Three Day Clean Eating Cleanse!

Long time no blog!

I feel like it's been such a long time since I've had the time to write anything!

There's been quite a bit going on for me at the moment, and I'm finding it all a bit hard to keep up with.

Last week, I had three major assessments due. One 3000 word essay, one 3500 word essay, and one two hour exam, which kept me incredibly busy with studying for all of them and trying to do a good job. Thankfully, it's all done now, and I'm one step closer to getting my degree! A conjoint Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) and Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies, in case you were wondering :p

Following all of this, I thought I would have five weeks off university to chill out, work on my fitness, and get ready for the stage production which I'm taking part in. Turns out the universe had other plans for me!

The Thursday afternoon after my exam, I got a call from an office where I've done some temp work before. They were offering me a full time contract for four weeks! Talk about perfect timing!

So I signed my contract pretty quickly and started work on Monday. The rest of this week has just passed in a blur!

I've also been keeping up my hours at the shop where I usually work, so that's meant I've worked the last 10 days in a row. Talk about tiring!

While I really wanted to spend my time off focusing on my health and fitness, I'm really happy to have the chance to earn a little (well actually, a lot. A whole lot!) extra money. But being so busy so suddenly has kind of caught me off guard, and has led me to make some pretty poor food choices, and left me with little time to hit the gym.

You know the kind of choices I mean- buying a chocolate bar for a snack because it's quick energy; grabbing takeaways on the way home because you're too tired to cook; getting energy drinks most days to help you stay alert; hitting the snooze button instead of jumping our of bed for some early morning exercise.

Making these kinds of choices has meant that my clean eating has fallen by the wayside, and I'm starting to feel really sorry for myself!

But it's time to get my act together now. Right now!

So to start with, I'm going to treat myself to a three-day clean eating cleanse!

For me, this cleanse will be all about re-setting my body and my metabolism to a comfortable level, and also about de-bloating and ridding my body of the junk that I've been putting into it! It's all about getting back into my great habits, and starting to feel great about myself again.

To help me do this, I'm going to keep to a simple kind of format.

Each morning, I'm going to start with a liver cleansing drink made from 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp honey, and a large glass of water. To make it, dissolve the honey in a little hot water, add the vinegar, and top up with cold or lukewarm water.

This drink helps your liver to process any toxins which are floating around your body, and helps to get rid of any bloating too :) It can be kind of icky if you're not used to it, but the honey really helps!

Following this drink, I'll be having a coconut chia smoothie! Yum!

To make this smoothie, you'll need:

• 1 medium banana, chopped.
• 3/4 cup mixed berries
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 tbs chia seeds soaked in water
• 1 tbs coconut oil
• 1.5 cups of coconut milk

Throw everything in a blender, and blend until smooth :)

This tasty smoothie is full of healthy fats, electrolytes, protein, fibre, and antioxidants. Plus, it will keep you feeling full for ages!

For the next three days, I've made myself a batch of pumpkin, tomato, and quinoa soup for lunch!

I'll be posting that recipe up tomorrow :)

My snacks will be fruit- apples and mandarins, and carrot sticks with hummus, maybe with a babybel thrown in if I need a little extra protein.

This lunch and my snacks should keep me going right the way through until dinner, which I've planned to be high protein, low carb, low fat, and super yummy!

With all of this great eating, all I need is to get a little more exercise in, which I'll be doing in my lunch break! Just a little walk every day will be enough to make a real difference to how I feel :) I plan to also do 15 minutes of yoga each day, and 20 minutes of free weights and core work. So easy to keep up with!

So that's my three day clean eating cleanse in a nutshell! Keep an eye out over the next three days, when I'll be sharing more recipes and going into more detail about the cleanse and the foods that I'm using to heal my body.

I've taken my measurements and weight, and I can't wait to see a great improvement over the next three days.

Just so you know, my weight was at 72.9kg this morning, and my waist measured 83cm. Not ideal, but I can sure change that!

Thanks for listening in guys, I would love to hear what you think about this cleanse or if you have any ideas of your own for me!

Oh so Pinteresting: The FitSugar 'Anywhere' Workout

I am an absolute Pinterest addict!

It's the site I turn to when I need something to amuse or inspire me, when I want new baking ideas, or when I need to plan my (imaginary) wedding, or my (imaginary) dream house (and also when I'm avoiding doing uni work :p).

I can spend hours just browsing Pinterest, and I always find so many things to re-pin, especially when it comes to their 'Health + Fitness' section!

I've got a HUGE board titled 'Move, Nourish, Believe!' (inspired by Lorna Jane, of course!) which is absolutely filled with great workout ideas, weight loss tips, and clean eating recipes.

But, like most of us Pinterest addicts, I end up pinning far more things than I actually have time to try!

So recently I got to thinking that I should make a little more of an effort to actually do some of the workouts that I pin on Pinterest! Here's what I chose to start with:

The fitsugar "Anywhere" Workout!

I've taken this image from Pinterest, originally pinned from fitsugar.com :)

I really loved the look of this workout, because it's something that I can do absolutely anywhere, with very little space required, and when I have very little time available! I also love that this workout helps me to tone up at home, when I don't have time to get to the gym, or when I have a 'walking' exercise day- with this workout and my regular walking, I know that I'm getting an all-over workout!

This workout is one which will seriously tone up your midsection, and will really improve your core strength and will help with lower-body toning too!

Yesterday, I started with Monday's workout, and boy was it hard! I looked at what was required and thought, oh yeah I can totally do that! Turns out my core strength isn't quite as good as I thought!

The two side planks to start with nearly killed me, and I had to make sure I kept an eye on my watch so that I didn't quit early! The regular plank wasn't much better, but I got there in the end, and I could really feel it working! The lunges were great, I could feel the burn! ;) Then I had to look up 'how to do a burpee' on YouTube, because I had no idea what it was!

Turns out the idea is to get down on the floor, flat on your stomach, then jump back up as quickly as possible before jumping up into the air with your arms raised, and doing it all again. Great fun! ;)

I'm now really looking forward to trying out the Tuesday workout later on today! Push-ups... Hmm... I haven't done a push up in MONTHS! Here goes nothing :p

What are some of your favorite workouts that are easy to fit in at home? I'd love to hear some new ideas!

By the by, if you'd like to follow/find me on Pinterest, you can look me up! Just search 'Emma Burns,' and I shouldn't be too hard to find! My user name is emgem707. I'd love to follow you too!

Cleaning Up my Favorite Cookies!

One of the things that I've been most excited about since starting on this clean eating journey has been trying out new recipes! Especially baking recipes ;)

Baking is one of my absolute favorite things to do, especially when I get to eat what I've baked! Only, I always seem to go overboard with the eating part of the process, which isn't exactly conducive to a healthy lifestyle :p

So on Sunday, I decided to have a crack at cleaning up one of my all-time favorite cookie recipes- chocolate chip cookies!

A classic, but I'll never be bored with them!

To clean these up, I knew I would have to replace lots of ingredients like the butter, white flour, and tonnes of sugar. I did a little research (mostly on Pinterest!), and came up with a recipe which I think worked out absolutely deliciously :D

To make these cookies, you'll need:

• 2 cups of rolled oats, or quick-cook oats if you prefer
• 2 really ripe bananas, mashed 
• 2 eggs, whisked in a bowl
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 2 packets of stevia
• 2 tbs of ground almonds (optional- I love the texture and the taste!)
• 1/2 a cup of dark chocolate chips
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda

First, mix together your oats, bananas, eggs, and ground almonds together in a great big bowl

Your oats may appear a little dry at this point, but don't worry about it! As you keep mixing the oats will absorb more of the wet ingredients and will turn out fine. Don't do what I did and add in water! This made my dough become really sticky and hard to roll!

Secondly, add in your baking powder and baking soda and mix thoroughly. This helps the cookies to rise a little, and gives them more of a traditional 'cookie' texture.

Next, add in the good bits! The sugar, stevia, and chocolate chips! Mix the whole lot together, and your batter is all ready!

Line a baking sheet with baking paper, roll out tablespoon-sized balls and spread as many as you can out on the baking sheet. 

Flatten the cookies out a little bit, and then pop them into a 180 degree oven, on 'fan bake'. They won't spread out on the tray at all, so don't worry about that! These cookies will take about 10 minutes to bake, and should be left to cool on a wire rack (if you can wait that long!).

The end result is a delicious, chewy, chocolatey cookie which tastes nearly exactly like a banana chocolate chip muffin! But even better, these cookies are much kinder to your health than a muffin or traditional chocolate chip cookies!

There are so many variations you could make to this recipe! Adding spices, vanilla, grated apple, whatever takes your fancy!

I think next time I'll try mine with some peanut butter added in- yum!

These cookies are high in fibre and protein, and MUCH lower in fat and sugar than traditional chocolate chip cookies! What's not to love??

So you see, eating clean and healthy doesn't mean giving up desert, or missing out on your favorite treats! All it takes is a little thought, and a few clever swaps here and there, any you don't have to miss out on anything!

I'm off to enjoy one of these tasty treats with my evening cup of green tea :)

Hope you all enjoy these cookies as much as I have!

DIY: Sweet Cinnamon Almond Butter!

Perhaps the easiest thing in the world to make!

I kid you not! I had my doubts about how this would turn out, but it took very little effort on my part and almost no time at all!

Totally worth it for the result!

I decided to have a go at making my own almond butter yesterday when I ran out of my jar of store-bought Ceres Organics, and there was NO way I was going to pay up to $14.00 for another 200g jar.

To make your own sweet cinnamon almond butter, all you need is:

• 200g of roasted, unsalted almonds (you could try with raw, or roasted and salted, but I've no idea how it would turn out!)
• 2 packets of stevia
• 1-2 tsp of cinnamon (I used fair trade cinnamon- totally different flavor from what you'd normally find in the supermarket, but I love it!)

First, just throw all of your almonds into a food processor, with a blade attachment put in, and turn on to a low speed.

After 1-2 minutes, your almonds will start to resemble fine breadcrumbs, and will become slightly sticky.

While the food processor is running on low, pop in your stevia and cinnamon, and then turn the processor up to high :)

After 3-4 minutes, your almonds will start to stick together and begin to look like gingerbread dough. Scrape down the sides of the processor with a spatula if you need to at all :)

Give it another 1-2 minutes, and you'll end up with a lovely, thick, almond buttery paste! 

If you like your almond butter thick, then you're all done! But if, like me, you like things to be nice and smooth, let the processor run for another 1-2 minutes, and the almonds will begin to release lots of their natural oils, and the butter will become really smooth and creamy :D

Once you've got the almond butter to the consistency you want, scrape it out of the processor bowl and pop it in an airtight jar, where it will keep for ages!

I chose to put mine in my empty Ceres jar, because recycling is sexy, and good for the planet! ;)

This recipe would be so easy to double, triple, halve, or whatever you need to do! It would also be excellent with additions such as vanilla extract, coconut oil, nutmeg, honey, or anything else you can think of adding!

Processing times will vary depending on your processor- mine isn't that flash, so it takes a little longer than most, but just keep your processor going until you get your almonds to the consistency you want. I promise, it will get there sooner or later! :)

I've eaten this almond butter on my gluten free toast several times since making it yesterday, and it's absolutely delish!

And who would have thought it would be so easy to do??

I'd really love to make this recipe again, and try it out with different flavors thrown in!

What flavors do you love in your nut butters? I'd love to know!

Getting Started with Green Smoothies

The first time I really became aware of these things called 'green smoothies' was when I discovered Kris Carr, who is pretty much the Wonder Woman of green smoothies!

You can check out her blog, KrisCarr.com, right here, I highly recommend it!

Seeing the ingredients going into these smoothies really freaked me out! The kale, the spinach, the cucumbers, the broccoli, the goodness knows what else! All raw, all liquidized, all icky!

(Did I mention I've grown up with an aversion to lots of green veggies? Especially when they're raw!)

So when I saw Kris talking about these, and so many other well-known people in the clean eating 'gang', for whom I have immense respect, I thought they were nuts!

Completely nuts.

But then again, there did seem to be an awful lot of benefits to drinking green smoothies...

Lots of fibre, easy to digest, a huge hit of chlorophyll, really filling, loaded with vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, loads of magnesium, zinc, potassium, great for weight loss, a natural source of energy, a sneaky way to increase your veggie intake, helps with blood purification, decreases inflammation, anti-aging properties... Need I go on??

And then again, they do seem to enjoy them..

Maybe they're actually ok?

Maybe I should just try one?

Yeah.

Ok.

JUST DO IT!!

So this was the thought process which brought me to trying my first ever green smoothie.

I would really recommend this smoothie to anyone who wants to have a go with green smoothies, or who may be looking for an easy way to increase the health benefits of their breakfast.

This is what I call my 'Hulk' smoothie!

You can make it as big, or as small as you like! As loaded, or as simple as you want :D And believe me, this will get you off to such a great start in the morning that you'll be shouting "HULK SMASH!" at everything that gets in your way ;)

For the basic recipe you'll need:

• One medium banana, sliced and frozen
• 1.5 cups of baby spinach (trust me!)
• One to two cups of unsweetened almond milk (depending on how thin/thick you like your smoothies)

That's it! Easy, huh?

Stick the whole lot in a blender, and blend until smooth :)

The basic recipe is tasty, filling, and there's no way you can taste the spinach, I promise! (Believe me, there is NO way I would drink this if I could taste the greens!)

There are no end to the changes you can make to this recipe.

For the version I made in this photo, I added a large tablespoon of peanut butter and two teaspoons of ground flaxseed for added protein, fibre, and healthy fats.

Other great additions include frozen berries (especially blueberries!), almond butter, coconut oil, coconut water, chia seeds, ground LSA, low-fat Greek yoghurt, coconut milk, sliced almonds, raw oats, stevia, cinnamon, walnuts, pure maple syrup, protein powder, spirulina powder, the list goes on and on!

This is such a simple recipe, and once you've enjoyed your first green smoothie you can start getting creative with what you put in, and really tailor it to suit your individual tastes!

I hope this recipe helps to get some of you guys along the road to enjoying green smoothies and great health!

I'd really love to hear how you get on with this recipe, if you love it or (eek!) I've got it totally wrong :p

I'd also love for you to share any green smoothie recipes that you love!

Working Weekend!

My weekend has been incredibly busy so far!

On Friday, it was an early start. I was heading over to my bestie's new house to help her move in :)

I knew I would be in for a few hours of hard work, so I made sure I had a really filling and healthy breakfast which would keep my tummy happy until lunchtime.

Yesterday's choice was a piece of gluten free toast spread with Ceres Organics almond butter (fast becoming a favorite!), and a green 'Hulk' smoothie on the side! I'll post up the recipe for this smoothie soon. Peanut butter lovers, you'll be keen on this! Also anyone who's just starting out with green smoothies :)

After a few hours scrubbing and cleaning (the last tenants left the house in a right state!), we went out for lunch. My lovely bestie shouted lunch for myself and another friend who was helping out :)

I chose a small pack of chicken teriyaki and avocado sushi, and then a mango-ey, citrus-ey smoothie (dairy free! Yay!). The smoothie was absolutely to die for, and I could have drunk much more!

After another half hour or so of cleaning, I had to head off and get ready for work.

I have a love/hate relationship with my Friday night shift. I work from 3.30 until 9.15pm, and it's usually really quiet! Not to mention, it's work on a FRIDAY night. And there's usually a list a mile long of things that my manager wants me to get done! Not all of them are straightforward, either (like last night, I had to pull things down from the ceiling using a massive ladder, but I still nearly fell off once or twice!) However, I do get to work with one of my favorite co-workers, which is always nice :) 

The other reason Fridays are a bit awkward is that I never know what to do about food! Last night, I decided to keep it simple and take a few snacks with me!

Carrot sticks and salsa, and a packet of Sunsweet prunes for a clean sweet treat :) 

I absolutely love those snack packs, they're only 70 calories, and are really sweet and tasty!

This kept me going until I got home after 9.30 and had a sort of 'supper' :) A piece of gluten free toast, with a scraping of peanut butter and a suggestion of strawberry jam, a mandarin, and a Lindt lindor ball- so delicious! I always have a treat on Friday nights, but I'm trying to keep                                                               it portion controlled. Good start, huh? :)

Best of all, last night I came home to a roaring fire, courtesy of the manbeast!

Lucky me :D

It was so cosy, and the best way to warm up after a long day of hard work!

Today has been full-on too! Work from 8.30 until 4.00, a little birthday present shopping, and home again :)

It's the manbeast's Grandad's 80th birthday bash tonight! And I mean bash! He's hired out a local theatre, and has invited around 120 people! He's a musician and a musical director by trade, so he's hosting a concert filled with piano pieces, and a range of singers joining him! Yours truly will be one of them!

I'll be singing 'Yesterday Once More' by the Carpenters, and I'm seriously nervous! It should be really great though! It's such a good song, and the night will be really awesome anyway :)

So I'm off to get ready now! We have to be there in an hour! 

Now, all I need to worry about is whether my dress shows too much cleavage for an 80th birthday party....

Hmm...

Can't ask the manbeast what he thinks ;)

Just Like a Holiday...

Only not quite as good!

So my parents are away at the moment- in Singapore!

The lucky duo are spending a long weekend over there, and won't be back until Tuesday next week (hopefully with a few pressies for my sisters and I, but that's a story for another day ;D)

While this is absolutely lovely for them, it does mean that the manbeast and I had to spent last night house/babysitting at my parents place last night.

Their house is a beautifully modern single-story place on a lifestyle block in what is essentially the middle of nowhere, so it wasn't too much of a challenge to do the house-sitting part :p

As for the babysitting part, we were keeping my youngest sister company (she's 17, and MUCH taller than I am, so there wasn't all that much sitting going on :p), because she hates being on her own at night. I can relate! A year or so ago, when the manbeast spent the week in Auckland for work, I went to stay at my parents place. That said, we live next door to a drug dealer and across the road from members of a well-known gang... So I can kinda justify it ;)

So my parents' house is an absolutely lovely place to stay, but I had the worst sleep last night! I just kept waking up every hour or so and I'm super sleepy now!

In order to remedy the situation, I jumped out of bed and made myself a smoothie, my favorite! This one was made with a banana, some frozen blueberries, 2 cups of coconut water and a little almond milk, all courtesy of mum and dad's pantry ;) Don't look at me like that- free food is the best kind of food! Don't act like y'all don't agree with me ;)

I tried to take a picture of my smoothie for you guys, but the camera on my phone was playing up! It was doing it yesterday too, but seems to have fixed itself now. All you need to know is that my smoothie was tall, purple, frosty and delicious! So instead of today's breakfast, take a look at what I had yesterday:

 A delicious Mahana Red apple (just 1/2), chopped up and served with 2 tbs of lite Greek yoghurt, 2 tsp of ground flax and 1 tbs of almonds, and a piece of gluten free toast and almond butter! Totally delicious and filling.

Yesterday's lunch was leftover roast veggie salad, and before heading to rehearsals I had the other 1/2 of an apple spread with a little peanut butter and sprinkled with chia seeds. This was at 4ish, and I didn't end up getting back to my parents' place until 9pm! So nothing to have in between. Talk about starving!

When I got there, the manbeast and little sister had made a chili con carne with brown rice and lots of cheese. While this wasn't exactly clean eating, I wasn't going to complain! Especially that late at night, when someone else had cooked ;) So I avoided the cheese entirely, had a small serve of the chili, and sprinkled a little rice on top. I'll tell ya what, that hit the spot nicely!


I've just dropped my sister at school (much to her disgust), and I'm about to go and jump in the shower and get ready to head into town. I'm meeting a friend for lunch, who I haven't seen in ages, so that'll be nice :) He wants to go to a food court and "cheat on his diet," but there's no way I'm joining him in that! I know there's a great sushi place there called Maki Mono, so I'll be treating myself to one of their brown rice veggie sushi rolls. Nom!

I'm thinking I'll have a piece of toast with almond butter before I head off too, since I'm starting to feel my tummy rumble!

After lunch I'll be heading to a university class, so I'll take some apple slices to keep me going until I get home at about 5pm tonight :)

I can't wait to pop my iPod on when I get into town, and go for a walk to meet my friend! Hopefully that will distract me from the freezing cold weather we're having today!

Hope y'all are having a great day!