Week 12: I have so much to write about!!!

After last week, I felt so down trodden.  I knew I wasn't going to give up, but I wasn't sure how I was going to start back with being a true clean eater.  I really tried to keep my food clean all week, but by 1:00 on Friday though, my eating fell apart and I made some poor choices which gradually got worse.  By the time I went to Book Club, I had totally undone all my hard work.  Saturday morning, after going to bed at midnight and then getting up at 6 am, I went running with Priscilla.  I felt terrible!!! I think that it was the lack of sleep  and the poor eating on Friday.  After that run, I was once again fully committed to the clean eating lifestyle.  I know that I feel, look and perform better when I eat clean.

This week I learned so much, about so many things that I don't even know where to begin.  I am writing this as an outline so that I can get through everything that I want to write about.

Detoxing: While waiting in the airport in Las Vegas last Sunday, I researched detoxing.  Most of the detox regimens I found were simply clean eating.  Tosca Reno and Rita Catolina's blogs were the most helpful.  I found some good tips and recipes for green smoothies.  The best thing though was the warm lemon water first thing in the morning. I added the tea to it though and it was so rejuvenating.  It is such a great way to start out the day.  I used to also add 1/2 TBSP of flaxseed oil to my smoothies and I have restarted that practice also.  Flaxseed oil is a great fat that also helps to keep your system regular.  All week I drank either green tea or peppermint tea with lemon in the morning, a 24 ounce water container with lemon in it throughout the morning, and water the rest of the day.  I finished the day off with lemon, chamomile, or mint tea with Miralax (a gentle laxative).  I added lots of greens to everything I ate.  I felt like this really helped to clean out my system.  I am going to continue with these practices.

Cross Fit:  This week I also went to my second cross fit class.  I am really sad to say that I was greatly disappointed.  The instructor that was supposed to teach was sick, so one of the "easier" instructors taught the WOD.  I didn't hear him say it, but my friend said that he had said at the beginning of the session that he was going to be easy on us since it was Monday.  If I would have heard that I would have pushed myself harder, but instead, I took it easy so that I could work more on form.  The class got over early and I was thinking "this is it?"  This was on Monday and I had the rest of the week to attend classes for free (with a canned good donation).  On Tuesday I had to work early so I did my own workout and it was a killer.  I worked legs and back and biceps.  I felt like I got more out of that workout than I had a cross fit.  So I started to think- Why had I quit going to the gym?
1. On the days that I work, my time is tight so I don't want to wake up even earlier to account for driving time.
2.  My schedule varies day to day, week to week so it's hard for me to adjust my life to fit into the class schedules.  I wasn't even able to make it back for another session because of time conflicts.
3.  I really enjoy that time I spend by myself.
4.  I can set my fitness routine for the week according to what I have going on in the week.  
I really think that cross fit is an awesome workout for people that only workout 2-3 times week.  I felt like I worked every muscle group and I got some cardio in too.  However, I like to exercise at least 5 days a week (I prefer 6, but sometimes I use Thursday as a rest day).  The workout schedule I am using right now has me doing 5 days of strength training.  On these days I have specific muscle groups that I focus on.  I couldn't figure out how I was going to incorporate an all over body workout into this schedule.

Packing food for a trip:  When I ran in the Ragnar, my husband and I drove to Las Vegas.  Because we had our own vehicle, not only could I bring a cooler full of clean foods, but I was also able to run to the store for anything else I needed.  This last trip to Las Vegas I was limited on what I could bring since I was flying and I relied on other people to drive me around.  This week, however, I am going to try something new.  My daughter and I will both be checking bags, so I am going to take more food in our suitcases.  I am even debating taking my Magic Bullet so I can make shakes in my hotel room.  I will have to figure out my snacks and meals and then decide what to pack.  I will report back on how it goes.

Eating out:  I have been faced with the challenge of eating out a lot lately.  When I plan to eat a cheat meal at a restaurant I know that it is my one cheat of the week so I allow myself to eat what I want.  However, what do I do when I am traveling and I need to eat more than one meal out?  I have also worried about ruining my relationship with my sister and co-workers because I used to go out to lunch with them at least once a week.  This week I had already eaten out on Wednesday night for my husband's work party and then Friday with my friend and I also had book club.  Adding up those meals, I had three cheat meals already for the week. Then on Saturday, my sister wanted me to go to lunch.   I hadn't seen my sister, even though she lives 3 miles away from me, in several weeks so I didn't want to say no, but I also didn't want to cheat again this week.  I called Priscilla, my clean eating coach, and vented to her.  After discussing it, I had an epiphany.  Why does eating out have to mean cheating?  I just need to order the closest thing to what I would eat at home as possible.  Such as grilled chicken and steamed veggies.  Why am I making this so hard on myself.  We didn't end up going to lunch because our children's activities conflicted, but I am so glad that I was faced with that dilemma given that this coming week I will be eating out at least 3 times while traveling.  Also, sometimes it's easier while traveling to pack food for snacks and and breakfast and then eat out for lunch and dinner.  I will just chose foods that are clean and leave off any sauces or dressings.

Sweets:  Oh how I regret my choices on sweets.  I don't know why I have such poor self control when I am confronted with processed sugar.  I love it so much!  I have flip flopped on what I'm going to do with eating sweets so much in the past 12 weeks that I have confused myself.  First, I wasn't going to eat it at all.  Then I was going to only eat it at book club.  Then I decided I could have sweets once a week.  Well, enough is enough!  Sweets only at book club PERIOD!  I am going to have a clean treat weekly though, just to keep myself sane.  These clean treats will either be ones that I make or frozen yogurt (no sugar added) with nuts and fruit.  This will give me a little wiggle room for holidays, birthdays, and special occassions.  That means that all this week I will not be eating sweets at the wedding or while I am out with my sisters.  It also means that I am going to have to bring a clean dessert to Christmas and New Year's celebrations.  What a fantastic plan!!! Right?

I think that I have gotten everything out that I had on my mind.  I apologize that this has ended up being a book.  I need to make my goals for next month, but many of them I have also addressed here.  I am also going to start my daily food and progress journals again (I haven't been keeping them lately).  I'm keeping it clean all week, with one cheat meal and one clean treat.  I haven't figured out how to adjust my workout schedule yet for Thursday and Friday, but I will and it will be awesome.  I'm going to rock this!!!