Synopsis on the Cleanse

It was good. The first week was great, the second set of cleanse days were too much for my body. I didn't have a lot of weight to spare, and that first week took 5 lbs off of me. The second week, after pushing myself hard running (because that is what I like to do), I could feel myself feeling weak, crabby, and ..... well.....hungry. I found myself short tempered with my kids, and that was the exact moment that I knew that I had to adapt this to my needs. That I was in charge of the cleanse, it wasn't in charge of me. I received this love letter from my son this morning....and it proved to me that I did the right thing. Though the stubborn part of me, the extreme part, wanted to stick to the cleanse to the letter of the law, the Mother part, and the athlete/healthy part of me knew that I was asking things of my body in week two that were becoming unhealthy. All desire to "cleanse" aside, my first and highest priority is to these three little beings who call me Mommy, and in my fervor to cleanse, I can't compromise my duty and responsibility to them.

So, I adapted. I can see how the entirety of the cleanse would be the PERFECT thing for someone who is more sedentary, or who has less young kids up in their grill all day, or who has significant weight to lose. For me, it was a perfect kick start to some new and improved eating habits. I'm glad I did it. I feel like I have a LOT more clarity about what mistakes I have been making with my diet, where I have gotten sloppy/lazy, and come up with some solutions to work with/around those areas. I have never, ever craved clean food as much as I do right now.

I will say that I am generally an excellent eater. Nutrition is important to me both as an athlete, and as the person who sets an example for my children. I don't have a lot of respect for Mom's who eat garbage while trying to tell their children to eat healthily. It all starts with us. I realized that I have gotten lazy on my side dishes at lunch ~ frequently resorting to a piece of fruit and something processed, like goldfish or pretzels. I have gotten less creative with the kids lunches as well, we tend to do the same things over and over. I also realized how I've gotten down to just a few grains in my wheelhouse.....brown rice, couscous, israeli couscous, and quinoa. We eat whole oats for breakfast 3 or 4 times a week.....but considering the wide and wild array of grains out there, I've gotten lazy and limited. I also saw very very clearly how chronically dehydrated I think I am ~ In drinking water and herbal tea all day long I was amazed at how frequently I had to use the restroom ~ whereas in a "normal" day I can drink coffee and a tiny bit of water in a long workout and hardly think about water all day. That is an AWFUL habit for an athlete. Today I added black rice, pearled barley, wheat berries and chia seeds to our usual shopping cart purchases. I just finished making a gigantic batch of homemade chicken soup with kale, orzo, chicken, onions carrots and an abundance of garlic. We always use whole/multi grain bread......except for our tortillas or baguettes. That is over. Whole grains only. I'm also going to work harder on baking my own bread. We always go meatless two days a week, and I am going to work to increase that to three or four. I figure that since this is my blog, and its about my marathon training, there is no reason it can't include my nutrition goals as well.

I had a shake for breakfast with green tea (and coffee :)), lunch was spicy tuna rolls with wasabi, part of a green smoothie, my snack was homemade kale chips, and the soup will be dinner. I'm off to the gym on this incredibly dreary cold damp day to try to get in as many miles as I can on the treadmill after a no running but hard workout day yesterday.

These are my new food goals. Do you have any? Are you stuck in a rut? Did you just find a new food you adore? What are your priorities in your diet, and how do you achieve them?