New Year Reboot — Day 3 Hydration

This is the last day of Phase 1. Tomorrow we move into the detox part of our plan, which will be 100% plant based. We’ll keep with the rules we’ve formed so far, but we will be excluding all animal proteins — eggs/whites and meats/seafood.

If you’ve made any of the meals containing meat this week and have leftovers, label them and stick them in the freezer for later. Good news for anyone who made a giant batch of spicy black bean soup — this is something that you can continue to eat for the next phase! Gosh you’re so smart :)

Cooked chicken will last about a week in the refrigerator, cooked fish 3–5 days.

I’ve heard from a few of you that you’ve been experiencing some headaches. This shouldn’t be happening unless you’ve gone from a pot of coffee a day down to the 1–2 cups (worry not, this should subside today/tomorrow) so that leads me to believe we might need to dig into Rule #1 — water consumption. You should be drinking at least half of your body weight in ounces of water every single day. Meaning, if you weigh 160, you are drinking 80oz of water — and even more if you sweat — per day. Lemon water counts. Sparkling water counts. Herbal tea counts. But another great, and beneficial, way to jazz up regular water is by adding a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (acv) and a few drops of stevia (if you like). *Recipe to follow*

Acv has gotten a lot of press in the past few years *Cures cancer! Heals arthritis! Rub in on plantar warts!* , but not all the claims are legit.

Here’s a few that are;

1. Apple cider vinegar has been shown to lower your blood glucose levels post-meal. Which is a great tool to have on hand as keeping your blood sugar even and avoiding spikes is one way to steer clear of Type II diabetes and weight gain.
2. Raw, fermented acv with the “mother” (that mess of stuff floating at the bottom of the bottle) contains natural probiotics and antioxidants.
3. When combined with diet and exercise, acv has been shown to have a modest effect on weight loss.

Here’s a yummy little recipe to try out. It’s perfect after meals, especially if you are currently fighting off a post-meal sugar craving!

Berry Lime-aid Sipper

8 cups water

2 caffeine-free “fruity” tea bags (blueberry, cherry and Wild Berry Zinger are amazing)

1/4c apple cider vinegar

1/4c fresh lime or lemon juice (I like lime)

10–15 drops of Stevia

Boil 4 cups of water and pour over tea bags. Let steep 5 minutes, then pour in remaining 4 cups (room temp) water. Once the tea has come to room temperature, remove the tea bags, add the acv, citrus and Stevia. Give it a good stir, adjust sweetness if desired and pour over ice!

**If you are drinking lemon/lime and/or acv water regularly, please use a straw. The acid in these will erode tooth enamel when consumed in excess. And, seriously, how sucky would that be to get cavities when NOT consuming sugar? Ah-no-thank-you.

Please send me an email and check in! There are a bunch of you I haven’t heard from *crickets* and I’d love to know how it’s going and if I can help.

Check out our Facebook page for ongoing posts and conversations.

Have a great day #3, team!