surprisingly well for me and others who are in on it. :) So proud of you guys by the way! It ain't easy! Even though were all trying to act like it is ;)

The Challenge of the week! Join me or Join me not. All up to you! But I mean, why not? Don't you need a boost?
I know I still do- even after this cleanse. So for me, my reasons may be different than yours. But 5 days of being raw, isn't enough to kick my bad habits. Which are eating to much carbs alllllll the time. Talk about milking it :/ Yeesh. I 'used to be' a carb hugger. But since that 'used to be me'. I am changing my ways , acknowledging it and moving on. So I am challenging myself to another week of none of them. Then after that I will not crave them as much. Which will be awesome! Cause thats the issue. I'm flushing them all out in order to get rid of all my toxins. Which for me was mostly Coffee, Wine and unused Carbs. Unused in the manner of I didn't go running after that- to use my carbs wisely. I actually have had absolutely no workout plan the past few weeks after quitting the gym. It's hard, but I know some of us can't afford to maintain the cost of the gym unfortunately. And to be honest- I just don't use it enough, for what it's worth. I am nature person, I love being outside. So what am I doing? I need to go outside! Right!? Sometimes when we say something out loud, were like, for real? Wake up call! DUH! :) But no seriously. If there is something you've been wanting to do- and haven't been doing it, can we all just agree to tell ourselves to be quiet and just do it. :)In the nicest way possible I mean that! 

Our inner self wants the best for us. So I don't know where that other voice comes from telling us to remain on the couch or not get up and do something, etc. Gotta make it go away and change it into a motivational voice. Hopefully the voice you hear as you read this! Even though you have no idea what I sound like :)

So for my proposal-
Same concept as my raw food cleanse. 
This is a detox, I repeat, this is a detox. Either your ready or not to join the challenge.

Detox: No: coffee, alcohol. Bread/grains. Sugar. Oils
Includes: Veggies, Fruit, Nuts, Raw Cacao, Seeds, Beans & Legumes.

Outline: 3 meals a day- 1 meal being a smoothie. 1 meal being raw, 1 meal being cooked.
Snacks: Fruit or nuts, dark chocolate with no sugar.
+Most importantly lots of water