Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Clean Eating

It was just an ordinary day. Shortly after the new year had begun, I was watching my daily dose of "Live with Kelly & Michael" when I saw something. Something that I had no idea would change my life and the way I relate to food. It was a special section devoted to a New Year/New You. There was this doctor and he was talking about a 2 week food cleanse. Well, automatically, my ears perked up because I had heard of all-liquid cleanses - heck, I'd even tried a few before - but, this sounded intriguing. A 2 week cleanse designed to reset the vicious cycle of my poor eating/drinking/excerise habits. And it involved actual food. I was on board!

The name of the doctor was Dr. Ian K. Smith and the cleanse was the Shred Power Cleanse. I ran right out and bought the book. I read it while on an airplane to visit my sister. I wasn't ready to start it just yet, after all I had a weekend of wining & dining ahead of me...but, I wanted to read all about it and be ready for it when I returned home.

Now, to be fair, I did do my annual 3-day juice cleans upon returning home. I thought it would be a good way to jump start my weight loss. And boy was it ever! I lost 6.6 lbs in 3 days. This time around, I had added in fresh fruits and veggies so it wasn't a strict juice only cleanse. The body does amazing things when it doesn't have to process alcohol, refined sugar, meat or dairy. I immediately felt lighter, clearer-minded and had a sense of peace and contentment that was difficult to explain. 

Well, if I had done just the 3-day cleanse as I had in the past, that feeling would have been short-lived and I would have packed back on the pounds and returned to my old habits in no time. But, this year was different. Different because I had discovered Dr. Ian K. Smith. 

Now, I am a person who loves structure and routine in an eating plan. I am "all or nothing" so, I would rather give up ALL of my bad habits, than just one. For some odd reason, that works for me. I've always said that I just want someone to tell me what to eat and when to eat it. And this program did just that!

This program also taught me the proper way to exercise. It introduced to me the concept of HIIT workouts. Higher intensity in a shorter amount of time. I had heard of these before, but it wasn't until I read this book and began doing them, that it finally made sense. I felt like I had unlocked the secret to weight loss.

Let me back up for just a minute. I am a 50 year old woman, in the midst of menopause and I have been living with MS for 17 years. I honestly thought I could not lose weight at this point in my life. I had sort of resolved myself to the fact that my skinny jeans would never fit properly and my belly would always hang over the top of my waistband. The term "happy belly" was just the name of a healthy juice from my cleanse, not something I thought I could ever actually attain. Oh, how wrong I had been!

Once I started to eat healthy - and by that I don't just mean changing the quality of my food - but also the quantity - good things started to happen. In the past, my problem was not eating too MUCH food, it was eating too LITTLE food. Eating too little actually sabotages weight loss and metabolism more than you realize. 

I cannot tell you how much this program of clean eating has improved my life. It has changed the way I look at food, it has changed the way I exercise and it has given me a sense of well-being that is beyond explanation.  I just want to shout from the mountain tops how exciting and easy this way of life really is.  For those of you who have ever struggled with making good food choices or seeing results from all your hard work at the gym...this is the plan for you! Give it two weeks! I promise it will change your life. And those skinny jeans? Well, you may just have to go out and buy them a couple sizes smaller!

Don't miss my next blog: 10 Things I've learned from a Month of Clean Eating

Friday, January 8, 2016

Dear Running,

I've decided it's time to take you back. I can no longer drive into my garage and pretend that I don't see the wall of bibs and smiling photos staring back at me. Or see the facebook memories on my daily feed and not feel a tinge of regret.  I don't even really know where things went wrong - it was like I turned 50 and decided I was too old for you. Well, now I know that was silly. Because you don't stop running because you're old, you get old because you stop running. I needed this break to be able to see how much you truly mean to me and appreciate you more. You know, the whole absence makes the heart grow fonder bit.

Now, before you get too excited, we need to lay down a few relationship ground rules:

1. We have to start slow. I don't want to hear any mention of training runs, tempos, fartleks or tapering. It's just too soon. If you want this to work, you have to be patient with me. You have to let me go at my own pace. Last time, I got way too obsessed way too soon and it wasn't good for either one of us.

2. This will NOT be an exclusive relationship. If I want to share you with walking (a ménage au troi, let's say) then you have to be okay with that. If I decide to hop on the elliptical or ride the stationary bike, you gotta embrace it and be like "you go girl - variety is the spice of life" without a smidge of jealousy. 

3. We have GOT to learn to have a little more fun together. Last time we tried this, things got way too serious! It became more about the RUN and not enough about the FUN. We got all caught up in race times and splits and PRs and shit...and somehow forgot to stop and take selfies and smell the roses. I do not want to make that mistake again. 

4. Last, but definitely not least, promise me that you WILL NOT HURT me! I've had enough bruised shins, skinned knees, swollen hands and chafing to last a lifetime. I'm over it. If you want me back, this is non-negotiable. I'm tired of getting hurt. And quite frankly, too old.

So, what do you think? Do we have a deal? Can we make this work again? If not...