Honey and Cinnamon

Honey and Cinnamon is my new attack on my weight loss journey. I found this blog through Pintrest, that talks about the many health benefits of Honey and Cinnamon. It not only helps with weight loss but it fights cancer, heart disease, arthritis (which I have), cholesterol and a number of other things. I am going to give this a try for the next month and see how my body benefits from it.

Cinnamon, Honey Weightloss Tea

Ingedients: Honey, Ground Cinnamon and Hot Water.

Directions: Brew a two cups of hot water. Add the cinnamon and wait for it to cool to room temperature. Divide the mixture in half. Add the honey once it is at room temperature to the mixture you are about to drink. Add the honey to the other mixture when you are ready to drink that again. I make this mixture at night so that I don’t have to worry about making it when I’m in a rush in the morning.

Servings: Have one glass of this in the morning, 30 minutes before you eat. Have another glass of this at night before you go to sleep.

“The enzymes in the honey  remove fungus and 

bacteria in your digestive tract. It also states that you

 should see inches lost . I have also read that continuing to eat it, the mixture will help  to to stop fat from being stored in the body.”

I started this today and the drink is very tasty. It reminds me of the holidays. 🙂 We shall see how this goes! I’ll keep you posted over the next few weeks!

Day 7 of my GM Cleanse! All done! I made it!

YAY!!!! ALL DONE!! I’m posting this the day after the completion of my cleanse. I have lost a total of 9 pounds! I’ll take it! I know the program says 10 at least, but I’m ok with the fact that I lost 9 pound on this diet! That would have taken me months of work to get down to that. Here is my before and after pictures.

It isn’t anything too drastic. I lost A LOT of my bloat and my stomach is smaller. I still have more goals as far as my weight loss. If I lose another 10 pounds I will be soo happy. But this is a start and the cleanse was worth it.

Anyways here is my log from yesterday……Yesterday I got to have brown rice, veggies and fruit juice.

“Day Seven finished off the program like a good cigar used to finish off Victorian meals, except much healthier. You have your system under control and it should thank you for the flushing and cleaning you just gave it.”

I worked yesterday so off I went to Whole Foods again. I got a freshly squeezed fruit juice similar to the first day. It had pear, apple, pineapple and orange inside. It was so tasty and refreshing to have something to drink besides water.

Then for lunch I got a veggie stir fry bowl with brown rice from Whole Foods and a side of steamed kale. I put a bunch of hot sauce on top for extra flavor. I got full very fast. I didn’t finish all of the rice in the bowl. I guess when you cut the carbs out of your diet for the week, it does that to you.

Then after work I got a couple of the Odwalla fruit juices. They are all natural which I highly recommend. The last thing that you want after all of your hard work is to load your body with “fruit juice” that is half made of sugar. Anyways, I drank one on my way to the gym, then the other on the way home from the gym. They were both very tasty and refreshing.

At the gym, I did a intense ab work out on the machines, with weights and on the stability ball. I also worked out my butt muscles on some machines. Then, I biked for 20 minutes on level 10 on the alpine pass setting which basically sets intervals for you, one minute you are going down hill then the next minute your legs are burning because you are going up a high mountain with weights attached to the bike. I burn over 100 calories in 20 minutes with this little trick. You should try it!

For dinner I had a bowl of the left over GM Cleanse soup and I had stuffed mushrooms that I got from Whole Foods. It was stuffed with tomatoes, couscous, feta cheese (I know… its not allowed but I only had a few hours left of this cleanse anyways)  and onion. Everything tasted very good and I felt comfortable full .

Despite all the fruit juices I still drank my 10 glasses of water. Here is a trick with the water… Buy a Britta water bottle. It comes with a filter on top so you can basically go to any sink through out the day, fill it up and then drink purified, filtered water right away. It is awesome for this cleanse as well as for any other time (because technically we are supposed to have 8 glasses a day anyways) because you save money on buying bottled water and you don’t have an excuse not to drink your water.

I went out for my friends birthday at the end of the night and had 3 glasses of chardonnay. What can I say? I love my wine and I felt like I deserved it after this week.

So that’s that! I’m all done! What now? Well I am making a lifestyle change for myself.

1. No carbs except after my work out. I can have brown rice because my metabolism will still be high and the carbs will get burned.
2. I will allow myself one cheat day a week. On this day I can have pasta, a burger, etc.
3. I will watch and lower my salt intake. It is the main culprit of my bloat.
4. Keep working out. I am challenging myself to work out 5 times a week instead of 3. We will see how that goes with my busy schedule.

Anyways that is it! Please like, comment and subscribe! I wanna know how you all did on your cleanse! Until next time,

xoxo, Kimberly

Day 6 of the GM Cleanse! Now, I’m really almost done!

Today was day 6 of my cleanse! Beef and veggies to my hearts content!

“Day Six is similar to day five, Iron and proteins from beef, Vitamins and fiber from vegetables. By now your system is in a total weight loss inclination. There should be a noticeable difference in the way you look today, compared to day one.”

I weighed myself this morning and I lost another 2 pounds! I have lost a total of 8 pounds in 6 days! Not too bad! This makes me very happy and I feel like everything I have done has been worth it!

So today slept in and so I skipped breakfast and just had lunch. I made a pot roast that I got from Sprouts Market. I highly recommend it! It was sooo good and only took 6 minutes to cook in the microwave. I also took a bag of broccoli and cauliflower mix and stuck it in the microwave for 3 minutes . I paired the two together and had a great, satisfying meal.

 I had work tonight and so I had a snack at the food court down stairs and got a small side serving of their beef and broccoli. When I got home I had a second serving of the pot roast and veggies.

I then went out to have a much deserved glass of white wine at a local wine bar with a friend. I had a glass of Chardonnay 🙂 I did something tonight that I’m not sure was the greatest choice. I ordered a small appetizer of ahi tuna that came with veggies on it. I know that the diet says red meat but I highly doubt it will make a difference, since there were only 6 small pieces of it.  We also got a side of meatballs that came with cheese on top. I only had one of them and some of the mashed potatoes that they came with. It was a very small amount and i don’t think it will matter but I guess we shall see when i weigh myself tomorrow.

I am sooooo excited that tomorrow is my last day! I am already planning to go to shabu shabu ( a type of Japanese food) on Sunday and feast on everything with no rice! I am already planning ahead to keep working out and eating healthy so I can keep of most this weight like I did last time.

Anyhow, I will see you bloggers tomorrow with my final day of the cleanse post! Like, comment and subscribe!

xoxo, Kimberly

Day 5 of the GM Cleanse!

Today was day 5 of the GM Cleanse, also known as feast day!

First things first, I woke up this morning and I was down 2lbs! I have lost a total of almost 6lbs in 5 days! Not to bad if I do say so myself 😀

Today I was allowed to have up to 10oz of beef and 6 whole tomatoes.

“Day Five, Beef and tomatoes. The beef is for iron and proteins, the tomatoes are for digestion and fibre. Lots and lots of water purifies your system. You should notice colourless urine today. Your allowance calls for the equivalent of five “quarter ponders”. Do not feel you have to eat all this beef. You must eat the six tomatoes.”

I had a really rough personal day today so I apologize for not taking so many pictures…. So basically I got a ready to stick in the oven meat loaf from Sprouts Market that I cooked and ate through out the day. I ate three servings total. My first bite was heaven after this past week! It was very tasty! I also ate all of the tomatoes. That was the hardest part! I got really sick of eating the tomatoes but I forced myself through them. I learned half way through the day that if you slice them and toss them in some olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and garlic powder, they are a little bit tastier. I also drank 12 glasses of water and as the quote says my urine was colorless. Tonight I took Zumba (my new obsession) and I felt great after. If you wanna  pour sweat and burn a ton of calories, I highly recommend it! Anyhow, sorry for the lack of pictures again and they will be back in tomorrows blog!  Like, comment and subscribe!

xoxo,

Kimberly

Day 4 of the GM Cleanse! Over half way there!

Today was Day 4! Bananas, Milk and Soup day Sounds gross but it wasn’t so bad!

“Day Four, bananas, milk and soup sound the strangest and least desirable. You’re in for a surprise. You probably will not eat all the bananas allowed. But they are there for the potassium you have lost and the sodium you may have missed the past three days. You will notice a definite loss of desire for sweets. You will be surprised how easy this day will go.”

I woke up and weighed myself this morning and I lost almost another pound! Woo hoo! I was also off work again! Woo hoo!  So off to the kitchen I went to get my banana and milk fix…… up to 6 glasses of milk eh?………. I cannot stand milk 😦 The texture is not my cup of tea and it tends to upset my stomach. … Not to worry!  I had Almond Milk instead! 🙂 I decided to kill two birds with one stone….. I made a banana, almond milk smoothie. It was much easier to drink the milk. I put 2 cups of the almond milk and 2 whole bananas in my blender and let it do its thing. I had one glass of the smoothie for breakfast and another for lunch. I could not drink another glass of milk after that. Two was enough for me.

   

This combination is filling! I went out to run errands and brought a banana with me as a snack.

When I got home it was time to get to work on the soup! This soup is called the GM Wonder Soup.  You are allowed to eat this in unlimited quantities after today. So, basically there are 2 main ingredients that are super important that you need to stick to, cabbage and the onion soup mix. The rest of the veggies and spices you can get creative with! Here is my version.

GM Wonder Soup

Ingredients:

1 WHOLE cabbage cut into large pieces, 1 whole onion dice, 3 garlic cloves minced, 2 large carrots diced, 3 celery stems diced, 3 leaves of turnip greens diced, 2 cups of peas, 1 tbs of olive oil, 1 packet of onion soup mix (the original recipe says the Lipton brand, but I got the store brand with the same ingredients inside to save money), 1 tbs of oregano, 3 bay leaves, 1 tbs of thyme, 2 tbs of garlic powder, 1 tbs of chili flakes, 2 tbs of pepper, and salt to your liking ( i recommend as little of this as possible as it will make you bloat), and 2 quarts of water.

Directions:

1. Chop up the veggies and set them aside

2. In a large soup pot pour the tbs of olive oil on the bottom and add the onion, garlic and the bay leaves and toss them around until the onions become yellow on medium heat for about 3-4 minutes.

3. Add the carrots and celery and toss around for another 3-4 minutes adding the rest of the spices as you go.

4. Add your water and the onion soup mix, turn the heat to high and bring the water to a broil

5. Add the peas, cabbage and turnip greans and bring the water down to a simmer. Cook the cabbage for only three minutes or the cabbage will be mushy. (Note about the cabbage: Use the entire head of cabbage. I cut half of it and thought ” Wow, that is way to much, Im going to put the other half away.” After the cabbage heats it gets smaller like spinach so I ended up chopping up the rest and putting the whole thing in. Its the most important factor to flushing out your system. So do it!)

6. Serve and enjoy.

It was actually really good and my mom even enjoyed two bowls of it. I had three bowls yesterday and felt very satisfied after. This was my end result!

Tonight I went to Yoga at my gym. I missed being at the gym and the last few days I didn’t have much energy. It felt wonderful. I ate a banana after and I didn’t feel weak or anything! Yay!!

So lets see…… today’s summary. I had 4 bananas, 2 cups of “milk” and 3 bowls of the GM Wonder Soup and of course my 10 glasses of water. My urine has already become crystal clear and my cravings are almost gone! See you bloggers next time! Like, comment, subscribe and repin! xoxo

-Kimberly

Day 3 of my GM Cleanse Journey!

Today was day three! Fruit and Veggie Day!

“Day Three eliminates the potato because you get your carbohydrates from the fruits. You system is now prepared to start burning excess pounds. You will still have cravings which should start to diminish by day four.”

I woke up feeling good this morning. When I looked in the mirror I felt less bloated and skinnier. I weighed myself and I lost another whole pound! Altogether a total of three! * Happy Dance* I was off work today so I was able to cook somethings at home.This was much easier and cheaper than having to balance this diet with a work day. I started off the morning with some broccoli and watermelon. I stir fried the broccoli in some olive oil with some diced onion and garlic powder. I felt pretty full after this. Then, I left my house to take care of some errands. I took my purifier water bottle and a small snack baggie of carrots just in case I get hungry. I snacked while driving between errands and I finished the carrots really quickly. I stopped at Sprouts Market to get some ingredients for the next few days of my cleanse and this is where I had the hardest time with my cravings. As soon as I walked into the door, I could smell their entire bakery section teasing me with its smell and walking past their cheese section (my weakness) was brutal. I tried to make as fast of a trip as possible through the store because I had a moment of feeling light headed from lack of food and the combination of the teasing smells.

As soon as I went home I started cooking….. I made a kale dish. It was very tasty! I highly recommend giving this recipe a try. It is full of flavor and fills you up!

Ingredients:

-1 Bushel or Bag of Kale cut into large pieces

-1/4 of an onion diced in large pieces

-3 cloves of garlic diced

–Olive Oil for the pan

-1 tsp of garlic powder

-1/4 tsp of chili flakes

-Pinch of Sea Salt and Pepper

 Directions:

-Warm a pan with olive oil over medium heat

-Add the garlic and stir for about 2 minutes

-Then add the onion and toss

until the onion has browned

-Add the kale little by little stirring it

until all of theleaves have turned bright green

-Add the seasonings and add salt and pepper for taste

-Eat it right way for the best taste while its still warm!

The kale was so delicious that I ate the entire pot with in a few hours! It’s really good for you and makes up for the lack of protein.

  For my  dinner I had these veggie kabobs from Sprout Market. I tossed them on the grill and they were delicious. I topped them with pepper and garlic powder to add more flavor.   Tuesday nights are karaoke nights for me and my friends. It is also like my weekend, since I have Wednesdays off. I still went tonight and I am so very proud of myself because I stuck to the rules. I allowed myself the “up to two” glasses of white wine rule. I only had one glass of the house Chardonnay! And instead of eating popcorn that my friends where snacking on, I asked the bartender for some extra oranges, which were free 🙂 , and snacked on them instead.  

“It is suggested that you are allowed two glasses of white wine in addition to the instructions on the program. You may substitute champagne for white wine. Under no circumstances are you to drink any other alcoholic beverages with the exception of beer which is allowed. Any liquor (bourbon,vodka, rum) is forbidden. Cream drinks are especially forbidden. You may have an occasional cordial such as creme de menthe or schnapps, but you must always limit yourself to two drinks. If you wine, drink only wine that day. If you have beer, drink only beer that day, etc. Alcohol adds empty calories to your diet. However, it will help your digestion and settle your stomach.”

  Its been another good day on the cleanse and I am feeling good! Like, subscribe, comment, and repin! See you bloggers tomorrow!

Day 2 of the GM Cleanse

So today was day two of the GM Cleanse aka Veggie Day!

“Day Two starts with a fix of complex carbo-hydrates coupled with an oil dose. This is taken in the morning for energy and balance. The rest of day two consists of vegetables which are virtually calorie free and provide essential nutrients and fibre.”

Today was easier than yesterday because I actually enjoy eating veggies. So although I was still not as satisfied as I would have felt eating a cheeseburger, it was better than yesterday.

When I woke up I was starving. The nice part was I noticed that all the fruit I consumed yesterday got rid of a lot of my bloat, so I felt good about that. I weighed myself before I ate or drank anything and I lost about 2 lbs since yesterday.

So off to the kitchen I went to get my one baked potato that I am allowed on this cleanse. I was only allowed to put a little pat of butter on it and I added some pepper 🙂 It was so tasty and satisfying after being deprived of food yesterday.

 

 

I worked from 1pm-8pm today. Before I went to work I filled up on some broccoli and asparagus.  Besides dealing with this cleanse I am going through some stressful issues and unlike most people when I am stressed, I am no longer hungry. I experienced less cravings and instead I had a bad headache throughout the day. I kept on chugging that water to try and make it go away.

For my dinner I headed over to Whole Foods again on my break and I loaded up on veggies at their salad bar. TIP! If you stick to the lighter items the salad will be a decent price, but watch out for those heavy items because you will end up paying for a very expensive salad. For my salad I loaded up on kale, spinach, arugula, and turnip greens. I topped them with mushrooms, peas, jalapenos, and baby corn. I dressed the salad with apple cider vinegar and olive oil.  I also got a few pieces of squash and eggplant from their hot food bar.  It was delicious and I felt very satisfied.

 

 

I also got a grilled artichoke for 99cents! Woah! …………..Here is the bad part, I cheated with a little tiny bit of ranch to lightly dip the artichoke in……. I think my cleanse will still run its course…. 😉

Anyways after work I was starving again and I came home and had some more broccoli and asparagus. Throughout the day I also chugged through those 10 glasses of water. When one hears 10 glasses they are just like “that is sooo much water” but I actually drank through the glasses pretty easily. Water not only helps with flushing my system but it also keeps me full between eating. So all in all, it is really  helpful!

That is all for today. I will keep you posted tomorrow night! Please like, comment, subscribe and pin this page! I would love to hear any feedback!

-Kimberly

Day One of the GM Cleanse

Today is my first day of the cleanse and right now I am feeling unsatisfied and I am craving stuff, so to avoid me cheating on my diet or making bad decisions, I am going straight to bed after this. It is currently almost 10PM which is early for me since I tend to stay up super late. But i know that if I sleep I won’t think about food and I will have my baked potato to look forward too tomorrow morning. =)

I did a little preparation and wrote out this week’s food schedule in my planner. I take it everywhere with me and it helps me keep track of my water intake.  

I cross off one of my drawn water glasses every time I finish another glass of water. I like this system it works for me and tells me when I have to also balance this diet with work.

So, today was Day One; aka Fruit Day. I was able to eat fruit to my heart’s content and I also had to drink 10 glasses of water.

“Day One you are preparing your system for the upcoming program. Your only source of nutrition is fresh or canned fruits. Fruits are nature’s perfect food. They provide everything you could possibly want to sustain life except total balance and variety.”

So today this is exactly what I did. I ate a ton of fruits and drank all 10 glasses of water.

I started the morning off with a cup of berries and some tangerines.

 

I work next to whole foods so I got a very tasty fruit juice that they custom made for me. It contained pear, pineapple and apple that was juiced right in front of me with no added sugar. It actually filled me up for about an hour or so.

While I was at Whole Foods, I also filled up on more fruits. I got apples, papaya, tangerines and watermelon. I strongly urge you guys to eat A LOT of papaya, mango and melon. I’m allergic to cantelope and honey dew so I stuck to watermelon and I was fine. The reason for this is that they fill you up the most and help with flushing out your system.

So that is what I ate today. I worked a full 8 hour day in retail and I thought I was going to suffer big time with this diet. The bad side about this combination was one, that I had to pee a lot since I was drinking so much water, which is kind of awkward when you are supposed to be at work. Two, I worked above a food court today and all of the delicious smells where provoking me all day. Other than that, the fact that I was working (especially during the busy rushes)  actually helped me take my mind off of food and my grumbling stomach. This is my second time doing this diet. The last time I stayed home all day and drove myself nuts thinking about food, but today the time just flew on by.

That is it for today! Please comment and subscribe! I will update you tomorrow on Veggie Day!

 

GM Diet Cleanse

This is my first post! Yay!!!

So starting tomorrow (Sunday) I am going to do the GM Diet Cleanse.I did this cleanse around Halloween last year and I lost almost 10 pounds! I kept up a fairly healthy routine of eating right and exercising, so I managed to keep most of the weight off. But, with summer around the corner, I wanted to give this another go.

 Here is the link with more detailed information:

http://health-heaven.tumblr.com/post/17089615944/what-do-you-think-of-gms-diet

I’m not gonna lie, the last time I did this, I was grumpy, hungry and I hated everything the first few days, but it did produce great results so I am willing to put myself through this again. Also, I learned a lot from last time as far as what fruits and veggies I should focus on to keep me full and I plan on utilizing those experiences to make this time more enjoyable. 

So with that said, I plan to post a blog everyday so you all can follow my journey over the next few days. I will be posting pictures of my meal, updating you on how I am feeling, and how many pounds I am losing each day.

I want to lose 10 lbs this week.

There is my before picture below. It will be fun to compare it to my after shot at the end of next week.

That’s all for today! See you guys tomorrow!