Let's talk health.

I am a firm believer in eating clean, but not denying yourself the little things. 

When I was in high school I developed body image issues. It wasn't ever about anyone else making me feel bad about my size, but more about how I viewed myself and the other girls around me. They were all so much skinnier than I was, they didn't have to pull up their jeans when they stood up and they could sit with their knees at their chest and not be gasping for air, and I was so jealous of them. Now, I wasn't "fat" but I for sure wasn't a size 6 or smaller like everyone else. Actually, My entire high school years I stayed in the healthy BMI range for my height. But that wasn't good enough for me. So I did the diets, I exercised and did everything I could to try and get skinnier. Fast forward through all the details and I ended up getting to the point of borderline anorexia. The thing is, the world would have looked at me and said that I was fine because I still wasn't "skinny", but I wasn't. I wouldn't eat for weeks at a time and if I felt like I was going to pass out or was light headed I would eat a small slice of watermelon or a few pieces of a cucumber.

I got sick, But once I got better I ended up on the other end of the spectrum. I was eating just fine, but I was also gaining weight. I was working for a very large coffee chain at the time and all those sugary drinks didn't help any. Right as I was getting into a groove of healthy eating and exercising I was injured and was on bed rest, and because it was a head injury guess what! I gained a crap ton of weight.

I was not healthy, and I did not have a good relationship with food or myself. So there's a small back story as to why I am doing what I am doing now.

After the Mom Mastery Live 2018 conference I decided that there is no better time than the present to finally do that juice cleanse that I've been talking about for the last 2 years.  

November 1st - 3rd I did the Pressed Juicery juice cleanse 1.  My whole goal in doing any type of cleanse, especially this one was to reset and reboot my body, my metabolism, my hormones, etc...

By doing that cleanse it totally helped me to reset my mind to have a positive outlook on nutrition and what the purpose of food really is. It's not supposed to be a negative thing or a punishment for your body. If I slip up and eat a cookie, I don't need to feel the overwhelming guilt that I failed, or that I need to skip the next meal because I already messed up. I learned that just because I wanted to enjoy a fresh hot chocolate chip cookie I didn't fail, I can't fail. Failing would mean that there was rules and regulations put in place, instead of the choice to live in moderation and freedom. I choose to eat clean but also live my life to the fullest. So this cleanse was the first step in the new direction that my life is going. I started the Whole30 today and I am going to be doing that for 60 days before I do my next juice cleanse at the beginning of the New Year.

I logged how I felt each day of the cleanse, in like a real life kind of way. I am in my mid-twenties and a nanny so my days are all over the place. I wasn't able to drink the juice exactly every 2 hours like it is recommended, but I did drink everything each day. So that's a win!  

Lastly, last night after my last drink of the cleanse, I did a "self-care" night. I did a face mask and a detox shower, lotion and all the good stuff to help the outside of my body feel just as good as the inside. It was wonderful. I woke up this morning feeling to refreshed and happy. I don't know that I even have the words to describe how good I feel, it's something that you'll have to experience for yourselves.

I chose to document my juice cleanse on Instagram, go to _Samantha_Graham_ and look at the "highlights" to see it.

Pressed Juicery Juice Cleanse: Cleanse 1 Daily Log.

11/1/18  Day 1:

I started my juices at 9am and ended around 10pm. 13 hours to drink all 6 juices and the 2 waters that come with in in addition to my 150 oz of regular water that I drink. I felt pretty good this morning and kept feeling good till about 1:40pm. I knew that I needed to start my next juice but I was to scared that I would be hungry later in the evening that I waited. Wrong move. I should have just drank the juice then, I took a power nap and then drank the next bottle of juice. I felt so good and was clear headed until about 9:30pm. That's when I got super tired and was ready to sleep. Over all it was really not that hard, I was able to drink each juice at a pace that worked for me, and I wasn't too hungry. I definitely had a moment where I really wanted an In N Out burger... But I drank my greens 3 and some water to push past that craving. Over all at the end of the day it was really good. I felt clear headed and like my body was happy and very obviously less bloated.

11/2/18  Day 2:

Today was a bit more difficult... I woke up with a headache not too stoked on that (clearly from detoxing) and was a bit more irritable than usual. BUT I took some Advil and started my day. After the vanilla almond drink I was still extremely tired and a little cranky, so I drank some Yerba Mate and another 32.oz of water. I was "going" all day long, so even when I was hungry I didn't drink each juice when I should have. But hey, that's real life. I also notices that I was ridiculously tired, like, more that day 1 and more that usual. I took a power nap between job 1 and my evening plans. It helped a lot. I felt better and much less lethargic after. My over all feeling has been really good though, I am really liking and enjoying this cleanse. BUT I am really looking forward to and excited to eat a salad on Sunday when this is over.

11/3/18  Day 3:

I slept in and I LOVED it! This week my sleep schedule has been a little off.. So it's taking me a little longer to drink all the juices today, but I feel GREAT! I feel absolutely no bloating and my mind is clearer than it has been in forever. My body isn't sore, or irritable like it has been in the past. I haven't even thought about or craved junk food (burgers are not junk food). After this I can't wait to dive right into the Whole30 tomorrow. It took me so long to drink all the bottles of juice today because I was way less hungry today than I have been, which is a good sign. My stomach must be shrinking. I am very well hydrated, each day I drank an additional 150.oz of regular water.  I really really loved and enjoyed every part of this cleanse. I am so looking forward to doing my next cleanse in January.

XO

Stay Strong, Stay Blonde

How I Prep For My Birthday

Over the years I have picked up some fun little habits surrounding my birthday. I like to give myself the gift of a "Fresh Start". So every year, the day before my birthday (today) I get up, and start deep cleaning my bedroom. Now, how is this different than any other day that I would clean my room? 

Well, it different because its the start of a new year. Turning a year older is this beautiful opportunity to have another fresh start to the year. In this post I am going to outline what I do and why I do it. 

Enjoy! 

I start my day by completely stripping my bed of all the bedding and pillow cases and washing them. I also gather any laundry or towels that are dirty and wash them all. 

Then I start deep cleaning my room. I'm talking take basically everything off the book case and dust it, clear off my desk and the dresser and totally dust everything. 

I organize all the papers and anything that needs to be filed. 

Once everything is clean, I remake the bed and put away all the laundry. 

After dinner and I am getting ready for bed, I take a pretty extensive shower. I get an exfoliating lufa and completely scrub away all the dead skin and anything yucky that might be on my skin. After showering I like to wash my face and do a face mask. One that peels off and takes all the junk out of my pours, and another to moisturize. 

I do this to signify the beginning of something new. Wash off the old year and welcome in the new one clean and fresh. (I love doing this if you couldn't tell) 
I love the thought of washing away the old. To me it's such a reminder of all the new things that are to come and the amazing new experiences that are waiting in this new year. 

After I'm all showered and clean and I have my mask on, I sit down and look over everything that has happened in the last year. The good and the bad. I make a list of all the ways I see that God has blessed me, and I mark off all the goals that I met, or surpassed. I then make a new list of goals for this year of life. Whether it's a place to visit, or a task to accomplish I write it down. 

I will share some of the goals I had last year. Last year a goal of mine was to be able to read again, and another was to be able to actually sleep through the night again. Both of those things hadn't happened for me in over a year because of my health. I changed my diet, and quite a few habits and come February 2018 I was able to read without getting a headache, AND I was able to sleep through the night. Another goal I had was to visit a new place. I was able to take a trip to Washington D.C. I had many other goals, But I will spare you the list (it's pretty extensive) 

This is a small look into how I get ready for a new year and how I like to set myself up for success. Everyone has their own way they like to make their birthday special, and this is mine. When I do these things the day before, it totally makes me feel like I am ready to take on this new chapter in life and move forward. I am SO EXCITED to make my new goals list tonight! 

Here's to ringing in a new year! 
24 will be a good year for me, and I know that A LOT of the things that I have been waiting for and praying about will be coming to pass. 


XO 
Stay Strong, Stay Blonde 

What is "Self-Care"? 

Whenever someone talks about "Self-Care", what do you think of?

Do you picture someone spending all their time going to the spa, or going to brunch

with their closest friends and enjoying bottomless mimosas?  

I know that for me for the longest time, that's what I thought.

I had this skewed view on what self-care looked like.

Somehow in my mind I saw self-care as being selfish... I was SO wrong!

Oh my gosh! I didn't realize until this last January just how wrong I was.

Because Christ has done such a work on my heart,

I am now able to see things with so much more clarity than I did before.

Do you want to know just how wrong I was about my view of “self-care”?

Story time!

So, I used to do facials/face masks every other night RELIGIOUSLY,

shave my legs every night without fail and make sure I used good moisturizing

lotion every night so that my skin was at it’s best at all times. Painted my nails to

match my pre-planned outfit for tomorrow's event.

Going through these random motions that most of us see and think “Oh that sounds

so lovely, what a relaxing way to spend the evenings”  BUT I wasn't doing it for me.

I was doing it for multiple wrong reasons... Mostly trying to catch the eye of a guy,

as well as competing with some of the girls around me. I was doing it for someone

else ALL the time! That's not self-care at all. That was actually making all the things

that would typically make me happy, and turning them into chores.

Neither of those reasons had any benefit to Me, OR to who I wanted to be!

Now, I have gone through some of the most trying and painful days of my life in these

last 2 years... (these stories will come in a later post, don't worry)

Leaving me questioning not only my self worth, but leaving me wondering and

questioning who I am at all. Am I that girl? Does everything that has happened to me

and that I have done define me?

Thankfully the answer to those two specific questions is No. I am not my past.

It was a self image issue. I didn’t love or value myself the way I should.  

It was time to have an honest check in with myself about where I was at.

I took the time to look deeper into myself and see that in the past, I really was doing all

these things for the wrong reasons, and I acknowledged it.

This couldn't have been timed any better for me,

because in this process I was trying to find my self worth again.

Honestly, I had to stop all my old habits; take the time to clear my mind and let God reset

the skewed view I had, not only the view I had of my own value, but what taking care

of myself really meant. It took about 6 months, and in that time I learned that if I want

to keep my sanity I needed two things; Christ’s love, forgiveness and guidance, and to

take the time for ME. Not in a selfish way like before, but by switching that time I was

spending on overthinking things that were out of my control, and turning it into bettering

myself; showing myself that I am worth it.

As soon as I truly embraced and accepted those facts, it became a whole lot easier for me

to take a deeper look at the need for true "self-care and self-love” and what that looks like.

It's not all brunch, spa days and bottomless mimosas. It’s more about taking time to

recharge MYSELF. Learning about what speaks to MY soul and gives ME peace.

It's not selfish, it's healthy, and VERY much something that everyone should do.

During this time of self-checking and analyzing my motives, I read these verses out of

Romans 12:1-2 (ESV) “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,

to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your

spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the

renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is

good and acceptable and perfect.” These words hit my soul so deeply.

With the craziness of the last two years I had gained so much weight that I couldn’t even

recognize myself in pictures anymore. So part of this process of “self-care” is to treat

myself with respect by losing the weight and getting my body back. It’s crazy to look

and see what happens when the blinders get removed from our eyes and we can see clearly

just how far we’ve gone, and how far we’ve let the enemy skew the way we see or think

about things that really should be positive and helpful. He can turn it into such a mess if

we aren’t careful. I am so glad that even though it hurt, I was able to grow from the

experiences that I was walking through. Christ has shown me just how screwed up my

thinking was and how far I had let the enemy come into my thoughts. Once I realized

what was going on in my own thoughts, I was able to identify where I

was falling short. The ways I thought I was caring for myself, was actually bringing me

more harm than good.

All because my OWN attitude and self perception was totally off

base. That is the difference. Is what we’re doing for ourselves, or is it because we want

to be different. This is where the true reasoning comes into play. Am shaving my legs

because it makes me feel good and like I have accomplished something, or am I doing

it to prove to the world that I have the time to make sure that my legs are as smooth as a

baby’s bottom, Every. Single. Day. If the honest answer is the second, (which it was)

clearly there is a problem. Not only was caring for myself based on the perception of being

noticed or accepted by another human, but my behavior wasn’t bringing any glory to God.

Nothing I was doing showed that I was trying to please the Lord, which is my utmost

goal in life. Taking care of the body that He gave me, all to please the world.

What a devastating thought. Sadly, it was more than just a thought, this was reality.

I know it may sound like this is some kind of incessant rambling, but I promise you I have

a point to all this.

So what do I do now? Now I spend my time focusing on things that will benefit MY future,

and that will reflect

what Christ is doing in my life. I read ACTUAL books! I write in a journal for HOURS.

Once a week (sometimes more often) I’ll do a facial/face mask, I paint my nails anytime

I’m tired of the color or they chip (whichever comes first) I will take the time to curl my

hair. I started listening to country music again because I love it.  But one of the biggest

hings that I’ve been working on is loving myself through this process. In every aspect of

the word, Mind, Body and Spirit. Eat healthy, think positive and be active;

and through it all just remembering this quote by Eleanor Brownn: "Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel."

Eat well, rest often, speak kindly and always make time for yourself. Spend time doing

what YOU love, not what might impress others.

XO

Stay Strong, Stay Blonde

Welcome to the new and improved Brilliant Blonde Blog! 
I am so excited and blessed to be able to be here and share My story and all that will be coming soon. There are many things in the works over here at the "Blonde Blogger" headquarters :) I know that it doesn't always seem like things go well, and to be completely transparent over these last 2 years things have NOT gone my way at all when it comes to the plans that I have made and the time table I had for myself.... BUT God is still King and HIS plans are better than any I could have tried to come up with on my own. 

Anyway, all this to say, I am so so very excited to be sharing all the news and amazing things that are coming this up coming year. Be the first ones to know about the SURPRISE that is coming this summer!!! STAY TUNED! New blog post's to come soon!

XO
Stay Strong, Stay Blonde