Tag Archives: Detox

18 Smoothie Recipes That Will Make You Feel & Look FITilicious!

Tuesday was a beautiful day in Montreal! You know that awesome feeling when you take a breath of fresh air and all you can feel is SPRING?! Love, love, love it!

Dog_in_the_car_by_blaineyson

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To me, spring is a time of rebirth, starting fresh and refocusing on things that do matter. It is also the time of the year when the temperature finally starts to climb up. It may sound weird, but when it is warm outside, I lose appetite. I am simply not hungry. Therefore, the idea of getting all necessary nutrients in becomes so much more important. And what could be more exciting than fueling with smoothies?! *Please, be careful here, I am in no way encouraging anyone to replace any meals with smoothies. Your diet should be well-balanced and carefully composed according to the level of your physical activity.* 

smoothie-recipes

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If you’d like to know the exact recipes to the mentioned above smoothies, check out Super Skinny Me for more details.

How about you? Does your appetite vary from one season to another? What is your favorite smoothie recipe?

xoxo
Olena

10 Comments

Filed under Fitness, Health, Kitchen Adventures

Spring Cleaning Your Home And Body 101: 3 Eco-Friendly DIY Household Cleaner Recipes & 6 Great Short-Term Challenges For Your Health

Call me crazy, but for me all seasons start on the first of the month. *I guess it’s an Eastern European thing!*

let's celebrate spring

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I don’t think I’ll ever forget the day when we were asked a question about when seasons start in my French class shortly after my family’s arrival to Canada. Always an eager student, I could not wait to answer the question to show off my newly acquired French skills only to find myself completely dumb struck. *In retrospect, I still find the entire situation totally hilarious! I was soooo EMBARRASSED!* But then, who could blame me?! Why on the earth seasons would start on the 21st of the month and not on the first?! It’s beyond me! 

Anyhow, back to the subject… MY spring began on Saturday, you CAN be jealous if you wish! Haha!

You still don’t believe me? Well, how about this? On Saturday night, my hubby was coming down with a flu, so he took some medicine and fell asleep. While he was peacefully snoring with Bella in his feet, I managed to rearrange all of his drawers… YAH! It was March 1!

true story

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You know it’s a spring the moment your entire being wants to get rid of clutter and start things fresh. Right?! To me spring cleaning is letting go of winter, getting rid of clutter, reevaluating my short- and long-term goals.

In my opinion living healthy also implies living in harmony with nature and the world. Reducing our foot print on nature is indeed important to living a long healthy and happy life. This is why I was super excited when I found the following infographic.

Eco-Friendly Household Cleaner Recipes- nfographic

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Indeed, white vinegar is a life saver! I use it when I have to clean a fridge and a shower all the time. On the other hand, I saw a few worrisome reports that some vinegar may be made of petroleum. So please, be sure to check your vinegar labels and make sure that it’s made of grains.

I also found a wonderful article on Greatist, 27 Non-Toxic Products for DIY Cleaning, make sure to check it out.

slow down and reflect on what matters the most

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Apart from cleaning my home, I like to take some time to refocus and get organized. For instance:

spring cleaning

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How about you? What does spring cleaning mean to you? What are your favorite ways to let go of winter?

xoxo
Olena

18 Comments

Filed under Fitness, Health, Motivation

Hydration 101: Why Dehydration Is Making You Fat & Sick, 8 Hydration Myths Busted, And How to Remember To Drink More Water

If you read yesterday’s post, you must have realized that staying hydrated is crucial to a successful detox or body cleanse. Even though drinking enough liquids throughout the day could be a simple thing to someone, I’ve always struggled with it.

running hangoverSource

I am not sure if it is because I was forbidden to drink any water during my rhythmic gymnastics classes or for some other reason, but I simply FORGET to drink. I know, it sounds silly and probably doesn’t make sense to some of you; however, very frequently I realize that I’m thirsty when I am EXTREMELY thirsty. Obviously, dehydration has many negative impacts and should be taken very seriously.

Why dehydration is making you fat and sick

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Despite my multiple efforts to read more on this subject, I found myself reading many conflicting reports. As a result, I am more confused than ever.

Nevertheless, I was lucky enough to come across a great article on Runner’s World: 8 Hydration Myths Busted. I strongly recommend to check it out, but here is a quick overview:

  1. Drink eight glasses of water a day: A healthy dose of hydration is an individual thing.
  2. Pee clear to be hydrated:  “As long as it is a pale yellow, like lemonade, you’re hydrated,” says Yeargin. If it’s completely clear, it just means you’re full to the brim; what’s going in is coming out. On the other hand, if your pee is the color of apple juice or darker, or particularly smelly, you need to drink up.
  3. Caffeine dehydrates you: Apparently, if you drink only 2 cups of coffee a day and exercise regularly, the impact of caffeine is minimal, if any.
  4. Thirst isn’t a good hydration tool: It is a pretty accurate mechanism; however, it is good to be aware of other ways if your body is hydrated enough.
  5. Pure water is best for hydration: It really depends on the kind and amount of physical activity you are doing.
  6. You can’t drink too much: “You absolutely can drink too much,” says Casa, “and it can be deadly.” Too much water can cause symptomatic hyponatremia, a condition where the sodium levels in the blood become dangerously low.
  7. Drinking lots of water is a good way to “detox”:  “There is no evidence that excess water makes your body more clean,” says Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, M.D., a professor of medicine in the Renal, Electrolyte, and Hypertension Division at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. “If anything, drinking too much water can slightly impair the ability of the kidneys to filter blood.”
  8. Staying hydrated eliminates your risk of heat stroke: Staying hydrated will definitely do you some good; however, you should always pay attention to the entire picture like body size, exercise intensity, fitness level, and age as well as humidity and air temperature.

how to remember to drink more waterSource

So how can you improve the situation if you’re forgetting to drink water just like me?

  • Check out the Hydration Calculator from Runner’s World;
  • ‘Spice up’ your water by adding fresh mint leaves, sliced cucumber or a squeeze of lemon or lime to it;
  • Make it a morning ritual: chug a glass or two of water when you wake up;
  • Have a glass of water with your meal, especially when you’re drinking alcohol;
  • Always carry a bottle of water with you and keep it visible;
  • Freeze little bits of peeled lemons, limes and oranges and use them in place of ice cubes;
  • Put a water alarm on your phone;
  • Every time you pass a water cooler stop and take a sip.

Wake up

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How do you stay hydrated? Do you have trouble remembering to drink enough water?

xoxo
Olena

21 Comments

Filed under Fitness, Health

How To Naturally Cleanse Your Body, Doing Detox Right & Ultimate Stretch Yoga Routine

For some strange reason, February tends to be the toughest month of the year for me… EVERY year… Without any exceptions! Perhaps, the winter just gets old or maybe it’s the lack of activities outside.

I LOVE being outside! I love going for jogs, walks and simply sitting at a park taking in the fresh air. However, with the super low temperatures and occasional snow storms, it’s *KINDA* hard. So by the end of the month, I start feeling… well… heavy. And no one likes that feeling, right? I can’t be alone?!

feeling fat

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Okay, don’t judge me. I know I am fine and I am NOT looking to lose any weight. However, I do want to get rid off this annoying feeling. So I figured that the best way to go about it would be to make my body take a break for a few days from any food that makes me feel that way. In other words, I want to detox my body from all those nasty things that have accumulated inside. *EWWWWW! That sounds bad, eh?!*

I will not be taking any DRASTIC measures because I find that many detoxes are NOT healthy and excessive. So this is pretty much my plan.

How to naturally cleanse your body

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These are the foods I will be focusing on and avoiding.

Doing detox rightSource

Pretty simple, right?

Planned workout for the day

Run 4 miles, perform 15 burpees every 15 minutes. Followed by this ultimate stretch yoga routine.

anti-stress yoga

Have you ever done a detox? What was your experience? Any tips?

xoxo
Olena

26 Comments

Filed under Fitness, Health