Interview With Jordan From TheBlondeVegan, All About Her 5 Day Cleanse And A Recipe!

Hello everyone! Today I want to share one of my favourite health inspirations with you all! The gorgeous Jordan aka. theblondevegan (picture of her above). She will also be sharing everything about her amazing 5 day cleanse and an amazing recipe from her cleanse with us all! So get cozy, get yourself a yummy cup of tea and get ready to be inspired!  🙂

Name: Jordan Younger
Age: 23
Current location: New York City

Contact:

Website: http://www.theblondevegan.com/

What’s your journey been so far? How did you become “theblondevegan” and what made you want to write an ebook on a cleanse?

– I found veganism last January because of severe stomach problems that had been plaguing me my entire life. I had spent years trying to figure out the eating style that worked best for my body. I knew that dairy and red meat did not work well with my system, so I was already predominantly pescetarian but I still ate eggs, fish, some poultry and wasn’t very careful about oils. I went through a rough break up at the end of 2012 and decided to make some changes in my life. One of the first things I did was try a 5-day “plant-based” cleanse, and immediately it was SHOCKING how amazing I felt physically, mentally and emotionally. My stomach problems were gone, I felt clearer, lighter, more energized and I was proud of my choices for myself and for the environment. I knew I had to continue eating an entirely clean and plant-based lifestyle in order to continue feeling amazing, so I fell in love with veganism and never looked back. I started playing around in the kitchen and making all sorts of yummy green smoothies, juices, roasted veggie dishes, salads and raw desserts. I took photos every day and sent them to my mom. I followed a lot of vegan bloggers on Instagram and online already (including you, missy!!) and last June I realized that I had enough photos and recipe ideas to create my own healthy food Instagram. I also love to write, so I decided to expand the Instagram into a blog so that I could share stories and more in-depth information with my followers. I decided to write the eBook because a 5-day plant-based cleanse changed my life, so I wanted to create the same type of experience for my followers and for anyone who was interested in doing the same thing. I wanted to create a cleanse that promoted a sustainable healthy lifestyle change and not a “quick fix” or any type of starvation cleanse.

What’s your food philosophy?

– My food philosophy is simple: find what works best for YOUR body, and then fall in love with that lifestyle. What works best for my body is a whole food, plant-based diet. I have the most energy, I feel the lightest and healthiest when I eat that way. I believe in everything in moderation – eat what you love, don’t deprive yourself! I get my greens in all day long so I deserve some dessert at the end of the day, whether that be raw chocolate or fruit with some raw honey and almond butter. I am also very active, which I think is a key component to leading a healthy lifestyle.

5 tips for health, fitness and just living a great life?

1.    1. Drink lots and lots of water! It keeps your skin hydrated and flushes everything out of your system to keep from bloating.

2.    2. Exercise, exercise, exercise. Yoga, running, swimming, biking, walking, taking the stairs whenever possible, etc. Just move J

3.    3. Green juices!!! The power of the greens will keep you healthy, glowing and radiant.

4.  4.   Don’t sweat the small stuff. FORGIVE, be happy, and know that you deserve peace above all else.

5.   5.  Smile. If you have a genuine smile on your face, you are flawlessly beautiful.

What exactly is a cleanse? Is it the same thing as a detox? And why does one need it?

– A cleanse is essentially the same thing as a detox. Cleanses are good for us because our body and our digestive systems need a rest once in a while. Our systems work hard to process and digest the food we eat each day. Imagine giving it a break for 5 days straight and letting it reboot and heal from the inside. Cleanses aid in avoiding disease, firing up our metabolism and eliminating body stress. Because we are ridding our bodies of built up toxins, we are able to relax and relieve ourselves of all sorts of things that make us feel nasty. Unless you eliminate certain foods from your diet, you’ll never know what works for you and what does not work for you.

What can people expect (as in results like less bloating for example etc.) from your cleanse? 

– People who participate in the cleanse can expect detoxification, shedding unwanted pounds, feeling light and awesome, becoming more aware of the foods they are putting into their body and how food makes them feel, and the reward of challenging themselves in a healthy way.

 

What’s your number one advice for someone following your cleanse?

– Pay attention to your body! If you are hungry, grab a piece of fruit to snack on. This cleanse is not about starving. It’s about making sustainable lifestyle changes and forming a positive relationship to food.

What’s your favourite recipe in your cleanse?

– I have two. The Naked Smoothie and the Butternut Squash Apple Soup (Jordan was kind enough to share the recipe forthe Butternut Squash Apple Soup, with us so make sure you keep on scrolling)! I also love the Strawberry Fields smoothie. I’m such a smoothie addict. 

How is your cleanse set up? (As in 3 meals a day or no food?) 

– 1 smoothie for breakfast, 2 juices throughout the day as snacks, a solid food meal for lunch that is either a salad or a soup with nuts/seeds, and a solid food meal for dinner that is either roasted veggies or a soup with nuts/seeds. You can also eat as many fruits, veggies and nuts as you’d like whenever you get hungry, so you do not have to stick strictly to the meals provided.

Where can one buy it? 

– You can purchase the cleanse here: gum.co/theblondevegancleanse

BUTTERNUT SQUASH APPLE SOUP

This might actually be my favorite recipe in the whole cleanse (minus some of the smoothies, of course). This soup is special to me because it was the first veggie soup I learned how to make in my blender. Learning how to make soups in my blender made my life as a vegan so much easier and a whole lot more exciting.
The flavors in this soup are reminiscent of fall but can be enjoyed at any time of year. The squash makes it thick and creamy while the apple adds a sweetness that pairs well with the subtlety of the squash. The pecans and raisins are a super delicious touch that give this soup an extra oomph. Oh, and the nutmeg brings out all the flavors while adding an oomph of its own. Delicious!

Ingredients:
½ butternut squash
½ apple
1 T nutmeg
½ cup water
salt and pepper to taste
OPTIONAL: ½ T olive oil
Toppings:
1 small handful pecans
1 small handful raisins

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Chop the butternut squash into cubes, and lightly drizzle in olive oil if you so desire.
2. Place the butternut squash into the oven and bake until golden brown. This should take about 30 minutes, depending on your oven.
3. Slice the ½ apple into small cubes. Once the squash is baked, remove from the oven and place all ingredients into a blender or food processor.
4. Blend until smooth. Add more water if necessary
5. Top with pecans and raisins.

Thank you so much for reading and a huge thanks to Jordan for sharing all her amazing wisdom with us! Don’t forget to check her out over at http://www.theblondevegan.com (what a cute name, huh?)

Have a lovely and healthy day, xxx

Yasmin

Raw Raspberry Chocolate Cheescake (Paleo, Vegan)

Happy New Year everyone!

Hope you had a beautiful holiday season and a happy new years eve. These past few weeks have been crazy, hence the lack of posts, but I had a lovely time with my family and friends and hope you did too. Today I wanted to share the recipe for this delicious chocolate raspberry cheesecake recipe with you all.

Chocolate Crust:

• 1 cups of pecans
• 1 cups of macadamia nuts
• 1 and 1/2 cups of pitted dates
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
• 3 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon ground vanilla
• 1/2 tablespoon of himalayan sea salt

Cheesecake Layer:

• 3 cups of raw cashews
• 1 and 1/2 cups of pitted dates
• 1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 5 tbsp coconut oil

Raspberry Layer:

• 2 cups of raspberries
• 2 bananas
• 5 dates
• 5 tablespoons of coconut oil

Optional: Raw cacao nibs as a topping

Throw the ingridients of the individual layers into the food processor and blend. Then layer everything and store in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Serve and enjoy!

Have a lovely and healthy day guys ❤

Banana and Nutbutter Chocolate Cups; Paleo, Raw, Vegan

Good afternoon everyone!

Hope you all are doing well! Today I want to share the recipe for these delicious banana & nutbutter chocolate cups with you!

All you need is:

• Some of the basic, homemade raw chocolate. Click here for recipe.
• Sliced bananas
• Any nut- or seedbutter of your choice! (I like cashew and almondbutter)
• And some silicon cupcake cups

Start by covering the base of the cups with some of the raw chocolate.

Set them in the freezer for 10-15min. Then add the banana slices and the nutbutter.

Pour the remaining raw chocolate on top and leave in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Welcome to food heaven!

Have a lovely and healthy day guys!

xxx-Yasmin

 

Is lack of sleep making you fat?

How was your morning?

Did you wake up at the dawn of light, excited and ready to take on your day or did you keep on hitting the snooze button until finally dragging yourself out of bed?

Were you full of energy or did you have to rely on artificial stimulates like sugar and caffeine to get you going?

Not only can lack of sleep hinder us from doing everything we want to do, being our most productive and enjoying our day to its fullest it actually also plays a huge role in gaining/losing fat and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Wanna know why?

Hope this helps! Have a lovely and healthy day guys, xxx

Yasmin

Let’s talk Protein Powders!

I get so many questions everyday asking about the protein powders I use and decided it would be easiest to just film a video on this answering all your questions!

Unfortunately I’m out of focus during the entire video, wich I only noticed when I finished recording. Really sorry about that 😦 However I hope this answers your questions 🙂

The Protein Powders I use:

Sunwarrior Protein Blend

• Click here for the link to the official website
• Link to iherb.com (international online store, where I buy mine.) You can use the discount code WPL642 for 10% off your first order if you’d like 🙂 Vanilla or Chocolate

About time whey

• Official website
• Click here for the link to iherb.com (international online store, where I buy mine.) You can use the discount code WPL642 for 10% off your first order if you’d like 🙂

There’s definitely other good ones out there, these are just the ones I have personally tried and continue to use 🙂 You might also be able to find them at local health food stores or other websites online.

Have a lovely and healthy day guys, xxx

Yasmin

Raw Chocolate

I love raw chocolate, and it’s definitely a staple in my life! Read more about the benefits of raw cacao here!: http://healthyyfood.com/2013/04/28/cacao-the-amazing-super-food/

Here’s a super easy and quick recipe on how you can make your own. You will need:

• 250gr. raw cacao butter
• 12 tbsp raw cacao powder
• 3 tbsp raw coconut palm sugar
• 1/2 tbsp himalayan sea salt
• Add ins of your choice

Please keep in mind that this is a DARK chocolate. So if you would like it less bitter add more coconut palm sugar and less cacao powder. 🙂

Not sure where to buy the ingredients? Check local health food stores or you can order it off www.iherb.com where you can use the discount code WPL642 for 10% off your first order. Thank you so much for watching!

Have a lovely and healthy day guys! xxx Yasmin

I was interviewed! Top 3 beauty and health tips, my jouney to wellness and more!

I was interviewed by the lovely raw food sisters! If you want to know my top three beauty and health tips, my advice for a newbie, a fun recipe, a little bit about my own journey and so much more! Just click here: http://therawfoodsisters.com/2013/11/21/thursday-get-together-with-yasmin-from-healthyyfood/

A few little snippets from the interview:

• I believe there is a lesson to be learnt from all of our experiences in life, the good and the bad
• Up until that point I had spent my life trying to please others and based my worth on their opinion. For me this lifestyle change was about so much more than just weight loss or getting healthy. Through this process I have gotten to know myself and really tune in with my body. I have found something that I love and am passionate about. Up until that point anything I did was always to please other people or with the aim to have other people “like” me more. But not this time; it was something I truly started doing for myself. Just me. And I honestly, haven’t looked back since.
• I also can’t go a day without some raw chocolate or nut butter. Definitely my two guilty pleasures
• Sleep helps increase your memory, performance and obviously energy. In addition to that lack, of sleep can result in unwanted fat gain, by increasing ghrelin, a hunger hormone, and decreasing growth hormones.

….this is only a small part of what we covered in the interview! So head over to http://therawfoodsisters.com/2013/11/21/thursday-get-together-with-yasmin-from-healthyyfood/ to read the rest! And while you’re at it, don’t forget to subscribe and follow these two amazing girls on all their social media sites!

I’m still blown away by the fact that someone was actually interested in interviewing me! This has been one crazy journey, and I couldn’t be more blessed to be able to share it with all of you! Thank you for all your non stop support and encouragement! I can’t wait to see what the future will bring!

I’d also like to say a massive thank you to Katrin and Julie for all their support and this amazing opportunity! Keep on shining girls, I know you will do amazing things!

Lots of love, Have a lovely and healthy day guys, xxx

Yasmin

Healthy Pumpkin Smoothie!; Paleo, Raw, Vegan

Hi everyone! 🙂

Today I’m going to be sharing one of my favourite fall time recipes with you all….a pumpkin smoothie!

You will need:
250gr. pumpkin
(optional): 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
2 dates
200ml coconut milk
1/2 tbsp cinammon, 1/4 tbsp nutmeg, 1/4 tbsp clove
Directions:
Blend everything together and you’re done!

Can’t wait to start connecting by video with you all!

Make sure to let me know if you have any requests!

Lots of love!

Have a lovely and healthy day! xxx

Yasmin

DTHM#1-Saturated Fat

DTHM #1:

I have decided to start this new series called Debunking the health myth; DTHM where I bust some common healthy myths and explain what’s actually going on.

Saturated fat:

And the first one is all about saturated fat. I’m sure you have all had someone tell you before that saturated fat is bad for you and causes heart disease. Well truth is, it’s actually extremely important for our health and wellbeing and necessary for humans to thrive!

Saturated fats are essential for proper energy function, cellular membranes, organ padding and hormone function. They give our cells the necessary stiffness, are essential for calcium absorption, have antimicrobial function, are needed for the proper utilization of the essential fatty acids and so much more!

When you actually take a look at the scientific evidence it does not support the claim that saturated fat causes heart disease in the slightest.

If saturated fat caused heat disease none of us would be here right now. Our ancestors relied on saturated fats to survive and evolve and had a huge amount of saturated fats in their diet.

It’s important to make the distinction between saturated fats and polyunsaturated fats! The majority of the polyunsaturated fats come from pressing nuts and seeds, such as corn, sunflower and soy, under thousands and thousand of pounds. From an evolution standpoint this is a predominantly new invention. We couldn’t do this 10’000 or even a 1000 years ago. The huge escalation of heart disease, cancer and diabetes all started after we stopped eating so many of the normal fats, the way nature provides them for us and started eating more of these polyunsaturated fats in form of hydrogenated vegetable oils and margarine. So no, margarine is not a better choice for you than butter.

I personally love to use saturated fats especially when baking and cooking and prefer using my extra-virgin olive oil (wich is a monounsaturated fat btw, not a polyunsaturated fat!)  in raw recipes or as a salad dressing. The reason why being: that when you heat oils, it causes the oil to go rancid wich creates free radicals. Free radicals are linked to a bunch of things like inflammation, premature aging and even cancer!

Take away:

Incorporate healthy sources of saturated fats like coconut and coconut oil, grass-fed (preferably raw and organic) butter and healthy sources of red meat coming from grass-fed, organic animals.

When cooking always make sure to use a saturated fat such as coconut oil and only use the monounsaturated fats such as olive oil in raw recipes.

Stay away from hydrogenated vegetable oils such as soybean, corn and sunflower oil.

PS: Also just found this short funny video whilst searching online, that I wanted to share with you, explaining how this whole myth started. It’s from the movie fat head. Really like this guys humor 🙂

Have a lovely and healthy day guys ♥

Banana, Walnut and Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Paleo, Vegan, GF, SF)

Let’s be honest: who doesn’t love good cookie every now and then? I sure do!  This might not be particularly modest to say, but these chocolate chip, walnut and banana chunk cookies are pretty darn amazing and super delicious!

You will need:

• up to 2 cups of almond flour
• 1/2 cup of all natural almond butter
• 1/2 cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts
• 2 bananas
• 1/2 cup (or more) of local honey (strict vegans can use maple syrup)
• 1 chia seed egg (1 tbsp of chia seeds mixed with 3 tbsp of water and soaked for at least 15 min; this can be substituted for one free range organic egg if you don’t have chia seeds)
• 1/4 cup (or more!) raw cacao nibs (you can also use dark chocolate chips)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Melt the coconut oil and combine with the almond butter, almond flour, chia seed egg, baking soda and salt.Cut the banana into small chunks and stir in to the dough. Add the walnuts and cacao nibs and stir in. Form cookies and lay out on a baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15min.

Have a lovely and healthy day guys ♥