2014: The Perfect Time for a Cleanse & Detox

With the new year and new resolutions, this is the perfect time to restart your body with a cleanse & detox. It's kinda like a fresh start (physically and symbolically) for your body to get rid of all the bad stuff we ate during the holidays (I know I overindulged!!) and get back on track to a healthy lifestyle. I acutally did this cleanse with D back in May of last year and I really felt the benefits. Not only did I feel  cleansed, but energized and excited to eat cleaner. So what did I use?  I picked up this book "Look Better Naked" by the editors of Women's Health magazine which gives you a 6 week plan to basically look, well hot! They suggest using the 2-day cleanse to kickstart your 6 week plan but you don't have to use it. I did this cleanse again starting new years day and I'm feeling so excited to restart my body and try to stick to the 6 week eating and working out plan!

In a nut shell, the 2-Day Cleanse looks a little something like this:

Breakfast:
Light shake
Blend 1 cup fat-free (soy, almond, rice or hemp) milk
1 cup berries
1tsp peanut butter or flax seed oil
1 cup ice

Snack:
1 cup sliced cucumbers
1 cup green tea

Lunch:
steamed or raw greens (romaine, spinach, mesclun, arugula, kale etc.)
4 oz. lean protein (white meat chicken, firm tofu or fish)
2 tsp oil (olive, sunflower or walnut)

Snack:
10 asparagus spears, blanched
1 cup green tea

Dinner:
same as lunch

Yeah, to some this might look like their regular food plan. But to me, this looks meager and challenging. The shake I know I'll be able to do because I've been drinking breakfast smoothies for the past few weeks and I'm totally down with it! The nice thing with this plan is we are allowed to add spices and fresh herbs to make the meals more appetizing. For example, I think I'm going to add a little vinegar and fresh dill to make a cold cucumber salad -- that's more flavorful right? We are also allowed 2tsp of oil with both lunch and dinner to use how we want. I'm thinking of mixing that with some balsamic vinegar to make a vinaigrette and fresh herbs to make a dressing for my fresh greens. Lastly, I'm trying to think about how to liven up that meat since we are only allowed to bake or broil it. I'm thinking chicken could be marinated in fresh lemon juice and cracked black pepper. And fish I could experiment with some spices and use a rub. 

and a little humor to reminds ourselves to laugh when we're lashing out in hunger (I do this, do you?!)

Has anyone else ever done a detox and cleanse, and if so how did it go??
Anyone else committing to a healthier lifestyle for 2014?

xo Steph

New Years Resolutions & Fresh Starts

Did you all have a nice New Year? For me and D this year it was a quiet night at home in hopes to 1. save some money and 2. just be together minus all the new years hooplah (which don't get me wrong, hooplah can be fun!) We made a nice dinner, shared some cold beverages, ate too many peanut butter chocolate chip cookies after I baked (yeah, they were cut and bake -- but I baked no less!) and binge watched The Walking Dead on Netflix. And let me tell you, I'm not one who is into all the zombie apocalypse stuff but this show is pretty cool. Each episode leaves me wanting more -- very similar to the high I experienced watching Breaking Bad. So now that we're hooked, that's all we've been doing in 2014. Don't judge! Anyway, this also explains my lack of blogging over the past few days but forgive me -- there are zombies and walkers to kills! 

Original source can be found via my Pinterest page

Some people think resolutions are silly. Like how everyone packs the gyms in January only for them to be empty again in February. But I don't think they are stupid. Change can happen if you really want it. And sometimes people (and by people I mean me) need that symbolic change of the calendar year to give them the kick in the butt they need to make those changes.

A fresh start.

2013 had its ups and downs for me, but I am hopeful that 2014 will bring some good things my way. Not because I deserve it and the world owes me anything and not because of luck, but because I am going to create the changes to make them happen.
Do you all make resolutions every year or do you think they are silly?

So let's all promise to make 2014 our year ; )

xo Steph

hello 2013!

images found via Pinterest

Who would have thought we survived the 2012 Mayan calendar into another glorious year? Crazy right?! The endings of anything always leaves me with a bittersweet feeling -- sad to let go of wonderful memories but happy to move forward, live life to the fullest and create wonderful new experiences. I'll also be happy to leave a lot of 2012 behind me -- between the hurricane, tragic shootings and many personal struggles in my own life -- I do welcome a fresh start and hope for better days to come.

I have to admit, one thing I am most excited about is the direction my blog will be taking. Starting this life + style blog has been so much fun for me and has not only been an enjoyable hobby, but I hope for it to one day become a successful business venture (hey, we can dream right?)

I want to get started right away but just wanted to share with you a few things you will be seeing from Pretty Little Thing's in the new year.

What you'll see from PLT this year:

• More outfit posts and looks of the day
• I'll continue taking you shopping in my "Shopping with Pretty Little Things" series
• More Entertaining posts on how to throw awesome parties -- including menu ideas, decor, recipes and other fun goodies
• More home decorating/apartment renovations posts of my adventures as I decorate our new home
• room by room tour (once we finish)
• More cooking -- I'll be putting all my cookbooks to good use!
• Thinking about putting together a new style series of pieces every woman must own (more on this later)

Happy 2013 everyone and I hope you'll continue on this blogging journey with me : )

-Steph