Shaken or Stirred (Juice Recipe)

Now that I've decided to start training for a fitness competition next year, I am being extra careful to make sure that my nutrition is well rounded with lots of organic/wild protein and raw veggies. I've been really mindful of what I eat for the past year and don't eat many breads or sweets, so the only big difference this far is trying to get enough protein in my diet. I tend to gravitate more toward vegetarian dishes, but I have really enjoyed eating more wild salmon, tilapia, and bison meat.

Even though I haven't had to cut a lot of sweets and carbs out of my diet, because I don't eat them in the first place, I do have to be mindful of what I'm drinking on the occasional weekend when I'm hanging out with friends. Even though a glass or two of wine or a Guinness may not be a huge problem now, it will be a problem as I start to get closer to my competition date.

So, instead of sipping on an empty calorie, high sugar/high carb alcoholic drink, I will be enjoying a freshly juiced virgin cocktail at home.

Try my most recent virgin green martini...serve shaken or chilled and stirred :o).

Recipe:

1/2 Cucumber
1 or 1/2 an apple
1 celery stalk
Half of lemon
Small handful of parsley

Place lemon and parsley in between cut pieces of apple, or cucumber, to ensure the lemon and parsley are pushed all the way through your juicer. Place the juice in a container that allows you to fill with juice to the top (this eliminates any air inside the container/jar from oxygenating the juice and causing it to lose nutrients) and chill for 30 minutes before drinking.


Train Hard and Stay Positive,
Meg

Glass Half Full

I found some really great quotes that encouraged me and made me smile, so I wanted to share them with you (Also check out the Green Lemonade video recipe I included at the end)...


"Happiness is an attitude.  We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong.  The amount of work is the same."  ~Francesca Reigler

"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." ~Mary Engelbreit

"Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts.  It's what you do with what you have left."  ~Hubert Humphrey

"So often time it happens, we all live our life in chains, and we never even know we have the key."  ~The Eagles, "Already Gone"

"I've decided that the stuff falling through the cracks is confetti and I'm having a party!"  ~Betsy Cañas Garmon

"The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people."  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


There are definitely seasons as a person journeys through loss, and I know that it takes quite a while before you go through a season where you notice the sun again. It's rather dark for quite some time, but I have seen for myself that slowly and steadily little rays of sunshine reach your heart and warm you for moments at a time. Eventually you find a smile on your face as you remember a special memory with your loved one, or you realize that something during your day made you feel just a little bit of happieness. Days go by and sometimes without you noticing, your heart becomes a little lighter and makes a tiny bit of room inside for hope to move in. There are still hard days and many unknown challenges ahead on your journey, but as you continue to place one foot in front of the other you will find that you become a little stronger with each step. The rest of the journey's challenge is to make the choice to only look at the thoughts and memories that help make you stronger and allow you to continue forward. Each effort we make to look at life with hope begins to slowly heal the heart and moves bitterness and unforgiveness out of the way so that grace, love, and strength can lead us through the journey. Sometimes the only way to begin to look at life in a positive way is to start with your glass. Is it half full or half empty? Every little thought is a stepping stone to being able to look at life with a happy and hope filled heart.


To fill your glass with a yummy fresh juice check out this video recipe to make Green Lemonade that is full of great vitamins and detoxers for you body.

Cheers to living life with a glass always half full,
Meg