Everyday Miracles

Day 2 – Everyday Miracles

Whoo! Today was a toughy…. So many meetings, so much stress. All. Day. Long. I’m pretty sure I managed to eat every 2-3 hours and I focused on water big time, but I didn't get to go to Hot Yoga. I did however walk for two 15 minute stretches, which on a day like today is a small miracle in itself.

My Day 1 entry was focused on getting rid of those nasty toxins and a really important element of that is drinking lots and lots of water.

We all already know how important it is to drink lots of water, but in case you forgot. Here are 6 benefits of drinking water from the webmd website:

1.     Drinking Water Helps Maintain the Balance of Body Fluids. Your body is composed of about 60% water. The functions of these bodily fluids include digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature.

2.       Water Can Help Control Calories. For years, dieters have been drinking lots of water as a weight loss strategy. While water doesn't have any magical effect on weight loss, substituting it for higher calorie beverages can certainly help.

3.      Water Helps Energize Muscles. Cells that don't maintain their balance of fluids and electrolytes shrivel, which can result in muscle fatigue.

4.      Water Helps Keep Skin Looking Good. Your skin contains plenty of water, and functions as a protective barrier to prevent excess fluid loss. 

5.     Water Helps Your Kidneys. Body fluids transport waste products in and out of cells. The main toxin in the body is blood urine nitrogen, a water-soluble waste that is able to pass through the kidneys to be excreted in the urine.

6.       Water Helps Maintain Normal Bowel Function. Adequate hydration keeps things flowing along your gastrointestinal tract and prevents constipation. When you don't get enough fluid, the colon pulls water from stools to maintain hydration -- and the result is constipation.

To read more from WebMD about the importance of drinking water, click away: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/6-reasons-to-drink-water

I like to focus on everyday gratitude and I recently read a really awesome blog post. The post itself was about being grateful for what we do have and the author made a really pointed, somewhat sarcastic but effective, statement that comes to mind while thinking about water:

“THIS CRAZY THING IS A WATER FAUCET. I pull this lever and CLEAN WATER POURS OUT EVERY TIME, DAY OR NIGHT. 780 million people worldwide (one in nine) lack access to clean water. Mamas everywhere spend their entire day walking miles to and from wells just for a single bucket of this- and I have it right here at my fingertips.  I’m almost embarrassed to say that we also have one of these in each of our two bathrooms, and one in the front yard with which to WASH OUR FEET.  We use clean drinking water to WASH OUR FEET. Holy bounty”.

If you haven’t read it already, you can read the rest of her blog post here: http://momastery.com/blog/2014/08/11/give-liberty-give-debt/

Today, so far I've managed to drink 3 Liters of water. A small miracle that was available so easily and did so much for my general health and well-being. The 24 Day Challenge recommends drinking about a gallon of water per day with lemon if possible to flush the toxins out of the body.

Today, if my memory serves me correctly:

I ate every 2-3 hours and drank as much water with lemon as I could manage.

Advocare products:

• ·         Catalyst
• ·         Spark
• ·         Fiber10 Drink
• ·         Meal replacement shake
• ·         Herbal Cleanse Supplement Packet

Food:

• ·         Breakfast:
• o   Meal replacement shake
• ·         Morning Snack:
• o   Hard-boiled egg
• o   Banana
• ·         Lunch:
• o   5 oz grilled chicken
• o   2 tbsp of hummus
• o   Cucumber slices
• ·         Afternoon Snack:
• o   ¼ cup of sunflower seeds
• o   Green apple
• ·         Dinner:
• o   5 oz ground turkey with taco seasoning
• o   Diced tomatoes
• o   Salsa

In honor of surviving today, and eating foods that I forgot I loved, here's a little food porn. My lunch... it was delicious :)

If you are interested in doing your own 24 Day Challenge you can order it from the Advocare Website at: https://www.advocare.com/120531603/default.aspx, or of course I am available to answer any questions you have or point you to the right resource.