WIN a PERSONALLY SIGNED COPY of Food 2.0: Secrets from the Chef Who Fed Google!

Whether you’ve been participating in our clean eating principles* with the 30-Day Challenge, or you’ve been following along, learning and implementing just a few of the principles, we think it’s time for everyone to have a little FUN!

During the August Challenge, we learned that everyone loved sharing clean recipes!  The more sharing there was - the better!

So, beginning Monday, October 1st, Ali n Marn Living is kicking off its first-ever COOL, CLEAN RECIPE CONTEST!

3 WINNERS will WIN a PERSONALLY SIGNED COPY of Food 2.0: Secrets from the Chef Who Fed Google, by Chef Charlie Ayers.

Chef Charlie Ayers ‘first made a name for himself by catering for the Grateful Dead and other bands around the San Francisco area.  In 1999, he was hired by Google to feed the employees a lunch that would have them back at their computer screens in the afternoon, full of energy and creativity.’  The Google canteen, Charlie’s Cafe, very quickly became an institution in the Silicon Valley - serving restaurant-quality, Earth-friendly, ‘brainfood’.  Clean eating!

In Food 2.0, he outlines the basics on how the right foods can transform your mind and body, and then teaches you how to stock your kitchen with the healthiest foods available. Raw, organic, and fermented is Charlie’s mantra, which is reflected in more than 90 easy-to-prepare recipes, whether it s a Kick-start Breakfast, a Power Lunch, or a Light, Bright Dinner.   

Contest timeframe: October 1-31, 2012.  Recipes will be reviewed and judged, and 3 winners will be notified on Facebook and Twitter on November 15th.

How to WIN: Recipes will be judged by Ali, Marn & Chef Charlie Ayers using the following criteria:

1.            From the photo, the dish looks like something we want to eat!

2.            The recipe is easy for others to recreate in their own kitchens!

3.            The recipe leverages clean eating principles – whole, real, organic, chemical-free, GMO-free foods (for tips, see the 30-Day Clean Eating Challenge Guidelines and Shopping Tips links below), and is nutrient dense!

Follow these steps: 

STEP 1: LIKE Ali n Marn Living on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/OrganicExperiment

STEP 2: On the Ali n Marn Facebook Page, join the October Cool, Clean Recipe Event, and upload a photo of your dish with your recipe detail.  It can be any kind of dish – entrée, appetizer, dessert – that you would want to share with others!

STEP 3: You may enter more than 1 recipe during the contest timeframe.


And there’s a chance to WIN A FOURTH BOOK! 

Ask your friends to participate!  The person who helps drive the most traffic to Ali n Marn Living on Facebook by October 31st will also win a copy of Charlie’s book - right in time for the holidays!

Here’s how: Promote the contest to all of your friends. 

To make things easy, COPY THIS INTO YOUR FACEBOOK and TWITTER feeds:  “Do you love Clean Eating and Creating Great Recipes?  Just in time for the holidays, win a personally signed book from Celebrity Chef Charlie Ayers by participating in the October Cool, Clean Recipe Contest at Ali n Marn Living.  Simply LIKE Ali n Marn and go to the October Clean Cool, Clean Recipe Event, and post: “I love clean eating too! (your name here) sent me!””

As an example, if I invite my friend, she likes Ali n Marn Living on Facebook, comes to the contest event area, and writes, “I love clean eating too!  Ali sent me!”

He or she who drives the most traffic to the contest will win the FOURTH BOOK, PERSONALLY SIGNED BY CHEF CHARLIE, TO YOU!

For more info about clean eating, feel free to download some of the following resources:

Ali n Marn 30-Day Clean Eating Challenge Guidelines* (these can also be found in the ABOUT section of Ali n Marn on Facebook): https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D8154580_859_626084430

Ali n Marn Clean Eating Shopping Tips: https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D8154580_859_628981573

Most importantly, HAVE FUN WITH IT!  FUN is although a healthy choice for a long and healthy life!

 Ali n Marn

Follow us on Twitter @AlinMarnLiving 

Hey everyone!  So I chose not to write on Day 3 of the Juice Cleanse because A) it was pretty uneventful - easy going, B) i had a football game to pay attention to (again, for those of you who don’t know it - I am a very committed NY Giants fan - we won), and C) I figured it might be more interesting for me to write something today - Day 4, the first day off.

So a couple observations about this cleanse - and I really think it has a lot to do with the fact that I have already transitioned my regular food choices, to clean, whole, organic, real foods:

1. Like I mentioned the other day, this was the first cleanse where I had zero headaches
2. My energy skyrocketed and hasn’t come down at all
3. There’s just an overall glow I’m feeling and readiness to take on the world - which is appropriate to some of the other things happening in my life right now.
4. It’s just great when I don’t have to think about what to eat because Pressed Juicery already made it for me and numbered it.

When I tell someone that I am doing a juice cleanse, a lot of people ask me, “how much weight did you lose?”  Well, I don’t really do a 3-Day Juice Cleanse to lose weight, but it certainly eliminates any extra water weight or bloat - and my stomach is super flat right now!  And who would ever complain about that?

After doing a cleanse, you NEVER want to come off it and immediately start eating heavy food (that totally defeats its purpose all together, and you will feel horrible).  So I started the morning with some hot green tea and filtered water; then a vegan protein shake with 1 cup of unsweetened Almond Milk, a little water, ice and a little vegan protein.  For lunch, I’m had a fresh, squeezed Green Juice (spinach, kale, celery, chard, apple), and a small raw, organic kale salad with Dino Kale, shredded cauliflower, shredded purple cabbage, diced tomato and a little avocado/cold-pressed olive oil/lemon dressing.  Here it is:

For the rest of the day, I’ll drink a lot of water and green tea, and keep dinner very light - but I will tell you, I have pretty much no interest in eating anything heavier than what you see in the picture above.  And it tastes like heaven when you haven’t eaten solid foods for a few days!

Kudos and thanks to Pressed Juicery for always delivering a great product!  The juices were fantastic - and I want to especially note the Carrot, Cucumber, Spinach, Parsley which tasted better than ever.  I think that I chose it for Juice 3 ended up to be the perfect time of day for it too since it’s a little heavier than the other juices.  And the Lemon, Cayenne, FIltered Water?  Well, if I ever choose to do The Master Cleanse again - I’m going to ask you to make the lemonade for me, because apparently you have a magic touch!

Net Net, I am a huge advocate of juice cleansing  a few times a year just to hit that reset button and make sure all systems are GO!  And once in a while, juicing for a day here and there doesn’t hurt either.  It recharges your batteries inside and out so you’re ready to take on the world!

Lastly, stay tuned to Ali n Marn Living.  We’ll be kicking off a super fun challenge in the next week for everyone!  Get ready to show off your everyday clean eating recipes and share them with others!  Stay tuned!

Ali :)

Follow us:

Twitter @AlinMarnLiving 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/OrganicExperiment

I’ll keep today super short.  Juice cleanse is going well and still no headaches!  Yay!

I will say - one thing that happens after Day 1 of a juice cleanse, and most females will appreciate this, is that if there was any remote feeling of bloat or water weight beforehand, it’ll be gone after 1 full day doing this.  I mean, what feels better than waking up in a morning and saying, ‘Yep! I’m feeling like I got it going on today!  Let’s face the world!’  And we all know - no matter how clean we eat - we don’t ALWAYS feel like that! :)

This morning, someone asked me what a juice cleanse was all about - and the best way I can really describe it is - it’s kind of like a system reboot for your body!  Renewed energy, a recharge of my batteries, and an overall feeling of lightness!  And it just feels great to start fresh - and of course, still making clean choices thereafter!

So I had to attend an event this morning in the city, so I brought my 1st 2 juices and some herbal tea along.  And by the way, I sat through a 3-hour keynote this morning, and still didn’t get a headache!  That’s pretty amazing.  It’s about 5pm now and I am finishing the 4th juice of the day (and my 2nd large herbal tea, and my 2nd large glass of filtered water - so needless to say, I  have to go pee NOW!)  

The later we get in the day, the easier it is for me - so it feels like we’re heading for an easy end to Day 2.  I am definitely feeling a little hungry - but keep telling myself that the mind is really the most powerful part of seeing anything through that’s challenging!  And after today, it’s only 1 more day until I can have a salad!

I’ll head to yoga in an hour and then we’ll be on the MILKSHAKE STRETCH!  (That would be the Almond Milk Drink part of the day if you didn’t read yesterday’s comments).

I’ll say honestly, of the times I have ever done this type of 3-Day Cleanse, this has been the easiest as far as feeling any negative reactions.  Feeling great!

More tomorrow.

Ali  :)

Follow us:

Twitter: @AlinMarnLiving and @aliconig

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OrganicExperiment 

So we left off at my doorstep this morning, right?

Yes, my juice cleanse arrived at about 9:30am, packed safely in it’s packaging after being freshly juiced and shipped from Los Angeles yesterday afternoon.  Still super cold, it lasts 3 days only since it’s non-pasteurized.

Labeled 1-6 in order of how I”m supposed to drink them throughout the day, and then the bottle of chlorophyll water (with apple extract), and aloe juice - I hurry to get them into the fridge. (see hyperlinks above for benefits of chlorophyll H20 and aloe vera juice)

Up until now, I’ve had only water this morning, and it’s a little late now and time for my first juice:

Drink 1) Greens 2: Kale, Spinach, Cucumber, Romaine, Parsley, Apple and Lemon

I think this is one of my favorites, because after no food overnight, it just feels like a shot of vitamins into my system, and gives me what seems like an immediate burst of energy!

Since there are 8 x 16oz drinks, and you’re also advised to drink a lot of water to flush the system, today is a little condensed.  I’ll drink almost every 2 hours until it’s time for bed - and also drink the chlorophyll water throughout the day.  I find that sometimes it can be challenging to drink it all!  By the way - if you do miss a juice, it is advised to always drink the Aloe Juice before bed because it helps, well - get your system moving things on through! ;)

Here’s what the rest of my day looks like as far as juice:

Drink 2) Detox/Citrus 2: Pineapple, Green Apple, Lemon and Mint This one was a treat.  Loved it.  I do find with the cleanses, at least for me, that I need to find a balance between sweeter juices and more, well, veggie-tasting juices.  Helps me prevent boredom. 

Drink 3) Roots 2: Carrot, Cucumber, Spinach, Parsley (to tell you the truth, I usually have a really hard time getting the ‘roots’ juices down, but this one was lighter than some of the others and quite good)

Drink 4) Detox/Citrus 1: Lemon, Cayenne, Filtered Water Yes, if you read the previous post, you know how I feel about this ‘potion’ or deadly mixture.  Quite frankly, Pressed Juicery does a much better job making this taste like a lemonade with a zing to it - rather than me mixing up The Master Cleanse at home.  Quite refreshing - and I don’t want to puke (see previous blog post).

Drink 5) Greens 3: Cucumber, Celery, Watercress, Lemon, Ginger, Cayenne I worked out prior to this one, and it’s good.  It’s a lighter green juice with a little kick from the lemon and cayenne.  There’s something about drinking the green potions that makes me feel like I am about to have super powers!

Drink 6) Almond Milk: Almonds, Dates, Vanilla Bean, Sea Salt, Filtered Water Okay, as I said - this one just tastes like a milkshake - so I savor ever minute of it.  Unfortunately, it’s so good - it reminds me of the old school Nestle’ Quik commercial, ‘you can’t drink it slow’ (yes, I realize that some of you are just too young for that memory, so here’s the youtube link for you) Scary, I think I wore that nightgown to a slumber party once.  Oh my.

As I mentioned, on top of all of this, I drink filtered water throughout the day - usually I like it warm, or as herbal tea just because I run a little cold sometimes.  And Aloe Vera Juice before bed.

So one of the interesting things I’ve noticed today: in previous cleanses I’ve done, I typically feel some of the following side effects on Day 1:

1. By this time of the day on Day 1, in the past, I have had a headache.  No headache today.  Full of energy in fact.  It may have something to do with the fact that we’ve been eating so clean, that the side effect just isn’t there.  We’ll see tomorrow.
2. When I do a cleanse, I am usually spending a lot of time thinking about chewing on something.  I can’t say that’s been the case today.  I’ve drifted off for a few seconds thinking how nice it might be to have a salad - but then I thought of Devon and said, ‘Mind Over Matter’, and ‘the food will still be there’ when I’m done.  And it was gone.

So regardless of the clean and healthy choices we make day in and out, every so often my body seems to tell me that it needs a bit of a reset.  So a little over a year ago, I did my first formal ‘cleanse’.

Now for that first one, I actually decided to attempt The Master Cleanse - the one with the cayenne, filtered water and organic lemons ONLY, 8x per day for 10 days.  And by the way, when you do The Master Cleanse, there are very strict rules about the 2 days leading in, and the 3 days coming out of it (you don’t want to put your body through torture by introducing solid food too quickly).  So a real Master Cleanse is about 15 days all in.  I did it for 10 - 2 going in, 5 formal days drinking The Master Cleanse ‘potion’, and 3 days coming off.  

Net net:

I felt fantastic afterward, and it was a major mental exercise to accomplish what I did; but by Day 3 I had decided that the ‘potion’ was like poison that made me want to puke, and that was not the way I wanted to do this in the future.

OH!  Never before did a carrot taste so flavorful as the day I came off The Master Cleanse!

So I turned to fresh juice cleansing - all the rage really - and found that this was a much better choice for me.  And it just feels like I’m shooting all sorts of wonderful vitamins through my veins - gives my body a fully refresh with ingredients that only nature can provide!

Today I started my 3rd juice cleanse - sort of.  I say sort of because I did one in January after the holidays for 3 full days and 2 days afterward to ease back into solid food.  In May I did a quick 2-day juice cleanse because I wanted to look great in a particular dress I was wearing to an event - so I would’t call that one ALL IN.  Now, at the end of September, I’m ready.  

Now I like to use my juicer at home to make juice from organic fruits and veggies - but for a 3-5 day formal cleanse, it can be a lot easier to just order from one of the newly popular juicing companies that ship overnight priority around the country.  I like a few of them: Organic Avenue, BluePrint, JuiceShop and Pressed Juicery.  While I have only used 2 for my formal cleanses, I have tried juice from all 4 of these, and they are all very good.  I did try the juice from another juice company based in Northern CA, and I won’t name it here because I have nothing nice to say about the customer service or the juice.  You can contact me privately if you need to know.  (@AlinMarnLiving or @aliconig on Twitter)

A few items to note about each that I have mentioned:

Organic Avenue Amazing when I am in New York City visiting family.  They have fantastic, fresh juices and creative super-elixers to accompany as you wish.  Definitely on the pricey side, but it feels like you are giving yourself a boost of life when you drink up!  The store staff are terrific.  Fantastic after a visit to Pure Yoga or Central Park for a run!  While they do ship nationally, since a few of the companies I mentioned are closer to where I live, I choose to go in another direction when I am outside of the Eastern Seaboard.  

BluePrint I haven’t done a formal BluePrint Cleanse, but they are heavily marketed with celebrity endorsements, and have also started some distribution to Whole Foods Markets (at least they have to mine in Northern CA).  The juices are pretty good, but very pricey when purchased from Whole Foods, and I happen to enjoy some of the juices from the other companies a little bit more.

JuiceShop This is a great little company in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a great story of recovery as the reason why these guys got into the business.  I have, in fact, done one of my formal cleanses with JuiceShop - the one for the dress! Their juices are heavenly and 100% organic.  The problem is that they are not yet shipping or delivering outside of San Francisco proper.  So keep your eyes peeled as they grow, or if you happen to be in San Francisco, head to their adorable little Union Street location to pick up a bottle of juice - or two!  Ben is terrific and so passionate about what he’s doing!  They also have a great recycling program as well for their bottles.  By the way, their Blue Algae/Coconut Water drink is my absolute favorite!

*Pressed Juicery Well, Pressed Juicery is the company I choose most often, and the one I am using this week.  They are out of Los Angeles and I first ran into them when I came across one of their pint-sized ‘juice shacks’ when I was in West Hollywood for business.  Super fresh and yummy, and their customer service is wonderful when it comes to shipping nationwide.  A few things I really like about Pressed Juicery: a) you get many choices when you decide on your cleanse - for each juice of the the day, you have 4 different options from which to choose; b) aside from the 6 bottles of ‘official’ juice for the day, you also get a full, 16oz bottle of chlorophyll water - now you know why I love chlorophyll water, and a full, 16oz bottle of aloe vera juice to drink before bed.; c) their Juice #6 of each day, the Almond Milk drink, is like drinking a milkshake - so if I ever thought I was missing out by not eating solid food for dinner, that Almond Milk talks care of it.  SO YUMMY!

In my next post, I’ll take you through Day 1.  It started with my early morning delivery, wrapped securely in ice…

More in a bit!  Enjoy!

Ali  :)

Contact us:

Twitter @AlinMarnLiving or @aliconig

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OrganicExperiment

I’m not a runner.  I used to be a runner.  But not so much these days.  These days I do a lot of yoga, Pilates, I hike, I spin, get on the bike.  But tonight I decided to try something else.

I did an 11.5K run tonight - totally inspired by Devon, Lucrezia, Donna, Gen & Sam, Matty, Paul, Tina and everyone of you who have been taking your bodies and your lives into your own hands!

Mind over matter.  Everyone has the power!  After you read this - take a moment to think about what you can do tomorrow (or today) that wouldn’t have happened without the power of your mind saying YES YOU CAN!

Thanks you guys for being such an inspiration.

~ Ali  :)

Follow us on Twitter @AlinMarnLiving or Follow me @aliconig

(Above: My dog Riley smells the kales chips fresh from the oven!)

So many people have asked us how to make Kale Chips, so we thought we better put it into the blog so that we can refer to it down the road.  In fact, I was out for a walk with a friend of mine earlier today, who visited her dad last week in the Mid-West (where fast food is a way of life).  She brought along some kale chips, and after some tip-toeing, her dad tried them… He loved them!

First, lets take another quick look at just some of the benefits of kale:

1. Very low in calorie and very high in fiber with zero fat!  Kale has only 36 calories per cup!
2. Kale has more iron per calorie than beef!  Iron is important for maintaining healthy hemoglobin (blood) and cellular growth, as well as healthy liver function.
3. Kale provides a whopping boost of Vitamin K, which is important for strengthening bones, the nervous system, blood clotting, and prevention of many different types of cancer.
4. Kale is high in antioxidants (carotenoids and flavnoids).  These play a significant role in anti-aging and cancer prevention.
5. Kale is an anti-inflammatory food, high in Omega-3 fatty acids that help with symptoms of arthritis, athsma and autoimmune disorders.
6. Kale is very high in Vitamin A, that helps with vision, skin, and some forms of cancer.  It is also helpful for those who suffer from kidney or gall stones.
7. Kale is high in Vitamin C, which is important for maintaining a healthy immune system, metabolism, hydration, and is also important for lowering blood pressure.
8. Kale is also very high in calcium - and in fact, has more calcium per calorie than milk!  Calcium is important for bone health and prevention of osteoporosis.
9. Cardiovascular support - they actually help to lower cholesterol

Okay, so how can you make kale chips at home?  Well, some people use a dehydrator, but here’s an easy way you can make them if you just don’t have a dehydrator on hand:

First, go to the store or Farmer’s Market and get a big bunch of organic kale.  I like Dinosaur Kale - but it’s great to mix it up with different types of kale.

Okay, rip up the kale into pieces - not too small - and put them into a big bowl.

Mix in a couple tablespoons (just enough to coat) of cold-pressed olive oil.

Add in some sea salt.  I like pepper - but it’s up to you depending on taste.

Again, this is up to you, but sometimes I like to add in Nutritional Yeast, which is high in amino acids and B12.  For those who are new to it, it may be a bit of an acquired taste, but it has a cheesy flavor and it often used in Vegetarian or Vegan diets when B12 is hard to find through typical foods.

If you add Nutritional Yeast, mix it in with everything else - be liberal - in the bowl, and than you might also add some on top before it goes into the over.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Spread the kale out onto a baking sheet.

Bake for 1-2 hours.  This is going to really depend on your oven and the amount of kale you are using - so check back once in a while to make sure it’s getting crispy!  Sometimes it takes a bit longer than others!

That’s it!  Easy-peesy!  Enjoy!  

Here’s a picture of Marni’s 3 1/2 year-old son and my little cousin Ari, enjoying his yummy kale chips!

So we’re getting to the end of the first-ever 30-Day Clean Eating and Living Challenge.  And first, I want to say BRAVO to those of you who participated, who stuck it out, who contributed, and who learned with us!  Because of our learning, we’ll be able to evolve the 30-Day Challenge to be even better, and based on different types of objectives!

During this 30 days, we have seen some amazing results, and have heard some exciting feedback and stories of your successes - more energy, clearer skin, better athletic performance, weight-loss objectives have been met…

I had the opportunity to chat with one of our participants yesterday, and wanted to share his experience a bit with everyone, in effort to encourage more people to take charge of their choices and ‘Become the CEO of Your Body’!

Meet Devon Scott:

Devon is a 22-year old living in Philadelphia, PA.  He is a student (who has been attending the Art Institute of Philadelphia), a graphics artist, a NY Giants fan (this is how we met - through my other passion - or addiction as some may say), and he’ll soon be also pursuing a career in information systems.

While Devon is still very young, he told me just how sedentary and “fat”, and “sluggish” he had become in the last few years.  While he used to play many different high school sports (football, basketball, lacrosse), he found himself spending most of his time in front of the computer, video games… and mindlessly eating.

Devon, why did you get involved with the 30 Day Clean Eating and Living Challenge?  What REALLY peeked your interest?  What made it urgent?  Devon got involved with the Ali n Marn 30 Day Clean Eating and Living Challenge through me, Ali - but a certain communication exchange between Devon and a friend of mine who is a fitness professional, got Devon emotionally connected. And that is when he was REALLY committed.

In this exchange, my friend shared a way to calculate your risk for cardiovascular disease and other critical health issues: Waist to Height Ratio.  You can easily calculate yours, HERE.  After calculating his waist to height ratio, Devon learned that he was in really bad shape (both literally, and figuratively), and he had really never thought about it before.  His results showed that he was in the next to last category for being ‘extremely overweight/obese’ - 276 pounds at 6’1” - and therefore, was at significant health risk if he didn’t start to care about how he was treating his body.  Devon said, “Enough is enough.  I have to be accountable.  I have to take the necessary steps to change.  I want to live a long life for my future grandkids.  No more excuses.  No more waiting.  Get it done!”  So he decided to take the challenge seriously and he wasn’t wasting anymore time.

About his prior physical activity and eating habits:  “Nothing.”  As I mentioned, Devon played a lot of sports in high school, but had become sedentary in the last couple of years.  He told me that the only activity he was doing involved a walk to the restroom, or “going to get something to eat”.  Devon also explained that while he was in The Art Institute, he always said to himself that he would make time to exercise - but he just let it get away from him, and never did - until the point that he surrendered, and just stopped caring, or even thinking about it.  It became okay for him to excuse himself to “just gain the Freshman 15”, and yet, “before (he) knew it, it became 20, 30, 50 extra pounds” he had packed on.  

As far as eating habits, Devon explained, “before the Challenge, I ate like a pig.  My diet consisted of various fast food stores… I hardly ever drank any water… My diet consisted of meats, sugars… hamburgers, apple pies, milkshakes… out of 4 years, I probably (accumulated) a total of 1 month of random healthy eating days.”  Devon explained that his eating was quite mindless, and that had essentially given up on eating healthy, thinking, “I’ll worry about that when I’m dead”.

What are some of the biggest changes Devon has seen in his choices now that he has done the 30-Day Challenge?  Wait until you hear this!  Devon explained to me that he has, “stopped eating just to eat.  (He) wasn’t always hungry, but he used to eat just because it was there”.  Now he is really cognizant of what he is putting into his mouth.  Instead of craving junk food, after basketball, he “can’t wait for some carrot juice (with his new juicer), or some arugula (which he loves), or to make a new salad”.  He has also stopped eating late night before bed.  Unlike before when he would eat ‘whatever’ and go to sleep, he calls it quits at 8pm and if he starts to be hungry, he tells himself, “food will be there in the morning.  Just stick to the water for now.”  He’s eating lots of different veggies and has found it to be easy - he loves making a fresh veggie juice and taking it to go, or “grabbing some grapes.”

A great tip Devon has for getting started on newer, healthier (organic) foods: “I started by eating the vegetables that I knew I liked”.  He added some new fruits and vegetables along the way - that he never knew he liked.  Devon learned he likes pears (“the best thing I ever tasted!”)  He also decided to drink a lot of water before a meal to help him feel more full.  By the way - I should mentioned that Devon is now drinking a ton of filtered water throughout the day to flush his body of unwanted toxins, and to help energize his body.

Another comment on new foods:  Devon has eliminated dairy from animal sources, and much to his surprise, he not only LOVES unsweetened almond milk, but he has no interest in going back.  He has noticed a significant change in the way his stomach feels after drinking almond milk instead of how he felt with cow’s milk.  

Tell me about some of the changes you have seen in yourself as a result of the 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge:  Lets be upfront.  Devon lost 18 unwanted pounds in the last 30 days by following this new path - and he has a goal for 10 in September.  But there are some more significant changes that he has seen - that will help carry him forward in LIFE.  He said that he is breathing more easily now.  He has much more energy.  “I no longer feel sluggish.  I have tons of energy.  I can do tons of things without feeling winded or exhausted.  Overall, physically, I just feel great!”  

Most importantly, Devon’s mental toughness and believing in himself has grown “beyond words”.  “The 30 Day Challenge allowed me to become more mentally tough and to be able to adapt to changes.  After the 1st week, eating right became more natural and the temptations (for the wrong things) went away.”

Devon took on a HUGE mental challenge this month in the area of fitness.  He had convinced himself that it would take a year to be able to run 1K (not even a mile)!  He seriously had a mental block that he couldn’t do it!  By mid-month, he achieved 2 laps on the track (1/2 mile), and he was still counting himself out for the full mile.  In fact, there’s a video somewhere with Devon saying, “Next year at this time, I will run 1K”.  I knew this would not take a year - but Devon wasn’t quite sure.  The last week of the month, I challenged Devon to run 4 laps on his track before the month was out.  He didn’t believe this was possible, but decided to take on the challenge.

He told me that as he started his run, and as he got to 2 laps, he started to feel a little breathless, and he said to himself, “this is where you normally quit”.  Just then he thought about something he learned through the Ali n Marn Facebook page: ‘only YOU can stop YOU’.  So he kept going, and he intentionally focused his mind on the purpose, and that he really COULD do it if he set his mind to it.  He was so surprised that the second part of the mile was, in fact, not much more physically challenging than the first part!  And before he knew it, he had toughed it out, he ran the mile (1.6K) that he never thought he could run, and he called me so excited (at 6:30am my time) that he had successfully acheived this huge goal!  And he noticed that all along it was much more mental, than it was a physical challenge!  In September, he’s going to run 1.5 miles without stopping (what Devon doesn’t realize is that he might find himself passing that 1.5 mark!)  :)

I asked Devon to help explain to me what helped support his efforts the most in the last 30 days.  He explained to me that having a social network of other encouraging people who were also taking part in the challenge, and being able to gain more and more knowledge from the Ali n Marn Facebook page and blog was super helpful to his being able to continue to focus on his goals, and reaching the 30 days.  

And from my perspective, I am so happy to hear Devon say that, because one thing I have learned through feedback over the course of the month is that people want to feel like other’s have their backs, and are paying attention to what they are sharing.  People don’t always have support around them, so Marni and I want to provide a place where they can go to get that empowerment and motivation, as well as education.  We’re not always perfect at it - be we certainly are trying to address that need through this effort.  The goal for us to see more and more people gain knowledge, and understand the choices they are making when caring for their body - the one we hope will carry them through a very long and energetic life!

I asked Devon if he had anything more he wanted to make sure to share with people who are considering jumping into this 30 Day Clean Eating and Living Challenge.  It’s funny - as one of the creators of the 30-Day Challenge, I find it almost difficult to write down his words in a blog post because it was really very touching to hear him explain it, and I have to be honest that it made me feel so proud!  I’m not a Mom, but it made me feel like one.  Devon had this to say - verbatim:

“Everything that I have learned… it’s hard for me to express how much I will take that with me for the rest of my life.  These 30 days have been one of the proudest moments of my life… It’s hard to take everything that I am feeling, and everything I’ve experienced, and sum it up into a couple of sentences.  You know, it’s just hard to explain how much it’ll translate into all of my future decisions.”

He added this for anyone who is considering the 30-Day Clean Eating and Living Challenge:  “I would definitely want the new people to know, that it’s okay if you feel like you can’t do it.  And if you really do feel like you can’t do it, I really urge you to put your best foot forward, and ask anybody in the group for words of encouragement, advice… because I struggled my first week adapting to the new changes. I understand everyone is different, but I would love to encourage everyone to just stick with it, and JUST DON’T GIVE UP.”

Devon’s entire lifestyle has evolved because of the challenge.  Here he is playing basketball again:

If you are interested in joining us, or asking us about the 30-Day Clean Eating and Living Challenge, please join us, ask questions, follow along, or download the guidelines on Facebook at Ali n Marn Living, or follow us Twitter @AlinMarnLiving.

Congratulations to Devon for a HUGE accomplishment!  You are a superstar!  Keep it up - Only YOU can stop YOU from being the CEO of your own body!

Meet Sam.  Sam is 5 years old.

Sam’s mom Gen, took part in our 30-Day Clean Eating and Living Challenge.  And in the process, she committed to introduce healthy, clean options to her family.  Bravo to Gen and bravo to Sam!  Here is an amazing story shared about the experience:

Gen let us know that she introduced kale to her family.  We have spent a lot of time educating on the value of organic greens in the diet to ensure you maintain good health both inside and out.

Sam told Gen that kale is her favorite veggie now!  When was the last time you heard this from a 5-year old?  Oh, right… this is the first time!   

Sam passes along the love:  ”the other day at school, (Sam) had kale for lunch”  She’s been eating kale every other day now as a part of her meals.  Her friends asked her what she was eating.  Sam said, “It’s called Kale, and it’s a yummy vegetable and oh, so good for you too!  You should tell your mom to buy it for you guys!”

As a proud Mom, Gen was so excited to share this because, as she explained, ‘Sam’s delivery and expression was so impactful when she shared this story!’

Three cheers for Sam!  She is a superstar 5-year old who is helping to lead the charge in making sure all of her friends are as healthy as can be!  Way to go Sam!  Way to go Gen in helping to fight obesity, illness, and disease in our country!

Keep up the great work!

I tried a little experiment tonight: traditional spaghetti alla marinara, WITH KELP NOODLES!

The noodles in this dish have a total of 24 calories!

And I have to say… it was really good!

I washed the kelp noodles thoroughly in filtered water first, and dried them with a paper towel.  You can get Kelp Noodles in a good health food store, or even order them from Amazon.

They come like this:

Then, in a pan, I threw in the following:

1. A couple tablespoons of cold pressed olive oil
2. Sea salt
3. Black pepper and chili pepper flakes
4. A can of imported, organic whole tomatoes (da Italia)
5. A little organic garlic
6. Fresh basil, Italian parsley
7. A very small amount of agave nectar to cut the acidity

When the sauce was well mixed and hot, I tossed in the kelp noodles.

Drain watery tomato from the pan, and serve!

This experiment worked!  

Buonissima!

So you are curious about juicing, but you don’t know where to begin?

Today I decided to make a batch of juice for the day on my own.  I have often leveraged some of the newer, trendy juice companies to get fresh juice delivered, but I decided to venture out on my own to do it.  Many of you have asked questions about juicers and juicing and how to combine fruits and veggies, so I’ll share my approach…

The Juicer: First of all, for those who are interested, I have a Breville 510XL.  From everything I have seen and read, Breville always comes out on top, and this one was very highly rated, while not totally breaking the bank.  It is fantastic and so easy!  One thing to note: while a lot of its parts are dishwasher safe, it’s still kind of a pain to clean – but I think you’re going to get that out of any juicer.  And for this reason, I recommend doing a batch for 1-3 days at a time.  More than 3 days and the non-pasteurized juice will spoil.

Jars or containers: you might want to invest in some inexpensive glass mason jars from your grocery store.  If you can find ones that can store about 16oz, that’s a perfect size.  I found smaller ones that store about 8, so I am using 2 per 16oz service of juice.  I would recommend sticking to glass containers though, as they are safer than plastic ones.

Servings of juice per day:  if you plan to juice all day (no solid food, just juice), I would recommend 6 x 16oz servings.  In addition to that, drink plenty of filtered water throughout the day.  It is often best to begin with some hot lemon water or a detoxifying herbal tea upon waking.  The hot water helps prepare your stomach for the digestion of the nutrients you’ll be getting throughout the day.

You may choose to add in a few extras:

Ø     Add chlorophyll to your water, to help with the cleansing of blood and cells that make your body tick!  (Read blog entry about water and chlorophyll HERE)

Ø     If you are doing this for cleansing purposes, at night you may also want to add a gentle herbal colon cleanse tea, such as Smooth Move, to help move toxins and waste through your intestines. 

Ø     And if you can find really pure Aloe Vera, you may also choose to add that as an elixir of sorts before bedtime.  Aloe Vera acts to help your digestion while you sleep.

How do you decide what to juice?  I don’t know if I have a magic solution.  I just think that it’s smart to think about variety, and what combinations may work best from a taste and nutritional standpoint.  I mean, if you like carrots or apples, you might not be best to juice only carrots or apples all day.  The sugar content is pretty high, and while these are certainly great options, you’re not getting a wide range of nutritional value if you only select one or two things to juice!  If you want to get your system a shot of diverse greens, but you ONLY use kale, spinach, broccoli and romaine, it might be too much of the same ‘green’ taste, so balancing it out with an apple, ginger, fennel, and/or lemon could be good ways to lighten up the potency of the flavor, while ensuring you are giving you body an incredible shot of nutritional value!

Rule of thumb?  Drink a rainbow!  How many colors can you drink today?

Here are some suggestions on combinations based on what I did today.  I made 5 juices, and will end the day with a blended almond milk shake with ice, raw coconut, and a little vegan protein.

Juice 1:  Cucumber and Melon

I used 1.5 organic cucumbers and just a little organic honeydew that I happened to have cut up yesterday, so I wanted to use it!  I happen to LOVE cucumbers and they’re great for the skin.  I like getting the day started with something green, but on the lighter side.  This juice is low in calories, has tons of vitamins and minerals including folic acid for brain health, and helps rid the body of toxins!

Juice 2: Grapefruit/Kiwi/Lemon/ Strawberry

My Vitamin C power shot for the immune system!  I used 1.5 ruby grapefruits, 2 kiwis, 1/2 lemon, and 3 strawberries

Juice 3: Kale/Spinach/Romaine/Celery/Apple/Fennel/Cucumber

Super Green!  I used 8 kale leaves, a big handful of spinach, a small head of romaine, 2 celery stalks, 1.5 apples, a couple small stalks of fennel, and ½ cucumber (next time I might sub in some ginger in place of the ½ apple, but I couldn’t find any organic ginger yesterday).  Great for reducing the risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes; calcium for strong bones, and lots of vitamins and minerals for maintaining a youthful glow!

Juice 4: Beet/Apple/Carrot/Celery

Beta Carotene and Antioxidant blitz!  I used 3 beets – 2 red and one golden, 1 apple, 4 carrots, and 2 celery stalks.  This is a great immunity booster, provides iron, and many anti-aging (great for skin and eyes), and cancer-prevention properties.

Juice 5: Filtered Water, Agave Nectar, Lemon and Cayenne Pepper

This is a real body cleanser (kind of like lemon Pledge is for your furniture). Based on the Master Cleanse, which I have tried and probably won’t try again, I’ve seen this combination around most of the upscale juice companies as one of the more detoxifying options.  I juiced one organic lemon, and mixed it into filtered water.  I squeezed in some agave nectar for taste and for a spicy zing, cayenne pepper – also known as an anti-inflammatory agent that helps with joint pain, cancer prevention, and detoxification

Juice 6:  Almond Milk Shake

Lets call this dinner in a day of all juicing.  It’s so yummy and adds important protein in to end the day.  I’ll use the blender for this instead of the juicer.  I’ve seen this done a number of ways.  The most natural way is to use filtered water, a couple teaspoons of fresh pressed almond butter, a couple dates, and raw coconut.  I will use Whole Foods 365 Almond Milk (no carrageenan), Arbonne Vegan Protein Powder (Vanilla or Chocolate), ice, and 2 tablespoons raw coconut.

There really are so many different options and combinations that you can try with you juicer.  I do think that when you are considering a full day or 2 of juicing, it’s important to plan ahead as far as shopping so that you can get a nice variety of fruits and vegetables – and therefore, nutrients.  And if you do go ahead with a 1-3 day juice cleanse, always remember, when coming back to solid foods, make sure to keep them clean and to enter into solids with care on your first day or 2 back!  I hope this gets you off to a great start!

Happy Wednesday!  We’ve had a few questions lately about chocolate cravings, so I thought I would give you my thoughts here.  Please feel free to add your thoughts and comments.  Gen asked today: “Ali…I found a chocolate pudding GF. Is there such a thing? I was sooo tempted to try one.”

So I have a few thoughts and comments – some of them are my opinion, and we welcome yours!

On all Gluten-Free being equal:  I think it’s highly suspect.  Over the years, we’ve seen many marketing trends in our packaged ‘foods’ that are all the rage: Fat-Free, No Sugar Added, No Trans-Fats, and more.  A lot of these marketing labels are really meant to lure the consumer – but yet, the ingredients in the actual product are suspect when we dig into the detail.  Remember, one of the most important exercises we practice in a clean eating lifestyle is reading the ingredients on labels!

Today, we have a Gluten-Free trend that has hit the nation – and we’re seeing more and more major packaged food companies producing goods (chocolate pudding too) with Gluten-Free stamped on the outside.  It’s a little suspect just how good all of these processed Gluten-Free foods can truly be.  I think you need to ask yourself a few important questions before deciding if that package food is right for you:

1)    What are the ingredients in the product?  Do you recognize all of them?  Are they whole, real foods, or are there chemicals or preservatives, or other products in the product that might be questionable?  Do we want to put that into our body?  It is all a choice.  Just become an informed chooser!  This is what a good CEO (of your body) would do, right?

2)    What are our goals as far as clean eating?  Do we have weight loss goals?  (If not, refer back to bullet 1, and keep reading)  But if they are, after you have referred to bullet one, here is my theory:  by choosing one chocolate, Gluten-Free item, will this begin the process of tempting you into more and more chocolate, Gluten-Free items?  Or are you able to choose it as a once-in-a-while treat?  Again, it’s important to be cognizant of this behavior – especially if your goals are about weight loss.

Over the years, I’ve watched a number of people in my life try diets such as Nutri-Systems or Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig… take your pick.  While certainly they all have some very interesting approaches, and they can certainly work, and do work as far as temporary weight loss for some individuals – the challenge is that most of them are really lacking in the true education that helps the individual make clean, healthy choices after the initial weight loss is through.

As an example, many of these diets offer a small package of cookies, or a candy bar, or a piece of cake as a snack or a dessert – rationed to fit into a certain calorie count or portion size or point system (and by the way – little to no regard for the ingredients used to make these packed goods).  While that may be okay for initial weight loss – participants are challenged to pick exactly that portion size on their own when they are through with the formal diet; and they are also challenged because they are still mentally accustomed to craving processed cookies, cakes and candy bars!  So unfortunately, many of them gain the weight back because their habits and approach to food just have not changed.  Believe me – I have seen this time and time again!

For this reason, I ask you to think carefully about the Gluten-Free choices you are making.  What are the ingredients?  Why are you choosing this chocolate item, and is it something you can do in moderation as a small treat from time to time?  I ask you to really think through: why can establishing a clean eating lifestyle be so much more powerful to me than mere weight loss?

By the way, I will add one more thing to think about whether you are in it for weight loss or not:

Many processed foods labeled with a Gluten-Free stamp use corn as a substitute.  Corn is a huge money-maker for our largest corporations in the US – it’s cheap to produce and it is used for everything from feeding livestock to filling our thousands of processed foods (and that includes corn syrup in sodas and corn starch at the Chinese Food restaurant down the street).  Corn, however, is considered to be an ‘inflammatory’ food.

Now while brown rice, sweet potatoes, millet, quinoa, yams, chia seeds, etc… are excellent substitutes for gluten-based products, corn can be a challenge to us because of its inflammatory nature.

Inflammatory foods have a number of risks, including their propensity to pack on the pounds, as well as exacerbate conditions like arthritis and disease, lack of energy, and also accelerate the aging process with skin sagging, muscle mass deterioration, and wrinkling of the skin (‘make you look older than your years’, Dr. Nicolas Perricone).

A few good references to help identify inflammatory foods:

http://theconsciouslife.com/top-10-inflammatory-foods-to-avoid.htm

http://www.oprah.com/health/Dr-Perricones-List-of-Pro-Inflammatory-Foods

So, while I hardly want to say that you have to eliminate all forms of chocolate forever and ever, the key here is this: be educated, be aware, read labels.  Be the CEO of your body, and make the choice that makes sense for you both short-term and in the long run.