I read this in US Magazine - - I wonder about the validity of it?

When Pink needed to get into bikini shape for her beachside wedding (to Carey Hart) and upcoming tour, she turned to fitness guru Gregory Joujon-Roche. (Author of this month’s One Body, One Life, he also helped buff up Brad Pitt for Troy.) He gives Us the rundown on his star-tested 11-day cleanse. “You’ll lose ten pounds,” Joujon-Roche promises. “And it’ll stay off.”

First thing in the morning:
Prepare your two cleansing drinks, the Master Cleanse and the Liver Flush (which, together, will help rid your liver and kidneys of built up toxins). Mix each in a blender for 20 to 40 seconds, and strain if desired.

The Master Cleanse:
Juice of 1 lemon;
32 ounces of spring water;
1 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup or honey;
1 pinch ground clove or 1/2 teaspoon of whole clove

The Liver Flush:
1/2 of a peeled lemon;
2 peeled oranges;
1 oz. olive oil;
3 sprigs parsley;
1 pinch ginger, black pepper, cayenne and ground clove

Once both drinks are prepared:
1) Drink the entire Liver Flush
2) Then drink 8 ounces of Master Cleansers
3) Take 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C
4) Take 100 milligrams of Magnesium
(Sip the remaining Master Cleanser throughout the day)

Mid-morning snack:
Nosh on 5 to 10 raw almonds and half of an apple or pear.

Thirty minutes before lunch:
Drink 8 ounces of fresh juice — 80 percent vegetable juice, 20 percent fruit juice. Take another 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C and 100 milligrams of Magnesium.

Lunch:
Have a big vegetable salad, with dark greens, and four ounces of fish or chicken. For a quick, healthy dressing, mix lemon juice and olive oil.

Afternoon snack:
Eat another 5 to 10 raw almonds and half of an apple or pear. (Or skip the fruit in favor of 1 cup sliced carrots, cucumbers or celery.)

Thirty Minutes Before Dinner:
Drink eight more ounces of juice (keep the ratio 80 percent veggie to 20 percent fruit). Take one more round of supplements: 1,000 milligrams vitamin C and 100 milligrams of magnesium.

Dinner:
Eat another big vegetable salad with dark greens. (No red peppers or tomatoes!) If you’re still hungry, have more juice and 5 to 10 more almonds.

You just gotta wonder about drinking something called “Liver Flush” and “Master Cleanse” /cringe

Is any other food or drink reported to have as many health benefits as green tea? The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since ancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches to depression. In her book Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life, Nadine Taylor states that green tea has been used as a medicine in China for at least 4,000 years.

Today, scientific research in both Asia and the west is providing hard evidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent. University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.

To sum up, here are just a few medical conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to be helpful:

cancer
rheumatoid arthritis
high cholesterol levels
cariovascular disease
infection
impaired immune function

What makes green tea so special?

The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.

Since it is getting a little warm out here latey - today, I decided to make a jug of iced green tea. I filled an empty milk carton with cold wated… put approximately 12 herbal/organic green tea bags in (leaving the strings hanging out) - then put the milk jug cap back on. I set it outside in a sunny spot at noon, and brought it back inside at about 5pm.

Wala! Pour it over ice and you have a perfect refreshing iced green tea beverage. It’s good — and good FOR you!

I thought I would share info about one of my favorite products of ALL TIME! Disclaimer: NO - I don’t get compensated for this - - this is not an advertising ploy (notice, no link to anything?). Anyways - Crystal Light On The Go! I buy this stuff by the CASE! My favorite flavor is the “Raspberry Ice” one.

They are so perfect! Since I always have a bottle of water in my hand all through the day - these little packets give me some nice diversity over just regular water. They come in a box with 10 packages - - the packages are just the perfect size to rip open and pour straight into your bottle of water. Recap it. Shake it. And go!

5 calories a bottle. No sugar. No carbs.

Perfect! I’ve had four bottles of regular water, 2 cups of hot green tea and two bottles of my Crystal Light On The Go. I like to vary my liquids throughout the day so I don’t get bored.

Life’s little pleasures, ya know?

I officially have one month to go before I leave for NY to get married.

The good news is that when I went to NY last month and had my next-to-last final dress fitting, I lost a full 3 inches around my waist… causing them to have to take the dress IN!!

Trust me, I’ve been having bad dreams about them having to let the dress OUT!

I have my final-final fitting on June 18th - - that’s when they’ll make the FINAL adjustments and inform me that I cannot, under any circumstances, lose or gain any weight at all until the BIG DAY on the 24th.

No pressure, really.

So, looking back over the past 6 months, what did I do?

• LOTS of water! TONS of water! Bottles and Bottles of water every single day. Even when I thought I had enough water - I had more water. To the point that now I feel like I’m dehydrating if I don’t have at LEAST 6-8 bottles of water in me
• Lots of walking - - mostly on the treadmill, sometimes outside. Every day. I didn’t walk at a really fast pace.. I kept it mostly between 2.5 - 3.0 MPH - - but at a slight incline, as well.
• Abs, Abs, Abs, Abs!! Mostly on the bowflex - - but some floor ab exercises, as well. I usually did these exercises 3-4 times per week - - every other day
• Looking back over what I ate the most of? Lots of fish - - Tilapia, Salmon, Cod and Tuna. And lots of chicken. Very little red meat and lots of veggies - - broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower.
• I supplemented with Flax Seed Oil and Green Tea.
• I snacked a lot on Dannon’s Light and Fit Fruit Smoothies, SouthBeat Diets Protien snack bars, Myoplex protein shakes, dried apricots, fat free vanilla yogurt and fruit/granola
• Tried REALLY HARD to stay away from Starbucks and my favorite 350 calorie heaven-in-a-cup

All in all - my goal was to lose 50lbs total by mid-June. I’m not there yet, but then neither is June, eh?

I have lost half of it - 25lbs. I estimate losing another 5-8 between now and mid-June if I stay on track - - which will put me 20lbs shy of my goal. But the strange thing is - - I’ve lost a heck of a lotta inches and dropped 4 sizes completely. So, while I’ve lost only 1/2 the weight… and I’m still not a size 8 (rather a size 12 - - used to be 16).. I’m still very happy, overall.

I think during the two weeks I’m in NY for my wedding - - followed by the 2 weeks I’m in South America on my honeymoon… I’ll probably (definitley) relax my dieting quite a bit - - and I’m ok with putting a little back on during that time (although, scuba diving and snorkeling are good exercise!)… I’ll be back at it again when I get home… still chasing that ellusive size 8!

Thought I’d would join in the Thursday Thirteen fun this week. It’s my first one - so be nice

In my diet and exercise plan - I find that I have certain weaknesses that are really hard for me to combat. Watching my sodium (salt) intake happens to be one of them. Sometime, as much as I want to drop the weight - I just can’t walk away from the salty crispies.

What have I tried to do when I lust for potato chips? I have a few - - but not many.

The following list are thirteen salty snacks that are 100-calorie portions that might just help the salty crunch craving:

1. Potato Chips - 12
2. Tortilla Chips - 8
3. Baked Tortilla Chips - 10
4. Corn Chips - 15
5. Rye Wafers (such as Ryvita) - 4
6. Wheat Thins (reduced fat) - 15
7. Ritz Bits - 25
8. Triscuits - 4
9. Pretzels - 20 thin sticks
10. Microwave Popcorn (butter flavor) 1 cup (a handful)
11. Rice cakes - 2
12. Peanut butter filled crackers - 2 sandwiches
13. Popcorn cakes - 2

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Information in this list has been obtained from the Reader’s Digest: Change One Diet book.

Thought I’d would join in the Thursday Thirteen fun this week.

In last Thurday’s Thirteen - I covered salty snack solutions for when you’re on a diet. In the discussion from last week’s post, Jo left a comment asking about thirteen SWEET snacks. Don’t we all have sweet cravings?? I sure do - it’s one of my biggest downfalls (even bigger than salty!)

So, here we go - 13 sweet 100 calorie snack solutions:

1. Cracker Jack - 1/3 cup
2. M&Ms - plain, 30
3. M&Ms, with peanuts - 10
4. Caramel-peanut chocolate bar, trick-or-treat size - 1
5. Chocolate and wafer bar, trick-or-treat size - 2
6. Flaky peanut butter chocolate bart, trick-or-treat size - 2
7. Mini Rice Cakes, caramel - 10
8. Jelly beans - 25
9. Licorice - 3 twists
10. Chocolate covered raisins - 20
11. Malted Milk Balls - 7
12. Yogurt Covered raisins - 2 tablespoons
13. Hard Candy - 4 pieces

Don’t forget good ol’ fruit - grapes, apples, oranges, banannas, melon and pineapple to name a few. Usually a 1/2 cup of one of those will give you a good 100 cal. solution. Why isn’t fruit unlimited? It’s good - and good for you - but the natural sugar content of fruit gives it more calories than most vegetables.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Information in this list has been obtained from the Reader’s Digest: Change One Diet book.