What's The Difference Between...

Here are some Questions and Answers for you guys that might help you better understand the Juice/Smoothie Challenge...

• Are we making Juices or Smoothies? When do I make a Juice and When do I make a Smoothie? 
• There seems to be a lot of concern about whether or not to make Juices or Smoothies or if you "need" to do both. Here's the thing what I tell everyone...

• LISTEN TO YOUR BODY
• CHOOSE WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
• PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU NEED  

No one can tell you what to eat or how to eat it. It's just not logical. In this Juice/Smoothie Challenge there will NOT be a regimented daily juice or smoothie that you must drink.. There is also no specific guidelines on how much you are "supposed" to drink. Drink until your heart is content. If you are satisfied and full with 64 ounces then drink that, if you find you need 100 ounces or 200 ounces...then drink that. One of the points of doing this challenge is to start the new year the right way...and that's by ridding your body of toxins that can aggravate your body, induce illness and disease, and getting healthy.

With that being said...There will be one Juice and/or Smoothie Recipe posted every single day of this Juice/Smoothie Challenge on this blog. Again, any Juice or Smoothie that is posted is only a suggestion, you have the right to choose whatever you want to liquify and put in your body throughout this challenge...

• Can I drink Tea, Coffee, Soda, etc?
• I would be careful about consuming "processed" beverages. It will do your body no good to detox it and then RE-tox it with processed beverages. If you absolutely "need" to drink something warm and want herbal decaffeinated tea, that should be fine. If you feel you need a little pick me up in the morning, try green tea or add a little raw cacao powder or acai berries to your juice or smoothie. You'd be surprised to find you don't really NEED caffeine to survive. Also, I live in Chicago, so you have to know it gets rather nippy here... I will show you how to get creative and make your own home made teas from roots, herbs, fruits, spices and berries. 
• You may drink almond milk, coconut water, coconut milk...anything that's raw and from a plant. It shouldn't be a problem. You can even implement it in your Juices or Smoothies. I will also show you how to do that. 
• Can I use protein powder in my smoothies or buy protein shakes?

• I would be careful of using protein powders and buying protein shakes. Most commercial brands tend to have dairy in it and if it doesn't it usually has D-3, which a supplemented form of meat. 
• If you feel you absolutely need additional protein added to your juice or smoothie, try adding chia seeds, hemp seeds/powder, coconut water, coconut milk, almond milk or even by a "raw vegan" protein powder. I will probably do a combination of all these suggestions.
• What's the difference between drinking juice and smoothies?
• Fiber. When juicing you removing the majority of the fiber out. Smoothies, however, are fiber rich, as the pulp that is removed from the juice stays in the smoothie.
• The more fiber, the more you go to the bathroom...the more you're able to help ease the toxins out.
• Is this a "fast" or a "challenge" and what do I win, if its a challenge?
• It's what you want it to be. I typically call these events "challenges" because I'm gathering a group of people together to do something that the majority of the group has not done before...and something like this can be challenging. 
• While the definition of "fasting" has been changed recently to "abstaining from food." The more common definition of fasting that is more widely known is: To eat very little or abstain from certain foods as a religious discipline or spiritual practices. Since we are not trying to convert anyone to any specific religiosity nor change anyone's spiritual belief's AND as an effort to be respectful to all walks of life, I decided to call this a "Challenge." But feel free to fast on your own, if you choose! I most certainly am! This is the perfect opportunity to get closer with God and get spiritually in tuned, just because this is called a Challenge doesn't mean you should not include God in this...as I stated, God will be the focal point of this journey for me.

I hope today's post helped everyone. Feel free to keep the questions coming. We're in this together! XOXO 

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Related Posts:

5 Steps To Making Juice Without A Juicer 
Tips for Starting a Juice/Smoothie Challenge 
Juice/Smoothie Challenge: Raw Week Prep Day 1

Juice/Smoothie Challenge: Raw Week Prep Day 2

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PLEASE NOTE! This sites content (including but not limited to: all food, hair and skin care recipes; tips; tutorials; writings; and, downloads) are absolutely free to the public! Because it's free, I ask one simple favor in return, as your token of appreciation for my humanitarian effort...I realize you may want to share and maybe even use Veg Vivaciously's content in your business(es) (including but not limited to: blog(s), e-zine(s), website(s), free publication(s), etc). You can, as long as you (1) do not charge a fee; (2) cite the direct link of the Veg Vivaciously content used; and, (3) include the verbiage below with the Veg Vivaciously content used:

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This content was originally from Veg Vivaciously, a website that teaches healthier alternatives one veggie at a time. You can get your FREE (food, hair and skin care) recipes, tutorials and other writings and tips directly at www.vegvivaciously.org. PLUS you can stay connected and join the Veg Vivaciously community on Facebook, Twitter and/or even download the Veg Vivaciously Toolbar and/or Phone App to stay in the know!

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PLEASE FURTHER NOTE! VEG VIVACIOUSLY IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE MEDICAL INDUSTRY OR MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS. THEREFORE, MEDICAL ADVICE AND/OR RECOMMENDATIONS WILL NOT BE PROVIDED BY VEG VIVACIOUSLY. PLEASE CONSULT WITH A LICENSED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING CHANGES TO YOUR DIETARY AND/OR BEAUTY PRACTICES AND/OR HABITS.

 Copyright © 2011 Veg Vivaciously All Rights Reserved.

Preparing for a Juice/Smoothie Challenge

Raw Veggie Pizza

Because we are doing a Juice/Smoothie Challenge for 60 whole days, I decided to dedicate the week prior to help motivate you and prepare you for the 60 day Juice/Smoothie Challenge. With any diet change (i.e., fasting, cleansing, detoxes, resets, jump starters, etc) there should be some form of transitioning. This week is your transitioning week. It does no one any good to live off of processed foods, meat, dairy and fast foods one day and go to the extreme polar opposite the next day. It will send your body into shock. It will also send you on a mind trip out of this world. This week is really going to be all about some things that I do to prepare myself for such a Challenge. My hope is that perhaps, you might find this weeks posts helpful and take some tips from it to apply to yourself.

This week I'm eating all raw foods. Now does this mean that I'm only eating salads...nope! Can you say boring?!?! It's the holiday season, I want nice seasoned and festive foods just like everyone else. I'll be having pasta, brownies, cheesecake, taco's, sushi, pizza, etc...except it will be made from all raw whole foods. Eating raw foods the week before this Juice/Smoothie Challenge will help prepare my body and also detox the bacteria, mucus, germs, antibiotics, processed sugars and other hidden preservatives that are in foods that we don’t know about. This week should be a week to clean your body and your colon while preparing your digestive system for healthy eating (or in this case drinking) for the 60 day Juice/Smoothie Challenge. 

As requested in last weeks post, this week I ask that everyone prepare their own foods at home. But I also ask that you NOT eat any meat or animal by-products. If you’re anything like me, you’ll find that there is a sense of calm and assurance when you prepare your own foods because you know what’s in them. This means, instead of buying your lunch…prepare your lunch and your snacks and take them with you! When doing so, think ahead…if you know at 3pm you’re use to running to the store or that vending machine and buying cookies or chips, pack some healthy snacks. Try granola bars, nuts, fresh fruit, dried fruit, or even make your own raw cookies. Please note: I have not cut you off from sugar...but do further note, that most raw food recipes sweeten desserts with with healthier sweetener alternatives and fruit.

I am also going to begin each day, as I normally do, with a large Juice or Smoothie of at least 32 oz. I ask that you do the same. This will help you get in the habit of making juice and smoothies. It will also help your body get in the habit of accepting liquid as a meal replacement. This is especially a good tactic for those of you who think you can't do this challenge, because you'll realize how satisfied you'll be from the juice and smoothie. Also, did you know the more you have whole fruits and veggies, the more your body will actually crave it? Sounds crazy but its true. Last night, I was home while everyone was scarfing down all the fatty holiday foods, and as I was about to grab a cracker, I suddenly got a craving for an avocado. So I ate one. No big deal to me. I realize this sounds absurd to many of you, trust me, there was a time that I never would have thought I would bypass a traditional southern meal for an avocado...are you serious? *LAUGHING OUT LOUD* But see me after 60 days and lets see how absurd it sounds then. I bet you'll be doing something similar. *smile*

For those of you who are thinking you can't do 100% raw for an entire week, or you may be fearful that you don't know how to prepare some foods. Take this opportunity to challenge the chef in you! Everyone has one. When you start doing it and realize that you can make most meals in 30 minutes or less, you'll be sneaking some raw food meals as main courses with your non-raw family more periodically than you think. I'm saying all of this to say, take full advantage of this Juice/Smoothie Challenge. Open your mind to endless possibilities of the healthy avenues that are to come from it...and don't look back.

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Related Posts:

Join Us For the FREE Juice/Smoothie Challenge
5 Steps To Making Juice Without A Juicer 
Tips for Starting a Juice/Smoothie Challenge 

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PLEASE NOTE! This sites content (including but not limited to: all food, hair and skin care recipes; tips; tutorials; writings; and, downloads) are absolutely free to the public! Because it's free, I ask one simple favor in return, as your token of appreciation for my humanitarian effort...I realize you may want to share and maybe even use Veg Vivaciously's content in your business(es) (including but not limited to: blog(s), e-zine(s), website(s), free publication(s), etc). You can, as long as you (1) do not charge a fee; (2) cite the direct link of the Veg Vivaciously content used; and, (3) include the verbiage below with the Veg Vivaciously content used:

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This content was originally from Veg Vivaciously, a website that teaches healthier alternatives one veggie at a time. You can get your FREE (food, hair and skin care) recipes, tutorials and other writings and tips directly at www.vegvivaciously.org. PLUS you can stay connected and join the Veg Vivaciously community on Facebook, Twitter and/or even download the Veg Vivaciously Toolbar and/or Phone App to stay in the know!

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Copyright © 2011 Veg Vivaciously All Rights Reserved.

TIPS FOR STARTING A JUICE/SMOOTHIE CHALLENGE

Walnut Pate Collard Wrap

I posted these tips on our Facebook Calendar Entry, but realizing we have quite a few newbies doing this particular juice/smoothie challenge, I felt I should do an entire post dedicated to providing a few tips to help make this challenge as easy as possible for you.

• Before beginning any major change to your dietary habits, as with anything, be sure to get a physical and check with your licensed medical professional to make sure the prospective dietary changes will work well with you.

• Two weeks before any Juice/Smoothie Challenge stop eating the following:



MeatLESSloaf, Mac and Cheese and Kale/Cabbage




• Anything processed including but not limited to: potato chips, frozen dinners, snack cakes and cookies, etc.
• Anything with "white" sugar. Start sweetening your tea's, coffees, with raw sugar, raw blue agave, date paste or raw organic honey.
• Meat and Dairy.

By gradually removing these foods from your diet, you help your body to adjust to the cleansing that is going to take place during the juice/smoothie challenge. 

This doesn't mean starve yourself. This doesn't mean you can't eat "real food". This means start making whole food meals to provide your body with the proper nutrients it needs. And get rid of the foods with the high sodium, preservatives, sugars and such. This will also help alleviate those strong cravings and help your detoxing time to be less emotional. (more to come on the emotional aspects of doing a detox)

• One week before stop eating:

Raw Spinach Lasagna (click image for recipe)

• All of the afore- mentioned, and...
• anything cooked...Try your hand at making raw food meals. 

This will help your body begin to get adjusted to the prospective cleansing it will undertake with this juice/smoothie challenge. After all, the juices and smoothies will be made from raw foods...just in liquid form. Doing this, also teaches your body to get full from the whole food nutrients its getting, thus allowing you to fully enjoy the entire process of this juice/smoothie challenge.

Now I know the holidays are here and we want the foods we're accustomed to, but if you could just try to make at least a few raw plant based desserts, you'll really do your body some good. Raw Desserts Here.

Before you know it, Jan 1st will be here and you'll be roaring to go! Your body will begin to get energy from the nutrients of raw foods and you'll surprise yourself with how well you can glide through this.

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Related Posts:

Join Us For the FREE Juice/Smoothie Challenge
5 Steps To Making Juice Without A Juicer 

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PLEASE NOTE! This sites content (including but not limited to: all food, hair and skin care recipes; tips; tutorials; writings; and, downloads) are absolutely free to the public! Because it's free, I ask one simple favor in return, as your token of appreciation for my humanitarian effort...I realize you may want to share and maybe even use Veg Vivaciously's content in your business(es) (including but not limited to: blog(s), e-zine(s), website(s), free publication(s), etc). You can, as long as you (1) do not charge a fee; (2) cite the direct link of the Veg Vivaciously content used; and, (3) include the verbiage below with the Veg Vivaciously content used:
 

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This content was originally from Veg Vivaciously, a website that teaches healthier alternatives one veggie at a time. You can get your FREE (food, hair and skin care) recipes, tutorials and other writings and tips directly at www.vegvivaciously.org. PLUS you can stay connected and join the Veg Vivaciously community on Facebook, Twitter and/or even download the Veg Vivaciously Toolbar and/or Phone App to stay in the know!

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Copyright © 2011 Veg Vivaciously All Rights Reserved.

JUICE/SMOOTHIE CHALLENGE: 5 Steps To Making Juice Without a Juicer

So you want to join us and do the Juice/Smoothie Challenge but you're a bit apprehensive because you don't have a juicer? Well this is for you! I always post my juice/smoothie recipes with 2 explicit ways to make your juice. One way, through the juicer (obviously)...The second way through the Vitamix! That's right you can make juice through your Vitamix! Now...before I get started telling you how to do this...let me just say, if you don't have or can't afford a Vitamix or any high powered-industrial kitchen blender...don't fret! You can use any blender, it just might take a little longer to blend everything up. 

Here's what you need:

• Nut Milk Bag or Paint Strainer Bag
• Big Bowl
• Blender 
• and of course the ingredients to whatever juice you're making

TIPS: 

(a) A nut milk bag and a paint strainer bag both work the same. However, the paint strainer bag is less expensive. I bought 4 from Ace Hardware for $2.99. I think the average nut milk bag is about $10.00 or so. 

(b) Wash them and reuse them. 

Here's the steps for making juice in your blender... 

(1) Put your ingredients in the blender. Tip: Always add at least 1 cup of water.

(2) Blend like crazy until everything is emulsified...kind of smoothie(ish).

(3)Wrap the elastic top of the paint strainer bag around the top of the blender.

(4) Pour the blended mixture, with the bag on top of the blender, in the bag-inside of the bowl. 

(5) Take the bag with the smoothie remains and milk it like you would a cow. Sounds silly, but its the best way to describe it. I usually twist the top of the bag real tight so no pulp leaks out...then I get to squishing the bag until there's nothing left to squish.

And Voila! You now have juice! Pour it into your glass or containers to drink throughout the day. It's much simpler when you actually do it. When I first discovered how to do this, I stopped using my juicer because it was less clean up and much faster doing it this way. 

TIP: Put your pulp in a freezer baggie and throw it in the freezer and make crackers, cakes, cookies, veggie burgers, etc from it. 

Just in case you need a visual of what I explained above. I found a video that someone did that shows you how to do exactly what I've been saying for all these months...hope this helps.

 

Please Note: Veg Vivaciously is not affiliated in anyway with the person in the video and do not have rights to this video in any way.

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Related Posts:

Join Us For the Free Juice/Smoothie Challenge

Listening to Your Body

Transitioning Tips For A Healthier You

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PLEASE NOTE! This sites content (including but not limited to: all food, hair and skin care recipes; tips; tutorials; writings; and, downloads) are absolutely free to the public! Because it's free, I ask one simple favor in return, as your token of appreciation for my humanitarian effort...I realize you may want to share and maybe even use Veg Vivaciously's content in your business(es) (including but not limited to: blog(s), e-zine(s), website(s), free publication(s), etc). You can, as long as you (1) do not charge a fee; (2) cite the direct link of the Veg Vivaciously content used; and, (3) include the verbiage below with the Veg Vivaciously content used: 

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This content was originally from Veg Vivaciously, a website that teaches healthier alternatives one veggie at a time. You can get your FREE (food, hair and skin care) recipes, tutorials and other writings and tips directly at www.vegvivaciously.org. PLUS you can stay connected and join the Veg Vivaciously community on Facebook, Twitter and/or even download the Veg Vivaciously Toolbar and/or Phone App to stay in the know!

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Copyright © 2011 Veg Vivaciously All Rights Reserved.

Join Us For The FREE Juice/Smoothie Challenge

Greetings Veg Heads!

In case you haven't heard. Veg Vivaciously is teaming up with Raw Raw Life to do a Juice/Smoothie Challenge. I'm writing this pre-challenge post to help prepare everyone for the Juice/Smoothie Challenge that's creeping up on us. It starts January 1, 2012 and is going to go on for 60 whole days, ending March 1, 2012. What better way to start the New Year? During this time, I will post on this blog page a Juice or Smoothie recipe every day for the entire 60 days. Usually I do this on facebook and twitter, instead it will be hosted on the blog. This may be helpful for those of you who may be "on the go"...you can download the free Veg Vivaciously phone app and get a daily juice/smoothie recipe that will come right to your phone! Not to mention, Raw Raw Life will post either daily or weekly youtube video's, which will make you feel like you're literally walking in her shoes as she unveils every ounce of herself by sharing her juice/smoothie experience. If you have not checked out Raw Raw Life's video's then you really should check them out...go on! Check them out here!

(shameless plugs for our blog sites and such are over)

This post isn't for my tenured Veg Head Vets! It's for all of the newbies out there that say, "I can't do that," "I can do it for a week," "I can't afford that," "I might be able to afford it for a week, maybe two," "I can do it through the week, but on the weekends I need to eat solids." Trust me, I can relate to these comments and more! I didn't just wake up one day and decide to have the lifestyle I have...okay maybe I did...but even in doing so it takes time. I had to go through some transitioning periods, and let me just tell ya, it hasn't been...wait, I'm speaking in past tense...ha ha ha...it ISN'T easy! 

My first Juice/Smoothie Challenge, I joined some group (forgive my moment of dementia but I can't remember which group on facebook hosted it...) but I do remember I lasted all of 3 days...3 days...and got off of it and ate a calzone (of all things) and uum it was super loaded with cheese! The thought of that calzone is making my mouth water as I type...so lets just move along...

My second Juice/Smoothie Challenge, I lasted a week. *the crowd goes wild* I was ecstatic that I lasted a week.  I remember feeling so accomplished. Then I got off of it and ate raw food. I didn't come off of the Juice/Smoothie Challenge properly at all. But hey, at least I did it!

In between going on to my next challenge I did a 3-day watermelon cleanse. (yet another shameless plug) After doing that cleanse, I felt I could do anything. Not because I had accomplished this cleanse without cheating, but because this cleanse was the "research initiator" for me. Doing this cleanse really opened my consciousness to learn about foods, their nutritional value and how to let my food be my medicine and my medicine be my food. After researching everything under the sun about watermelons. I wanted to learn more. But about health and temperance and the proper way of doing things. So there were two books I immediately read: Ministry of Healing, by Ellen G. White and Soak Your Nuts, by Karyn Calabrese. 

Now, I'm not posting these books for you to run out and get them, unless you absolutely want to. Also, I am not a paid sponsor for either one of these books, I'm really sharing the information about these books because they both reached me on different levels. Ministry of Healing helped me to see that this new lifestyle change wasn't just about "diet"...that it actually formulated and worked with 7 other areas that were necessary in my life. Sunlight, Rest, Air, Water, Exercise, Abstemiousness and Trust. Without realizing the full potential and importance of these 7 areas, the new diet would fail and be nothing. Soak Your Nuts, helped me realize the importance of letting my food be my medicine, by the way that Karyn (yeah we're totally on a first name basis, cause I read her book and everything...) literally opens herself up unveiling every ounce of herself and her journey in her book. Not to mention, she breaks down the nutritional value of specific foods, shares some of her recipes from her restaurant and helps to coach you to a better you. Then she literally walks you through a 28 day detox...which was the next detox I did. 

I did her detox so well. *no pictures paparazzi, please* Why? Because, I had a better understanding of what my goals at that point were. I was open, willing and ready to accept these changes while also learning about myself with all my "stuff---baggage" and I was ready to deal with the emotions that would come out while revamping my life. I was learning the importance of food and how it had a strong role in my personal, social and family life. (I'll speak more on this in blog posts to come)

I'm sharing this to show you that Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will your lifestyle change in a day. Whether you're doing this to lose those pounds you've picked up over the holidays; as a detox; or to jump start your new healthier lifestyle, be patient with yourself...listen to your body...know your expectations...know your limitations... But at the same time, don't doubt yourself...Don't psych yourself into thinking that you can't or else you won't...and last but certainly not least, NEVER CONTRAST YOUR JOURNEY WITH SOMEONE ELSES JOURNEY. Each person is different; Therefore, each journey will be different. I get asked all the time, "How do you have the plant based lifestyle that you do?" The items listed above are some of the things I tell people.

So if you join this juice/smoothie challenge and you only do it for one day, guess what? That's one day of juice and smoothies that you never did before! I applaud you! I thank you! I welcome you! Whether its one day, one week, two weeks, or the full 60 days. Thank you for joining us on this challenge.   

And if you read this and still don't want to do the juice/smoothie challenge...then you're still one step closer...because I'm just willing to bet...there was a time you wouldn't even bother to read about it. So thank you too! 

JOIN THE JUICE SMOOTHIE CHALLENGE 

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Related Posts:

Listen to Your Body

Transitioning Tips For A Healthier You

Veggie Tales

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PLEASE NOTE! This site (including but not limited to: all food, hair and skin care recipes; tips; tutorials; writings; and, downloads) are absolutely free to the public! Because it's free, I ask one simple favor in return, as your token of appreciation for my humanitarian effort...I realize you may want to share and maybe even use Veg Vivaciously's content in your business (including but not limited to: blog(s), e-zine(s), website(s), free publication(s), etc). You can, as long as you (1) do not charge a fee; (2) cite the direct link of the Veg Vivaciously content used; and, (3) include the verbiage below with the Veg Vivaciously content used:

-------COPY BLURB BELOW-------

This content was originally from Veg Vivaciously, a website that teaches healthier alternatives one veggie at a time. You can get your FREE (food, hair and skin care) recipes, tutorials and other writings and tips directly at www.vegvivaciously.org. PLUS you can stay connected and join the Veg Vivaciously community on Facebook, Twitter and/or even download the Veg Vivaciously Toolbar and/or Phone App to stay in the know!

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Copyright © 2011 Veg Vivaciously All Rights Reserved.