Long Month, Short Hair!

Ello friends!

This week/month has been a little cray cray with senior design, workouts, take home tests, homework, housework, and food prep. You'd never guess that I was on Spring Break from school last week!!

I finished my body wellness cleanse on Thursday of last week and I have to say I am VERY pleased with the results :) After the 2 week process the final results were: 7 lbs LOST, better digestion, flatter tummy, and more energy! I consider it 100% success and I'd definitely recommend this product:

GNC Preventive Nutrition® Advanced Complex Body Cleansing

Now that that's over I can finally have my regularly scheduled cheat meal! Yesss... It will be pizza and a Quest bar for desert (or two hehe). If you haven't tried them you must. They are delicious. Warning: Highly nutritious, delicious, and addicting. Learn more about these little pieces of heaven here: Quest Nutrition Num num. I tried the Vanilla Almond Crunch and Cinnamon Roll flavors on Saturday night and OMG holy delicious. My all time favorite though is the Lemon bar. Tastes like desert. No, tastes better!



In other news, my hair is slowly but surely growing out. You may remember these long and luscious locks:

Well, now they're not quite as luscious... but longer than they were! A year ago I cut my hair SHORT:

I liked it, but MAN does it take forever to grow
back out! Choose wisely my friends ;)

I sent my hair to Locks of Love but I definitely missed my hair SO MUCH. I have been growing it back out ever since. Here's how far I am:

Getting there!

I'm sorry for the lack of posts, I was actually typing up this post last week when my computer got a virus and crashed. #FAIL. Thank God that the awesome team at Rite Fix Computers was able to remove it and recover my files. I still don't have it back yet, but hopefully it will be done by the end of the day. I hope ya'll stick around though and can forgive the delayed response!

I'm up on campus now (working on homework) so I better go actually do that ;)
Be blessed this week and don't forget to count your blessings!

~Ruthie

Spring Cleaning

Good morning bloggie friends,

Today is the second Sunday of Lent. Do you participate in Lent?

 I am not a Catholic, and although the tradition of Lent is historically Catholic, I have decided to refrain from eating sugar, processed foods, or "sweets" in general for the 40 days of Lent because I have quite a sweet tooth and giving up sweets is a big sacrifice to me and I want to do it to honor God.

Candyland is NOT the Promised Land

You might think,"Hey... don't you 'eat clean' anyways and follow a Team Bombshell diet plan? When would you ever be eating sweets anyways!?" Well, that my friends would be during my cheat meal. I always include either desert, chocolate, or chips/crackers/trail mix/snack mix (processed) in my cheat meal because they're just so yummy but I have decided to not do that because: it'll be hard for me, the desires of my stomach are an earthly pleasure, I don't actually need it, and I really enjoy it! So that is the sort of thing I want to give up to honor God and depend more on His joy, pleasure, and fullfilment than some silly food-joy.
 

No sweets? To honor God... No sweat :)

Let me back up... Not sure about this whole Lent thing? Here's a little excerpt explaining the concept:

~ "Lent is the Christian season of preparation before Easter. In Western Christianity, Ash Wednesday marks the first day, or the start of the season of Lent, which begins 40 days prior to Easter (Sundays are not included in the count). Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ - his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection.  The 40 days of Lent, which precedes Easter is based on two Biblical accounts: the 40 years of wilderness wandering by the Israelites and our Lord's 40 days in the wilderness at which point He was tempted by Satan. Each year the Church observes Lent where we, like Israel and our Lord, are tested. We participate in abstinence, times of fasting, confession and acts of mercy to strengthen our faith and devotional disciplines. The goal of every Christian is to leave Lent a stronger and more vital person of faith than when we entered. "

I will definitely needs God's help and a close relationship with Him to give up sweets, so here goes! So far so good but let me tell you it is NOT easy. I am treating Lent as a Spring Cleaning in my heart and spirit of all the things that hinder my close relationship with my savior. After all:

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need." ~ Matthew 6:33

Another "Spring Cleaning" type thing I am doing is a "cleanse" to rid my body of toxins and help my digestive system move more smoothly. I am doing GNC's  "Advanced Complete Body Cleansing - 14 Day Program."

You can find it here: GNC website. It is preformed in three phases and is described as follows...

Advanced 3 stage cleanse that gently supports overall digestive health without fasting

• 1st Stage: Cleanse and purify with a liquid blend of herbs, fruits and vegetables that gently removes toxins
• 2nd Stage: Detox with a natural herbal cleanse and clinically proven Sunfiber® to improve regularity
• 3rd Stage: Restore with high potency probiotics that are clinically proven to reduce bloating and stomach discomfort

~ Stage 1 is "CLEANSE: JUMPSTART LIQUID CLEANSE (Days 1 and 2)The Advanced Complex Body Cleansing 14- Day Program begins with a 2-day liquid cleanse.
~ Stage 2 is "DETOX: FIBER AND CLEANSING HERBS (Day 3 through 7)Continue the Advanced Complex Body Cleansing 14- Day Program with a 5-day regimen consisting of a Cleansing Proven Sunfiber® Sachet and a Cleansing Herbal Pack.
~ Stage 3 is RESTORE: PROBIOTIC AND HERBS RESTORATION (Days 8 through 14)The final phase of the Advanced Complex Body Cleansing 14- Day Program is a 7-day restoration that consists of a probiotic capsule to help replenish healthy intestinal flora and a daily Herbal Restore Pack that features a specialized blend of herbs designed to help replenish the body's beneficial digestive bacteria and digestive health, and probiotic capsule to help replenish healthy intestinal flora.

I did Stage 1 over the weekend, and I am on Day #1 of Stage 2 as of today! I'll let you guys know how it goes on my athlete page on Facebook: Ruthie Harrison Bikini Athlete Fan Page.


I'm off to church... Be blessed!
~ Ruthie