back it up

let me set the record straight here: the cleanse i'm doing IS PERFECTLY SAFE. you go about your exercise and healthy eating as usual, but take 2 cleansing pills each morning and 2 each evening for 15 days. this is the exact one i'm doing. it's all herbal and there are no laxative-like properties. it's so gentle that i don't really notice much of a difference because i consume a fair amount of fibre and things like flax seed which are known to flush out the system anyway. so really - it's more for fun than anything else. i do feel less bloated ... sort of. it's hard to tell.

i haven't weighed myself in a while so i don't have anything to report on that front. perhaps i will weigh myself on friday. i don't want to know but it won't be that bad i'm sure. i know i probably am above my happy maintenance zone but it's definitely not by more than 1 to 5 pounds.

the good news is that i have been running again and consistently. i go three or four times per week (not on consecutive days) and have run 3 or 4 miles each time. sometimes i have to stop and walk and sometimes not. i'll regain that endurance if i keep it up. last week i ran monday, wednesday, friday and yesterday (sunday). i went swimming on tuesday and today (monday). i think if i keep up with the running and throw in some cross training activities AND watch my diet on weekdays i'll be able to get down to wear i feel the best.

tomorrow at work we are having a potluck for an upcoming cookbook we are putting out. if you remember last month i spent some days at a food photo shoot. so now we are all testing recipes and recording things like prep time, taste, ease, etc... just to make sure. i made these oatmeal banana bars with walnuts and crazy flours like brown rice flour, barley flour, spelt flour and kamut flour. it's very tasty and my mission tonight is to AVOID EATING ANY MORE so i have some to offer tomorrow.


my other mission for this week is to think about my hunger after exercising. i am in the mindset where i eat after every workout, regardless of whether or not i'm hungry. i think this affected me less in the past because i always worked out before a meal, but now that i work crazier hours it's harder to do that. maybe i should just try to work out before a meal ... thoughts?

do you eat something after every workout? you are supposed to eat protein after a weight training workout, but what about cardio?

i have a confession

today at lunchtime i ran 4 miles. and then i had a shower at work. it was divine. yes, my work has a shower. two actually. let's not dwell on it. the reason i haven't been commenting on any of your blogs this week is because ... i have not read them yet. i'm going to! i swear. i just couldn't watch the biggest loser finale on tuesday night and taped it and didn't want anyone to spoil it with their big yappity yaps. and so i avoided blog reading. surprisingly it was easy because a) i had NO time this week and b) there really wasn't any mention of the biggest loser in regular media sources - news, newspaper, the office water cooler, etc.

if i read on someone's blog who won it would be my own fault for reading it. people can post what they want and should be able to write about relevant tv shows in a timely fashion. anyway i watched last night and spent about 99% of the time fast-forwarding. i do not need to see recaps, thank you. who has the time for that? boring! and then i realized i didn't care about the winner. i didn't really care who won at all. i was happy that mike got so thin - he is only 18 and now can start over at a point in life when most people just start. i feel sorry for his brother though, because you know he's comparing himself to mike every second of the day. mike is the superhuman son who lost over 200 pounds and he is still overweight.

i went running on monday, wednesday and today. i am attending a wedding tomorrow so i switched around my running days. i feel really good about it. i went swimming on tuesday but did not enjoy it. i think i didn't wait long enough before swimming and felt like my stomach was in my neck the whole time.

one more thing ... what did i want to say ... oh right. i am doing a "cleanse." don't get all wacky, it's not like a fast or weird drink. it's just 2 pills in the morning and 2 at night. www.renewlife.ca. i am doing the 15-day first cleanse to prepare myself for the 30-day one, which i will do eventually, but i'm not sure when. random people in my real life kept recommending this cleanse to me - different groups of friends, too. one of my friend's friend's aunt is a holistic nutritionist and swears by these products. they are all natural so it can't hurt. so far (i am on day 2) i have not noticed any difference in ... anything ... but i do consume a lot of fibre anyway. probably more fibre than your average person. fibre is my friend. so fibrous and fibrey. have a good long weekend. i know i will. HA. i'm going to celebrate with a beer.