Enjoying the little things

“The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it's all that matters.” ― Audrey Hepburn

It's been over a week since I last posted, and what a whirlwind of a week it has been. 

I had my three week checkup with the foot doctor and was told that I was cleared for activity again.  I made a point to get to Team Adrenaline that night, I couldn't wait to work out with everyone again.  I don't know which I missed more, the work outs or the people.

We had planned a run around Findley Lake and then a stop for ice cream.  I originally planned on riding my bike, but was thrilled to be able to run it.  I ran the entire 5+ miles and felt great.  That is when I made up my mind to still run the half marathon on the 16th.

I finally got into my classroom Wednesday and Thursday and started to sort through the mess of unpacking.  In a way, having to move my classroom for a year has been a blessing.  I've been able to clean out and go through things, a task I never would have gotten to otherwise.  Even though it is work, I don't really mind it. 

I participated in a Zumbathon Thursday, two hours of Zumba with some great friends.  And Saturday we worked out at the beach to get ready for the Beast.

To say I looked forward to getting back into things would be putting it mildly.

With Tim enjoying a little time off, we've also been spending a lot of time as a family.  We made good use of his birthday gift and roasted marshmallows.

The biggest event in our house this week was M's birthday.  I still can't believe that my baby is 4!  I never believed people when they talked about how fast kids grow until I had one of my own. 

We got M the bike she had been begging for.  Her tricycle was getting a little too small for her to really enjoy it.

She is still getting used to riding her big girl bike.  So far we've only had one major crash, straight into the pine tree.  We've even made it around the block once! 

We had M's birthday party at Claytopia this year.  As much as I loved planning the big parties in the past, this party was probably one of my favorites.  It was easy, which is always nice, but still a lot of fun. 

 

 We actually had more trouble with the adult table than the kids.  Leave it to my mom and my aunt: dumping water, spilling paint

 

After, we had one tired birthday girl.

The week was capped off with a picnic with some of my Team Adrenaline friends.  There were turkeys:

 

And minion cupcakes....

 

 

And of course, there were shenanigans.

 

 

Overall this week helped me to appreciate the little things in life.  Good friends, a happy family, the ability to move without a boot again. With the beginning of school creeping closer and closer, it is my plan to enjoy these little things as much as possible before my time is again devoted to lesson planning and IEP writing.  





It's like spring cleaning, for your body

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”  ― Hippocrates

After a week of indulging during my vacation in North Carolina, I returned feeling less than healthy.  I was sluggish, bloated, and overall just feeling icky. I had gone back to my old ways of eating on vacation, and enjoyed my fair share of BBQ and I could tell.  MMMM....crabcake sandwich.

I decided I needed a jumpstart in order to get me back on track and feeling like myself again.

Upon doing some research, I decided to try a 3 day cleanse developed by Dr. Oz. Now, I am not a huge fan of Dr. Oz for reasons on my own; but the cleanse looked like the type of thing that I needed to get back on track.  It included a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and didn't involve any of those gimmicky things you often find in these types of cleanses.  It was basically just getting back to healthy eating again by way of pureed produce.

So, making up my mind and using the provided grocery list (huge plus!), I headed off to the grocery store to get my food for the next three days.  I was pretty proud as I headed up to the cash register.  My cart was filled with a plethora of colors including a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.  I was excited, as there were many new (for me) fruits and veggies to be included in my smoothies.  What I wasn't excited about was the price, I guess I didn't think about how much all those items would cost.  But I figured it was for a good cause, and I knew that any left overs would be fine for Tim or M as well.

A couple things before I go into the details of my cleanse:

• I was not in this for weight loss.  Instead I was looking to cleanse my system and get back on track.

• I have already been eating rather clean (other than vacation) since May.  This has definitely changed my taste buds, and I've found that I'm more in tune to the subtle sweetness of many things.  Things that I find flavorful and delicious, I've found that others see as bland. Also, many people who had done the cleanse before complained of feeling irritable and moody.  I attributed that effect to the lack of processed sugar.  How do I know this?  I went through a week of it when I cut out processed sugar back in May.  It sucks, I know; but when you get past that, you'll never want to go back to eating crap again (unless you are on a Southern vacation).

• I tried very hard to buy organic.  The only things that were non-organic were the avocados, bananas, and mangoes.  This added to the cost, but I believe it is worth it.

• I didn't exercise during the cleanse.  I planned on it the first day, however, decided not to after looking at my calorie intake.  I track my food; not because I'm counting calories, but because I like to see where I'm strong (like Vitamin A), and where I am deficient (protein).  Seeing the total calories for the day, I decided not to go burn any as I wanted to stay true to the cleanse and wouldn't be able to replenish when I got home.

Day 1

Starting the day off with a cup of green tea was no change for me.  I have always been a tea drinker, although I tend to lean more towards chai than green.  I did not include the stevia in my tea, as I normally do not sweeten my tea.  The lemon was more than sufficient to sweeten. 

The breakfast smoothie was a raspberry banana smoothie with some other "stuff" thrown in there.  This was by far my favorite smoothie, sweet but with a slight tang provided by some lemon juice.  I was optimistic.  If breakfast went that well, the rest of the day should too, right?

I made it to lunch no problem.  The breakfast smoothie kept me full and satisfied.  I kept up with my water intake like normal (about a half gallon by lunch). 

The lunch smoothie was, interesting, and very...green.  Celery, green apple, pineapple and cucumber were just some of the green ingredients.  It smelled good and I was still optimistic.  It had a surprisingly sweet flavor, although the celery provided a unique and unexpected undertone.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't something I would choose to make on a regular basis.  Along with the different flavor, it had a very different type of consistency.  The best way to describe it was pulpy.  I decided just to drink it as fast as I could and get it over with.

The lunch smoothie did fill me up (it filled almost two glasses!).  I made it to dinner and didn't feel like I was hungry.  At this point, however, I was definitely missing solid food.  There is something about chewing that helps to satisfy.  Still, I made my dinner smoothie.  This one included many fruits and veggies I rarely (if ever) eat.  Mango, avocado, and coconut water all made their appearance.  The recipe also called for cayenne pepper, which I thought was an interesting addition.  I don't mind spicy food but I was worried about how the cayenne would effect the flavor of the smoothie, so I only included half the called for amount.  Overall the flavor wasn't too bad, and I finished it without any issue.  Still there was a weird heat to the smoothie (thank you cayenne) that I couldn't decide if I liked or not.

By the end of Day 1 I was looking forward to the detox bath.  I love my baths, and any excuse to take one is good for me.  It was a nice way to end the day, and helped me to forget all the stress of grad school that I was dealing with that day.  Going to bed I was surprised I was feeling like I had only drank my meals all day.  I did, however, dream of eating solid food.

Day 2

I slept great, but couldn't determine if that was an effect of the detox or running after a 3 year old all day. 

I woke up early, looking forward to my cup of tea.  I got to enjoy it by myself, in silence, as Tim and M were still in bed.  That makes for a great start to the morning.

I went through the smoothie regiment once again.  This time I knew what to expect so I threw a couple extra raspberries in my morning smoothie, blended the lunch smoothie extra long (still didn't help), and still put in only half the amount of cayenne into my dinner smoothie.

I was feeling a lot better.  I wasn't as sluggish, and I was surprised at the amount of energy I had.  Another surprise was how much I was peeing.  I drink upwards of a gallon of water a day so I'm used to frequent trips to the bathroom.  Still, this was way more than normal. I attributed it to my body flushing out toxins.  Tim thought is was comical when I even took a potty break at Toys 'R' Us; I am not a fan of public toilets.

Knowing I would end the day with another bath was exciting.  I loved the me time, and felt like if anything it allowed me to unwind a bit before bed.  M was jealous, so she got her own bath after I was done.

By the end of Day 2, I felt pretty good.  However, I was looking forward to finishing so that I could once again chew my food.

Day 3

I again got the morning to myself.  This time, I got to drink my tea and watch a rainstorm pass.  It's the little things in life...

I again slept well, and I was excited for the last day of the cleanse (I know, I'm weird).  I was starting to feel like myself again and noticed that the sluggishness and bloating from before were gone.  At this point, however, I was ready to be done only drinking my meals. 

I was itching to get some exercise in. I've gotten used to being active, and really get bored sitting around. Since I didn't want to venture to the gym, I took Tim and M on a trek to the gorge instead.  It was nice to get moving and get outside.  Plus, M really loved throwing stones in the creek and exploring the trails.  As expected, I did feel a little out of gas after the hike.  I knew this would happen, knowing that I was not taking in any extra calories.

By the end of day 3 I was pretty excited.  I felt better, and felt like the cleanse was just what I needed to get back to me.

Results

All in all, I'm really happy I did the cleanse.  I feel like myself again and feel like I can get back to my sugar-free, dairy-free, gluten-free way of eating that keeps me feeling good. Would I do it again?  Possibly.  If I get back in the situation I started in, it is something to use that I know helps quite a bit.

Even though I wasn't in this for the weight loss, I did lose 3 pounds in three days. 

This isn't a miracle cleanse by any means, nor did I expect it to be.  It did just what I wanted it to, reset my system so I could get back to feeling great.  True, I could've turned to over the counter medicines to combat the fatigue or bloat that I was dealing with; but I think using my food to help get back to normal was a much better choice.