Yogi Tea #1: green tea blueberry slim life

Okay folks! I have my first tea to blog about! Wahoo. I am so excited! So, the first Yogi Tea I will be blogging about the Green Tea Blueberry Slim Life.

Alright, so this tea serves as a dietary supplement to energize and support a diet program. It is supposed to aid in maintaining an active lifestyle. It is supposed to help with stamina and just overall give you a boost so that you don’t feel tired from your diet.

 

The ingredients for this tea include:

• Green Tea: green tea is essentially the unfermented version of black tea; it’s packed with a ton of antioxidants (and antioxidants fight the free radicals in your body)
• Bilberry Leaf aka Huckleberry: fights those free radicals baby
• Hibiscus Flower: again, hibiscus is packed with antioxidants, but after I did a little research I found out that this plant has been used in different regions of the world for thousands of years to serve different purposes including maintaing a normal body temperature and fluid balance, supporting heart and upper respiratory health, and regulating bowel movement and urination.
• Green Tea Leaf Extract: see Green Tea
• Ginseng and Eleuthero Root Extract: promotes long term stamina
• Amla Fruit aka Indian Gooseberry: amla is a superfruit in Ayurveda; it’s packed with Vitamin C and antioxidants. Not only that, but amlas are great for your skin and hair (one of the reasons I regularly put amla juice in my hair when I was in India). It also helps with digestive function…literally a superfruit
• Belleric Myrobalan Fruit (Bibhitaki): another superfruit in Ayurveda folks! Bibhitaki is known to support digestion, water balance, and the urinary and respiratory tracts
• Chebulic Myrobalan Fruit (Haritaki): haritaki is great for detox as it cleanses your GI tract. It supports digestion and elimination, and is referred to as “the king of herbs” in Tibetan medicine.
• Garcinia Cambogia Fruit: great for stamina
• Stevia Leaf: used as a natural sweetener for this tea

So, all of the herbs that are used for stamina are going to be the energy providers. The herbs that support digestion and elimination and cleansing are also key. A good digestive tract is key no matter who you are. It keeps you going, and will help you from feeling sluggish. Am I personally on a serious diet? No, not really. I am tracking my caloric intake on the “Myfitnesspal” app on my phone. But, generally I’m just trying to have a healthier diet all together (guys, today I turned down the invitation to go to Taco Bell for lunch. that never happens).

As far as feeling the effects of energy and stamina, to be completely honest, I forgot some days to really observe how I’m feeling during and after drinking the tea. But, the days I do remember, I remember feeling a burst of energy a little while after finishing my cup. The other issue comes in, is that usually I drink my tea in the morning, and I am naturally a morning person. And finally, the box suggests you drink the tea throughout the day, but I really only had one cup a day. Either way, I definitely did feel the effects of the energy and felt more alive, for lack of better words.

For taste, I give it a 10 out of 10 with a little honey added to it, and without the honey, I give it a 7.5 out of 10.

Definitely go out and grab a box of this. See if it helps supplement your diet program, or if you just want a tasty tea, this one is great.
Up next: Berry DeTox

 

References:
www.yogiproducts.com, www.banyanbotanicals.com, www.gaiaherbs.com, www.care2.com

breakfast smoothie

Okay, so recently I bought KALE. I had no idea what to do with it, but everyone had been talking about how amazing it is, I bought it. Here’s one thing I’ve done with it so far:

Breakfast Smoothie:

• 1 ripe banana
• 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup blueberries (I used frozen, but fresh is always my first option)
• 4 heaping spoons of plain Greek Yogurt (I use 0% Fage)
• 4-5 leaves of KALE (not a lot, because it is a bitter veggie, and you don’t want it to overpower the smoothie and make the whole thing taste bitter)
• 1/4 cup of any juice (or liquid) that you like (orange juice is always a good option, or coconut water is a great added boost of nutrition)
• 1 scoop of vanilla flavored protein powder (optional)

We have a blessing of a Vitamix at my house, but with any other blender, blend until completely smooth. I had to go back and reblend longer than I usually do with my smoothies because of the kale. You want to make sure its really smooth, or you’ll be chewing pieces of raw kale, and that’s not the yummiest thing ever.

Enjoy!

talk about a green smoothie. disregard the background being my car!

*ps, word on the orange juice: Texas oranges are in season right now, and have GREAT juice. Go for natural orange juice, squeezed fresh, instead of store-bought. WAY tastier

home

I’m home. It almost doesn’t feel as though I left Memphis 3 months ago, and it doesn’t feel as though I lived in another country for 3 months. 3 months is a long time. It’s a 4th of a year. It’s a long time.

Coming home never felt so good. Despite the setbacks of canceled flights and trying to find ways to get back to Memphis, I am so glad I’m back. At the end of the day, home is home. No matter where I go, or what city I travel to, the prospects of being able to shower in your own shower and sleep in your own bed are things I definitely call luxuries.

I’ve been home 2 full days now, and I’m still trying to adjust back to the cold weather (I came home to snow!) and get rid of this jet lag. We’ve basically unpacked the 8 bags we brought back. I’ve eaten taco bell and had brewed coffee (I’ve been living off of instant coffee for 3 months, and for a coffee lover, it does not taste good at all). I was even happy to come back to songs that really annoyed me when I left (ahem, hey, I just met you…). I didn’t forget how to drive either. This was all such a relief to me, because it made me feel like I never left. I was home.

However, I began to think back to India, and the millions, or possibly even billions, of people who don’t have a home. The ones that live on the streets or in shacks that may fall over any day. I wondered if they regard their block of sidewalk or the metal sheets that encompass them as home just as much as I consider my house my home. Is the feeling of “home” a universal feeling?

When I was little, I remember my aunt once telling what the difference between a house and a home is. A house, she said, is built by hands. A home, however, is built by hearts. I guess this concept resonates with me now more than ever. My home, consisting of me, my mom, and my dad. Our three hearts. So, I guess if we take that definition of home, you can create your home wherever and with whomever.

How great is it to be able to say that you have a home to always come to. How blessed are we? Incredibly. I wish that everyone in the world had the ability to say those words. But, the world isn’t fair. What can I do?

I’m reminded of the song “Home” by Philip Phillips.
“Just know you’re not alone. Cause I’m gonna make this place your home.”

Home isn’t confined to walls that surround you every night. Or by the people who you live with. Home is a state of mind. And I can try my hardest to make someone not feel alone, and help them feel like they have a home.

My journey in India has ended. But, I’m just beginning on my journey to figure out what this whole life thing is about. I’m coming back at the right time. I can’t wait to start this new year fresh and rejuvenated and ready to take on the world.