Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Spring Cleanse - Day 12

Three more days to go. Not that I'm counting. I'm actually rather despondent about the cleanse ending. I'm worried I'll fall back into bad habits. I'm worried I'll stop drinking the huge amounts of water I should be drinking. Last night I was thinking about what to eat on Sunday morning with the boys - pancakes? waffles? bacon? And then perhaps around 5 p.m. in the afternoon I will open a lovely Pouilly Fuse and have a glass of wine...

But then I gave my head a good shake and reminded myself of this past Sunday. My man and a running friend finished their 100-mile races Sunday morning. (He did great by the way!!). Another friend was pacing so she was up most of the night and ran 20 miles with him. I was the only one who got some sleep and it was variable at best. By noon, we were piled into the car and heading off on our 12 hour drive home and it was me behind the wheel. I ate very well all weekend and kept on the cleanse but I was seriously worried about staying focused on the drive home. We stopped at Starbucks and I grabbed a coffee and a blueberry scone.

I'm not sure if it was the coffee or the scone or both but the "buzz" that flew through my head scared the living &^%# out of me. It felt as though my head was in a vice-like grip of searing numbness (yes, I realize that seems like an oxymoron but bear with me). You know how your arm feels when you hit your funny-bone; that zinging sensation? That's what my head felt like for about two straight hours. It wasn't a pleasant feeling and I'm pretty sure it was the sugar. This made me realize the effect that sugar really can have on you and how one's body becomes "addicted" to it. My sleep has been amazing on this cleanse and my energy seems to be steady during the day and evenings rather than spiking and falling.

The one thing I will have to deal with though is increasing my intake of healthy carbs again - I haven't been fuelling my body properly for running lately and I need to. But I'm going to take my time and make sure I'm fuelling with the best carbs I can.

This whole process has been a huge eye-opener for me. I love food and I hate thinking about it in the context of simply a fuel. The fact is though that food affects everything we do, who we are, how we feel, how we live. Through food we can make positive or negative changes in our lives. Sure, it does take some willpower but feeling better overall is an excellent and sustaining reward. I want to be strong, sleep well, have energy, and be healthy.

A cleanse is a very easy way to take a good look at yourself and the choices you have been making. It pushes you to make healthy choices and gives you the vision of a better future. Who knows what I'll be eating a month from now but I really hope that I'm eating (and drinking) the same way I am now. I really don't want to go back to that bloated, low energy, sluggish person. And if I do...I give you permission to give me a quick kick in the butt!

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