Even though I walk through the valley of sweets...

I did it!  I made it through the weekend without once succumbing to the temptations of grains, sugars, or caffeine.  Though I was literally faced with a homemade eclair dessert, baked spaghetti, and fried chicken, and pancakes... I fought the good fight and stuck to the plan.  One weekend down... and I think the rest will get easier.

How did I do it you ask?  Saturday morning, instead of having pancakes with the girls (which I can't have obviously) I pre-made a power smoothie to enjoy.. They did end up making some turkey sausage which I had as well with a hard boiled egg.  Lots of good protein!

Power Shake:
-Almond Milk
-Almond Butter
-Flax Seeds
-Full Fat Plain Greek Yogurt
-Handful of Blueberries
-Handful of Spinach
-Ice

For lunch we had an open buffet of veggies, salad and sandwhich fixings and lots of options.  So I made a lovely organic blend salad topped with tuna and veggies with a side of nuts.  Dinner got a bit more interesting when NOTHING that was made was I able to have and options for fixings were limited so, you guessed it, another salad....this time a faux taco (minus the shell and badly processed pseudo-meat) salad with grilled ground turkey, tomatoes, cheese, more veggies, and vinagrette.  Thought life was easy street until a MASSIVE dessert came out and was literally placed right in front of my face.  Are you all for real right now?!  Sometimes the best way to get away from temptation is to run in the other direction.  So needless to say I got up, did my dishes, and went back to work...away from dessert and desert of distruction. After having to eat salad 3 times in 2 days,  I was feeling fairly rabbit like and new I would need to switch something up to survive the next day so I scrounged up some of the leftovers from dishes I had made earlier in the week and made those my lunch and dinner for Sunday.

All in all my first weekend of Green and Clean at work was a success and I'm definitely looking forward to cooking up some delicious offerings this week to be able to have for next weekend as well!

In other news, I couldn't possibly share all of this new journey without introducing you to the team that set me on it.  Everything changed the day I met Dr. Jerod Posey and Dr. Nick Barnes from 212 Degrees of Wellness.  It began as a meeting with Jerod to discuss Mercy's 5K and has turned into a journey to full wholeness and wellness.  212 serves not only as a wonderful chiropractic practice but the Dr's want their patients to not receive a "quick fix" adjustment but a "life fix" adjustment in which the individual achieves healing from head to toe, mind to soul. 212 works in conjuntcion with Maximized Living (which you should totally check out) to bring whole body healing through the 5 Essentials of Wellness.  For more information on the 5 Essentials check out this link!: http://www.212degreesofwellness.com/Health-Essentials/5-Health-Essentials-Overview.aspx

In the time that I've been seeing Dr. Jerod, I have seen a significant decrease in neck pain, tension, fatigue, and overall lag.  I was horrified to find out upon initial exam that I have an extreme reverse curvature in my neck, have subluxations throughout my spine, and have a worsened scoliosis but thanks to Dr. Jerod and some hard work, those things are getting worked out!  On top of the chiropractic services I receive, I also receive incredible insight on all things health related from what I'm putting in my body (Nutrition) to what I'm putting on my body (P.s. your skin absorbs anything you put on it like a sponge...ladies, check out your chemical laiden makeup!) and have learned what it means to live truly healthy.  Being a part of the 212 family means experiencing the care of 2 Doctors who unabashedly answer to the Ultimate Physician and who want nothing more than for their patients to be whole, healthy, and equipt to live a pure life in a toxic world.

Dr. Nick Barnes and Dr. Jerod Posey

In future posts watch for me to be posting insights from Advance Talks (informational seminars put on by the docs on various health and wellness topics), Maximized Living Webinars, and various topics that I am passionate about in this arena.  I cannot even begin to stress how vital chiropractic therapy is to your life.  Did you know that a subluxation in your spine (a deviation in the spinal alignment which causes disruption to the nerve supply of the central nervous system) can cause heart disease, heart attack, stroke, obesity, infertility, high blood pressure, and even sudden death?  When your central nervous system is unable to function correctly, the blood pulsing through your body is unable to make it to the appropriate vital organs as it was created to do, causing all sorts of maladies.  You could be sitting on your couch reading this right now, completely unaware that your body is physiologically "on the ropes".  You don't have to be obese or cancer ridden to be unhealthy and have one foot in the preverbial grave.  And just because you're eating organic and avoiding any sources of high fructose corn syrup does not make you exempt from disease either.  It takes everything coming into alignment and your spine is where it starts.  If you're reading this from the St. Louis area then I have one piece of advice for you... RUN, don't walk, to 212 Degrees of Wellness in Wildwood and allow Dr. Jerod and Dr. Nick to show you the way to a healthier life.  Check out their wonderful website at www.212degreesofwellness.com.  If you do not live in the St. Louis area, check out the Maximized Living website to locate a Maximized Living physician in your area!

A full day/week lies ahead so I must put a wrap on this for tonight but look for an update tomorrow as my sister joins Team Green and Clean tomorrow!

Living the Dream,

Ashlee