all about a detox

Free at last! Free at last! Thank god almighty I'm free at last!

Okay - it really wasn't that bad. Not at all.

Overall the detox went really well. As I mentioned the other day I had bountiful energy, lost weight (and inches), and my skin looks fantastic. Best of all the pipes are working better than they have in years. This for me is saying something.

All the promises came true. I wasn't hungry, didn't feel deprived, and only craved something one day there at the end. One odd side effect is that I haven't bitten my nails in three weeks. Which is kind of unexpected and weird. How long will that last I wonder?

So now what do I do with this? Do I slowly revert back to my unhealthy ways, waiting to gradually revert back to being tired so I need another detox soon? Or do I incorporate some of what I learned and continue to eat better?

Ugh, I don't know. What I do know is that I want to keep having this much energy and I would love to lose eight more pounds. So for now I'll just keep eating the same way, testing one of the restricted foods every few days.

Today I incorporated the nightshade veggies. I love hot peppers and adore french fries, here is hoping I don't have to eliminate them 'for good'. Later this week I'm going to try gluten. Hope hope hope I can get back to drinking beer!!

chasing the wagon

Boy do I want a drink.

You were all just waiting to hear that, weren't you?

Oddly enough this is the first time in the whole detox that I've craved alcohol. Even last night having dinner with the petes there wasn't a temptation to imbibe.

Probably the best thing to do is review how good I have felt through this whole thing. The energy, the elevated mood, the clear skin, the weight loss...

Or maybe I'll just keep busy. That might be the best course of action.

Two more days!

livin' raw

Just to get as much out of this detox as I can (day 18 of 21, hooray!) I have been trying to eat as much raw food as possible.

This frankly is not all that difficult considering what is on the list of what I can eat.

Conveniently I not only live in NYC which is exceptionally detox friendly, but I also am a mere four blocks from the Westerly Market which has prepared raw organic foods.

From what I understand the raw food movement contends that heating fruits and veggies above 116 degrees destroys important enzymes. And I guess these enzymes are good for you or some such. Oh, and the life force is stronger if the food is raw. Yeah.

What is on the menu for today's lunch? Raw organic mashed potatoes. And guess what? Not a spud to be seen. Ingredients are: Cauliflower, cashews, thyme, lemon juice, and sea salt.

Appearance? Looks about right. Consistency? Yep, just like mashed potatoes. Taste? Not that bad. Not great, but I think the fact that it is cold really is detrimental to the flavor. If I trusted myself to heat to a balmy 110 degrees then they most probably would be pretty darn good!

So far my favorite of the raw foods from the Westerly are the beet salad (slivered beets, sunflower seeds, agave nectar, salt) and the mock tuna sandwich (fake bread made from nuts and seeds, fake tuna from slew of veggies and nuts).

To be honest I'm not sure if the raw foods are really making a difference, whether or not my body is digesting more efficiently or absorbing more nutrients. But if I find some stuff that is tasty along the way it can't hurt, right? If it wasn't for the prepared stuff I probably wouldn't have tried doing some raw at all. Besides salads of course.

This definitely isn't a lifestyle I would do full time though. No way no how. I genuinely love hot meals!!

how to recover

Okay, I'm going to throw something out there that has been bothering me.

Over the years I've read an article or two (or five million) concerning what to eat after a workout. How to recover the best and get the most out of your training. What the ratio of protein to carbs to fat should be, how many calories you need, when you should eat.

Pretty much across the board the advice is to eat less than 90 minutes after you workout to replenish and refuel.

But this doesn't make sense. Look at the foods you are eating and how long it takes to break down those nutrients! The only things that I think absorb right away through your stomach lining are water, aspirin, and alcohol. Almost everything else has to be chemically processed in the stomach and then eventually absorbed in the intestines.

It can take HOURS to break down a snack.

Methinks all this research about when to eat is based off of those super-athletes whose bodies are in hyper drive to absorb nutrients because they burn it all off again so quickly.

As for the rest of us mere mortals? I'm guessing what you eat 12 hours before makes a whole lot more difference to how you recover from exercise.

But that's just my opinion. From an utterly unqualified non-medically trained perspective.

the single life

One other thing of note that has been going on - all of a sudden I've been dating.

My regular readers know that over the years I date here and there, on and off. I'll meet someone, go on a few dates, and then be done seeing anyone for a few months.

You definitely can't say I'm not totally comfortable being single.

But how much of that is comfort and how much is stowing myself away in a 'safe' little nook, not risking any kind of attachment for fear of being hurt? To be honest I'm not really sure.

From my level of personal happiness being single I would say more of the former, but I won't lie I think there has always been a nibble of apprehension on my part as well. Even in my 20s I was fully aware that I dreaded commitment, somewhere believing that nothing is permanent so why lay it all on the line?

Lately the trepidation has dissipated. And it has been nice. Honestly I give full credit to my immersion into yoga; it healed and still heals me in so many surprising ways.

As often happens in life here I am open to something new and what do you think comes along? Boys.

Chemistry.com has recently been batting 1000. I have been a member for years (at no charge to me and with little interaction) with nary a good candidate thrown my way. Over the last six months it has been a flurry of activity filled with actual dating potential.

At one point I was dating two people at once. For more than one date and one week. Which for me is unheard of.

(BTW dating like that is VERY time consuming.)

So more details to come. I'll fill you all in on the boyz, they’ll be getting their own posts.

she never learns

You know I thought I was oh so smart volunteering for the NYC half last weekend. Because I had learned from experience that it was a total bear to run. Always above 80 degrees and above 80% humidity.

As I cheered those 10,000 runners on I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor saps.

Stupid ass me signs up for a 5k this weekend.

Duh.

Needless to say it was hot and humid. I rained in the morning, stopped before the start. And then the sun came out. You know what that means?

That means all that water on the ground starts to evaporate. Steam rising is always fun to run through. Not.

Overall my time was good, finished in just over 31 mins. And I didn't think about the knee once. That's something isn't it? Time and patience can cure so much.

For this race they used some new disposable chip to track our times and right now I'm not finding my results online - which kinda sucks. Guess I'll have to protest and use the pictures they take as proof.

You know, if I needed proof that I ran a race for something. Not that anything comes to mind. :)

why the detox?

Here I am on day 12 of my detox.

When I tell people the laundry list of what I'm giving up for the 21 one days most of them tend to respond with "What?!? Why?!?" Of course in an incredulous tone.

Throughout my life I have been a high-energy kinda gal. I pride myself on being the life of the party, and was always on the go. Heck I held down two jobs and still went out a couple nights a week for years with nary a stumble in my stride.

Fast forward to the present day where I'm drinking six cups of coffee a day just to feel baseline normal and it is still a major effort to motivate to go out on the town at night.

Hells bells, I'm just 37 living a life of relative leisure. I should not be this exhausted all the time.

On a whim I picked up a book my company publishes, Spent. (As in lack of energy, not money)

The more I read the more I wanted to read. It claimed that if you are feeling worn down, are constantly bloated, can't lose weight despite diet/exercise, get sick often, can't sleep, etc etc then you just need to let your body heal itself.

Reboot.

Having gone on a two week juice fast I am no stranger to the idea of natural healing alternatives. So I took a couple weeks to trim down my kitchen and wean myself off of my coffee.

For breakfast I have a smoothie, lunch a salad or some quinoa/chicken/veggie combo, and dinner the same or back to a smoothie. If I get hungry I snack on fresh fruit or raw nuts.

Not hard right? Especially since I'm just not hungry. Not like before the detox, when for some reason I was hungry all the time - it felt like every couple of hours.

Oh, and the energy? Lord I'm waking up before my alarm, totally ready to take on the day. I've NEVER been that person!

In general so far so good! Granted I've never done something like this for three weeks, so we'll see how my resolve to be healthy holds up.

Then I’ll have to figure out the order in which to reintroduce the foods back into my diet. Any guesses what comes back first? Heh.

she's back!

Boy, do I have a lot of catching up to do.

How have you all been? Feeling good? Livin life? Keepin' on keepin on?

It hasn't been so much that I've been busy as uninspired. Over time I just felt like I didn't have too much to say. And I would add that it seems I've been through a rough patch as well - which I think really affected me more than I even realized.

That being said I have a skip in my step again. You have no idea how much I missed that.

Why am I back? Right now two things - I'm back running again and I'm on a detox.

After a TON of yoga my muscles developed enough for my knee to get back to working order. It took patience and time but I even ran a four mile race last month, and it felt terrific.

The knee will never feel the same, I can tell there is a piece of cartilage missing, but it doesn't hurt. That is the key.

And the detox? Oh, the detox. Currently I am on day 11 of 21 giving up gluten, soy, dairy, sweeteners, nightshade veggies, caffeine, and alcohol. With that list it looks like there is nothing I can eat but don't you worry, there is plenty.

Killer thing about the detox is that all the promises are coming true. My energy is off the charts! One claim I scoffed at was that after a few days you would crave veggies and love the taste.
Yeah, right.
Well lo and behold last night I had some veggies with hummus and found myself eating just the veggies!! Mid-chew I even found myself saying "This celery is delicious! Wait, I hate celery..."

Maybe I should try Brussels sprouts tonight...oh the possibilities!