7 things to think about before starting a juice cleanse/fast

This post is a follow-on from the free 3 day juice fast menu I posted a few weeks ago.  If you missed it, you can access it here.  A few of you emailed me to ask me to do a post on things to think about when considering a juice fast.  There are a few things you need to be aware of which I have listed below, but the main thing I would advise is to “listen to your body!”.  If your body is severely reacting to your cleanse, then stop it or ease back on the juices to half of what you are currently consuming and then ease back into what you were doing before.  There will always be a few mild side effects to a juice cleanse (like headaches and irritability) because your body is detoxifying amongst other things, but the side effects should not be debilitating and if they are stop or ease back immediately.  Here are some tips:-

Many different ways to cook with quinoa & tips to make your recipes “flop free”

I know I bang on about quinoa quite a lot, but it really is a truly wonderful, beautiful and versatile grain and the best part about it is that it is super quick and easy to whip up and it is a complete protein, unlike most other plant sources of protein which don’t contain all 8 essential amino acids.  You also get tons of iron and fiber in a serving of quinoa without the extra calories (this is important for those wanting to lose weight).  The thing is that I often get people saying to me that they don’t know how to make it taste interesting, all they do is boil it up in a pot and lay it on a plate like a side of rice (yuck!).  That is possibly the worst thing to do if you are trying to get your husband or friend or whomever you are cooking for to like quinoa.  So to save you from looks of disgust from your wannabe ‘MasterChef Judges’, here are 3 tips  and 10 quinoa recipes for you to try to make them come back for more:-

My top 3 anti-inflammatory tips

A few of you have asked me to do a post on anti-inflammatory foods, your wish is my command!  So why should I be worried about whether or not I lead an anti-inflammatory life by paying attention to my diet and lifestyle?  Well here is the thing.  There are 2 types of inflammation.  The first is painful inflammation, which usually shows up in the body with pain, swelling and redness.  This is the one you are probably thinking about when you read the words ‘inflammation’.  Secondly, there is silent inflammation, which attacks at a cellular level and isn’t associated with pain. Painful inflammtion hurts, but silent inflammation kills.  The underlying cause of chronic illness and aging could be increased inflammation.  Read on to find out tips to lower the inflammation in your body:-

A f.r.e.e 3 day juice cleanse menu

I was first introduced to juicing 8 years ago when I was living in London.  I bought a book by an inspirational man called Jason Vale (aka The Juicemaster).  I read it from cover to cover and it simply and effortlessly explained the benefits of juicing, why a daily vegetable juice should be part of your everyday diet and included many recipes too.  According to Dr. Joel Fuhrman, author of The Super Immunity Diet, juicing helps unleash the natural healing power of the body. Juicing floods your system with powerful nutrients and antioxidants.  Since my London days, the world of juicing and using vegetable juices to cleans and detoxify the body has exploded.  Everywhere I turn I see a juice cleanse or another book that has been written on the benefits of juicing.  So if it’s supposed to be so good for you, what are the benefits and where do you start?  Read on to find out more.

Thoughtful Thursday: you have a choice

Remember, whatever situation you may find yourself in today, you always have a choice as to how you react to that situation and what attitude you chose to adopt.  That is some of the best news ever!  Isn’t it great that we have the ability to choose how we react to situations, therefore the situation doesn’t control us, we can control the situation!?  Be conscious of this next time you find yourself in a situation that could go the wrong way and choose to react in a way that makes you the better person and one that is in alignment with your own values.