A few things come to mind when I read this article  about Liquid Fasting Cleansing Diets.

1) Consider the potential risks associated with a liquid fasting cleanse.
Prolonged liquid-only (especially if it is a water only fast) fasting cleanses should be limited when done without medical supervision for health and safely reasons.  You DO NOT want to reach a dangerous state of ketosis without medical supervision- although I think drinking PLENTY of fruit juices through out the course of a day is probably safe for a bit, but don't get forget to consume good 'ole H2O and dehydrate yourself!

2) Perhaps a Medically Supervised Cleanse is what you need!
This article brought back memories of my medically supervised 9-day water-only fast 🙂.   More on that in a future blog post!
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3) Consider factoring in Intermittent Fasting into the equation. 
Intermittent fasting is a great and safer way to allow your digestive system to rest and to continue burn calories throughout the day safely!  In my opinion, intermittent fasting is an effective way to burn calories with limited risk of getting medically "hurt"- although ALWAYS check with a physician before starting anything like this.  Some folks shouldn't go hours without eating based on any medications they are taking, etc.  Based on personal experience, I believe intermittent fasting can produce long term and sustained weight loss results.

What is intermittent fasting? Intermittent fasting is all about allowing your body to burn calories longer.  When we rest at night our bodies burn 50% fat and 50% carbohydrates. Intermittent fasting is about prolonging the amount of time we allow our bodies to do this....so, not eating your first meal until 10 AM for example.  It's OK not to eat breakfast!

If you've heard the term Intermittent cardio fasting this is just plugging some cardio exercise in during that time you are not eating in the morning!
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I'd love to hear from you!  Have you ever followed through with a liquid cleansing diet?  How did it go?  Did you do it alone or have a buddy to go through it with you?  What did you drink?  What were your results?  How did you feel before, during, and after your cleanse?

​- Allison

Prepared a bread-less sandwich yesterday for the girls...the bread? Boston lettuce, although they ate it with tortilla chips for a snack yesterday. Ingredients? Well, I'll share that in a moment, but it was a hit...and then it wasn't ?.  Both of my 5 year olds both claimed it was too sweet. Darn it!  I wasn't going for sweet, but I think reducing the amount of raspberry vinaigrette will help.  Actually using lemon pepper to season it like the recipe calls for rather than substituting random Mrs. Dash mixes because I didn't have any lemon pepper on hand will help I'm certain too.

Anyhow, I'll know for next time! What have you prepared for your kiddos that they liked and then turned around and stopped liking?

Avocado Chicken Salad (makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:
2 cups organic chicken cooked, diced (I just boiled mine)
1 large avocado, diced
1 rib celery, diced
2 hard-boiled eggs, crumbled
4 tbsp raspberry vinaigrette 
lemon pepper seasoning
6 Boston lettuce cups

Instructions:
Toss chicken, avocado, and celery in a large mixing bowl.  Add the eggs.  Mix in the vinaigrette and season to taste with lemon-pepper.  Serve in Boston lettuce cups.  

adapted from Diets for Healthy Healing by Dr. Linda Page
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It's not often that I have the opportunity to grab a meal at Whole Foods since there's not one near where we live. But TODAY I did! Find out what I selected from the lunch buffet and why I chose to veer away from the kale salad.

I've done some reflecting and know that I am often challenged with putting things off for a later date. You know that poem by Dennis Waitley called Someday Isle? Well, I often find myself falling into the someday I'll trap and those things I said I'd do end up getting pushed to the side. Can you relate to this in any areas in your own life?

Ok, so I'll admit I'm not what I wouldn't call myself an all-around procrastinator. In other words, I don't procrastinate in every area in my life. But there are specific areas that come to mind. One painfully obvious one is folding clean laundry. Today, my mom offered to help fold clothes for me. She asked if there was a basket that she could put them in once they were folded. My response, "All the baskets are occupied...with clean clothes." I KNOW I'm not the only one who can't stand putting clean clothes away.

I am seriously open to any ideas that you may have found that works to help stay on top of this stuff. PLEASE leave a comment below with your ideas. This morning I finally downloaded the Fly Lady app on my phone. According to my mom, one of my sisters, and a couple of friends. This lady apparently is supposed to offer me the answer to ALL of my homemaking maintenance problems. I'll give it a shot and see how it goes. Oh, the girls have to put their own clothes away, so that's one portion of the equation that is someone else's responsibility. Plus, recently, Brynn (both girls are 5 years old), has been spotted leaning head first into the washing machine, pulling clothes out, and throwing them into the dryer! I was ecstatic!! She was trying to help lighten my load and I acknowledged her efforts, encouraged her, and helped her complete the task.

Another area I struggle with, but am mostly cured of, (I diagnosed myself) is thinking I'm more creative when it comes to crafts than I really am. Ha!! Just a few weeks ago I was telling a friend who's amazing at refinishing furniture that I bought a $10 piece that I'll need her accountability and guidance to do something with. I also gave her some of my crafting history- I've been known to buy crafting materials in the past that never get used. Well, at least not for their intended purpose. That $10 piece was the first crafting idea I paid into in quite a while and it still looks just like it did when I made the purchase.

More recently, as our twins have gotten older, I find myself looking for the 'perfect' solution to our need for a chore/responsibility chart that works. When they were smaller the wooden Melissa and Doug met that need. But it seemed like they just became disinterested in it over time. The little multi-colored magnets with smiley faces with "You're Amazing", "Great Job", and other motivational sayings on them just appeared to have lost their effectiveness, until a couple of months ago when Piper began asking when we'd start using the chart again. I believe children really do desire structure and responsibility. I also believe that, as parents we must provide our children with them. The challenge I face is how to make it happen in a way that is fun and interesting for them. I'm probably over thinking it. Ok, I AM over thinking it. I realize now that the most important thing is to do something; anything.
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It was Piper's question that pushed me to finally do something! I dug out a couple of pieces of laminating paper, pulled out the list of tasks the girls need to accomplish before school that Brynn took the initiative to draw up on poster board, and got to work. I have a few more things I need to do to finalize the chart, but at least now they have a start point. Not perfect, but at least I DID something! I'm on the road to recovering from my procrastination habit! Woot, woot!!!

Heres something I'm pretty proud of! Some of you might be thinking, I draw up these types of responsibility charts in my sleep or even blindfolded with BOTH arms tied behind my back! Well, we aren't all that talented, so bear with me as I celebrate my efforts. I decided we needed some sort of structure while the girls were out of school on Christmas and New Year's vacation. The chart above is what I came up with. It wasn't perfect and we didn't follow it perfectly, but we used it AND the girls enjoyed placing their stickers over the chores/responsibilities they completed and I enjoyed knowing that it was working!

The only thing, I hadn't figured out is if their efforts should be rewarded somehow or not. Then, yesterday I had an idea! Tally up their individual stickers and those would equate to the number of Chuck E. Cheese tokens they both earned! It was an ingenious idea! I can't tell you the last time we'd gone to Chuck E. Cheese, so the girls were excited to go!